Wine and Spirits Travel

It had been quite a week as my friend Lisa and I started in Indianapolis and then went on to Cedar Falls. We had discovered a new spa ( Evan Todd ), a new fruit (pawpaws) and a new beer ( Rockmill Brewery ), but nothing quite prepared us for what we would see when we arrived in Chicago. We had another great breakfast (homemade quiche and blueberry muffins) at the Inn at Cedar Falls before saying goodbye to Hocking Hills and hitting the road. It was a long drive to Chicago, but there was something quite exciting waiting on the other end. I had snagged an exclusive invitation to the Grand Opening of Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse at the Intercontinental Hotel on Michigan Avenue. I have been to celebrity events before and although this one was a bit more sports oriented in its attendees, it felt more celebratory than any I had seen. As the valet opened the door to my Santa Fe, the cameras started snapping us walking down the red carpet as if we were the stars of the evening! Th

One of the major reasons I decided to go to the Inn at Cedar Falls at this time was because it is paw paw season and this Inn has found many ways to take advantage of this tropical fruit grown in Ohio. (Yes, you read that right: tropical fruit in Ohio.)  I learned a bit about the antioxidant properties of the paw paw from Spa Director Randall Wellman before my massage , but I had yet to taste any. I was excited to learn that my friend Lisa and I would get to taste paw paws as well as cook with them during our time with Chef Anthony Schultz. Everything we had to eat at the Inn at Cedar Falls was delicious so I felt confident with Chef Schultz, who had previously worked at Eon in the Hamptons, not far from where I had grown up. As much as I love to cook I decided that I would get better notes and pictures as the observer so Lisa got to do the actual preparation. First, we learned about the paw paw. It really is a tropical fruit, the most northern tropical fruit you will find.