Review: Dsolv Lawn Bags

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Andrea

Okay, by the title of this post you might be thinking, “Andrea, what is this? I don’t think that’s food.” And you’d be right, it isn’t food! But it is a product that is green and made for the home. Plus it’s made right here in Ohio, therefore I had to talk about it!

Andrea, who works with dSolv, contacted me asking if I would like to try out these lawn care bags and I immediately jumped at the chance!

If you live in an apartment or a place where your yard work is maintained for you, this will be of no interest. But if you have a yard where you are responsible for its maintenance, then you’ll want to read on.

Most of us are probably used to dealing with those huge paper lawn care bags, right? They hold grass and other lawn debris and each week we dutifully set them out by the curb to be picked up on trash day. The dSolv bags are meant to be replacements for the paper lawn bags.

Review: O’Fallon’s Pumpkin Ale

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Andrea

Here we are friends, we’ve reached the last Pumpkin Beer Review of the season! Are you excited? A little sad? I’m a little sad but also since this segment seemed really popular, I’m pretty sure we’ll see more pumpkin beer talk next fall!

YaY!

O’Fallon’s Pumpkin Beer is on the chopping block today. We spotted this beer in the grocery store and didn’t really pay to much attention to it. I think the label seemed a little generic and so we just kind of passed it over. However since we needed beers for Pumpkin Month and we hadn’t tried this one before we bought it to give it a whirl.

Brief Recap:

I’m going to rate the beers on:

Smell
Color
Head Retention
Taste

The ratings will be :pumpkin: and the score will range from 1-5. One being the poorest and five being the best.

Did O’Fallon’s hold up or was it O’Failin’?

Smell: :pumpkin:

Review: New Holland’s Ichabod Ale

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Andrea

I have to be honest with you and tell you that when I saw this beer, I was beyond excited. Like over the top EXCITED!

See, New Holland happens to be one of my favorite breweries. They are responsible for bringing me to the dark side with a seasonal brew of theirs called Cabin Fever. I talked about it right here.

They also make another dark beer that is my current LOVE and I was introduced to him earlier this year at Columbus Beer Fest. More on him at another time!

So when I saw that New Holland made their own pumpkin ale complete with a cool name and an even cooler label I was all over that right quick.

Oh I had high hopes for this one! I was building it up in my mind and I don’t know if this was a bad thing or a good thing? But I was counting down the days till I could pour some and get sipping.

Review: Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Andrea

When people start talking about pumpkin ales, the first thing I usually hear are those touting the amazingness of Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale. It hasn’t come across my path until recently. I’m not sure if I just wasn’t looking for it or if for some reason, it was never available in the places I buy beer.

Finally this season I spotted some and purchased it for Pumpkin Month.

Again, I have to credit World Market here! They came through!

Admittedly I was excited to try this beer out. So many people talk about it, it has a fun little label, and I love pumpkin beer.

Quick Recap:

I’m going to rate the beers on:

Smell
Color
Head Retention
Taste

The ratings will be :pumpkin: and the score will range from 1-5. One being the poorest and five being the best.

Bring it Dogfish!

Will this beer knock me over or will it go out like a punk? (Oh snap!)

Review: Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Andrea

I am going to start off this post by telling you how much I love World Market. It has all kinds of stuff from soaps to necklaces to wine and beer.

Oh yeah!

If you haven’t been in one before you might be surprised that they carry alcohol but they do and they have an amazing selection. They also give you the option of purchasing single bottles of beer to take home and test without having to drop cash on a six pack of something you might not like.

True story. Check them out if you haven’t already!

Why am I bringing up World Market on a pumpkin ale review? Because World Market is responsible for introducing me to my Fall Fling, Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale.

I almost passed him up because his label is sort of plain and basic. However I remembered that looks are only label deep and what lies inside is actually the most important. I’m sure you all can agree with me on that, yes?

Review of Pumpkin Ales

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Andrea

The very first time I saw pumpkin beer was in the grocery store when I laid eyes upon Harvest Moon. I was excited, thrilled, and also a little in shock. Since pumpkin beer had never crossed my path before, I was blown away by the concept of it.

We immediately bought a six-pack to try out. This was roughly six years ago.

Harvest Moon was alright. It had a few hints of spice at the finish and we continued to purchase it more for the novelty effect because it certainly didn’t hit you over the head with pumpkin flavor.

Then we found out that Harvest Moon was made by the Blue Moon Brewing Company which is just an extension of Coors.

So we stopped buying it.

Our beer philosophy is that we would rather purchase and support craft beer breweries and microbreweries over big corporations. Thus began my quest for great pumpkin ale.

I will tell you right now that I LOVE pumpkin beer. I’m really kind of fanatical about them. I love pumpkin beer so much that I am extremely picky and critical of the pumpkin beers that cross my path. They have to be just right for me to even consider them as a “good” beer.

OHC Dines At Black Creek Bistro

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Andrea

A few weeks ago Scott and I found ourselves dressed up on a weekday evening and decided to make the most of it by going out to dinner. Hey it’s not often we are dressed up, let alone on a weekday night! Got to take advantage of the situation as much as possible!

We finally were able to head over to Black Creek Bistro. It’s been on our radar for a while, ever since we sampled some of their yummy treats at the 2009 Taste of The Independents (Part I and Part II). Yes it has taken us a long time to make our way over!

Black Creek Bistro has one of the best Twitter accounts, not only do they constantly tweet about their daily specials but they also provide pictures of the special as well. Nothing will make you drool quicker than seeing a picture of the deal of the day!

What also drew us to the restaurant is the fact that Black Creek not only grows most of what they use at the restaurant, they also support other local suppliers as well. It’s a win-win for everyone! One of the things I loved reading about on their menu mission statement, is that they recycle the vegetable oil used for cooking to fuel their tractors on the farm.

Review: Bondi Bands

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Andrea

I have seen Bondi Bands all over the running blogsphere this summer. They intrigued me. A headband that is designed to keep hair and sweat out of your face. It’s also supposed to be able to fit any head-shape and stay in place.

Now they have my attention!

I have a super small head that is also skinny. I also have super small ears but that’s another story for another time. I do not have the luxury of having thick flowing locks of hair either, I have poker straight super fine hair. The kind where if it’s humid, while everyone else goes frizzy, I end up looking like a reject from The Brady’s. My hair is thin, flat, and lifeless. I’m not hating on my hair, I’m just stating facts. I actually am in love with my hair now! It was a long process but we’ve made peace.

Because I have a small head with thin hair, getting headbands to stay on my head is a battle that I just cannot win. Those little tiny elastic headbands that are popular now a days to help keep flyaway hair out of your face?

Review: Pur Fiber Wrist Bands

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Andrea

I’m trying to make the wrist band stylish again, one race at a time. If you’ve been following OHC for any length of time, you know that I wear wrist bands on all my summer time runs. I need something to wipe the sweat off my face and wrist bands are the right tools for the job. They are small and light weight, easy to slip on and off, but more importantly, great for wiping the sweat off my face.

On super hot days, sometimes I’ll wear two of them.

When it comes to what I consider essential running gear for the summer, it’s safe to say that I don’t leave home without them.

I was contacted by America’s Nutrtion (shoutout to Stephanie!) asking me if I would be willing to review a product that they carried in their store. I debated about this for a while because looking at the site, America’s Nutrition also carries weight-loss supplements which is not something I support.

Review: Snikiddy Cheddar Fries

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Andrea

Have you guys ever had those Andy Capp’s Cheddar Fries? They can be found in the chip aisle at the grocery store and they are completely horrible (Here’s Good Guide’s Nutrition Stats for the Cheddar Fries) for you, yet totally addictive tasting. Some people like the Hot Fries the best. You know those fries?

Well I used to love those cheddar fries. For serious. I would sometimes have them as a snack with a glass of red wine because that’s the kind of Klassy girl that I am. Plus they are cheap! And if you were lucky enough that your grocery store was having them on sale, you could get them even cheaper!

Now the times have changed and you all know that I limit my intake of processed foods down to the bare minimum. Yes I still eat packaged crackers and I still love me some chips. I’m only human after all! I also try really hard to look for healthier alternatives to some of my favorite stuff just so I can have a treat every now and again.