We can all agree that breakfast is the best food. Why else is would there be restaurants whose theme is all-day breakfast? Name one restaurant that advertises all day cold-cut sandwiches. You’d say that popular sub shop, but they now stock and advertise special breakfast ingredients for the morning. Breakfast is just so varied that you’ll never run out of breakfast food to try. Everything from steak to mimosas count as breakfast: practically anything qualifies if you try hard enough.

This is a take on a breakfast sandwich that travels easier and takes less work to prepare. Instead of cooking all of the ingredients separately, mix them all together and cook them in the bread. It won’t fall apart in your lunch box and you just slice off each meal instead of stacking up a sandwich. That way, you can easily take breakfast with you to eat whenever, wherever, with as little prep as possible.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• ¼ cup shredded cheese
• 1 loaf, french or other hard-crusted bread
• 5 slices, bacon
• 1 sweet onion, medium
• ¼ cup, milk
• sliced cheese (optional)
• Other various omelette ingredients (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°, and begin to cook bacon on stovetop. Meanwhile, dice sweet onion and prepare any additional favorite omelette ingredients. Remove bacon to paper towels once cooked and sauté onions in leftover bacon grease. Chop bacon and crack eggs into mixing bowl or large measuring cup. Whisk eggs adding milk, shredded cheese, onion, bacon and any other ingredients.

Along the top of the loaf of the bread, cut diamond down entire length and remove most of the insides. Pour egg mixture into hollowed-out loaf and optionally add very thinly-sliced cheese over top. Place into oven and cook 30-40 minutes until egg is set all the way through. Slice and enjoy!

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If you live in Marietta, you don’t need much of an excuse to hang out by the river. A cool breeze and sunshine is all you can really ask for. Add in fiberglass powerboats screaming down the Ohio, however, and the rest of the Mid-Ohio valley joins you on the riverbanks.

Earlier this month, Marietta once again hosted the Riverfront Roar festival, closed down a few streets radiating away from the Lafayette and filled it with food trucks. The levee disappeared under blankets and lawn chairs in preparation for what some describe as “river NASCAR.”

Closer to a race car than the pontoon boats you can rent at the Marietta Harbor, these sleek machines look like something from the Hydro Thunder arcade game from my childhood. Fiberglass skips along the top of the water, with an enclosed cockpit akin to a fighter jet. Built slim for speed, I’m not sure there’s enough room for me to even get in the boat, although I could try with the league’s drivethisboat.com. Starting from the docks below the Lafayette’s parking lot, they zipped along an oval course designated by inflatable buoys with the bigger boats reaching 120 mph in the straights. With all of the spectators sitting in their own pleasure craft, anchored on either side of the track, it felt like our very own Mid-Ohio Valley Grand Prix De Monaco.

While the weekend was centered around the races, it was also an opportunity for the rest of the community to come together. The regular food trucks and snacks were there, but also a number of local artists and businesses set up on front street. Friday hosted five live bands and the Roar’s got Talent show. A 5k race opened up Saturday before opening ceremony. Between the heat races were more bands and even the Columbus Zoo Safari at the Armory, with fireworks rounding out the evening. Sunday began the full races for the three classes of boats and and a car show at the armory to help pass the time between races.

By now the boats are being packed up and the funnel cake truck is no longer parked on Greene street, but sounds of jet fuel-sucking powerboats and the community coming together to watch them are memories that won’t fade as easily. Riverfront Roar is just one of the many festivals that make living in the MOV so great, but it is arguably one of the best, if not the fastest.

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If you’ve read my article about fountain pens, you know that I have a love for using writing tools many others overlook. Don’t get me wrong, technology has advanced our lives in ways I would never trade away, but it has also allowed us more time to enjoy what we used to see as a chore. Writing emails affords me the luxury of slowing down and relish in the act of writing, and I’m not alone.

“Analog tools are definitely making a comeback. Apart from the fact that there are still things that are better done by hand, I feel like the more dependent we become to technology the more people crave the physicality and nostalgia of something like a pen or a pencil. People want to feel connected to the work that they’re doing and the tools that they’re using. That’s what I’m here for—not just to supply high-quality tools from every corner of the world but also the stories that go with them and a heightened sense of nostalgia.”

Caroline Weaver grew up in Marietta, the daughter of an interior designer and an engineer. “They were both really into good art and office supplies, so a lot of time was spent at that really great office supply store that used to be on Second street. I loved going there and seeing all of the stacks of pencil boxes.” Her love grew into a dream of opening a shop that would follow her to New York, and then to London for art school.

But it was upon her return to New York that she decided to quit her job and start her business. “This is something I’d thought about for quite a few years–it was my idea of a perfect job, one that I knew didn’t already exist.” Trusting her instincts, she happened upon a location space on Forsynth St. and CW Pencil Enterprise was born.

I want everyone to feel like the things they’re using were made just for them.

Caroline knows that the world is filled with people like me who love the tactile feel of writing and are searching for a tool that fits them. “[…]Everyone who works here has the knowledge to make very personalized recommendations. I want everyone to feel like the things they’re using were made just for them.”

For those of you ready to leap into taking back your writing, CW pencil Enterprise sells a few sets, including the favorite things sampler, made to let you try some of the best-sellers and feel out what you like. When you decide to venture outside of the sets, you’ll find that Caroline has a plenty of quality pencils to choose from. “The Palomino Blackwing 602 is a pencil that we consider the ‘gateway’ pencil but another good place to start is with General Pencil Company–they’re the oldest pencil company left in the US (est. 1889 and still family-owned). They make the best available version of a yellow, American #2. I import tons of things from Japan too, those are always popular because the quality is exceptional.”

Standing in her store or looking at her website it’s hard not to imagine yourself in her childhood shoes, staring at the stacks of pencil boxes. As someone with no experience with pencils, but who has spent many hours finding what fountain pens I love, I just had to ask Caroline what her favorite pencil is: “I don’t have a favorite—it’s too hard to choose! I like everything for different reasons. We did just launch a pencil of our own called the Editor. I designed it with Caran d’Ache in Switzerland—one half is a really high quality red pencil and the other is an HB graphite with excellent point retention. It’s made for the organized, minimalist pencil user who needs more than just a graphite pencil. It’s my dream pencil and I’m thrilled that I finally convinced someone to make it with me.”

Though she lives in New York, the Mid-Ohio Valley still has a special place in Caroline’s heart, and she tries to visit at least once a year. So if you’re feeling the nostalgia, or simply want to experience a 21st century pencil store, visit CW Pencil Enterprise the next time you are in the big apple and indulge in Caroline’s plethora of pencils.

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My first encounter with Nacho Average Taco was a little bit like a back-alley deal. The kind that you saw on those stupid DARE infomercials as a kid, where some bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, white blonde child was strolling down the sidewalk, books in hand, and an old balding dude in a trench coat steps out of the shadows.

“Hey Kid. You wanna buy something?”

The kid stops suddenly, and looks around nervously for help.

“You’ll like it.” Says the trenchcoated man, as he pulls open one side to reveal a hundred pockets filled with nefarious ways to get up to no good.

Only for me, it was filled with tacos, and there wasn’t a guy in a trench coat, but there was a dark alley, so I guess this analogy was only 37% effective (the deliciousness of the tacos bump it up to 40%).

I’ll start over: I happened to be out way past my bedtime (of 10pm) getting ready to leave a bar, and on my walk home I heard someone call out from the dark alley,

“Hey, you wanna buy some tacos?”

I stopped suddenly, and looked around for who was offering me said tacos, and then noticed that there were two figures and a cart (that smelled wonderful). Of course I couldn’t refuse, so a minute later I was eating the most delicious Korean BBQ taco I’ve ever had. Thus began my love affair with Nacho Average Tacos.

Since then, Chelsea Lancaster and Derek Burgess outgrew their space in the Commons, sold the cart and moved to their current location at 114 Putnam Street in Marietta. They also outgrew their menu and have added everything from appetizers to sushi tacos! Recently I caught up with Chelsea to ask what inspired this culinary adventure and what Marietta can look forward to engorging themselves with in the future.

How did you come up with the idea of opening Nacho Average Taco?

My partner and I were watching “The Great Food Truck Race” on TV and became absolutely obsessed with the idea of owning a mobile food business. A few months later, we started the food cart and eventually the restaurant.

Are you a big fan of puns?

It’s punny that you would taco-bout that. And yes, very much so.

How long have you been cooking?

My mom says I’ve been cooking since I was 3, so I’ll just stick with that answer I guess.

If you were forced to eat just one of your tacos for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Bourbon Chicken Tacos! I could never get sick of them. Speaking of which, they’re on our new permanent menu!

If your tacos could give anyone who eats them a superpower, what would it be, and why?

I would say the ability to eat as many tacos as they want without gaining weight. The reason is obvious I hope. (We sell tacos)

If someone has somehow made it this far in life without eating a taco, which of your products do you recommend for the taco beginner?

First of all, are there people out there who really haven’t eat a taco?? Also, I would recommend our “build your own taco/burrito” menu, which has multiple meat, toppings, salsas and cheese to chose from.

How are you liking the new space?

The new space is absolutely wonderful! We couldn’t be more pleased with it.

I have seen that you are expanding your menu. Any exciting things coming down the pipe you want people to get excited about?

After seeing how popular the sushi tacos and sushirritos have been the last few weeks, we decided to keep them on the permanent menu! We are so excited to add new flavors and options for them every week.

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Potatoes are just about the best thing to buy in the grocery store. There are so many ways to enjoy them, and they’re so cheap! Besides eggs, no other food can be so varied in preparation. Everyone has their favorite recipe that they keep going back to, but I’d like to add another page to your cookbook: Chicken Fried Potatoes.

A lot of people love fried chicken, as a certain colonel’s profit margins can prove. To go with its fried goodness, many reach for the fried potato. I say, why not combine the two into golden-fried deliciousness? This recipe is packed with spices, but easily tweakable for your own pallet. Love paprika? Throw more in. Less heat? Take out the pepper flakes. Following this recipe gives you a base for you to experiment on later, and trust me, you’ll be making these again. If you’re not feeling adventurous, you can even use your own tried-and-true fried chicken recipe, replacing the chicken with the potatoes!

Ingredients

• 4-5 russet potatoes
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Wet mixture
• ~2 cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons thyme
• 2 teaspoons oregano

Coating

• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2.5 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

Heat about 2-3 inches of oil on the stovetop to 350 degrees.

Wash potatoes, and slice width-wise into pieces a little less than a quarter of an inch wide. Place in mixing bowl and pour about 2 cups (depends on the size of your mixing bowl) of buttermilk over potatoes until they are almost covered. There’s no need to drown the potatoes, but you need enough liquid to cover most of them, most of the time. Add in the rest of the wet-mix ingredients and stir until all of the slices have been coated, and set aside in fridge. In second mixing bowl, combine all of the coating spices with about 2 and a half cups of all-purpose flour.

Once oil is hot, remove each potato from the wet mix and dredge in your coating mix. Shake off excess flour and place in oil. Cook in batches until golden brown, usually 5-8 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve with your favorite dipping sauce!

Bonus Buttermilk Ranch Recipe

What to do with all of that leftover seasoned buttermilk from your potatoes? Turn it into homemade buttermilk ranch sauce! For each quarter cup of the seasoned buttermilk, add ¼ cup of sour cream, and 2 tablespoons of mayo and lemon juice. Whisk together until creamy.

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As we live in a world where the peculiarities of weather are decided not by the movements of air and heat, but by the whims of a subterranean rodent, we will now have to endure 6 more weeks of winter. If it’s anything like these past few weeks, then it will be cold and dreary without even a fleck of snow that would at least make this weather aesthetically pleasing. So when you’re shutting yourself in and cranking up the heat, a nice warm drink could help stave away the chill of the night. Enter the Hot Toddy.

Like many drinks created in Ireland and Scotland, at its core this drink is adding whiskey to something you would be drinking anyway. It pairs a hot tea-like brew, with the natural warmth of ages spirits that will not only will it help you sleep, but help to sooth the symptoms of the flu. Whether you’re sick, or just simply cold, try out this take on the classic recipe.

Supplies:

1.5 oz whiskey, bourbon

1 stick or 1.5 tbsp of ground cinnamon

2 tbsp honey

1 lemon

Water

Directions:

Start by filling a small saucepan with water and bringing it to a simmer. Meanwhile, zest your entire lemon (tip: you can use the super small part of your cheese grater if you don’t have a zester) and add to the water along with your cinnamon and honey. Simmer until the honey is dissolved and it takes on a dark tea-brown color. If using a stick of cinnamon, this could take a little longer, but your kitchen will start to smell wonderful.

When ready, either strain out the zest or ladle the lemon brew into your mug, and add bourbon and about 2 tablespoons of juice from your zested lemon. If needed, feel free to add more honey and lemon juice.

Even Easier, Not As Fun Version:

Brew a lemon tea, like Lemon-Zinger, and add honey and bourbon.

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With all of the hustling millennials have to do to land a job in this post-baby boomer economy, we don’t have enough time to prepare hot meals. Add in the ease of fast food, and it’s a recipe for unhealthy eating.

To this I say: fight back! With freezers, crockpots, and a little time one night a week, it’s possible to set yourself up with cheap, quick, and healthy meals. This meal prep will scratch your stir-fry itch for under $1.50 per meal, with total shopping list costing $12.50 and even some produce is left over for other meals. It’s also the perfect base for your favorite asian-inspired sauce, and can live in your freezer as an emergency meal when you need something with no prep.

Shopping List (purchased at a local Aldi):

1 Head of Green Cabbage – $1

3 Carrots – $2.50 for a bag

1 Yellow Onion – $1.50 for a bag of 3

2 green/red bell peppers – $2.50 for 2

5 minute rice – $2

Prep:

After washing all of your produce, grab a vegetable-only cutting board, 8 1-quart resealable bags, your sharpest knife and your veggies. First to prep are the two peppers, which can be seeded easily by pushing down with your thumbs around the stem. This should basically cause the top to get pushed in with all of the seeds still attached. Rip the pepper in half and toss all of the seeds out. Then cut length-wise into pieces about 1/16th of an inch and distribute evenly between the 8 bags.

Next, peel and trim the head and root, then halve top to bottom. Like the peppers, slice into 1/16th pieces, and distribute evenly into the 8 bags. Starting with three carrots, peel, sliver and bag. If needed, cut more carrots until they even out with the onions and peppers. Last is cabbage, sliced twice as thick as the other vegetables and cut enough to equal about double the amount of all other vegetable combined. At this point the bags should be about 2/3rds of the way full, so squeeze the air out and toss in the freezer.

Cooking:

Prepare rice per directions for rice and heat on medium with a smidge of olive oil. When hot toss in the frozen vegetables straight from the bag. If you put in too much oil, this is where you’ll start to get a lot of popping, so cover if needed. Eventually you’ll be able to break apart the frozen block, and that means it’s time to turn up the heat and pour in your favorite stir fry sauce (or soy sauce if you don’t have one)! When the veggies are looking plenty fried, serve over rice.

Besides the rice (which you could cook ahead of time and microwave hot) cooking should take less than 10 minutes, all depending on how hot your pan can get!

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I live in a very digital world.

As a professional photographer I look at a small screen on the back of a camera. When it’s time to edit, it’s on another screen (although it’s a good size larger). When I’m working on websites it’s on, you guessed it, a digital screen. I’ve even traded many of my paper books for a Kindle Paperwhite.

It wasn’t always this way; When I was younger I exclusively played my guitar through tube amps and all of my pedals were packed full of capacitors and resistors, no circuit boards. After practice my friends and I would listen to these black plastic discs that would emit sound when you spun it and a needle was placed on it. I remember taking photos in parks with my parents’ film camera, and right outside of my room was one of the many bookshelves in my house. Like many people I can’t point to a single moment when ink and paper was overtaken by our digital overlords, but we are definitely in it now.

Recently I’ve been looking for more ways to get away from my digital dependency, driven only partially by eye and back fatigue. My bathroom is now home to a table with film developing supplies, I pick up an actual book every once in awhile, but during the holidays my newest analog obsession creeped into my life: fountain pens.

It actually started with a gift that my wife received from my parents. After bouncing some ideas off of me, my dad came up with the idea of getting Laura a Nemosine Fission with a few nibs and some ink samples. She loved the gift but after a few months I have to admit I, well, commindered it. To my defense, she wasn’t using it at the exact moment I “borrowed” it and she hasn’t asked for it back, yet. After using it for a few months it’s grown into somewhat of an obsession. I’ve purchased three pens (I originally wrote ‘two,’ but then bought another before finishing the article), three ink bottles, syringes (blunt, although I still got weird looks from my coworkers when I was cleaning my red ink out of it), and various paper pads and notebooks. I’m also trying to leverage another pen as an anniversary gift from my wife but the jury is still out on whether that’s going to work.

When you can buy a Bic pen for a couple cents, why should anyone invest time and money into fountain pens? Writing completely changes once you ditch the rollerballs and gel pens, trust me. The first thing you’ll notice is how little pressure you need to write with. A properly manufactured and tuned fountain pen will lay ink on paper under its own weight. No longer will your hand cramp from pushing on the pen during long writing sessions.

For a fountain pen, ink is cheap and a whole world of color opens up to you. The entire rainbow has been mixed a few times over by all the different manufactures, and now they’re starting to get really tricky with their features (yes, features in ink!). You have water washable ink, permanent ink, ink with lubricants to help scratchy nibs, inks that change color based on how saturated the page is, ink with gold flakes and other sparkly bits, and too many more to mention here. The best part is that it is so affordable! My small bottle of Diamine Sherwood Forest Green is 30mL, but my pen that holds the most ink gets almost 2mL when completely topped off, and the bottle cost only $8 plus shipping. Most inks come in 50-80mL, so you get a lot of bang for your buck with ink.

Do you remember the middle school debates between .5mm and .7mm lead for your mechanical pencils? Having a choice of two sizes was amazing to me, but pen nibs take that to another plain of existence. You have Extra-Fine, Fine, Medium, and Bold nibs both of which differ between Eastern and Western manufactures. Then you move on to stub nibs, which are flat on the end instead of coming to a point, which come from 1.1mm on up to 1.5 and even 2mm. All of this gives you line variation, meaning different parts of your letters will be different thicknesses, sort of like calligraphy, but not quite yet because there are even flex nibs which are made specifically for calligraphy.

Then you have all kinds of designs, both aesthetic and practical. Colors and material are all varied. You’d never think some people could be so particular that they want a pen made out of volcanic rock, but there are a few different volcanic rock options. You can even get clear pens to show off the ink inside, which I love. The filling mechanisms even differ! If you’re a collector who is also fascinated by engineering, fountain pens are perfect for you.

So where does this all leave you? With a fountain pen you have the opportunity to make a chore that you have to do in everyday life into something pleasurable, even meditative. It’s about squeezing joy out of every moment of the day. I’ve gone from using my Notes app constantly to begging for reasons to write by hand. If you’re ready to do the same, it’s not a hard thing to get into even with all of the options. Go buy a Platinum Preppy which are $3, use a pre-inked cartridge, and come in a ton of colors. When you use up all of the cartridge then buy a bottle of ink in your favorite color, slap some silicone grease on the threads of the pen and fill the body directly with the ink (called an eyedropper conversion). Then start shopping for the multitudes of pens under $30, although make sure to get more ink (so many colors!), and better paper, maybe another pen so you can have three colors at once…. And you’re hooked.

The post An Ode to the Fountain Pen appeared first on Clutch MOV.

The Moscow Mule: the drink born from three separate ill-conceived business ventures. Legend says that John G. Martin convinced his employer to invest a large amount in vodka, which promptly sold miserably. Even though it was marketed as a whiskey alternative that wouldn’t leave the smell of alcohol on your breath, it just couldn’t beat out regular old whiskey in the day-drinking demographic. Defeated, Martin tottered off to the Cock ‘n’ Bull bar owned by one Jack Morgan. Jack himself was sitting on a lot of un-sellable ginger beer, and the two connected over their misfortune. Mix in another acquaintance – who apparently had acquired a ton of copper mugs – add a lime wedge, and the Moscow Mule was born. Martin then proceeded to travel the country on a PR blitz that pushed the drink into popular culture of the 1940s.

The Mule is a cold drink. The ice plus the copper mug means that everything stays nice and chilly for a long time (coincidentally, it also means the Mule sweats a lot, so be sure to use a coaster). So you may ask yourself; why would I recommend a cold drink in the middle of winter? Well, perhaps your fireplace is too hot and you need to cool down, or your fancy new mittens from the holidays aren’t getting enough use, or maybe it’s because I was wearing shorts on Christmas day and I don’t actually think winter is coming. All joking aside, the spice of the ginger beer is perfect for warming you up in the winter, and after a few, the vodka will as well.

The Mule is a simple drink to make, but has year-round staying power. Start practicing now, and within a few months you’ll have perfected its refreshing goodness just in time for Summer. This time of year the mugs start to go to clearance, so snatch up enough for all of your Summer bbq buddies. If you don’t have any friends the copper can be sold for scrap if you’re in a pinch, so think of it as an investment. It’s also delicious, damn it; so stoke the fire, put on those mittens and enjoy.

The basics:

• 1 copper mug
• 2 oz vodka
• ginger beer
• lime wedge.

Squeeze lime wedge into empty copper mug and drop in the peel. Then add ice, vodka, and fill with ginger beer. Garnish with another lime wedge or wheel.

Easy.

The twist:

I like to add a drop or two of vanilla extract at the end to get a little bit of a cream soda taste. If the ginger beer is too spicy for you, replace it with ginger ale; it’s milder, duller cousin. To add a fruity twist to the drink, replace lime wedge with strawberries and blueberries, and garnish with an orange peel. You could even switch in a fruit flavored vodka, although I wouldn’t go too crazy. If the Mule doesn’t have enough alcohol for you, then replace the non-alcoholic ginger beer with the alcoholic versions now gaining popularity. In the summer, twist a sprig of mint and drop it in with the lime wedge before adding the ice to make it a little more refreshing.

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