Heather Fraser Brainerd's Blog, page 2

Our Summer Travels: Cedar Point

I’ve had Cedar Point (“The Roller Coaster Capital of the World”) floating around in the back of my mind for a few years now. I was waiting for that perfect moment when our three boys would all be old enough for the coasters and my husband would still be young enough for them! :) This summer seemed like the perfect time, so off to Ohio we went! After almost six hours in the car, we were pretty happy to arrive at the beautiful Hotel Breakers. This hotel just underwent a massive renovation and is gorgeous! It’s right on the beach at Lake Erie, yet steps away from the amusement park. The location could not have been more perfect.

Our suite was pretty awesome! It was made even better by the gluten-free baked goods I’d arranged to have delivered by Jam Gluten Free Bakeshop. It was nice to walk in and find our GF goodies waiting for us. They were the best we’ve tried so far!

Mmm… gluten-free goodness!

As soon as we settled our things into the suite, my husband and the boys headed for the park while I sorted out a small question about our tickets. While we’re on the topic, a few thoughts on Cedar Point park tickets…

If you’re staying at a Cedar Point hotel, purchase discounted tickets at the front desk rather than paying full price at the theme park.
If you plan your trip way in advance (like I did), check for a special package deal. I booked our trip last December and was able to take advantage of a deal where we received our suite plus 1-day Fast Lane Plus park tickets for all five of us for a really good price! With the long lines of summer, those Fast Lane Plus wristbands sure came in handy!
If you arrive in the late afternoon or early evening on your first day, you can purchase “after 4pm” park tickets for a reduced price. Again, buy these at the hotel’s front desk to get them even cheaper than at the park.

On my way to catch up with my fam, look who I ran into!

It’s Snoopy!

The first night at the theme park was super fun! By the time the park closed at midnight, the crowds were pretty sparse and the wait times were low. Plus the park lights were very pretty.

The view from the Sky Ride.

The next morning, we took advantage of Early Entry. Because we were staying on-site, we could get into the theme park at 9am instead of 10am. Short lines again – yay!

Morning at Cedar Point

I can’t believe I let my kids go on this!

We even found some good gluten-free options in the park.

And I found something historical!

Commemorating Helen Keller’s appearance at Cedar Point in 1925.

And educational!

Controlling an animatronic dinosaur. How cool!

A mock archeological dig site. With a degree in Anthropology, this part really appealed to me.

The next day, we slept late, went into town for lunch, lazed on the beach, played mini golf, and had a fun hibachi dinner.

Lake Erie

On day four, it was time to head home. However, since our route took us right through Cleveland, we simply had to stop at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

They were having an exhibit called Herb Ritts: The Rock Portraits. It was amazing!

My favorite of the Herb Ritts exhibit: Dizzy Gillespie.

View from inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

After enjoying a few hours in Cleveland, we were back on the road. A mere five hours later, we were home, and trip #4 of the summer was on the books!

Our Summer Travels: The Lewis County Fair

My brother Dave lives in Lowville, NY. It’s up north, not far from the Canadian border. Oh, and “Lowville” rhymes with “cow-ville.” That’s pretty appropriate, considering there are more cows than people in Lowville. The dairy and cheese industries are very important here. There also happens to be a bowling pin factory. And, my favorite bit of Lowville trivia, is a veterinarian here. He takes care of cows, of course.

The view from Dave’s front porch. Yes, it’s a cornfield. The cow pasture is a bit to the left.

One of Lowville’s biggest claims to fame is that, each July, it hosts The Lewis County Fair. This charming little fair dates back to 1821. For the past few years, my boys and I have made the 3-hour journey for the fair. It’s so worth it! The first night, always a Tuesday, boasts the big parade.

Waiting for the parade to begin.

Shouldn’t every parade have an antique cheese wagon? And yes, they’re throwing cheese off the back.

She caught one!

I volunteer firefighters.

Shouldn’t every parade have a float featuring a robot, kids in a cast-iron bathtub, and a shack with a working chimney?

The Lewis County Dairy Princess and her court. Because cows.

The next day, we went to the fair!

The midway from afar.

Naturally, we stop by the dairy industry building.

Then we check out some award-winning quilts.

At the Historical Building, these strange contraptions are on display. They’re like computers, but without the screens. Hmmm…

Time for a taffy break!

Between the rides, displays, shows, and the amazing fair food, it was quite a day! We made our way back to Dave’s house and collapsed, exhausted and sugared out, onto the couches. After a good night’s sleep, we had a nice day of swimming and playing board games with Dave and his family. Doesn’t that sound like a sweet, old-fashioned kind of vacation? We’re already looking forward to next year’s fair!

Our Summer Travels: New Orleans

My husband and I just returned from our third trip to New Orleans. Why do we love this city so much? Well, it was perfectly summed up by a young woman from Taiwan with whom I chatted while waiting for a music club to open. I asked her if she’d been to New Orleans before, and she said that this was her first visit. When I asked her what she’d done so far, she said, “I have taken many pictures of the architecture, but I am here for the food and for the music.” Architecture, food, and music – yup, that about sums it up!

This time around, we decided to stay at the Cornstalk Hotel. As the story goes, in the mid-1800s, the homeowner’s wife was homesick for Iowa. To ease her sadness, he had a fence made in the shape of a row of cornstalks. The grand Victorian home has since been turned into a hotel. We loved it there.

The Cornstalk Hotel

the famous fence

The only problem was that our beautiful leaded glass window, as seen in the photo below, had no blinds or curtains! This made for quite a bit of street noise and sunlight coming in.

So, we didn’t get to sleep in… but the room was lovely!

On our first night in town, we had dinner at one of our favorite New Orleans restaurants, The Green Goddess. We sat outside and enjoyed the nice, warm evening and delectable food.

Balsamic watermelon & burruta salad

Smoked duck breast slices with roasted fingerlings

Berkshire pork with plantain cakes and purple rice

After stuffing ourselves silly, we strolled around the French Quarter for a bit. When we were finally ready for dessert, we stopped in at Sucré for coffee and macarons.

Mmm… macarons…

The next morning, we slowly made our way over to the Jackson Square area for a leisurely Sunday brunch. Sunday brunch is a VERY big thing in New Orleans. Along the way, we admired the beautiful old buildings and their ornate iron balconies.

I loved the cute flowerpots on this balcony!

Jackson Square, a historic park.

We opted for brunch at Stanley.

Mimosas!

Bananas foster French toast. To. Die. For.

After brunch, we slowly made our way to Frenchmen Street, stopping in at little galleries, art shops, and antique stores along the way. Once on Frenchmen, we went to our favorite club there, The Spotted Cat. As always, the music was excellent!

Yvette Voelker at The Spotted Cat.

We hit some other little music clubs along Frenchmen Street, had a lovely dinner at Sylvain, and called it a night.

Monday started with beignets, of course!

Beignets and café au lait at Café du Monde.

We then walked along the Mississippi for a spell.

The river was quite high!

Just for something different, we decided to take the ferry across the river to Algiers Point, a quiet and charming little neighborhood. At $2.00 per person each way, the ferry ride was the best bargain of our trip!

View of New Orleans from mid-Mississippi River.

Back in the French Quarter, we decided to hit Latitude 29 for drinks and apps. This tiki bar is both delicious and fun!

Tropical drinks!

The Lapu Lapu, a drink meant to be shared!

After our little happy hour, it was time for a rest. Once refreshed and ready for dinner, we made our way to Angeline for an excellent meal, stopping to take more pictures along the way.

Beauregard-Keyes garden.

After dinner, we went back to Frenchmen Street for more musical entertainment. We enjoyed a street band, wandered through the Frenchmen Street Art Market, and ended up at Snug Harbor for a performance by the Charmaine Neville Band. Ms. Neville’s cousin, Garrett Morris (one of the original cast members of SNL and currently on the sitcom 2 Broke Girls), was in the audience (which was only about 30 or 40 of us due to the intimate size of the venue). He even got up onstage and joined in for a song. What a great show!

Tuesday was our last day in NOLA. We packed our bags and left them at the hotel, and then wandered back to the Jackson Square area. We stopped by the St. Louis Cathedral before having lunch at Muriel’s.

St. Louis Cathedral

The gorgeous interior of the cathedral.

Muriel’s has become our last-lunch-in-NOLA tradition.

A po boy and fries.

With just a few hours left before heading to the airport, we decided to visit The Presbytere, one of the Louisiana State Museum locations. The first floor was all about hurricanes, mostly Katrina. It was very moving. The second floor was all about Mardi Gras. It was very entertaining!

There were many gorgeous costumes on display.

Even the restrooms were themed to Mardi Gras!

And with that, we headed back to the hotel to catch a cab to the airport. As it turns out, there was no need to hurry. Our flight out of New Orleans was delayed due to weather, which meant that we missed our connection in New York. Which meant that we spent the night at JFK International Airport. But that’s a story for another day.

Our Summer Travels: Philadelphia

With Independence Day right around the corner, what better way to celebrate than with a quick trip to Philadelphia? We were there last weekend, and it was amazing! I’d never been to Philly before (except for many, many layovers at the airport, but that doesn’t count), and found myself almost overwhelmed by the sense of history. Here are a few pictures that totally don’t do the city justice, but will hopefully convey the feel of our long-weekend getaway:

Our first glimpse of Philly from afar.

First night’s dinner at City Tavern: smoked pork chop, 18th century style.

The “long gallery” at City Tavern.

View of City Hall from Love Park, en route from our hotel to Reading Terminal.

The Liberty Bell as seen through a side-view window (the line to get into the building was multi-hours).

Visiting Betsy Ross at her home.

Elfreth’s Alley – America’s oldest residential neighborhood.

Eastern State Penitentiary, now a museum and National Historic Landmark.

My 11-year-old’s breakfast buffet plate. Future food stylist?

We loved our trip to Philadelphia, but left wishing we’d had time to do so much more. Methinks a return visit is in order. Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

My nearly-yearly Mystery reading

Yesterday, I finished re-reading my favorite book, Mystery by Peter Straub. I’ve read this book almost-yearly since its release, which means I’ve read it nearly 25 times. (Which means I’m quite old.)

What keeps me coming back? I notice something new each and every time. This time around, I gave more attention to Sarah Spence’s mother. This ditzy social climber uses her daughter to try to reach the highest level of society on the island nation of Mill Walk. But is she really a ditz? Or does she use this as a facade? We know that she came from Mill Walk, went to college in Iowa for a couple of years, met her husband there, and returned to Mill Walk upon her marriage. Her husband was hired by one of the island’s wealthiest patriarchs as an accountant, and the Spence family’s social ambitions soared. But why was Bill Spence, a non-islander, hired in the first place? And why was he instantly successful? Is there some sort of connection between Mrs. Spence and her husband’s employer?

Perhaps I’m over-thinking it a bit. But after 25 or so readings, you get into the minutiae. Do you tend to re-read favorite books, or are you of a once-and-done mindset?

Canadian (Easy) Bakin’

International Year of Light and Light-based Technology World Tour Stop 5:
O Canada

Well, it’s a new month, which means a new stop on the United Nations International Year of Light and Light-Based Technology 100-Watt Culinary World Tour, or “United Nations International Year of Light and Light-Based Technology 100-Watt Culinary World Tour” for short. This month, we make our shortest trip of the tour, hopping in my car and driving an hour north to cross the St. Lawrence Seaway and enter Canada.

So why are we heading to Canada in May? For Victoria Day, of course. This is, to the best of my extensive holiday knowledge, the first and only day celebrating Victoria Posh-Beckham, former Spice Girl and current wife of some guy with lots of tattoos and apparently no shirts.

Now we must ask: what is the most Canadian food? A year or two ago, I would have said something like Canadian bacon, a term that may have originated in Canada, but is now almost exclusively American. Kind of like William Shatner. But then, a year or two ago, my eyes were opened to the beauty, majesty, and gravy that is poutine.

For the uncultured few who don’t know the glory of poutine, it’s simple: French fries, gravy, and cheese curd. How will we handle these three ingredients? For one of them, it’s easy. We’ll just buy it at the store. You see, the county I live in has a person-to-cow population ratio of 2:1. Dairy is huge here. In town we have a dairy store that proudly proclaims over 75 kinds of cheese, all of it locally made. We always have a bag or two of cheese curd in our refrigerator.

Lewis County’s top two exports: dairy and snow

How about the gravy? Well, faithful readers will recall previous mention of a vegetarian daughter. We’ve found a vegetarian brown gravy recipe that’s easy to make and tastes pretty darn good, considering it doesn’t have any actual beef in it. The recipe makes about two cups of gravy, so scaling it back to make an Easy Bake Oven portion would have been a little difficult (as in “add half a thimble of flour to two drops of melted butter”). Plus, we already had some in the refrigerator, so I just warmed that up.

It all came down to the French fries, the only part that would actually come through the Easy Bake Oven. Faithful readers (both of you) will recall the same problem with March’s Fashion Week Cleveland Polish Boy. I took the same approach, Julienning the fries and Easy Baking them for what felt like two days, but it was more like 40 minutes.

Raw taters (do they call them taters in Canada?)
ready to Easy Bake

Once they came out, I threw a few small chunks of the cheese on and topped the whole thing with enough gravy to choke the cow whose life was, ironically, spared by the fact that it was made with vegetable broth. In about two mouthfuls, it was gone.

Ready to eat

So there you have it. Next month, we’re off to the Philippines in honor of Philippine Independence Day. Anything in particular you’d like me to try? Just tell me what you want, what you really really want.

Books & Booze: a seminar

Okay, so that’s not the actual name of the seminar I recently attended. The real name was “Three Sheets to the Wind: Cocktails in Literature.” This fascinating talk, presented by University of Rochester professor Nora Rubel and mixologist/English teacher Evvy Fanning, was part of Rochester Cocktail Revival 2015. Here’s the seminar description from the RCR website: “How closely is alcohol linked to genius? Would we have The Sun Also Rises or The Movable Feast without the daiquiri, and would Gatsby adore Daisy if he had fewer mint juleps? The watering hole in The Clockwork Orange serves Moloko-Plus – try it. And what about the unfortunate characters born before cocktails – what would Hamlet drink? Sample all of the literary cocktails before choosing your favorite.”

Nora and Evvy took turns introducing various cocktails, giving an appropriate literary context for each drink. We then got to enjoy samples :)

The Hemingway Daiquiri

The Vesper, from Casino Royale

“My Pinn” from Lolita

What would Hamlet drink, if cocktails had been invented in his time? A Negroni, of course!

The Missouri Rattlesnake, inspired by Gone Girl. Yes, it has a hidden twist.

What’s your favorite book/cocktail pairing?

Writing tips galore!

My author friend J.Q. Rose has put together a fantastic ebook chock-full of tips on writing, publishing, and marketing. As one of the writers asked to contribute to this helpful book, I’m pleased to announce that it’s now available here��for just $0.99.

Fifteen romance and mystery authors share writing tips they have gleaned from their experiences as ���on-the-job��� writers. The tips are organized into the main topics of writing, publishing, and marketing. The novelists also reveal the ���light bulb moments��� in their writing journey, questions they are asked most often, and the best advice on writing they have received. By offering their expertise, the authors hope to smooth the sometimes rocky road for new writers toward a rewarding career in writing.

Easy Bake Zeeuwse Bolus

International Year of Light and Light-based Technology World Tour Stop 4: The Netherlands

So now it’s April. Well, it’s been April for almost a month now, but I haven’t had to update the International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies Culinary Tour until today. Why today? Because April 27 is Koningsdag, a holiday in the Netherlands celebrating the birthday of King Willem-Alexander. To celebrate Knoningsdag, we’ll be making zeeuwse bolus, a cinnamon bun.

Right about now, you’re probably thinking, “Hey, the first three Easy Bake things were all meaty. What’s with the vegetarian stuff?” There are a couple of reasons. I have a daughter that doesn’t eat meat, and each month so far, she’s asked that I do something she can try. After making shrimp, beef, and kielbasa (I’m not sure what a kielbasa is, but I think it’s kind of like an antelope), I cut meat from the menu this time around. Then there’s the fact that cinnamon buns are awesome. So that’s good enough for me.

What recipe did I use? There were several good looking ones to choose from, but I went with this one. To convert it to an Easy Bake recipe, all I did was half the amount of dough used per roll. When using the Easy Bake Oven, I tend to start with ten minutes baking time and adjust accordingly for the next one. It turned out that ten minutes was perfect for these. Well, it was perfect for the dough. The sugar sprinkled on top could have used either a higher temperature or longer time. Unfortunately, there is no way to regulate the Easy Bake temperature (it only has two: on and off) and I didn’t want to dry out the rolls. So ten minutes it was.

About to be Easy Baked

During my research, I came across the fact that zeeuwse bolus is typically eaten upside down (I mean the bun is upside down, not the eater) and hot with butter smeared across the bottom. Not one to scoff at tradition, I slathered a ton of butter on that sucker. It was, as cinnamon buns are known to be, awesome. But then again, so is just about anything with a ton of butter slathered on it.

Out of the Easy Bake and ready to eat

Talking Doctor Who with author Kyla Phillips

On May 5th, MuseItUp Publishing will release Agent of Light by Kyla Phillips. Before then, she’s making the rounds at a number of blogs to promote the book. We’ve been there and done that. It gets a little repetitive, answering the same questions over and over, for the author and anyone following the tour, so we’re going to do something different. We’re going to ignore her book and just talk about Doctor Who.

Brainerd & Fraser: We understand that, much like ourselves, you���re a Doctor Who fan.

Kyla Phillips: OMG yes. One of my earliest memories of watching TV was watching Doctor Who with my mom. Daleks terrify me to this day (shivers).

B&F: Which incarnation of The Doctor is your favourite? (Notice we used the British spelling, even though our autocorrect thinks it���s wrong.)

KP: I know it might seem odd, but just over a year ago my favourites were a tie between five and nine. They both had moments when them came across true marvels and celebrated them with such glee. Then Capaldi came on the scene with such fire he blew me away. So today, twelve (or thirteen if you���re a purest) is my doctor. I mean who doesn���t love a man with attack eyebrows.

B&F: Though we many not agree with you (or each other) on this, that was a brilliant answer. Mainly because of the eyebrows. Well done! Favourite companion?

KP: Donna Noble, hands down. She is the type of companion I would hope to be. She loved being with him, loved the adventure, but she always remained Donna.

B&F: Now this we agree with completely. If you could travel anywhere in time and space, where/when would you go?

KP: Pluto first (which is still a planet in my mind). Then as many other planets and as far into the future as I could go.

B&F: How about your TARDIS? Is it stuck as a police box or something else?

KP: Have to go with classic police box. There���s just something so ballsy about setting a police box down in the heart of ancient Egypt.

B&F: What color is your sonic screwdriver?

KP: Purple, just ���cause.

And now on to the rapid fire round!

Rose Tyler or Clara Oswald? Clara the impossible girl

Daleks or Weeping Angels? OMG Daleks, please not the Daleks. I will cry.

Russell Davies or Steven Moffat? No comment.

Jelly Babies or Jammy Dodgers? Jelly Babies.

Really Long Scarf or Bowtie? Bowtie because bowties are cool, duh.

Brilliant or Shut Up? Shutty up up up.

B&F: Well, there’s Kyla’s take on all (well, not all, more like some) things Gallifreyan. And since we have a bit more room here at the end, maybe we should talk about Agent of Light. Kyla, anything you’d like to say about your book?

KP: If you want more than the vamp vs. werewolf recycle Agent of Light is the Urban Fantasy for you. It has fallen angels pitted against fire elementals, with half-naked jinn running around, and a very large black puma that loves sleeping on a cr��me-colored couch. Vayne Andrews is a powerful bounty hunter and her prey is nothing short of explosive.

If you’d care to learn more about Kyla, aside from her views on Doctor Who, other, more writer-oriented, interviews can be found��here, here, and here.

Connect with Kyla on Facebook and Twitter. Find her books on Amazon and MuseItUp Publishing.