Brandy Alexander

I tried a yummy new drink over the weekend, and since the weather kept me from getting outdoors and snapping some beautiful scenery pictures, I’ll share an inside picture.  I know drink recipes have nothing to do with the Midwest, but heck, not too many of my other posts have had anything to do with the Midwest either, so why worry now.

  

The recipe is to fill a shaker with ice, add:

2 oz Brandy

½ oz Dark Crème De Cocoa

½ oz heavy cream

Shake, and then strain into a martini glass, top with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Somehow, I never seem to have the correct ingredients on hand when making recipes (never stops me though).  When I made my drink, as pictured here, I only had Light Crème De Cocoa, which is why my drink looks nearly white.  I also only had 2% milk, not heavy cream.  It really tasted great, color doesn’t seem to affect flavor and the use of milk over cream probably saved me a few calories… not that this comes anywhere close to being low-cal.

I think it looks festive too.  I recommend whipping up a batch while decorating the Christmas tree! 

 

Midwest Weather

Florida has hurricanes and California has wild fires.  So, what does the Midwest have?  Tornadoes!!!  And if you are living without a basement (or even a ground floor - I’m in a third floor condo and my daughter is in a second floor apartment), what can you do?  Hunker down in a closet and play games on your iPhone, I guess.  Thankfully, Kentucky was spared the worst of the damage.  Folks in Illinois and Indiana are hurting this morning.  The weatherman said 75 tornadoes touched down across the region yesterday afternoon. 

So that settles it, if I do move, I will not be moving farther north because I want no part of “lake-effect” snow, and I will not be going farther west because of these darn tornadoes!!!  I think I need to push deeper into Bluegrass Country and buy a house with a basement… well, that’s my thought for today at least.  

Hope everyone else is safe and happy, and I wish a speedy recovery for those worst hit by Mother Nature yesterday.

There goes the Oregano

Looks like my herb garden will be coming to a close for the season.

I heard a funny line by a radio DJ here in Northern KY, he said “I need to get to Kroger’s and buy as much milk, bread, and toilet paper as I can possibly carry because the they’re forecasting an inch of snow overnight!” So, wouldn’t you know, I went to the grocery store and it was packed. It really seemed as if people were stocking up. These folks up here are funny sometimes. All kidding aside, I need to think about new tires for my car, not a fun purchase. Of course, fishtailing on ice isn’t fun either!

Clifty Falls State Park, IN

Yeah, more Fall leaves!

The Sierra Club in Northern Kentucky has taken on the project of creating a “recommended hiking” booklet.  Actually, we are updating a booklet that was created by club members years ago; ensuring the parks listed are still well maintained and the web addresses and maps are still current. It’s been fun looking at destinations with a critical eye to determine if I would personally recommend it to someone seeking a day hike.  Not all parks in the original booklet get my vote… but Clifty Falls in Indiana gets a big two thumbs up from me… and both arms waving around in the air! Great park! But challenging, this is not a casual stroll kinda place. Well, let me take that back. This park can be anything you want it to be.

They have trails from paved, wheelchair accessible trials with nice overlooks, to treacherous climbs down into a canyon. The trails range from a half mile up to three miles, but they are all interconnected so you could hike for hours and hours if that was your plan. There are 10 different trails that total up for 15 miles of hiking. The park brochure rates their hikes as Easy to Very Rugged. I only hiked a rating up to Moderately Rugged and that was good for me. If you are in any way prone to vertigo, don’t look down. And if you want to gaze around at the scenery, for God’s sake, come to a complete stop first. One stumble could send you over the edge. My pictures really don’t do this park justice. Can you see the drop off on the right side of the picture? The trail starts on top of that rock formation and winds around just below the lip of the canyon.

The road through the park is windy and beautiful, so if you want to take a leisurely stroll, go for it, the speed limit for cars is 15 mph and the road is so curvy, most cars couldn’t go faster than that even if they wanted to. I also saw a few bicyclists while I was there, but you will need gears for the elevation changes, though they seemed gradual on the road, which stays on the top of the canyon. 

My only complaint was the power plant on the Ohio River, near the south side of the park. It was so close that you could hear it humming, droning out the birds, kind of unsettling when you are trying to have a relaxing time in the woods. Don’t waste your time with the Observation Tower, horrible view. I know we all like our electricity… It’s like meat eaters I suppose, we enjoy a good hamburger but we don’t want to look at slaughtered cows. 

Steps, steps, and more steps. Notice the new section of these stairs. I’m sure the park is constantly changing due to erosion but the Indiana DNR is hard at work maintaining its accessibility for our enjoyment. I wonder where they get their resources and why it seems as though the Kentucky parks are falling apart.  I hear lots of grumbling about cutbacks in KY and OH. Somehow, this park in IN is striving... and there was not even an entrance fee. There was a booth at the entrance, so at times there must be a fee, but not on the day that I went.

  

Here is a little waterfall. The water seemed low, most of the waterfalls I saw were just trickles. I’ll have to go back in the springtime to see if there is any difference. The largest waterfall in the park (named, surprise-surprise, Big Clifty Falls) was too far away to get a good picture.  I think you need to follow one of the trails at the bottom of the canyon to really appreciate its beauty. The brochure says Big Clifty Falls drops 70 feet to the creek below, then the creek drops another 200 feet over the route of three miles and eventually ends in the Ohio River. This was one of the littler falls that fed into the creek.

All and all, I think Clifty Falls would make a wonderful weekend destination. You could stay at the Inn or the campground, and there are plenty of trials to keep you busy for a few days. The nearby town of Madison, IN is also nice; shops and restaurants, and from what I’ve read, festivals throughout the year.