ohio. that’s where i grew up. granted, los angeles, with her perfect weather and hollywood signed lured me away 10 years ago. but let’s be honest, you just can’t take the ohio out of any girl.
i grew up in a small town. fowler, ohio to be exact. population 2,377. we had a small farm. a cow named molly, several piggies, turkeys, chickens, lots of kitties, a couple of pooches. my mom made bread every weekend. i remember churning butter while watching “The Muppet Show” with my nightie pulled over my knees. there were 86 people in my graduating class. growing up i loved the barn kitties, my trapeze, walking to the old tressle, listening to the grown ups talk while having tea, baking cookies for my dad and uncles, rocking in my rocking chair next to the wood stove, the lilac tree that grew right outside our kitchen, swinging on the porch swing and listening to the crickets, and my sour cherry tree. god, i really loved that tree.
i had crushes on brennan heaps, bruce willis (moonlighting!), kevin arnold and the idea of hollywood. i wanted to be a chef until my uncle harold told me you had to kill lobsters. and that was that. no killing lobsters for this girl.
my mom taught me how to bake and from an early age let me futz around in the kitchen. in the 3rd grade i was a california raisin in the school talent show. my teacher, mrs. wilson (a scary woman who for some reason liked me) told me i should be an actress. and after that, hollywood was it. i loved stories. i loved telling stories. acting seemed perfect.
i went to ohio university and studied theater, after graduation i left my beloved ohio and drove cross country to los angeles. one of my first jobs was with the divine pasta company. i loved it. i got to talk about food. i got to help people plan their dinners. i learned more and more about food. i asked alex if i could start picking out the products for the store and he actually let me! it was my perfect job. buying products off the types people i grew up with. honest people. hard working people. dedicated, passionate, romantic people. for me, it was a marriage of the stories i loved to tell and the food i loved to eat. heaven.
growing up in ohio i learned:
you should always have a little tea cake ready in case someone stops in for tea. or, at least, a few cookies in the cookie jar.
hugs are better than anything.
hard work pays off. always do more than you’re paid for. always.
if you’re dad offers you a hunk of sugar, it’s probably a salt cube for the cow.
the ladies in the church make the best chicken and biscuits and pie. if you ask them for their recipe, they most likely will leave out an ingredient.
kitties will climb up and hang off of screen doors no matter what you do. just deal with it.
never throw away pie crust scraps when you could make pie crust cookies.
slow down.
pigtails are always a good idea. caution: uncles like to pretend they are motorcycle handles.
a husky can get an birthday cake off the table and eat it in 2 minutes flat.
don’t kill the bug. find the bug a home. a pretty flower.
piggies give good hugs. cows are like big dogs. chickens won’t hurt you. beware the rooster.
an old tractor tire makes an excellent sand box.
having heart is what matters (just look at our professional sports teams).
no one looks good in a snow suit.
don’t skip on a stone path with your hands in your pockets. you will fall on your teeth.
if you have a old farm house, there’s definitely a ghost living there with you.
dandelions in your yard can be eaten. there’s no reason to chemically remove them. a perfect yard is a waste of time.
fresh cut grass smells better than most things.
with the proper equipment, you can make root beer in your closet.
learn to make a cake from scratch and make it for someone you love on their birthday.
four-h camp rules. fear the pond leeches.
the only thing better than jim tressel at ysu is jim tressel at ohio state. go bucks!
every wedding reception should have a cookie table.
whenever possible, a camp fire, roasted corn and hobo pies are a good idea.
but most importantly, you can find family anywhere. you just have to be willing to look.
i’m very excited to be carrying 17 new kinds of seasonal ice cream from jeni’s ice cream in columbus, ohio. jeni’s is family owned and operated. they make all their ice creams in small batches, use fresh ingredients found in the ohio countryside and milk from cows that are pasture raised with no antibiotics or growth hormones. pasture to table. cow to cone. just the kind of folks you want to support. just the kind of food you want to be eating.
pints hit our freezer this saturday, may 8th. to celebrate jeni’s team has supplied us with scoops to give away. come try some salty caramel and riesling poached pear. we can pretend we’ve got a porch swing. we can hove a cup of tea. we’ll be giving away free scoops from 11am-2pm.
hugs and cookies,
rachael
want more ohio in your life?
ohio. that’s where i grew up. granted, los angeles, with her perfect weather and hollywood sign lured me away 10 years ago. but let’s be honest, you just can’t take the ohio out of this girl.
.
i grew up in a small town. fowler, ohio to be exact. population 2,377. we had a small farm. a cow named molly, several piggies, turkeys, chickens, lots of kitties, a couple of pooches. my mom made bread every weekend. i remember churning butter while watching The Muppet Show with my nightie pulled over my knees. there were 86 people in my graduating class. growing up i loved the barn kitties, my trapeze, walking to the old tressle, listening to the grown ups talk while having tea, baking cookies for my dad and uncles, rocking in my rocking chair next to the wood stove, the lilac tree that grew right outside our kitchen, swinging on the porch swing and listening to the crickets, and my sour cherry tree. gosh, i really loved that tree.
.
i had crushes on brennan heaps, bruce willis (moonlighting!), kevin arnold and the idea of hollywood. i wanted to be a chef until my uncle harold told me you had to kill lobsters. and that was that. no killing lobsters for this girl.
.
my mom taught me how to bake and from an early age let me futz around in the kitchen. in the 3rd grade i was a california raisin in the school talent show. my teacher, mrs. wilson (a scary woman who for some reason liked me) told me i should be an actress. and after that, hollywood was it. i loved stories. i loved telling stories. acting seemed perfect.
.
i went to ohio university and studied theater. after graduation i left my beloved ohio and drove cross country to los angeles. one of my first jobs was with the divine pasta company. i loved it. i got to talk about food. i got to help people plan their dinners. i learned more and more about food. i asked alex if i could start picking out the products for the store and he actually let me! it was my perfect job. buying products from the type of people i grew up with. honest people. hard working people. dedicated, passionate, romantic people. for me, it was a marriage of the stories i loved to tell and the food i loved to eat. heaven.
.
growing up in ohio i learned:
.
you should always have a little tea cake ready in case someone stops in for tea. or, at least, a few cookies in the cookie jar.
.
hugs are better than anything. especially if they’re from your mom.
.
hard work pays off. always do more than you’re paid for. always.
.
if your dad offers you a hunk of sugar, it’s probably a salt cube for the cow. or the water softner. whatever it’s for: it’s not sugar.
.
the ladies in the church make the best chicken and biscuits and pie. if you ask them for their recipe, they most likely will leave out an ingredient.
.
kitties will climb up and hang off of screen doors no matter what you do. just deal with it.
.
never throw away pie crust scraps when you could make pie crust cookies.
.
slow down.
.
pigtails are always a good idea. caution: uncles like to pretend they are motorcycle handles.
.
a husky can get a birthday cake off the table and eat it in 2 minutes flat.
.
don’t kill the bug. find the bug a home. a pretty flower.
.
piggies give good hugs. cows are like big dogs. chickens won’t hurt you. beware the rooster.
.
an old tractor tire makes an excellent sand box.
.
having heart is what matters most (just look at our professional sports teams).
.
no one looks good in a snow suit.
.
don’t skip on a stone path with your hands in your pockets. you will fall on your teeth.
.
if you have a old farm house, there’s definitely a ghost living there with you.
.
dandelions in your yard can be eaten. there’s no reason to chemically remove them. a perfect yard is a waste of time.
.
fresh cut grass smells better than most things.
.
with the proper equipment, you can make root beer in your closet.
.
learn to make a cake from scratch and make it for someone you love on their birthday.
.
four-h camp rules. fear the pond leeches.
.
the only thing better than jim tressel at YSU is jim tressel at Ohio State.
.
every wedding reception should have a cookie table.
.
whenever possible, a camp fire, roasted corn and hobo pies are a good idea.
.
but most importantly, you can find family anywhere. you just have to be willing to look.
i’m very excited to be carrying 17 kinds of seasonal ice cream from jeni’s ice cream in columbus, ohio. jeni’s is family owned and operated. they make all their ice creams in small batches, use fresh ingredients found in the ohio countryside and milk from cows that are pasture raised with no antibiotics or growth hormones. pasture to table. cow to cone. just the kind of folks you want to support. just the kind of food you want to be eating.
.
pints hit our freezer this saturday, may 8th. to celebrate, jeni’s team has supplied us with scoops to give away. come try some salty caramel and riesling poached pear. we can pretend we’ve got a porch swing. we can have a cup of tea. we’ll be giving away free scoops from 11am-2pm.
.
hugs and cookies,
.
rachael
.
want more ohio?
left to right:longaberger handmade basket my favorite is the pie carrying basket, maya brenner ohio necklace, script ohio t, mockingbird meadows honey in coffee infused or rose, 1canoe2 state letterpress art, peanut butter buckeyes, the incredible art of charley harper.
Holy crap – this is the greatest news! I saw this on Eater LA and just about shouted to high heaven. I went to grad school in Columbus and every time I go back I stop by Jeni’s shop in Grandview. I even asked Jeni about possibly providing ice cream for the rehearsal dinner for my wedding four years ago. I can’t find any good ice cream on the Westside.
How often will you be getting shipments?
Hopefully we’ll be getting shipments every 2 weeks or so. I’m so glad you love the ice cream as much as we do!
rachael
Hi Racheal…
The beet lemon poppy seed ice cream is sooooo good! Awesome blog!
Kori
Thanks so much for carrying Jeni’s! And, also, great selection of Ohio items. Charley Harper is now on my to-buy list.
Charley Harper is my favorite!! Enjoy!
rachael
Rachael,
I loved your blog! Ohio misses you! Love, Emmie
After reading the news that you are carrying Jeni’s ice cream, we immediately made a reservation. Coming in tonight! Good to have Buckeye Nation represented in Los Angeles.
Cube is now officially my favorite restaurant in town.
This is incredible. Fingers crossed you have pistachio honey or wildberry lavender, but hell, any flavor will do. You might have won yourself a new regular. Jeni’s! At Cube! Amazing!