A Tour of Historic Holmes County, Ohio

CONTEST INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!

But for right now, I’d like to share a bit of Ohio with you.

Providence, Ohio, the fictional town in The Cheese Shop Mysteries, is located in the western portion of Holmes County.

I recently toured the area and took a ton of pictures.

Isn’t it beautiful? Pastoral? Bucolic?

I decided to stay at a bed and breakfast that was listed in a visitor’s guide
to Holmes County.

Acorns at the White Oak Inn was first in the alphabet.
So is Avery Aames.
And the inn had received awards.
Kismet, right?

I headed north from the airport with a song in my heart, but right off the bat, I was rerouted from the clear directions I had received from the Inn. Uh-oh. I definitely needed GPS to get there. To make matters worse, while getting intermittently detoured, my cell phone reception vanished. No phoning home, no GPS. Let’s hear it for good old AT&T. Boo-o-o-o!



Rather than lose my cool, I leaned back in the seat, took deep calming breaths, and drove along a number of scenic routes knowing I had enough gas to get me just about anywhere. And then I drank in the atmosphere. The hills undulated like a theme park rollercoaster. The burnt amber and shimmering gold leaves on the trees lit up the horizon like a brazen fire. And there were hundreds upon hundreds of farms. Big farms, small farms. I stopped to take pictures of barns, silos, and vistas. I laughed when I saw not only cows, sheep, and goats, but llamas. Yes, llamas!


Finally I arrived at the historic White Oak Inn and was greeted by Yvonne and Ian, the owners.

Shout out to Yvonne and Ian. http://www.whiteoakinn.com

They advertise that the inn is “in the middle of nowhere.” Well, my friends, it really is. There are no houses around. No hotels. No sounds but the babble of the nearby river and the wind blowing through the trees. A slice of heaven. There are no telephones in the room--which was a little worrisome seeing as I still had no cell phone reception--but I was able to get on the internet when I sat in the inn’s great room, a meditative spot decorated with antique furniture, collections of teacups and teapots, earthenware, and an old square Chickering piano. When I retired to my little cottage, which was decorated with brocade and lace, I lit the fire, poured a glass of wine. (Of course, I'd purchased some cheese along the way for a snack.) I picked up a book and suddenly realized I was on vacation. Wahoo!

I slept like a log in the comfy bed,
and in the morning, after a serene walk and a scrumptious breakfast made by Yvonne--a foodie who blogs with other innkeepers--I set off for Millersberg and Berlin, cute, touristy towns…

…where I met LaVonne of Amish Tours of Ohio--a terrific gal with a sharp wit and the most intimate knowledge of Holmes County and the Amish people. Check out: http://www.amishtoursofohio.com

Over the course of six hours, LaVonne took me to a number of cheese makers, a winery, an Amish leather maker, and a general store, all while regaling me with stories. [That's an Amish farm on the right.]

I gained a wealth of tidbits to add to my stories--lucky me! But I also learned something else.

I go too fast.

I don’t take enough time to breathe and listen and absorb.

If you’re like me, take a minute now. Breathe. And then enjoy life one moment at a time.

Oh, and try a bit of Guggisberg Baby Swiss cheese or Heini’s cheddar, local Holmes County cheeses made with Amish farm milk. Yum!!

If you want to know more about The Cheese Shop Mysteries, coming from Berkley Prime Crime in July, 2010, click on this link to check out my website: Avery Aames

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

OUR CONTEST!

Win a $25 Gift Card to Williams-Sonoma gourmet food and kitchenware store!

In early November, we're going to have an Iron Chef Week. Each of our mystery writing cooks will post a recipe with the same secret ingredient. To enter our drawing for the gift card, all you have to do is send an e-mail, suggesting a future Secret Ingredient to: MysteryLoversKitchen@gmail.com

NOTE: You must be a follower of our blog for your entries to count. Just click on one of the "follow" buttons in the right column and you're all set. One entry allowed per day per person. The winner will be announced right here on November 9th! (Again, if you're not following our blog, another winner will be selected...so be sure to follow!)

Welcome Guest Blogger - Lesa Holstine

We at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen are delighted to welcome Lesa Holstine as guest blogger today. Lesa runs Lesa's Book Critiques, a blog that focuses on authors and books, with an emphasis on mysteries. We all enjoy reading Lesa's updates and, in fact, her blog is one of our favorites, with a link on this site.

Take it away, Lesa....

When Julie asked me to do a guest blog for Mystery Readers’ Kitchen, I was honored, and then I was horrified. I don’t cook! I’m a baker, and I make a wonderful cherry pie from scratch, but there have already been pie recipes here.

Then I realized I do make something special, and it’s from home. I’m originally from Ohio. I’ve lived in Florida and Arizona, and the only people I knew in both states who made buckeyes were from Ohio. If this isn’t the state candy, it should be. But, first a little history.

The Ohio Buckeye tree is a deciduous tree from the Horsechestnut Family. The Forestry site for the State of Ohio says, “The name “Buckeye” was derived from the Native Americans who noticed that the glossy, chestnut-brown seeds with the lighter circular “eye” looked very similar to the eye of a buck (male) deer.”

They also roasted, peeled and mashed the buckeye nut which they called Hetuck into a nutritional meal. The poisonous and bitter taste can be eliminated by heating and leaching. But, remember, this is a poisonous nut! Some believe that the buckeye relieves rheumatism pain. The symbol of General William Henry Harrison's presidential campaign was a string of buckeyes and a log cabin decorated with raccoon skins. His campaign song called Ohio the bonnie Buckeye state, as a result citizens in Ohio became know as "Buckeyes ." On October 2, 1953 the buckeye tree officially became the state tree.

And, here’s the sports connection. Ohio State teams are known as Buckeyes, and, OSU fans always say buckeyes are poisonous to Michigan Wolverines. (And, of course, Michigan fans say Buckeyes are just a bunch of nuts.)

Naturally, the candy called buckeyes, that look like the nut, are popular throughout the state. And, those of us who love our Ohio State Buckeyes have taken the candy throughout the nation. Now, I have the chance to pass the recipe on to you.

You can find all kinds of recipes for them online. Here’s the one my mother passed on to her daughters (all Ohio State fans).

2 sticks oleo (Some recipes say butter. I find the oleo keeps the peanut butter together better)
1 ½ cup peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar

Mix together and roll into balls and dip in chocolate with a toothpick, leaving a little of the peanut butter showing. Mom melts the chocolate in a double boiler.

Chocolate mixture –
1/3 bar paraffin
1 2/2 c. chocolate chips
½ stick oleo

This gives a nice shiny color to the buckeyes, just like the nut. However, I do these the lazy way because I just can’t keep those peanut butter balls on a toothpick. I refrigerate the dough so it sets, and then roll the dough in balls, and dip them in Baker’s Dipping Chocolate, instead of using the chocolate mixture. They might not be quite as shiny, but the buckeyes are eaten just as quickly!

Serve them on Saturdays at parties during football season.

They also make a wonderful Christmas candy. Or, serve them at Halloween parties.

Who can resist the candy that is better than Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups?

(When I’m not making buckeyes for my husband, I’m blogging at Lesa’s Book Critiques, http://www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/, where I discuss books, with an emphasis on crime fiction. I hope you stop by!)