I remember as a child, sitting in the back of my dad's truck at the farmer's market, nibbling on sweet corn, raw and shuck still on the end. His veggies were THAT good. Although my family no longer grows sweet corn, we've had a huge garden down at the farm as long as I can remember, and spend countless hours growing, weeding, watering, canning and freezing our tasty crop. Needless to say, it takes a lot to impress me when it comes to produce.  Thankfully, with a farming family comes farming connections and when my dad stopped growing sweet corn, we started getting it from his friends, the Webers.  Dare I say, their corn may even be better than Dad's. Just don't tell him!  Like my family, the Webers have been farming for generations. Unlike my family, they got away from the farmer's market format and started a farm stand, which is still going strong. Weber's grows tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash, you name it.   But they're best known for their sweet cor...

As a Realtor, I'm often looking for inexpensive marketing strategies. My email signature and business cards are great, but there have to be more ways to get my name out there. I have my blog, my  Facebook page  and my  Instagram  but I need content for those, so I'm always looking for ideas. One thing I consistently see is "take a picture of your work space and share about your projects for the day. I've held out on this one because my office is cluttered, chaotic and full of stuff that doesn't seem to be Real Estate related.  Hubs had surgery this morning. It was minor but still required general anesthesia, which is a little scary and got him thinking about happiness and our future. I know, deep stuff for a Real Estate blog, right? But I'm getting there. Stock photo, not from Hubs' OR I knew he'd be in the operating room for about an hour, so I took my laptop to get some work done while I waited. Once he was settled in and I got to work, I caught him g...

My parents may not be as adventurous of eaters as Hubs and I are, but when they tell you a place is good, you can bet it's going to be yummy.  And when they tell you it's good food AND good wine, you can bet Hubs and I are going to check it out! Last week my mom texted my sister and I that Holtkamp Winery in Sunman, Indiana was serving brick oven pizza and hosting live entertainment on Sunday and wanting to know if we all wanted to meet there for the afternoon.  The response was a resounding yes and I'm so glad we went!  The pizza and wine were delicious, the weather was beautiful and the music was fun and upbeat without being too loud.  It made for a perfect Sunday afternoon and I can't wait to go back. Holtkamp Winery opened in 2013, a full 11 years after Doug Holtkamp started making wine independently.  He teamed up with Jeff McCann, who had over 35 years of experience in wine making and grape growing, and the two have become a great team making even greater ...

I try to feature restaurants that I believe are #worththedrive no matter where in the Greater Cincinnati area you're from but with the current social distancing and more people cooking and eating at home, I thought now was the time to go a different direction. Who among us hasn't watched Cheers (oops, my age is showing!) and wanted that special place where everyone knows your name?  Would you believe I have that at a butcher's shop?  I grew up going to Stehlin's with my parents and to this day I think it's the best around. There are some very good meat markets closer to home, including a really good one right here in Batesville, but no one's smoked meats and sauerkraut compare to Stehlin's Meat Market on Colerain Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I know I'm a bit biased because of my experience, but everyone I have sent to Stehlin's says the same thing, so I'm thinking I may be right on this one. Stehlin's Meat Market started as a meat wa...

I am so thankful to live in a region that experiences all four seasons.  Fall has always been my favorite, and I love snow and cold weather but Spring brings its own beauty and a reawakening you just can't get in other parts of the country or world.  That said, these gloomy transition days, especially when we get multiple icky days in a row, have me dreaming of warmer climates and thinking back to our recent vacation. Hubs and I spent 8 days in Riviera Maya, Mexico a few weeks back.  It was a much needed get away that allowed us both to relax, reconnect and still get some work done.  That's right, I worked from the beach! My view from the office our first day While there are 14 restaurants at the resort we stayed in, we ate at the brunch buffet nearly every day.  Hubs and I always take turns going up to a buffet so someone is watching bags, drinks, etc., so this gave us both a chance to check emails and see if anything needed addressed that day while the ...

Growing up in Dearborn County, I heard tales of these amazing, almost implausible pastry treat a few towns over.  But in my 30-ahem years living less than half an hour from Batesville, I never actually tasted a Cherry Thing-a-Ling. What, you ask, is a Cherry Thing-a-Ling?  According to the  Schmidt Bakery website , " A Cherry Thing-a-ling is a fritter type donut that has cherries in it, instead of the typical, Apple or Blueberry (which we also make). It is fried to perfection and then topped off with a cherry glaze!"  which is served warm for 5 days only, during President's Day weekend.  The tradition started as a one day treat in the 1970s and has grown to a 5 day Batesville holiday! Thankfully my allergies are mild enough that I can sometimes splurge, and fritters are definitely worth it to me.  We missed Cherry Thing-a-Ling days because of a poorly timed vacation, so you can imagine my delight when I stopped in the other day for blueberry fritters ...

Yesterday was National Chili Day and living so close to Cincinnati, you know I'm a fan of Cincinnati chili!  This irritates Hubs to no end, who grew up in Texas and says not only does cinnamon have no place in chili, but with the consistency, flavors and serving methods it's not even chili.  Well he is welcome to his opinion, no matter how wrong it is! In my experience, people either love Cincinnati or hate it.  It's actually more of a Mediterranean meat sauce than an American chili and I think the misnomer is part of why the dish is so divisive.  But that doesn't make it any less delicious.  It doesn't keep it from being featured in pop culture.  And it doesn't make me not feature it for National Chili Day! Picture courtesy of Wikipedia Country duo Big and Rich grabbed a bowl of Skyline Chili in Comin' to your City, but for me if you're going to Skyline you're getting a three-way or a coney.  Okay, a chili cheese sandwich, because I don...

As a Realtor I work really weird hours.  It's not uncommon for me to work in bed from my phone as soon as I wake up, work off and on throughout the day and be on my phone again as I lay in bed at night.  A lot of people don't understand how or why I work all the time and from everywhere, but I truly love what I do.  I have to be honest, my husband is a bit of a workaholic so it actually works out pretty well for both of us.  In fact, as I write this we're on a plane coming home from vacation...and we're both working! I've mentioned before that Hubs and I are foodies, but we sometimes take it to the extreme.  We've been known to plan days out and even vacations around whether we can get a great meal.  Hey, some meals are worth the drive!  This vacation was certainly no exception.  Don't worry, I'll post scenery pics over on my Instagram (@kpcrealtor), but I right now we're talking food! Every day was a different adventure.  We had a beac...