I honestly really like winter. I like snow, I don't mind being cold, and if it wasn't for how dirty my car gets, I wouldn't mind if it was winter for a lot longer! The only problem with winter is what to do! It's so cold, so why go outside unless you have to? Sometimes you've made a New Year's resolution for yourself (bad idea), and then you feel even more like you need to get out of the house! "I said I was going to take a cooking class/go to Pilates/learn how to identify flowers, how can I do that in the house?" That's one of the many reasons I don't make New Year resolutions.

So! Let's think of some things to do. How about that Pilates class? If you're in Cleveland, you can hit up a couple of different places, and I'm going to be attempting a class at Studio 11 in Tremont. How about some other kind of class? I've been recently thinking about getting into web design (nothing like working for a blog to make you frustrated when you look at how other websites are designed!), and so I gave a quick glance over the Cleveland State University and Cuyahoga Community College open class schedules. Never underestimate community classes! They're not any more expensive than anything else, and you learn something! And the favorite winter pasttime of all twenty-somethings, going to a bar. I've recently taken a shine to a restaurant/bar near my house called Melt - their food specialty is grilled cheese sandwiches. I kid you not. But their mojitos are pretty good too!

And all of that gets you out of the house. What do you do to get out of the house?

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.

InterAct Cleveland is an organization that I've never heard of, but is one that I'm so interested in that I'm thinking of joining! It's a coalition of more than sixty five Baha'i, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Sikh and Unitarian Universalist congregations, other faith communities, campus groups and community organizations. Technically, InterAct stands for InterReligious Partners in Action of Greater Cleveland. What a lovely long name for a interreligious community of people working together for social justice!

InterAct has a two-fold mission of equipping individuals to act on their faith tradition to help those living in poverty, and of working together to help those in poverty. And coming up in mid-February is the Homeless Stand Down! The Homeless Stand Down is a winter festival of resupply, reconnection and respite! It also provides hospitality, entertainment, clothes, toiletries, haircuts, medical consultations, massages and other sundries.

The Stand Down is going on from February 10 (at Pilgrim Congregational Church), February 16 (Cleveland Convention Center), February 18 (Trinity Cathedral) and February 19 (First Church Cleveland UMC). As with any volunteer event, they need more! Donated items and volunteers! Check out InterAct's website, or email sommers@interactcleveland.org.

Yes, it's finally snowed to the point that it looks like it counts. Sledding, cross-country skiing, down-hill skiing, the possibilities for outdoor winter fun have arrived. If it lasts, here are some places for some good sled riding if you get the chance. One possibility is to head to a metro park. At Columbus Metro Parks, Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park, Blacklick Woods, Highbanks and Sharon Woods have sledding hills.

In Cleveland, check out The Chalet in Mill Stream Run Reservation for tobogganing, and for sledding there are several possibilities that range from Hinkley to Rocky River to Chagrin Falls. Within the options there are some places that have lights for night sledding.

For any of you who live in other parts of Ohio, here is a website: Ohio Sled Riding Locations. It lists 64 sled riding hills across the state. There are comments, as well as details,about a hill's steepness and location. If you have your own sled hill favorite and want to share, submit it to the website and let us know here as well.

I have to admit that "severe weather" warnings seem to be getting more common, along with warnings of "don't go out if you don't have to." I don't think it's because we have more bad weather than ever before. It's just because we hear about it a lot more in this day of instant information. If you'd like to see just how bad Ohio weather can get, and you don't scare easily, there's a good website Ohio History called Severe Weather in Ohio. It might make you a little less ready to run for the basement, thinking the latest storm isn't all that big a deal, or it might make you take the next plane out in terror. i wouldn't recommend that course, though. You can't run from Mother Nature.

The site was developed with information from a book called Thunder in the Heartland: A Chronicle of Outstanding Weather Events in Ohio, by Dr. Thomas Schmidlin and Jeanne Appelhaus Schmidlin. Brief accounts of twenty-five events are presented, with photographs and, in some cases, videos. Whoever designed the site did an excellent job. There's a weather glossary and a good page of links. If you go to Weather for You, you'll find out that, on any given day, there was a time when the weather was a lot worse. Maybe it will make shoveling the snow a little easier. Want a forecast? Just go to the National Weather Service. It's a lot faster than waiting for the news.

The site deals with tornadoes, floods, heat waves, and some mysterious eight-foot waves that hit Cleveland. Toledoans remember the day in, 1992, when twenty-eight tornadoes passed through Northwest Ohio, a record that I'm glad I missed. There is an event on the list that I remember well, even though I survived it in the next state over. January of 1977 is a month I'll never forget. The blisters on my hands from shoveling snow ten times a day for a whole month lasted till spring. I never want to see twenty-five below on a thermometer again! After that shock, it takes a lot to impress me.

When I mentioned to someone this weekend that there was going to be new roller coaster ride at Cedar Point this summer his reaction ran towards the incredulous. He wasn't sure where they would put it or what might be different about it from all the other roller coasters. Good point, I thought, so I looked it up. I'm sure the Maverick roller coaster will be terrific, but I'll miss the ride it is replacing.

Here's the scoop: The Maverick is going to be in Frontiertown. The website makes it look like it's connected to the Wild West era but it's certainly going to be speedier than the Pony Express and use modern roller coaster advancements to keep it in motion. The first hill is 105-ft and the drop down is at a 95 degree angle. Before you reach 5 feet above the ground, you'll have reached a speed of 57 mph. After that, expect hairpin turns, eight more hills, three inversions and a tunnel. At the highest speed you'll be going 70 mph. That sounds like some brain rattling ride. (Hint: to protect your neck on a rollercoaster, clasp one hand behind you neck with the palm at the back and fingers curled toward the front. I don't know if this really works, but it sure feels better to me.)

The Maverick is being built to the tune of 21 million in the spot where the White Water Landing used to be. Shoot! I liked that ride. One of the reasons I liked it was because this was a great ride for multiple age groups. Last summer when we went to Kings Island with friends of ours, plus my mother we rode a similar ride. The youngest of our raft group was 4. The oldest was 68. We got soaked (the oldest and the youngest the most) and had a blast. I hope Kings Island keeps its raft ride. That's what the picture is of. For more family rides at Kings Island you can look at the family rides page and scroll down to see all of them. Each has a tidy description. While they all look good, the water raft ride is certainly one of the most involved.

Anyway, the Maverick will be the park's 17th roller coaster. I guess with 17 roller coasters that ought to spread the lines out a bit so waits won't be so long. Hah! Wishful thinking. If you go to Cedar Point's website you can see more Maverick details and keep up with its construction.

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!

The Columbus Metro Parks System Winter Hike series in its 34th year kicks off January 6 at Blacklick Woods. If you've never been to Blacklick Woods, even if you don't want to hike, this is a wonderful place in Reynoldsburg. I headed there for the first time this past fall to take my son to a pre-school activity. We ended up in the nature center where we watched deer from up close. They were right outside the huge made-for-viewing picture windows. There are some other neat flora and fauna displays about the natural wonders of this park, (the oldest in the system), that hit the interests of multiple age ranges. Blacklick was once a farm. Somewhere on the property there is a tree that used to be the only one around. It was the tree that was the shade provider for animals in the field. When you see it, you'll know. It's huge compared to the others around it. The field is long gone, so the name Blacklick Woods makes sense.

Besides the nature center, the trails consist of a series of boardwalks and pathways. But, back to the hikes. The hikes are at the various parks at different times. One park has one hike, and only that hike is the scheduled hike for a particular day so they are not competing with each other.You can earn a winter hike patch by going on 7 of the organized hikes. There are refreshments connected with each one, and at som, naturalists and volunteers will guide the forays out into nature. Some hikes are shorter than others. The shortest is 1 mile. The longest is 6. Each hike has a longer and a shorter version to take in account how fit hikers are and how much time they have to spend outdoors. Hikes either start at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. Here is a link to the page with the schedules.

I love sunset - that's the one benefit to this crazy unseasonabl weather. Beautiful sunsets. I especially liked this one in Public Square, of the top of the Soldiers and Sailors monument.

photo credit: katherine galo

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.

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!

Back when I was the Calendar of Events editor for Ohio Magazine there was one event that stuck with me-The Walleye Drop. At least that's what I remember it being called. See, in Port Clinton, OH where the term bitter cold was probably invented, townspeople gather together for Walleye Madness on New Year's Eve. This year is the 12th time Wylie brings in the new year. Since Port Clinton is the "Walleye Capital of the World," why not?

Folks join in festive fun such as singing "Hang on Wylie" and dancing the "Wallerina" until the midnight countdown. This is when they drop Wylie the Walleye and fireworks go off. There's also food and performing groups. Everything takes place downtown. The Walleye Madness website has lodging information as well.

About Wylie. He's a 20-foot, 600-lbs.f ish made from fiberglass. The original one was made from paper mache. You can imagine how well that one lasted from one New Year's celebration to the next.

I mean, forgive me for being childish, but come on! Do you think we've not noticed the incredibly balmy (for Ohio in late December) weather? It was 45 degrees today. I wore a spring coat! It's just crazy. According to the National Weather Service, both Cincinnati and Columbus have seen only a "trace" of snow, as opposed to their usual December averages of 3.6 and 5 inches of snow, respectively. The Boston Mills and Brandywine ski resorts are both temporarily closed, and they have yet to announce an opening day. We are in for a warm, wet winter. And that just sucks.

You've noticed that needles fall off your Christmas tree whenever someone comes near it. Yep, time to take down that tree and put the ornaments and lights back in their boxes until next December.

The ornaments and lights might be done for the season, but the tree is not. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, don't send your tree to a landfill but consider one of these ideas:

o. Submerge your tree in a farm pond, if you happen to have one. Fish and pond life will live in it. Tie a cement block to it to get the tree to stay under water.

o. You can also put your tree in a corner of your yard to provide shelter for wildlife.

o. Or take your tree to a tree recycling place

o. Or chip it up yourself to make mulch and compost material.

o. Yard waste pick-up programs will also pick up Christmas trees and they will be composted. If your tree is over eight feet, cut it in half.

Before you dump your tree somewhere, make sure it's okay so you don't get nailed for littering.

Also, take off any tinsel and ornaments.

The Earth Day 911 website has some of the tree recycling centers in Ohio listed. You type in your zipcode. The ODNR website also has links to county tree recyling programs. Look for your county and click on it.

As I was driving home from what turned out to be a full 32 hours of holiday entertainment and et cetera (I love my big, unwieldy, on-the-opposite-ends-of-town family!), I was listening to the last few hours of WDOK 102.1's nonstop holiday music. It was pretty good, and they have quite a lot of different songs that run the musical genre gamut, and so I was not very surprised to hear a song that I'd not heard before. I was a little surprised that it was an original Christmas song, as opposed to an artist's cover of an older song. An original song! So I listened a little harder, and as I listened I realized that it was about having a Christmas in Cleveland! I was puzzled. I was intrigued. I listened. And subsequently learned that "Have a Merry Cleveland Christmas" was penned and sang by Alan Douglas, and actually has been included in an album called Mistletoe Melodies: Holiday Songs of Cleveland Artists (available through Little Fish Records)! Worth a listen, especially for lyrics that talk about how nice it is to celebrate Christmas in Public Square. So true. Of course, Public Square looks a little more like it does in the picture than it does in the song, all covered in snow, but maybe someday soon!