René of the Day // 11.12.11 // JLC Tour of Kitchens

In an effort to raise money and sell the latest Junior League of Cincinnati cookbook, Cincinnati Seasoned, the league held a tour of fabulous kitchens in Cincinnati. Beginning at Keidel, a beautiful showroom of bathrooms and kitchens to purchase for your home, participants were given directions for a self-guided tour around the city. For $25, you could visit incredible kitchens – from contemporary to classic and LEED-certified, they were truly amazing spaces on display. Additionally, the cookbooks were available for purchase at a discount priced at each home and an array of recipes from the cookbook were sampled. Some homes had cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, features from local restaurants and the homes architects were present to discuss the kitchens.

The event was a great success and next year I look forward to taking the entire tour. This year I volunteered and sold cookbooks from one home for half of the day enjoyed getting to know more League members and promoting our efforts in the city.

Order Cincinnati Seasoned cookbook for $32.95 here. 

Keidel showroom

René of the Day // 10.23.11 // Cincinnati Chocolate Festival

This event was a delicious success! The Isaac M. Wise Temple Sisterhood raised $60,000 for this one-day event at the Cintas Center. For only the second year, they've continued to grow and expand tremendously. The first year (2010) was held at the JCC. This year, there was a wait at the door in the first hour because the Cintas Center was at capacity! Next year they're looking toward the Duke Energy Convention Center to house Cincinnati's overflowing chocaholic population.

It was an honor and privelege to donate my time and skills to this cause. What began as volunteering to manage social media and PR efforts blossomed into project management for the website, ads for Cincinnati Magazine, brochure, poster, pamphlet and beyond. The Sisterhood donates all proceeds to local charities that benefit women and children, such as the YMCA Battered Women's Shelter, Children's Hospital, the Freestore Foodbank and more. Makes ya feel all warm and fuzzy inside! :)

It was fun to volunteer in the Kidz Zone the first few hours of the day and then I met up with my parents and niece and Matt's parents and his sister and brother-in-law to enjoy the festivities. My favorite items were the cheese and chocolate from Murray's at Kroger and the mint chocolate chip bread pudding from Bella Luna. I'm not a huge chocolate fan but mint and peanut butter really get me! Despite the crowds, it was great to see friends (thanks Becca & Kristin!) and family there supporting my efforts and the cause.
(Wish I'd taken a photo inside the festival but it was absolutely chaos!)

Kylie and me, before stuffing our faces with chocolate! ;)

René of the Day // 10.1.11 // JLC Bus Tour

The Junior League hosted a bus tour for the Provisional class that was worth the while of waking up at 7:30am on a Saturday. We loaded onto a charter bus and toured the city with a fantastic tour guide and a group of bundled up gals on one of the first cold mornings of the season. 


I loved learning more about my hometown and always enjoy tidbits of history and interesting facts about Cincinnati.  I live tweeted from the event so some facts may be off due to noise from chatter, road bumps accentuated my big bus wheels and fast talking speakers, but here's what I picked up:


Parks and Parkways plan proposed in 1907 was recognized through the 1990s to make a city inside the parks. 


There were 3 different Cincinnatis: 1. 1788-1880s walking city. Desire to be close to the center. Riverfront. 4th street flooded annually. 


The entire first city was Over-the-Rhine. All multi-family housing. No greenery. Only park was Piot Park on Garfield Place.


1805-1935 Cincinnati was the fastest growing city in the country. 10x larger population in the 1950s than now.


First city all lived on same street mixed together. Second city fragmented and segmented into downtown and neighborhoods with ppl like them.


Second city was streetcars. Third city was expressways. Built tunnel for 71 and high rise apartment building to fund project.


Kentucky has smaller counties. Only Texas has more.


Kentucky sold land for IRS building in Covington for $1 in 1970.


The Banks is an incredibly difficult project. Two stories of parking garages must be built above flood planes. $2500 per parking space.


Land in city center and construction across 8 blocks make for expensive and complicated effort.


Newport, Kentucky was the test market for Las Vegas. 


US has 8 times the square footage of retail that Europe does. Over-retailed. Think of Tricounty, Northgate.


Tyler Davidson Fountain based on water as Cincinnati is a water city Children with gifts of water - pearls, lobster. Man with roof on fire.


Government Square has been the main hub for transportation since the original streetcar was introduced in 1859.


Music Hall was built to house the May Festival in the late 1800s. There were no fixed seats or stage. It was the original convention center.


National Geographic special this fall - noting bones found in redevelopment of Washington Park. Used to be cemetery land. 


The tour was led by Daniel Hurley of Discover Cincinnati. I highly recommend the trip for local learning and a fun way to spend a long, informative day of the Queen City. 

René of the Day // 9.16.11 // Private Selection Tasting

Open bar and taste testing? Obviously, I signed up! Made me laugh because my friend Nikki said, "Dang girl - I love your life - it's always so fun!" I can't disagree :) Junior League hosted a fundraising event with Kroger's Private Selection brand to invite us to taste some of their potential new products and provide our feedback. Kelley, Adam, Liz and I secured a cocktail table and filled our little plates with boundless goodies. The focus of the tasting was on flatbreads - loved the rosemary and olive oil and sea salt and cracked black pepper. They were a nice, wide size and snapped nicely to accommodate spreads and dips. They had a beautiful wheel of brie with walnuts and apples that we couldn't get enough of. Little sandwiches and bruschetta filled us as we tasted the cheese straws - my least favorite of the items to be rated. The blue cheese didn't have a hint of that flavor. The cheddar flavor wasn't very exciting. I do think the little cheese rectangles would've been good crunched in soup.

The two olive tables were a hit for Adam and I - the girls aren't fans. I told him it was like a martini bar without the vodka! Stuffed with everything from citrus, blue cheese - the best I've had - soft creamy cheese not a hard square shoved in the olive like they usually are, garlic - with a big crunchy ripe clove and a few others, all of which I loved! Lastly, the cookies - we all really enjoyed the little pumpkin spice tea cookies and my favorite was the raspberry cookies with chocolate-coating on the bottom - except I think the raspberry seeds got stuck in my teeth, which was annoying. The butter pecan cookies weren't as good as a pecan sandie from Keebler.

It was a fun way to spend the evening and may have convinced me to try shopping at Kroger again - it's always a zoo and the aisles break in the center and turn so you can't just work up and down as you go. But their private label brand does have great offerings. I prefer the aesthetics of shopping at Biggs but their produce has declined and they don't carry a lot of the great gourmet products they used to. Trader Joe's is my favorite these days. But it's great that the League was able to provide the little evening of entertaining and benefit our efforts for the year.

René of the Day // 9.9.11 // Inspired Ideas: Amy Tobin

My first GMM as a Provisional for Junior League was absolutely entertaining, with a presentation by Amy Tobin, culinary consultant, radio host and author. Her speech, titled "Inspired Ideas" was punctuated with quotes, announced by ladies of the League scattered throughout the audience and followed with heartfelt and hilarious stories by Amy.

I loved listening to what really charges her up - she has great energy and presence and is a fantastic speaker. Perhaps if she had any extra time on her calendar, she could lead a region for Toastmasters? :) She shared a snipit of her personal vision statement which got my wheels turning - this is definitely something I need to create for myself. But I'd like to share some of my take-aways from the evening. These are my thoughts, inspired by her ideas:

What you get is what you see.
Ever so true. I love moments when situations or scenes are explained to me by a fresh set of eyes. In all actuality, the way we choose to perceive something is ultimately what we extract from it. Huh. We can twist it to let a little light shine at a better angle - that's our own choice. Perhaps that may not be what Amy's point was, but that's what this idea says to me. Additionally, we have no choice but to consider that the other person's view may be right. She shared a tale with a coffee cup as an example: if you're holding it, the handle is on the right side; then to the other, it's on the left. Whose perspective is correct? Which side is it on? Who's wrong? Exactly...

Fall in? Swim to shore.
She wished for us all to experience a major failure. It's great for one's empathy, humility and compassion. I couldn't agree more. I had one of these moments or experiences, if you will - one that I thought was epic. Tragic, even. Embarrassing. But as Amy indicated, it provided more clarity and strength then I ever could have calculated.

She talked about the joy of receiving the instant rubberband of good karma - amen - and how the lottery doesn't give us pie. If what you're doing doesn't bring you joy, consider - why the hell am I doing this? And one note that I think is very important for myself and many of the people I know is that there is no action with a balance scale - we beat ourselves up because we fail to achieve work-life balance. Sometimes we will work weeks that make us wonder what "life" is like - and others, we are blessed with the company of our family and friends and enjoy wonderful food and drink and visit incredible places. But the teetering keeps it interesting and helps us achieve appreciation when the other side of the scale drops.

Amy talked about how hard work and passion are hardwired into who she is - I was able to relate to her on so many levels during her presentation. I was truly inspired and look forward to chatting with her more - she will be one of our celebrity judges at the Cincinnati Chocolate Festival. I'm also looking forward to taking one of her cooking classes at EQ at the Party Source - cheers to Amy for sharing her inspired ideas.

René of the Day // 8.10.11 // Kids in the Kitchen

As my involvement in JLC kicks off, I'd love to share some information about my first committee. This year I'll be involved with Kids in the Kitchen, JLC's signature project, an initiative to empower youth to make healthy lifestyle choices and help reverse the growth of childhood obesity and its associated health issues.

I'm thrilled to work with this effort because of my love for food and enjoyment of working with and helping children. This initiative began in 2006 with the goal of engaging kids in the preparation of healthy meals and developing better habits at home. I'm really looking forward to meeting the kids at the schools we sponsor and learning what they think and watch them grow as we interact with them. I think so many people hate vegetables as kids because they're forced to eat them and they never learn ways to love them - how inspiring to show them ways to make better choices and perhaps foster a love for cooking too!

To learn more or find out how you can help, visit http://kidsinthekitchen.ajli.org/.

René of the Day // 7.27.11 // Wasson Way Project

This incredible idea was first brought to my attention on Facebook - how amazing would it be to have a trail similar to the Loveland Bike Trail that I grew up on, here in the Hyde Park area? With the multitudes of people walking their dogs, running with their jogging strollers and walking with friends around the neighborhoods, it would surely receive high foot and bike traffic. What better to do with 6.5 miles of unused railroads? This would be perfect for Bob Ronnecker's runners training for races...

"Like" it and learn more about turning these abandoned tracks into a recreational trail! A project of this magnitude needs all the local support it can muster up.

UPDATE: My step-dad, Chip, just told me about the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy - perhaps they can link up with them to continue rolling it forward.

René of the Day // 7.19.11 // Junior League

Thrilled to announce that I've joined the 2011-2012 Provisional Class of the Junior League of Cincinnati! This is an organization that I've hoped to join since I graduated from college and this just happened to be a great year to take the time to pursue the opportunity. I'm really looking forward to making a greater contribution to our community and growing professionally and personally through the exciting experiences ahead. A few of my girlfriends from college and colleagues from work are also involved so it should serve as a wonderful networking platform and chance to volunteer for beneficial and well-organized events and efforts in Cincinnati. Their philanthropic efforts are focused on the well-being and enhancement of the lives of children through high-touch outreach, which is truly inspiring - the three projects we're focusing on in our Provisional year sound like they will be fantastic learning experiences and will produce remarkable results for all involved - I can't wait!

What is Junior League?

The Junior League of Cincinnati is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. The Junior League of Cincinnati is an exclusively educational, charitable organization which reaches out to women of all races, religions, or national origins who demonstrate an interest in and commitment to voluntarism.