Slate Run Historical Farm

It wasn't raining last Saturday, so we spent the entire day outside since these days have been few and far between this summer.  (If you need something to do when it's raining, check out this list.)  One of the things on our list was just outside of Columbus that peaked our interest when we drove by a couple weeks ago... Slate Run Historical Farm.

We are avid users of our Ohio Metro Parks... but a farm?  

It was pretty awesome!  :)  A great place to take children for them to see how a farm works and where their food comes from.  I was particularly obsessed with taking pictures of the chickens (one day... I'll have a flock of my own).  The baby piglets were adorable, although the mud around them was unbearably stinky, ick.

The farm includes cows, horses, sheep, chicken, turkey, bee hives, and pigs.  There is a large garden of beans, squash, tomatoes, herbs, pickles, and peppers.  Larger fields of corn and pumpkins.  A smoke house and root cellar show how farmers preserve food.  And inside the farm house there is usually something baking in the kitchen and demonstrations going on.  Also several barns for making flour out of grain, making brooms, blacksmithing horse shoes, and more.

If you're looking for something fun to take kids to on a nice day, pack a picnic (there is a nice shady picnic area right at the farm entrance) and go down the farm!  

 

 

 

 

  

  

  

  

Lola and Giuseppe's Restaurant Review

Lola and Giuseppe's is one of those hidden gems of a restaurant find... literally hidden!  I have been driving by it for years and never noticed it.  Then when looking on Urbanspoon (so sad that the app is gone) I noticed this 5-star rated Italian place near us.  

Tucked back in a little shopping strip center, the restaurant is very inconspicuous.  When you walk in, it's a tight fit... 12 tables max.  Everyone seems to know everyone else and hugs are given out as you leave, likely with a pile of leftovers.  Lola comes to everyone's table to make sure everything is perfect.

Too bad they do not take reservations, because if you don't time it right, you'll be waiting forever for a seat or may even be out of luck altogether (like the first time we attempted to eat at Lola's)!  

The reason for such a long wait is that the food is excellent.  Our first time actually getting a seat at Lola's was right after our trip to Europe, so we were in the mood for some real Italian food after getting a taste of it in Rome.  This is as close as you'll get without leaving the country (maybe even better)!

Seafood, marinara, pancetta, noodles, cream sauce... you name it, doesn't matter the region, Lola has it on the menu.  So come hungry because you'll want to eat everything!  You can definitely smell, taste, and feel the Italian passion.

Snowville Creamery Farm Tour

Snowville Creamery might be known best as one of the original cream suppliers for Jeni's Splendid ice creams.  As it gained popularity in the Ohio dairy market for its grassfed cow goodness, most grocery stores started carrying many of their products including Whole Foods, Giant Eagle and Kroger.  Snowville distributes milk and cream, obviously, as well as yogurt and creme fraiche... and I get all of mine delivered to my door through GreenBEAN.

Every year, Snowville opens their farm to their customers for a little free food, fun, and farm tour!  Not far from Athens, the rolling hills are quite scenic as you approach the main farm.  While the land may seem to go on forever, there are surprisingly very few structures that collect, process, and carton the milk we enjoy every week.  The milking barn, pictured below, has room for only 18 cows to be milked at a time while the cows enjoy a little grain snack in the trough.  The farmers are the ones down in the pit you see in the middle making sure everything is sanitary and the milk is flowing.  The cows get milked twice a day and then ushered to a new pasture where they roam freely and munch on grass.

   

We tried some yogurt flavors I've been too nervous to get full cartons of like coffee-cardamom and gingamon.  I'm still not sure what cardamom tastes like, but I really like coffee yogurts and ice creams, so I'll be getting the coffee yogurt again.  The gingamon tastes a lot more like a greek yogurt with with a slight tang.  Snowvillians were also handing out ice cream... churned using a bicycle!  

We met some cute calves and their mamas... and this old Australian Shepard with beautiful blue eyes (even though she closed them went I went to take a picture after a long pet).  If you enjoy daily reminders of where your milk comes from, Snowville posts daily doses of cute to their Facebook page, usually of cute calves or cows licking their noses.  :)

   

It's really quite amazing that just a few people and a lot of cows can produce enough milk to keep up with demand!  I love that Snowville's founder quit the commercialized dairy industry and wanted to give consumers a grassfed, pasture raised option rich in nutrients and connected to the community.  Here's his story which aired on PBS's Perennial Plate...

Forno Pizza Kitchen

If you haven't been to Forno yet in the Short North, what are you waiting for?!  After the success of Pint House, the owners opened this restaurant down the street.  Many of the menu items are local, and as the name suggests (forno=oven in Italian), many of the dishes are cooked in a wood-fired oven.  Tons of daylight streaming in the large windows with fancy light fixtures and nice seating, but the prices are certainly reasonable.  At around $11 for an appetizer and $14 for a pizza, dinner for two is just $25.

Now that I have been to Forno a few times, I have yet to try something that wasn't excellent.  The warm ricotta with baked peaches was delicious, almost sweet enough to be a dessert.  The arancini (risotto balls) were a lighter take on fried mozzarella.  And every time we get the forno chicken pizza, because if it's good enough to put their name on it, it's good enough for me!  :)

So, now that you're ready for pizza night at Forno, don't let the doors trick you... there are three doors, but use the one on the left (most southern)... the others do not open and you'll look kind of silly tugging on them.

 

   

Four String Brewery (Grandview) Review

 

We went to Four String brewery and taproom the other night after enjoying several of their beers around town.  The location is a little hard to find, off of Fifth in Grandview behind the B Dubs... And even then... There really isn't much signage.  You feel like you're walking into someone's house with the screen door.  

Once inside, there is seating for about 20.  A bar with six stools and a few tables.  You actually walk through the brewing area and keg storage on your way to the bathroom.  Several of the fermenting tanks are actually formally dairy farm storage.  You can get flights or pints, both reasonably priced, or take away a few six packs.  We went to try the new Suncaster summer wheat ale recently released and also found out they were on their last keg of vanilla porter (my favorite!), so I had to have a pint!

The bartender was super friendly especially since it was not very busy for a Saturday night.  With such a small space, it was cozy and we ended up talking to a couple visiting Columbus on a self-guided brewery tour.  

Four String's taproom has 6-8 of their beers on tap and is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Happy hour is 4:00pm to 7:00pm where pints are only $3.  This cozy environment and friendly people make you feel at home.  We'll definitely be going back! 

 

Zoe Cafe (Bexley) Review

 

On our way to Franklin Park Conservatory we search on UrbanSpoon for some options to eat in Bexley.  We're always looking for new things to try, so when Zoe Cafe came up and we had never heard of it, we decided to give it a try.  It is located on Main Street kind of across from Cafe Istanbul... you should probably type it in your GPS because they don't have a sign on their building yet, just an easel.  The outside looks very modern and I remember driving by it while they were building wondering what was opening.

We were definitely surprised walking in since we weren't sure what to expect.  Lots of wood, cork, and mason jars... very trendy.  I think they were still trying together a few things figured out as their espresso menu wasn't fully vetted out.  However, they had a great menu of very reasonably priced sandwiches and appetizers.  Probably the best thing, though, which it wasn't warm enough to utilize yet is that the full bar had both inside and outside seating!  Just pull open the mini garage doors and the bartenders are at your service from the patio and outdoor barstools!

I got the shaved turkey club and my husband got the pulled pork sandwich, both were very good.  We are excited to come back again when it is warm enough to sit at the outdoor bar, but will probably have to wait in line for those coveted barstools.  :)