Cleveland rocks…and tastes great!  Hello from  Kelly's Kitchen; Ann Kelly back from a wonderful week on the  “North Coast” where pierogis rule and my old school looked a lot bigger. I spent the last week with my little sister Tricia and her fantastic family who made sure I had a great time and even managed to relax a little. But it was all about food and family.

What you see here is something that made both Tricia and I stop dead in our tracks in a lovely little store in Medina called “Perfectly Charming.” I can’t go home without stopping in, and this time we went extra early on Sunday morning for a neat little show they call The Affair On The Square. Lots of  handcrafted items, beautiful jewelry (ask me about the necklace that mysteriously found its way home with me sometime) and unfortunately, rain. So when the rain started, we moved the shopping expedition indoors. And that’s where I found the recipe box. Looks simple enough, right? But that box is exactly the one my Mom had, and has entrusted to me with all the handwritten recipes from the past 50 years at least. So when I found the exact box, in fantastic condition, complete with the alphabetized cards intact, I grabbed it! So this Christmas, there’s going to be a very special gift for someone with all the cards re-written in that box.

I also found some great old cookbooks from the late 50’s and early 60’s. What I love about them is the name of the person written inside, notations on some of the recipes, and just knowing that this was a beloved book that someone else treasured and is now in my collection. That’s what I enjoy so much about collecting these. The personal side of why someone had it, loved it and passed it along so that I can now use it in Kelly's Kitchen.

So that’s how vacation began, and there’s more to come including a trip to the fantastic Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, our discovery of the Herb Society of America in a home from the 1800’s that was actually the summer estate of a family named Halle that once owned the Halle Department Stores in Cleveland, and my over the top lunch at a cool place called Melt Bar and Grilled that takes a simple grilled cheese sandwich to levels we never imagined. And did I mention the world’s largest candy store? My friend Len from Parma Senior High was along for that ride, and wait until you see those pictures. What restraint?!

Ah, life continues to be good in Kelly’s Kitchen. And I missed you all!

Words of Wisdom from Kelly’s  Kitchen:

Home is not where you live but where they understand you.  ~Christian Morgenstern