Count Down To Harry's Law

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It started hitting home today that in a bit over 4 weeks we are going to be a part of a national TV show.  I wonder if it will change our lives at Arnold's and how.  I don't think tour buses of elderly people will be stopping by on a daily basis.  I don't think people are going to ask to get their picture taken with Kathy Bates.  I don't think we will be asked to join in "special appearances" or to be on "The Ellen Show".   I do believe we might sell more tee shirts.  We are setting up an online store for such a thing just in case.

Hopefully we protected ourselves enough that the owner on the TV version of Arnold's won't be a mass murderer or an evil person.  I don't think the producers wanted that anyway.   I do hope they made the owner a female.  If not, that's okay too.  Maybe the owner won't even be a part of the show.  We are honored just to be a part of something like this.  These things are a part of making our lives fun. 

Speaking of fun, of course we will have a party for the season premiere.  We are party central.  From riding in a bathtub and honoring goats, to Turkey Trots, to Mustache Bashes, to Johnny Cash's Birthday Party.  I had no idea what I was getting into 25 years ago when I started working as a waitress at Arnold's.  My how things have changed and I couldn't be more thrilled.   Thanks Mike Listo, all the staff of Harry's Law, The Cincinnati Film Commision and all else who played a part in this process.  

The Mustache Bash

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Our staff is never afraid to get in on the fun.  These pictures say how much fun the Yelp Mustache Bash was!  Enjoy!

New Works + Old Friends

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If you are a ballet lover or not you have to go to this show.  It is creative, exciting, heart pounding.  It is fast paced and new.  I'm talking about New Works at the Cincinnati Ballet.  Here is the link so you can read all about it. 

http://www.cballet.org/events/arnolds

Here is the great part!  You can get dinner and see the show on September 14th for only $45.00.  Most tickets to events cost $45.00, and that is just for the show!  We are adding dinner!  It also makes a perfect date night, you don't have to decide where to take your date for dinner, we decided for you!  The dinner is a three course price fixe menu.  The dinner is listed below. 

First Course

Choice Of 

Spring Mix Salad or Soup Of The Day

Second Course

Choice Of

Vegetarian or Meat Lasagna

Blackened Talapia with Black Beans and Rice
Latin Black Beans with Brown Rice, Avacado, Salsa, Warm Tortillas

Chris's Wu-Tang Burger (spinach dip and bacon) and Fries

Chicken Parmesan over Spaghetti

Third Course

Choice Of

Bread Pudding

Cobbler

Warm Browning with Ice Cream

One Mans Garbage Is Another Mans Treasure

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Chris found this sidewalk sign in the garbage and painted it black, Bret repaired it, Kristen did the artwork, Elise wrote on it. Serenity Fischer provided the music listed on the board, I provided the stage she sang on and our wonderful customer's came to hear her. Lots going on with that little sign!

RONDA'S RABBIT & SHRIMP AND GRITS RECIPE

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I'm going to write this recipe in stages then we will put it all together at the end.  Note that you will start your greens 30 minutes after you start your stock.  You can also start your roux whenever you want.  This takes time so put on some music, grab a drink and enjoy cooking!




Yields 4 servings (and maybe some leftovers)

STOCK...
1 rabbit
1 onion quartered (you can leave skin on)
1 carrot quartered (you can leave skin on)
1 chicken thigh
1 gallon water

For Ingredients I suggest Findlay Market. I bought both the rabbit and thigh at Luken's.  Carrot and onion was purchased at Daisy Mae's Produce Stand. Bring above ingredients to a boil then simmer for 1 hr. 1/2 hour  into the simmer you are going to remove 2 cups of the liquid for your greens.  Strain off liquid and discard all except the thigh and rabbit.  shred thigh and rabbit meat up into tiny pieces and set aside to be used in your grits.

Home From Nola. Another Chapter

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Just a quick overview on my wonderful vacation with my buddy Susan then another chapter of my life will be finished.

I can't remember a vacation that I have ever took where we didn't care where we stopped or for how long. It was like we had nowhere to go and no speed to get there. We pulled the car over at every whim. We stopped to look at flowers or water or rice patties or levees. We stood at the very spot where Katrina ran though the town and destroyed it, the Ninth Ward. We ate and ate and then ate again. We had delicious food and delicious drinks. We listened to great jazz and blues and not so great karaoke. We saw rice fields, cotton fields, sugar cane fields and giant lily pads. We saw nature and human nature and a tandem wheelchair.

People called us Thelma and Louise. I like to think of us more like Lucy and Ethel. I loved this chapter of my life. It isn't one I will easily forgot.

I have pics up in an album on Arnold's Facebook  if you would care to take a look.   

Eating In New Orleans Day 3

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I think these pics will speak for themselves and the day we had eating in New Orleans.  Also in our day was a trip to the French Market, a walk on the river walk, and a sobering trip to the Ninth Ward.

Eating Our Way To Nola Day 2

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Of course I forgot to charge the camera so pics are limited.  My friend Susan has a few we will insert later. 

Still in Baton Rouge a trip to the river and to the state capital.  A guy there told us it was the tallest state capital in the country.  I thought it looked like a smaller version of Carew Tower.  Brunch at Mansurs On The Boulvard was delicious with broil oysters, gumbo and crab spinach bisque.

Heading down river road we again saw fields of sugar cane, and cotton.  Also today we saw many areas were people had honey bees.  We went to 4 or 5 plantations and went on a tour at the Houmas House Plantation in Darrow, LA.  Time for lunch! We decided to make our stop in Kenner, La.  Susan and I entered into Fisherman's Cove, a tiny shop that wasn't a restaurant.  It was like our buthcher shops only with piles and piles of fresh seafood.  A guy came in with a five gallon bucket of fresh fish which he sold to the shop.  It was awesome but we wanted to eat cooked food!  A nice gentleman told us were to go, which was about 10 miles down the road towards NOLA.  His wife was yelling out the window if we had to wait to get in then to wait. That it was well worth it. We pulled into a tiny parking lot to a place called Harbor Seafood.  Next door they sold fresh fish like we had seen before at The Fisherman's Cove.  I had real Turtle soup and an Oyster Po Boy (2nd time for oysters and I ain't done yet).  Back on the road to New Orleans.  We got into our room at the Royal Sonest right on Bourbon Street.  Tonight we hit the streets.  Here we will find, a whirlwind ride of the night.  Drink and jazz from the world famous "Steamboat Willie" at the Courtyard Cafe Beignet, Drinks and Shrimp at Arnaurd's Remoulade, Drinks at the Olde Absinthe House then the most fabulous Oyster's and Bread Pudding at Acme Oyster House.  I am loving Louisiana and it's food.

My Blog Just Hit 10,000 Visits Giveaway!

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So, I just checked my blog stats and saw that I have now reached 10,000 visits and 14,000 page views for my little ol' blog. I know to the big blogs out there, that is just a small number, but to me it's pretty neat to know that 10,000 times people have read my words. In honor of this momentous occasion I figured that I would give away a little prize.

The Prize will be a pair of Reds tickets to the Friday Night Fireworks game on 8/26/11 vs. the Washington Nationals, a $20.00 gift certificate to Arnold's and a free T-shirt. To win, simply leave a comment saying anything you want on this post and I will use random.org to choose the winner. Winner will be chosen on 8/19/2011. Thank you so much for taking a look at my blog, supporting me at Arnold's, and making it a pleasure to live and work in Cincinnati. Good Luck!

Eating Our Way To Nola Day 1

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My friend Susan and I have started our journey in Shreveport LA.

First stop was about 11:30 at Lasyone's (pronounce LAAZZA 1) Meat Pie Restaurant in Natchitoeches, LA. We had meat pies, crawfish pie, red beans and rice, cole slaw and potato salad.  Yummy it was!

A ride down river road with the sites of rice patties, sugar cane, cotton (lots of cotton) put us at the Magnolia Cafe in St. Francisville for some alligator.  Yummy again!

A stop at a graveyard and we were back on the road to Baton Rouge! But first a stop in Sunshine, La for dinner. We went down an old country road and came upon this road side cafe filled with people and delicious food. Dinner at Roberto's was insanely good. We had BBQ Shrimp & Grits, Bread Bowl with Spicy Shrimp and Brie Crab Bisque (I will be trying to make that),  Do I dare say yummy again?

Somehow I took a picture of this sign and this is exactly how it turned out.  We were going to Juban's for dessert but we just couldn't do it.  We were too full.  Tommorrow is Brunch at Mansur's On The Boulevard then traveling down the back roads to see what other great places we can find.

And this is my buddy Susan...

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

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Days 1 - 6 were spent fishing.  Fish in morning, eat breakfast, read, take naps, swim with the kids, eat dinner, then fish until dark.  Rinse, Repeat.

This video was taken in the same location I had taken a video last year. The difference is, a fish was caught on the first cast this year. Last year it took two cast. Mind you, we can fish for hours and never get a fish. We were pretty impressed the fish were cooperating.

Recipe for Bret's Dads Fish Fry

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Been trying to get this video uploaded of Bret catching a fish and I just can't seem to do it.  If I get that figured out I will post later. 

Thanks to all the guest bloggers last week.  I am honored that you took the time to write for this little piece of my world.

Our family vacation every year consist of whatever family member is able to attend.  This year their was 17 of us.  2 fish fries, several lunches of fish and fish brought back home.  I would say it was a VERY fishy vacation.

Guest Blog: Cincinnati Street Art Education

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So after I have been hunting down guest bloggers all week for my Mom's (Ronda) blog, it's my turn for a guest blog. My name is Chris Breeden and I am the General Manager at Arnold's. I'm using my guest blog to take the opportunity to educate everyone on the importance of some of the street art that we have in Cincinnati. Some of the artists are from here, some are from around the world. I have been following street art and graffiti art my entire life. This list is by no means definitive. There is a lot more stuff around Cincinnati that I have never seen or I just didn't use. There is a ton of masterpieces under bridges and in tunnels that most of us will never see. All the photos I have used were painted on legal walls with permission. The idea here is I am going to show you a picture and give you a link to where you can learn more about the artist. Enjoy!

Guest Blog: Tattoo Artist Steven Mast from Designs By Dana

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Today's guest blog is from the Renaissance man, Steven Mast. Steve is not only a Tattoo artist at two of the best Tattoo shops in the country, Designs by Dana in Cincinnati and Avalon Tattoo in San Diego. He is also a surfboard designer. A lap steel guitar player for the local band Poke aka Filthy Mcnasty (playing at Arnold's on Dec 23rd) and is an amateur photographer. He's even done all of Chris's Tattoos. After you read his blog post, you can learn more about Steve here. 

When Chris asked if I was interested in doing a guest post for Ronda's blog about Arnold's, I must admit I was a bit intimidated. As tempting as it was to use this opportunity for self promotion, I have decided to share a few photos I have gathered over the years. Photography has always been a hobby of mine and in the two decades I have spent tattooing professionally and the decade I have spent enmeshed in the surf culture and board building industry of San Diego, I have gathered quite a few portraits that I feel capture the essence of these people that I have had the pleasure and sometimes honor of calling friend.

Guest Blog: Andrew Wetterer Talks Local Beer In Cincinnati

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Andrew Wetterer is a craft beer enthusiast, brewer, and beer blogger (beersupporteraw.blogspot.com). You can even follow him on twitter @beersupporteraw. Andrew would also love to see a continued resurgence of what was once a beer mecca here in Cincinnati.

If you've been around Cincinnati the past few year's you've probably noticed a few new breweries popping up around town. What many don't know is that Cincinnati has a long and storied history involving brewing! Sure, you've probably heard of Christian Moerlein and Hudepohl, but these were just a very small amount of the breweries that were around before prohibition. In fact, before the 1900's, there were hundreds of breweries in and around the Greater Cincinnati area. Most only lasted a few years, while others closed due to Prohibition.

Thankfully, there are those in Cincinnati seeking to restore Cincinnati Brewing History! There are breweries opening up throughout Cincinnati such as Mt. Carmel Brewing, Rivertown Brewing, and even Christian Moerlein is bringing their brewing operation back in to the city. Classic Cincinnati beers such as Hudepohl are making a resurgence, while new beers are popping up around town and quenching the thirst of many! 

Guest Blog: Alex Shebar's Brilliant List Of 5 More Things To Be Filmed In Cincinnati

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Today's guest blogger is Social Guru, Alex Shebar. Alex is the Community Manager for Yelp.com here in Cincinnati (which is a great website that tells you everything useful, funny and cool in this city.) His hobbies include watching way too many movies, making damn good mix-CDs and not kicking puppies … ok, sometimes he kicks puppies, but only for fun.

If you’d have asked me a year ago about the hotspots for recent movies and TV, I’d have told you Los Angeles, New York City and, it goes without saying, Duluth, Minnesota (obviously). But Cincinnati? Maybe a hotspot for filling oyster crackers with hot sauce, but for pop culture? No, not at all. 

Sure, we’ve had our run of things here, your Rain Man, Milk Money, WKRP in Cincinnati and so on, but they’ve been few and far between. That was, until recently. Something in the last year has switched and we’re suddenly the go-to place for media. Check out George’s Ides of March trailer that was recently released (yeah, we’re on a first name basis) or read the news about Arnold’s in NBC’s Harry’s Law. Go back and watch Police Women of Cincinnati or see our mayor onUndercover Boss. And it’s only growing!

I’m psyched that people outside of Ohio are seeing the awesomeness of this city and I want it to keep getting bigger. So, members of the Hollywood Elite, I present to you five more movies and shows you can make right here in Cincinnati. No credit needed … just send giant checks to my house instead.