My mother-in-law is wild about quilting and, luckily for us, she shares what she makes. When she emails me about a neat quilt store she's found, I know it's great. Here is her tip for anyone looking for a place that will give you some inspiration and goods if you're in the mood to buy. She also really likes the owner. Since Thymbles is located in Smithville at the edge of Amish country, this would be a fun jaunt for a day trip.

Thymble's website is still being added to but there are class offerings and special events. Last weekend, for example, there was a quilting retreat. If you're looking for what else there is to do in Smithville and the surrounding area, it's in Wayne County with plenty of places to poke around. Be sure to eat at The Barn Restaurant in Smithville. This was one of the restaurants that a lot of Ohio Magazine readers wrote in about as one of the best destination restaurants. It's no wonder. There's an electric train that goes around the lobby (you can hear it on the website). You can also feed ducks, smash a penny, play checkers and more. On the restaurant's website you can also hear bees and the tractor that kids can pretend to ride.

The quilt in the photo was made by Jane Hardy Miller and was used as the design for the quilt retreat. The pattern in called French Braid.

It's always interesting to find out what captures Ohioans' interests, particularly when they are Ohio transplants and originally hailed from elsewhere. When I gave Rachel Shaw, a writer's group friend of mine, the Ohio 5 questions, she described the scenery from the window of the 100 year-old farmhouse between Dublin and Plain City that she shares with her husband. "Every sunrise, every sunset was a new masterpiece that my suburban eyes were unused to. I have lots of pictures of the same scene - right between the barns - of a different more beautiful sky dotted with purple and blue and pink clouds."

The scene became her muse for her poetry . When it comes to fantasy fiction aimed for teens, she writes like a fiend. One book, The Necromancer's Scroll has been published under her pen name Sierra Torrin. Besides writing, (check out her blog) , Rachel gets around. If you're ever wondering what to do in Ohio here are her suggestions:

If it's August: "The Miami Valley Steam and Thresher Show at Pasttime Park, admission $10 (I think). The sounds of steam tractors clicking and grinding away like tiny old locomotives. . . You can find anything here. Antiques are as plentiful as old tools and crafts and Happy Meal toys. Popcorn, fried bologna, homemade ice cream in fresh waffle cones, and sausage fried up by the VFW boys are some of the smells that tempt you."

Place to Eat: "I drive my visitors to the Dutch Kitchen. Owned by the same proprieters as the Der Dutchman, it is a smaller establishment, and there is more to enjoy in a less hectic atmosphere. Here, one can enjoy the hospitality of the Amish, a large portion of the Plain City population, and enjoy the food and crafts.

Favorite Event and Place: Ohio Renaissance Fesitval and Ravenwood Castle, "a bed and breakfast just south of Hocking Hills on the edge of Vinton County. This wonderful place has been designed to look like a castle with small keeps surrounding it. Our honeymoon was spent in the King Arthur Suite, a splendid three-room apartment with a Jacuzzi bath, a sitting room upstairs, and a balcony.

And where she sees Ohio's wonder the most: "I've found pockets of beauty by the Scioto River and in its tributaries. I've discovered southeastern Ohio, the foothills of the Appalachians and the limestone caves."

Valentine's Day? You're asking the wrong person. That's for sure! I'm happily single and past that stage. But I'll gladly offer an opinion on just about anything, so here we go.

We'll start with restaurants. If you want an in-depth discussion, you could look at Toledo Restaurant Reviews, a local blog. It hasn't been updated in a while but it's useful.

For world-class continental cuisine you couldn't go wrong with Fifi's. It's even listed in Ochsner's Pocket Guide to the Finest Restaurants in the World. If your taste runs to Italian food, like mine Carrabba's and Ciao are good choices. Steak? You'll find that, and just about anything else you want, at one of the four Mancy's Restaurants.

How about a romantic atmosphere with good food, as well? No question there. Any of the restaurants at The Docks, in International Park will provide both. You can find seafood, Mexican dishes, Italian, Cajun, and who knows what else. While eating, you can watch the lights of Downtown Toledo reflect off the Maumee River. It's an impressive sight.

I could go on all night here, but that's enough to get you started. Oh, wait a minute. Maybe you're a gourmet cook and want to make your own romantic dinner. Don't go overboard and wear yourself out. Pick up dessert at Wixey's Bakery, on Glendale. They're the best in town. The only thing they lack is a website. The same can be said about my last suggestion, Superior Chocolate. Believe me, it is superior. How do chocolate covered strawberries sound?

Because we've grown so close over the years, I have no problem in admitting to you, Blogging Ohio, that this will be the first time in almost nine years that I've been single on Valentine's Day. Quite honestly, I'm a-ok with it. I think I'm going to buy myself a plant, maybe one of those tiny rose bushes, and buy myself a burrito. Maybe I'll make some guacamole - anyway, it'll be a decent time, without all the trappings and over-expense of the couple's version of Valentine's Day.

But! If you are a hopeless romantic, or you happen to be dating someone, and you want to go out, now is the time to start planning! It's only a little more than two weeks, and this is something that you really need to be on time with. I remember one time, my significant other and I had completely not prepared for Valentine's Day, so we went out to a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant, and strawberry daiquiris in honor of the day. But, really, you should plan better than I do. So I will be giving you several suggestions for three kinds of Valentine's Day restaurants in Cleveland.

The traditional, fancy route: If you would ask me what defines a fancy meal for me, it usually involves Italian food. So, I will first suggest Maggiano's Little Italy in Beachwood, OH. Very tasty, very classy. Also, there's a high quotient of delicious food that doesn't necessarily involve pasta, which means you won't feel too heavy! So, for a new review, let's talk about Parker's New American Bistro, in Ohio City. Their menu varies from season to season, as well as what's available from various local farmers and growers - that just sounds so tasty to me. Their menu does seem slightly vaguely French, with American touches, so very classy. Perfect for impressing a young lady with your taste.

The non-traditional, quirky route: Who wants to go someplace normal? Not me. I'd like to pretend that a young man could impress me far more by taking me someplace out of the ordinary with great good. Like Max's Deli and Johnny Mango! Holy cow, I love both of those restaurants, especially Max's Deli, and especially the dessert menu. They have crazy good cheesecake. And their corned beef! Something different, baby, just like Johnny Mango. Johnny Mango's worldly, international-themed menu is so tasty! Jamaican jerk chicken, burritos, mojitos and sangria! Mmmm. The food is so good, and the restaurant is different - you'll seem so bohemian and different!

The oh-damn-we-forget-hurry-take-me-somewhere-vaguely-decent route: I have done this several Valentine's Day, as well as on many other special occasions. The evening starts like this: "Oh! Shoot! We have to go someplace nice! Um, quick, let's go here!" For those occasions in Cleveland, may I suggest Sullivan's Irish Pub or Great Lakes Brewing Company. Both are so tasty! Sullivan's has such awesome Irish-inspired food - anything with Irish cheddar is phenomenal. And the Great Lakes Brewing Company is such classic restaurant food - steaks, hamburgers, good beer, salmon. In fact, Great Lakes is a great Valentine's Day dinner for a guy! There you go, ladies!

Buying chocolate, flowers, or those little message heart candies are fine if there's no time to plan ahead for Valentine's Day, but consider some other options. If you use your senses to lead the way, you might come up with some interesting ways to celebrate love. Or a deep like. Or an "I kind of like you." Here are some starting places:

Sense of smell- With Ohio's botanical gardens' conservatories creating a haven against the freshly arrived winter's chill, head to one of them. Breathe in the fragrances of the jungles, orchid gardens and mountainous regions of the world. So, what if you can't go to a tropical island with your honey this year? At Krohn Conservatory, Franklin Park Conservatory, and Cleveland Botanical Garden you can pretend.

If eating is a way to your loved one's heart, head to a cooking school where you can spend time together--plus taste your efforts. Dorothy Lane Market Cooking School in Dayton has wonderful options. Many restaurants, like Handkes in Columbus also have classes. Here is a Shaw Guides website with links to several of them.

If the sense of sound is your fancy, head to a symphony concert. You can engage your sense of sight as well since many of Ohio's symphonies perform in the most beautiful buildings in the state. In February, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Akron Symphony , The Youngstown Symphony and the Toledo Symphony have concerts.

For the soothing sense of touch, get a couple's massage. The Marengo Institute, a mind body spa that originated in California but now has Cleveland and Columbus locations, has a Couples Delight Package.

Another option for the sense of sight is an art museum. Here is the botanical garden and art museums page of Ohio Travelers.com to find one you may not have thought of before.

Bob Evans Restaurants show up a winner every time Ohio Magazine asks people to list their favorite best value restaurant. At least that happened when I was there. Once there was a rule that chains weren't to be nominated-just to give some other restaurants a chance to shine. No matter. People in Ohio are wild about Bob Evans. At least the folks who enter restaurant contests are.

As one reader stated, "You said no chains, but we go there all the time. The food is always good, as are the service and the prices."

I like Bob Evans myself, especially for breakfast--and recognizing that breakfast is one of its hallmarks, the chain has cooked up a different kind of contest itself. This one is on Ebay. People are bidding on a 3-day vacation and breakfast with Bob Evans himself. The neat thing about this, is that proceeds are gong to Habitat for Humanity.

What's the impetus for all this? With its roots firmly in Ohio, even though it's reaches are far outside the state's borders, Bob Evans Restaurants have a new item on the menu and their own blog, "One Stack at a Time." The blog is basically devoted to Stacked and Stuffed pancakes. Readers can add their favorite choices. There is also a video that shows how to make Stacked and Stuffed pancakes yourself. The listed favorite from the blog is roasted apple carmel cream. Here's a link to the press release about the contest and Bob Evans's new endeavors. Also, if you want to join in the auction, hurry. You only have two days left. This is a great opportunity to have an Ohio vacation and help charity as well.

For as much time as I end up spending in coffee shops, I really feel that I ought to drink coffee. But that's ok, since the hot chocolate and on-the-spot-made bakery at Gypsy Beans & Baking Company more than compensates for my not knowing how their coffee tastes (according to Sidekick Girl, it's awesome).

Today the coffee shop, restaurant and bakery will have been opened for exactly two weeks, and it's been a packed two weeks! As owner Niki Gillota says, "I didn't expect the place to be packed every day!" And it has been - I've been in twice during these two weeks, and there have always been people in there. And they are wildly flattering. In a quick survey of the larger room this past Saturday, I received these quotes about Gypsy Beans:

• "I was here the other day and the whole neighborhood came through here!"
• "I love it here."
• "This is the second time this week that I've been here."
• "Better than the commercialized coffee shop - it's your own little place."
• "Loving it - I'll never go to Starbucks again."
• "The neighborhood needs something like this - there's no other little cafe here."
• "Yeah, I'm pretty much just going to live here."

The theme that I have really noticed is how well Gypsy Beans fits in to the whole context and feeling in the Detroit-Shore way - Gordon Square Arts district (the coffee shop is located on W. 65 and Detroit). Niki specifically chose the area as the community that she wanted to service, and says, "My expectations have been blown far far far away." Thus far, I have not run into a single person who doesn't like the big open room, cozy meeting room, WI-fie Internet, and the incredibly cool menu.

As her store's slogan says, Niki brings "flavors found wandering the world" into the coffee blends, bakery and bistro menu! For example: honey-nut praline cheesecake, Scottish-style shortbread and chocolate-chip scones, and really, really good-looking sandwiches and soups. Sidekick Girl had a chocolate-chip scone, and loved it, while I had a bagel (I'm boring) and some home-made red pepper cream cheese spread, which was awesome. I was also quite tempted by cream of spinach vegan soup. Niki and her staff are really hard workers, and I was way impressed.

Overall, it is a fantastically good coffee shop. It's staffed by charming and enterprising people, and run by a lovely brilliant businesswoman who is mean shakes at baking. If you live in Cleveland, by all means, go to Gypsy Beans!

I thought I had written about all I had to say about donuts, but here's one more. There's a new bit of news about Franklin County's penal system popping up across the U.S. There will be no more donuts. Not jelly, not custard, not a powdered or plain. Not even the donut holes. Too bad for Whitehall-based Jolly Pirate Donuts since they would have had the contract to provide Franklin County prisoners with sweet eats according to one article I came across. I started looking for more info and found same article or a slight variation in several locations ranging from ABC News to WTOP, a Washington, D.C. based radio station to North County Gazette based out of New York State. There are more.

Trans fats are to blame for the donut cuts. The aim is for healthier prisoners. Here's some more about this donut piece of news. Franklin County folks who pay taxes were coughing up $55,000 a year to keep inmates in crullers , glazed and jelly donuts. It's not clear though if some donuts were eaten by people who worked at the prison or just prisoners. No matter, if you want to eat a donut, you'll have to do it off county prison grounds. The Jolly Pirate Donuts in Grove City earned 5 stars from a very satisfied customer. You could head there.

I'm a little behind on this assignment. I blame my terrible cold and the fact that I may have broken a bone in my foot - more on that exciting news tomorrow! But since the end of the year has come and gone, I want to join the ranks of my fellow bloggers and talk about what I think were some of my better posts from 2006.

Most recently, my review of the Bazaar Bizarre craft fair. Start saving up for the December 2007 version! In October, I talked about two things that I thought were pretty interesting, and completely unrelated: Toni Morrison and her anniversary of getting the Novel Prize, and being filmed in November on Election Day. I really like to review restaurants, local fairs of any kind and books. So, in a quick sampling, my review of Sullivan's restaurant in Lakewood, Ohio; a review of my annual pilgrimage to the St. Rocco's Festival; and a review of Cleveland native Les Roberts' memoir, We'll Always Have Cleveland! Obviously, I love Ohio - you may have gathered that piece of information from my working for a website wholly devoted to Ohio! But I like when our great Buckeye state makes it into the news in weird ways: like when I found an mention of our major cities in Forbes' discussion of best cities for singles. I really have become involved in the wholly stand-up comic scene here in Cleveland, for which you may totally blame my dear good friend, Sidekick Girl! But I like helping her and her fellow comics out with a little bit of free publicity, like when I reviewed the first Rockstar Comedy event.

I also love getting to take pictures for you, Blogging Ohio! Enjoy an old Ohiopic of the Day! Let's go to '07!

• Crockpot gator
• Deep-fried gator (KFG?)
• Gator Jumbalaya
• Gator-tater Salad
• Sauteed Alligator medallions in Dijon Mustard Sauce
• Pickled Gator (I'll bet there are few of those in the stands on Monday night!)
• Gator on a stick
• Stewed Gator (see above)

Now that we've officially passed the beginning of the year mark, but 2007 still stretches out before us, it's good to remember that it's a long time before the "season of giving" rolls around again. That doesn't mean folks' needs are gone just because the holiday spirit is waning. I was listening to WOSU's radio program Open Line on Wednesday ,the 3rd, when the subject was food banks-- specifically the needs of people who have the economic short end of the stick.

Here are some needs that don't get thought about much. Baby supplies. Diapers and baby food are in high demand and are often overlooked as items to give. Also, cleaning supplies and toiletry items. These things are needed for a healthful life but are not covered by subsidies like food stamps which are not in stamp form anymore but are similar in look to a debit card.

Also, food banks are very careful about what types of foods they give out so if you have canned goods that you can't quite remember buying because it was that long ago, don't donate it. Only donate food that's good quality and not past its expiration date.

Here are some interesting points that one of the guests mentioned. She said that Ohio's corporations are generous (they were talking in terms of businesses that produce food) but that the businesses are in business to make money so that to heavily rely on them is not realistic. She was quite complimentary of businesses, though. A lot of donated goods come from farmers themselves through a program that offers food at a very reduced price.

A comment was also made that half of the people in Ohio in dire economic situations consistently have to make the decision between buying food or keeping the utilities on. Also, sometimes people don't know where to go for available help.

Here is the guest list from WOSU's website. Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks Executive Director Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, Lutheran Social Services Director of Food Pantry Services Barb Packer and Westerville W.A.R. I tuned in late and had to quit listening because I arrived where I was going before the program was over so I'm not sure who said what.

Ah, the Internet. What would I do without it? Certainly I would not find out about all these crazy little happenings around Cleveland. For example, did you know that there is a great blog being written by a local Ohio chef/food lover? No? Well, neither did I, so who can blame us. But here's a link to Michael Ruhlman's site (which is quite good, if much smarter than me), and if you scan back a little ways, you will find his post called "For Those Who Can't Get Enough Televised Paintball," which was posted on what appears to be December 27.

In that post, Mr. Ruhlman challenges Anthony Bourdain (celebrity chef, author of Kitchen Confidential, and star of own show "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel) to do a show in Cleveland! Apparently, Mr. Ruhlman knows Mr. Bourdain, they've cooked together, they scrap, etc. Well, after Bourdain was challenged (and rightly so, as Ruhlman says: "Come to Cleveland, Mr. Soft Palms. We gotch ya cultcha right heah, pal."), he commented back on Ruhlman's blog. If I can correctly quote Mr. Bourdain here: "I am taking you up on your challenge. There WILL be a Cleveland episode of NO RESERVATIONS." This was posted on December 28, and if my hawk-eyed watching of the other comments is accurate, although Ruhlman and Bourdain have apparently had way too good of a time in Vegas, Bourdain didn't take it back!

Pay attention, Cleveland. It's time to step up and offer awesome food. And let's think of something other than pirogi, hmm? I think everyone knows that Cleveland is a somewhat Polish town. Just a bit.

A reader commented on my Marysville blog that he thought Mrs. Renison's Donuts is a chain. Hmmm. I never heard of it. So, I did a Google search. The only two donut shops I came up with that name is the one in Marysville and one in Richwood. I did find a Mrs. Renison's Crispie Crème Donuts establishment for sale in Portsmouth, OH. You can put your hands on that for $365,000. This is not to be confused with Krispy Kreme donuts. I thought there might be some connection between Mrs. Renison's and the K spelling version, but I don't think so. Mrs. Renison's recipe is from 1929. Krispy Kreme is later than that. So, who is Mrs. Renison? What is the recipe? I may just have to call the store and ask but it's night and no one is there. There is a colored sketch of Mrs. Renison on the Marysville sign, but perhaps Mrs. Renison is like Betty Crocker, a pure made up name. But, honestly, I only found the two listed in the on-line yellow pages.

Still curious about the donuts in Ohio subject, I Googled "Ohio Donuts" and found this other yellow pages website with this heading "Most Popular City for Ohio Donuts-Doughnuts." Notice the two spellings. Marysville is not listed as a city where donuts are popular, however if you click on the "M", Mrs. Renison's comes up with the two listings: the Marysville one and the Richwood one. The site though does list business that don't have anything to do with donuts as well--like car repair or something.

Here are some other donut establishments that were listed with names I haven't seen in other places.

Jo Jos Donut Shop, 2620 Valley Pike, Dayton. 937-233-1253

Hinkle's Donuts, 6636 W Bancroft St., Toledo 419-720-7565.

Rods Doughnut Shop, 208 N Main St., Uhrichsville. 740-922-4767

One of my favorites is Buckeye Donuts, 1998 N High St. Columbus, 614-291-3923 across from the OSU campus. You can order from them on-line through campusfood.com. This website, it seems, devoted to getting college students fed without them stepping foot out of a dorm room.

And what is my favorite kind of donut? Plain old-fashioned every time.

Hum that to the tune of, "Where does all the time go?"

Holy cow. I'm quite busy, and I wanted to apologize to you, Blogging Ohio, since between my horrific cold (my voice is two steps away from being gone) and baking 5 pans of brownies for work, I've been swamped! You may have recently read in the Cleveland Plain Dealer an article in the PDQ section about people at work swooping in on food in your kitchen/common area/what have you. They chose some classics (cookies and candy) and some not-so-classic food items (pickled pimento loaf), and timed how long it took for the food to disappear. Obviously, some things went faster than others!

In the spirit of that article, and in light of the fact that I have zero energy but wanted to write something to you guys, here's a recipe that I've thematically christened Buckeye Brownies (with a slight variation, they could be OSU Brownies, which I'll explain at the end.) Please don't hate me, Blogging Ohio: take my offer of brownies and patiently wait for me to come back to you!

Buckeye Brownies

4 1-ounce squares of unsweetened baking chocolate
2/3 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup peanut butter, slightly warmed for a few seconds in the microwave (so that it becomes easy to pour)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips (or, if you want to put some peanut butter cups cut in half on top instead, get rid of the peanut butter chips and chocolate chips, and just use those)

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan - I usually just use metal, but if you want to use glass you can.
Melt the baking chocolate and shortening over low heat in a sauce pot - if you want to be really clever, you'll use a big enough sauce pot that you get everything in it!
Beat in sugar, eggs and vanilla.
Stir flour, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl, and blend into the chocolate mixture.
Pour the batter into the pan. Pour the peanut butter into the batter, and swirl through with a knife.
Bake for 25 minutes, and pull out. Scatter either the chips, or the cut-in-half peanut butter cups, over the batter and bake for another 5 minutes.
Ta da! Ohio-themed brownies!

Alternate OSU version:
Do not add peanut butter to the batter, and do not scatter peanut butter or chocolate chips on top. Instead, add red and white M&Ms (easily bought for Valentine's Day, and all you have to do is pick out the pink ones!). If you're feeling massively creative, spell out the script Ohio!

A report just issued by marijuana-activist John Gettman claims that marijuana is the most valuable cash crop in the United States. According to his statistics, at $35.8 billion, pot is almost 50% more valuable than corn and almost thrice that of soybeans. As the report states, the income from pot exceeds that of peanuts in Georgia, cotton in Alabama, and grapes in California.

His report is an extrapolation on seizures by law enforcement of pot and plants. Totals assume the value of an indoor plant at $702 and outdoor plant at $351, or about $175 per ounce.

I wondered how these highly-debatable conclusions would play out in the Ohio economy. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, in 2005 the top-yielding legal crop in Ohio was soybeans, worth about $1.1 billion, followed by corn ($836 million) and hay ($386 million).

By contrast, Gettman estimates the value of the Ohio marijuana crop at $457 million, not including the increases in pizza and Pink Floyd sales. He estimates Ohio is 11th in outdoor production, with 521,000 plants producing almost 230,000 pounds of herb. We rise to 10th in indoor production, 250,000 plants producing 55,000 pounds.

Southeastern Ohio has long had the reputation as a source of some of the area's most potent pot. In 2004, the bulk of the state's Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation's 50,000 plant seizures took place in that area.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, based on 2002-3 stats, the most recent available, slightly over 1 million Ohioans have smoked weed in the past year. About half were 26 years of age or older.

As with any illegal activity, these statistics are highly questionable. If this were true, however, I have to feel sympathy for the farmer who busts his hump to cultivate a few hundred acres of corn.