Fairlawn, Bath, Copley, Norton, Wadsworth, Coventry — pick a neighboring community and you’re likely to see those colorful gourmet wagons parked there, dishing up their daily specials.

Not so in Akron, where an old city law prohibits their operation and city officials have refused to welcome them.

In August 2010 I wrote my first story about how the gourmet food truck trend had arrived in the area. We’ve missed a lot of good eating in the last three years.

But food truck operators recently have begun to ramp up their campaign to persuade Akron to let them in.

They have started a social media campaign with a Facebook page, “Please allow food trucks in Akron,” and an online petition at www.change.org, as part of their lobbying effort. More importantly, truck operators have begun to attend Akron City Council meetings to plead their case.

At last week’s meeting, five of them spoke before council asking for a change in Akron law, and even gave council some proposed guidelines that could be used for food truck legislation.

Council President Garry Moneypenny said after the meeting that the group had raised some good points and he would make sure that the entire council saw the proposed legislation.

Jeff Winer, who along with Steve Sabo owns the Orange Trük, has been a leader in the effort, and said operators intend to be back at every council meeting until they see some action. It doesn’t seem like it should take such a grand effort to sell sushi, chicken tacos and jambalaya on the street corner, particularly since the city already allows hot dog cart vendors in downtown. But truck operators have a battle on their hands.

First, there is the city law that prohibits itinerant retailers from “selling any item of value from a vehicle” in Akron.

I suspect this law must date back to the “Psst, hey buddy, wanna buy a watch” days in Akron, but it is being used to prevent the trucks from parking on city streets, particularly downtown, where they want to be.

Second, the Downtown Akron Partnership and Mayor Don Plusquellic’s office, which admittedly is following the DAP’s lead on this topic, have maintained a staunch position against allowing the trucks.

Both maintain that the trucks provide unfair competition to permanent restaurants in the city, particularly those downtown, who have made an investment to be there, pay taxes and already struggle with a limited pool of customers and a wide variety of restaurants.

At Monday’s council meeting, Winer and Sabo met with opposition from the DAP and operators of two downtown eateries, Insomnia Cookies and Street Treats Grill. The DAP’s Suzie Graham told council about the drawbacks for brick-and-mortar restaurants.

“They can’t and won’t drive away when times get tough,” she said.

Winer balks at this argument as blatant “protectionism.”

“I feel bad if a restaurant isn’t doing well, but how is that my fault? What about the restaurants that are doing well, are they to blame for the restaurants who aren’t?” he said.

If truck operators can find private property on which to park, they will come to Akron. Winer and Sabo have found a roundabout way into the city — they signed up to be a vendor at the Countryside Conservancy’s Highland Square Farmers Market, so they can park there every Thursday during market season to sell.

Trucks also are in talks with the University of Akron about some permanent spots on campus in the upcoming school year, and even potentially accepting the university dining plan’s Zip Card.

Until now, the city’s response has been to invite trucks to provide food at special events, like concerts at Lock 3 or other festival-type occasions.

Plusquellic recently released a written statement through his spokeswoman, Stephanie York, saying he was asking his law department for a fresh review of Akron’s law banning food trucks, and laws from other cities where food trucks operate.

“The concerns I have is the fairness issue of people who come in and don’t pay property taxes, which go to help support the schools, and the fact that they may not be involved in any other way in our community. The point is, small businesses, like our downtown restaurants, give back to the community in various ways. If we can figure out a way to apply a fairness doctrine to these activities, we may want to make changes. I revisit a lot of issues over time, and that is what I intend to do on this issue,” the mayor’s statement read.

York said if food truck operators want to sit down to talk about the issue, the mayor’s office would be willing to meet with them.

These are positive signs, particularly since Winer said he already has sent the mayor’s office emails, called several times and personally asked York to set up a meeting, all to no avail. (Coincidentally, York and Winer are cousins.)

No one understands better than I do how difficult it is to succeed in the restaurant business. I have a front row seat to their struggles. But I also know that competition is the American way and restaurant operators know that before they ever unlock their front doors.

Isn’t every restaurant competition for every other restaurant? By that logic, aren’t all restaurants really just competition for grocery stores? Where does it end?

It’s funny that the very law that prevents itinerant retailers in Akron makes an exception for ice cream trucks. Don’t they pose competition to bricks-and-mortar ice cream parlors? Of course they do, and yet I’ve never heard of one ice cream parlor lobbying against the Good Humor man, or the city going out of its way to protect them.

I would argue that food trucks are less competition because by the very nature of their business, they are transient. They don’t want to be in the same place all the time. They are constantly looking for a fresh audience for their menus. Their mobility is a part of their cachet.

But more importantly, I would argue that a rising tide lifts all boats.

Food trucks are today’s trend and Akron can continue to engage in stodgy, backward thinking by not embracing them, or help to raise the coolness factor of downtown in ways that can only help all of the businesses that have a permanent home there.

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.

There’s a whole crop of new cookbooks on the market devoted to grilling, smoking, and all things barbecue that will help get cooks fired up about open-fire cooking.

Here are seven to check out:

1. The Grilling Book: The Definitive Guide from Bon Appétit ($45, hardcover, Andrews McMeel)

Ever thought about grilling bacon? How easily can you turn salmon into a burger? Is it really OK to bake ribs inside first? The answers to these questions and more are all in this new tome from Bon Appétit magazine.

More than 400 pages and oodles of instruction (there’s an entire chapter devoted to just prepping the grill) make this a must-have guide for newbies, and a welcome refresher course for the oldest of flame masters.

There are more than 300 recipes, including fresh takes on traditional favorites, like this recipe for Sweet-and-Spicy Shrimp.

SWEET-AND-SPICY SHRIMP

¼ cup light or dark brown sugar

3½ tbsp. fresh lemon juice, divided

2 tbsp. plus ½ cup vegetable oil, divided, plus more for brushing

2 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

½ tsp. salt, plus more as needed

2 lb. large shrimp, peeled, deveined

2 cups packed fresh mint leaves

Mix brown sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons oil, cayenne, lemon zest, and ½ tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.

Meanwhile, place mint, remaining 1½ tablespoons lemon juice, and remaining ½ cup oil in a food processor. Pulse, scraping down sides occasionally, until mint is finely chopped and mixture is smooth. Season mint sauce to taste with salt.

Build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill, or heat a gas grill to high. Brush grill grate with oil. Thread shrimp onto skewers. Grill shrimp until just opaque in the center, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Serve with mint sauce.

Makes 6 servings.

2. Everyday Barbecue by Myron Mixon with Kelly Alexander ($24, softcover, Ballantine)

You might recognize Mixon as the judge on Discovery Destination America’s BBQ Pitmasters show. He is known as “the winningest man in competitive barbecue.”

In this book, Mixon aims to show home cooks how they can pull off some high-level barbecue in their own backyards, no matter what their experience level or equipment.

There are nearly 150 recipes, including Southern specialties like grilled pimento cheese sandwiches, and this one for a foolproof homemade barbecue sauce that will work well on beef, chicken or pork.

THE ONLY BARBECUE

SAUCE YOU NEED

2 tbsp. onion powder

2 tbsp. garlic powder

2 (6-oz.) cans tomato paste

2 tbsp. paprika

⅔ cup cider vinegar

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup packed dark brown sugar

2 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. maple syrup

2 tbsp. kosher salt

2 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and pulse a couple of times to thoroughly combine. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir continuously until the sauce is heated through, but do not allow it to come to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat.

Use the sauce immediately as you like, or if reserving for a later use, allow the mixture to cool, then pour it into a large bottle or container and store, tightly covered and refrigerated, for up to 1 year.

Makes about 3 cups.

3. America’s Best BBQ Homestyle, by Ardie A. Davis and Paul Kirk ($19.99, softcover, Andrews McMeel)

Davis, a longtime barbecue contest judge, and pit master Kirk team up on this fun book in which they ask award-winning barbecue teams what they like to cook at home.

The resulting book is a compilation of recipes from the champions, from breakfasts to desserts. The book is filled with photos of competitions and lots of information about how these winning teams got started.

This recipe is from Clint Cantwell of the Smoke In Da Eye competitive team.

SMOKE IN DA EYE

GRILLED COFFEE-CORIANDER-

RUBBED NEW YORK STRIP STEAK

For the rub:

2 tbsp. ground coffee

2 tbsp. smoked paprika

1½ tbsp. coriander seeds, lightly toasted and ground

½ tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

2 tbsp. kosher salt

For the steaks:

4 New York strip steaks, about 1½ inches thick

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix all of the rub ingredients together and set aside.

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a grill to high, placing the majority of the coals and a couple (optional) fist-sized wood chunks in the center of the grill to create a cool zone on the outer edges.

Once the steaks have come to room temperature, coat all sides with the olive oil; then season generously with the coffee-coriander rub. Place the steaks in the center of the grill, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Flip and grill, covered, for another 3 minutes. Flip and cook each side for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the steaks reach your desired level of doneness. Remove from the grill and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes so that the juices have time to redistribute and don’t end up all over your serving platter or cutting board.

Makes 4 servings.

4. Weber’s New Real Grilling by Jamie Purviance ($24.94, softcover, Sunset)

This line of cookbooks from the grill maker are some of the most popular in print. That’s due to Purviance’s reputation as one of the country’s leading experts on grilling.

He has written all of Weber’s cookbooks and this latest edition is full of expert tips on how to grill, and also on what to grill.

Purviance covers the gamut from burgers, steaks and pork to seafood, side dishes, pizza and dessert. Here’s his take on a local favorite, kielbasa.

KIELBASA SUBMARINE

SANDWICHES WITH

BEER-BRAISED ONIONS

6 oz. sauerkraut, rinsed and drained

2 red onions, 10-12 oz. total, halved and very thinly sliced

2 bottles beer (12 oz. each)

1 tsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp. caraway seed

⅛ tsp. celery seed

1 lb. kielbasa, halved lengthwise, each half cut crosswise into 2 pieces

4 submarine sandwich rolls, each about 6 inches long, split

Yellow or brown deli mustard

Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat, 350 to 450 degrees.

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, combine the sauerkraut, onion, beer and sugar. Place the skillet over direct medium heat, close the lid, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes, add the caraway seed and the celery seed. After the same time, grill the kielbasa, cut side down first, over direct medium heat, until nicely browned, 7 to 8 minutes, turning once. Remove the kielbasa from the grill and cut into 1-inch pieces. After the sauerkraut mixture has simmered for 25 to 30 minutes, add the kielbasa to the skillet and continue to cook for 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Toast the rolls, cut side down, over direct medium heat until warmed through and lightly browned, about 1 minute.

Fill the rolls with the onion and kielbasa mixture. Serve with mustard.

Makes 4 servings.

5. 100 Grilling Recipes You Can’t Live Without by Cheryl and Bill Jamison ($16.95, softcover, Harvard Common Press).

The Jamisons have written six previous books on grilling and barbecuing, and are using this volume to boil it all down to just 100 recipes.

They include such basics as chicken under a brick and all-American burgers, but also a few unexpected dishes like grilled french fries.

This recipe for grilled chicken thighs shows just how well dark meat does on the grill.

CHICKEN THIGHS WITH LOADS

OF LEMON AND GARLIC

8 large bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (about 7 oz. each)

For the lemon garlic marinade:

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 heaping tbsp. minced garlic

Grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon

1 tsp. kosher salt or coarse sea salt

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

At least 2 hours and up to 24 hours before you plan to grill, prepare the marinade. Combine the oil, garlic and lemon zest in a small skillet and warm over medium-low heat for several minutes, until the garlic begins to color. Remove from the heat and let cool. Stir in the lemon juice, salt and pepper. The mixture will be soupy.

Loosen the skin on the thighs. Coat the thighs thoroughly with the marinade, rubbing it over and under the skin, working it as far as possible under the skin without tearing it. Place the chicken in a zipper-top plastic bag with any remaining marinade, seal the bag and refrigerate.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, discarding the marinade, and let it sit, uncovered, at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.

Fire up the grill for a two-level fire capable of cooking at the same time on both high heat and medium low heat. (On a gas grill, set burners to two different cooking temperatures; on a charcoal grill, use one layer of coals for a low heat, and coals stacked two or three high for a higher heat.)

Blot any liquid on the surface of the chicken with a paper towel. Grill, uncovered, over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, turning to sear both sides. Move the chicken to medium-low heat and continue grilling for another 12 to 15 minutes, turning every 3 minutes or so. Watch for flare-ups, shifting the thighs away from the flames if necessary. The thighs are done when the skin is brown and crisp and the juices run clear. The temperature should register 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

6. All Fired Up, the editors of Southern Living with Troy Black ($24.95, softcover, Oxmoor House).

Southern Living has teamed up with Black for this colorful volume of grilling recipes with a distinct southern flair. The recipes are simple and easy to follow, which makes them perfect for cooks who like to cook outdoors, but aren’t having a serious love affair with their grills.

BLACKENED GRILLED

CATFISH FILLETS

2 tbsp. kosher salt

3 tbsp. paprika

1 tsp. granulated garlic

1 tsp. ground red pepper

½ tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. dried thyme

½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp. ancho chile pepper

6 farm-raised catfish fillets (tilapia or orange roughy can be substituted)

2 tbsp. olive oil

Lemon wedges, for garnish

Preheat grill to 350-400 degree heat (medium high). Stir together first eight ingredients in a small bowl. Rub catfish with oil, and sprinkle with spice mixture. (This should form a paste.)

Grill, covered with grill lid, 4 minutes on each side or just until fish flakes with a fork. Garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

7. The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue by Daniel Vaughn ($29.99, hardcover, Ecco/Bourdain/Harper Collins)

OK, this isn’t a cookbook at all; there are no recipes. It’s really a food travel book. Vaughn, an Ohio native, is the first-ever barbecue editor for Texas Monthly magazine.

Vaughn grew up in Wooster, and graduated from Wooster High School in 1996. After graduating from Tulane University in New Orleans, he headed to Texas in 2001, where he fell in love with barbecue and eventually left his career as a Dallas architect to follow his passion for smoked meat.

You aren’t likely to find this kind of Texas barbecue locally, but the book is an interesting tour of the Lone Star state through its barbecue shacks.

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.

Lettuces of all varieties are coming into season now and you’ll find a wide assortment of salad greens at local farmers markets.

Last week’s strawberry crop is even bigger now, so combine the two into one recipe for a strawberry salad with a sweet, homemade orange dressing.

Every bite is a taste of summer.

— Lisa Abraham

MIXED GREENS AND

STRAWBERRY SALAD WITH

ALMONDS AND CREAMY

ORANGE DRESSING

For the dressing:

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

1 tbsp. orange marmalade

For the salad:

1 small head butter lettuce, leaves separated and washed, dried and chilled

3 to 4 oz. mixed baby lettuces, washed, dried and chilled

2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced

¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

To make the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and orange juice concentrate until combined. Add the marmalade and whisk again until well blended. Store covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Reserve 4 large whole leaves of butter lettuce for plating. Carefully tear the remaining leaves into bite-sized pieces.

To assemble the salads, spoon 1 tablespoon of dressing in the center of each of 4 serving plates (This enables the salad to have enough dressing, while keeping it fresh looking right up until serving). Place a whole, large leaf of butter lettuce off-center on the plate. Scatter a handful of torn butter lettuce and a handful of mixed baby greens over the entire plate. Scatter ½ cup sliced strawberries and 1 tablespoon of sliced almonds over the greens. Drizzle each salad with an additional tablespoon of dressing and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately, with remaining dressing in a bowl or small pitcher on the table to add if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

— The Artist, the Cook and the Gardener, Maryjo Koch ($26.99, hardcover, Andrews McMeel)

Find previous installments of This Week’s Harvest and a list of local farmers markets at http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/food. Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.

Vino Italia will be 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. July 10 at the Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St., Akron.

This year’s event will feature wine from Gruppo Mezzacorona and Prestige Wine Imports. There also will be food samples from local restaurants, door prizes, and live music.

Tickets are $65 and can be purchased at Civic Theatre box office, by calling 330-253-2488, online at www.akroncivic.com or Ticketmaster.com.

Proceeds benefit the Council of Italian-American Scholarships and the Arc of Summit and Portage Counties.

Comings and goings

The long-awaited, much-anticipated Cellar 59 wine bar has finally opened in Stow, at 3984 Kent Road.

Located in a renovated farm house, the business includes a retail wine shop and a bar where they sell wine by the glass and craft beers. There is a small menu of appetizers and dessert selections. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. They are available for private events Sunday and Monday. Phone 330-688-2684 or visit www.cellar59wine.com.

• Grille 39, 3939 Massillon Road, Green, has closed.

On the website, owner Joseph Cernava says the closing is temporary due to relocation. No reopening date is provided. Will have to keep checking on this one. Grille 39 opened in 2009.

• Jan Walther of Walthers Cafe is opening a new Pita Pit franchise at 1102 N. Main St., North Canton. The shop is expected to open this week. Other Pita Pit locations are in downtown Akron, Kent and Fairlawn.

Dry cottage cheese found

Since writing last week about how difficult it can be to find dry curd cottage cheese, folks have alerted me to more local places for buying it.

• The Pierogi Lady, at Hartville Marketplace, 1289 Edison Place NW, Hartville, sells it for $4.50 per pound. The shop is open Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., phone 330-690-2129.

• Pierogi’s of Cleveland sells it for $6 per pound at its Richfield store, 4131 W. Streetsboro Road, Richfield. The shop is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., phone, 330-608-0683.

• LVIV International Food Store, 5689 State Road, Parma, has it for $4.69 per pound. The shop is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays, phone 440-887-1199.

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.

— M.T., Akron

A.: Your jar of mayonnaise likely has spent too much time in the coldest part of your refrigerator and probably got frozen at some point. This often happens when the jar gets pushed to the back of the refrigerator and forgotten. Freezing will cause mayonnaise to separate.

Separated mayonnaise isn’t harmful to eat, but it’s not too pleasant either. You can try to stir it up again, but if it won’t mix, you are better off tossing the jar and getting a fresh one.

Got a food question? Lisa Abraham has the answer. Call 330-996-3737; email her at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com with “Ask Lisa” in the subject line; or write to her at 44 E. Exchange St., P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640. Please include your name (initials will be printed on request), hometown and phone number.

Which probably explains why so many men are so fond of foods cooked over an open fire in the great outdoors.

Plenty of us will be cooking over an open flame today to help celebrate Dad. Whether it’s a campfire in the middle of the woods or a grill in the backyard, the results can be the same.

Campfire Cuisine, the new book by Robin Donovan ($15.95, softcover, Quirk Books), shows just how easy it is to cook high-end over an open flame.

Burgers are always a crowd pleaser, Donovan has a collection of recipes that include turkey, lamb and mushroom, that go beyond the basics.

Of course, this recipe for beef and cheddar is as classic a combination as Dad and his grill.

CHEDDAR-STUFFED BURGERS

1¼ lbs. lean ground beef

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 small red onion, finely chopped

3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about ½ cup)

4 hamburger buns, toasted

Mix the ground beef, egg, onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper in a medium bowl or pot until well combined. Form the mixture into 8 thin patties. Top 4 of the patties with ⅛ cup each of the grated cheese, then top with another patty and seal shut.

Grill the burgers over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes per side, until cooked to desired doneness. Serve on toasted buns with desired garnishes.

Makes 4 servings.

— Campfire Cuisine, Robin Donovan

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.

Locally grown berries are ripe for the picking and plenty of farms have opened their gates for pick-your-own. You can find a county-by-county list of Ohio pick-your-own farms at www.pickyourown.org.

But if you don’t feel like picking, there will be plenty to buy at local farmers markets for the next two weeks.

When you find these June rubies, there’s plenty to do with them: make jam, slice them on top of ice cream, dip them in chocolate, slice them into salads — the choices are endless. And of course, there is the classic strawberry shortcake.

Since Friday is not only Flag Day but also National Strawberry Shortcake Day, try them in this recipe for a dessert that is as classically American as the Stars and Stripes.

— Lisa Abraham

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled

2 tbsp. sugar

For the biscuits:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

4 tbsp. cold, unsalted butter, plus 2 tbsp. at room temperature

¾ cup buttermilk

For the sweetened cream:

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slice the strawberries and toss them gently in a large bowl with the sugar. Set aside so they can give off some juice while you bake the biscuits.

To make the biscuits, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Cut the 4 tablespoons of cold butter into chunks and rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. Add the buttermilk, mix until a soft dough forms, and turn it out onto a well-floured work surface.

Divide the dough in half and roll it out into two circles about ½-inch thick. Brush one circle with the 2 tablespoons of softened butter and lay the other circle on top of it. Cut into 6 circles with a 2½-inch biscuit cutter and arrange on an ungreased baking sheet. (You can re-roll the scraps, but the resulting biscuits won’t be quite as tender.) Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until puffed and golden.

To make the sweetened cream, lightly whip the cream, sugar and vanilla to soft peaks.

To serve, split the hot biscuits and heap the base with strawberries and sweetened cream. Top with the other half of each biscuit and spoon a little more strawberries and cream over each.

Makes 6 servings.

— The Animal Farm Buttermilk Cookbook, Diane St. Clair ($27.99, hardcover, Andrews McMeel)

Find previous installments of This Week’s Harvest and a list of local farmers markets at www.ohio.com/lifestyle/food.

— C.D., Norton

A.: Oh, how I wish there were! I get this call often from local cooks who are looking for it to use in old recipes for everything from blintzes and palacinke to cheese bread.

Sadly, there is no store that I know of in the Akron area that sells dry curd cottage cheese. Until a few years ago, Dean’s Dairy from Sharpsville, Pa., carried the product and it could be special-ordered through local Giant Eagle stores, but Dean’s no longer carries it.

The closest place to Akron to purchase it that I have found is Irene Dever’s stand at the West Side Market in Cleveland, where it sells for $4.50 per pound. If anyone knows of someplace closer, let me know so I can spread the word.

Dever’s stocks it most of the time, but doesn’t always keep it during the summer because it spoils quickly. Also, there typically is a greater call for it at the holidays when home cooks are making old ethnic favorites. So call first to make sure it’s in stock, 216-696-4567. The West Side Market is at 1979 W. 25th St., in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. It is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Wednesday and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

A Wisconsin cheese maker, the Westby Cooperative Creamery, will ship it to Ohio. Creamery store manager Jacque Shay said shipment to Ohio typically takes two days, but when the weather is very hot, the store may need to overnight it to keep it from spoiling.

Shay recommends ordering a 4-pound tub, which sells for $11.55 ($2.89 per pound). Standard two-day shipping — it comes packed on ice in a cooler — costs about $15 to Ohio. Overnight shipping to Ohio is closer to $80, so it’s best not to wait until it’s 90 degrees outside to order.

Shay said the store will freeze the cheese before shipping it. When it arrives, it still will be partially frozen, but loose enough to be broken up and divided into 1-pound containers. She recommends immediately freezing what won’t be used within a few days. Westby’s dry cottage cheese will last up to a year in the freezer, she said.

To order, phone 800-492-9282, ext. 4.

If you need a substitute, you can try farmers cheese, which is easy to find in many grocery stores, or ricotta, but it is much wetter than dry cottage cheese and doesn’t work as well in a lot of recipes. Some folks have success draining regular large-curd cottage cheese in the refrigerator for a day or two to make their own dry curd.

Got a food question? Lisa Abraham has the answer. Call 330-996-3737; email her at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com with “Ask Lisa” in the subject line; or write to her at 44 E. Exchange St., P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640. Please include your name (initials will be printed on request), hometown and phone number.

They’re cooking up plenty of Hungarian food, including stuffed cabbage, Hungarian hot and mild sausage, chicken paprikash with homemade dumplings, cabbage and noodles and pastry, too. Food prices vary.

There will be Hungarian music, a Hungarian ballet performing classical and contemporary dances, as well as raffles and a membership drive. Admission is $2.

Also from Europe …

The German Family Society in Brimfield Township will be hosting its Old European Days & Bierfest on June 29 and 30.

The members are busy making their traditional schnitzel, stuffed cabbage, sausage, sauerkraut and potato salad that will be served along with German beer, wine and pastries.

The event is 4 p.m. to midnight Saturday and 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday, with a German Mass at 11:30 a.m. There will be plenty of live polka music both days, ethnic dancing and children’s games on Sunday afternoon. Entrance is $4 for adults, free for children 11 and younger. Parking is free.

The society’s picnic grounds are at 3871 Ranfield Road, Brimfield, just east of Routes 43 and 18.

Book signing in Hudson

Maryland restaurateur Kimball Firestone, a grandson of Akron’s Harvey Firestone, will be at the Learned Owl Book Store, 204 N. Main St., Hudson on June 22 at 1 p.m. to sell and sign his new autobiography, Reflections on a Silver Spoon: How a Foodie Found Home.

Firestone, 79, details his years working for the family business in Akron and Washington D.C., and how he came to open Firestone’s Culinary Tavern in Frederick, Md. (www.firestonesrestaurant.com) and also a gourmet store, Firestone’s Market on Market.

Farm to table meal

Crooked River Herb Farm, 1719 Reimer Road, Wadsworth, is hosting a Farm to Table Tea Party from 1 to 4 p.m. June 23.

Splendid Fare Catering is preparing the meal, using all local produce, meat and cheeses, including herbs from Crooked River. Crooked River’s new line of herbal teas will be featured, and those who raised the food served will be on hand. The tea is $30. To reserve, contact farm owner Kathleen Varga at 330-604-0932.

Farmers market book club

The Highland Square Branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library, 807 W. Market St., Akron, has started a summer book club in conjunction with the Countryside Conservancy’s Highland Square Farmers Market on Thursdays.

Once a month, the group will meet to discuss books on food production in the United States. Thursday the book is The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. The market meets from 4 to 7 p.m. The reading group meets from 7:15 to 8:15 p.m. Registration is required. Phone 330-376-2927.

Relish chef on ‘Today’

Relish Magazine Chef Brian Morris will be heading to Akron for the Relish Cooking Show on Saturday, but you can catch him on Friday on Today on WKYC (Channel 3, 10-11 a.m.) demonstrating grilling tips for Father’s Day.

Tickets to the show are available at the E.J. Thomas box office (330-972-7570) or Ticketmaster outlets.

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.

This week, consumer reporter Betty Lin-Fisher, food writer Lisa Abraham and I have been reporting on our testing of some often-touted products, many of which are pitched on TV. Today we concentrate on five products you might use around the house.

None of them wowed us. Read on to see why.

Wraptastic

I’ve always thought rolls of plastic wrap were a bit of a pain — sometimes literally. I’ve cut my fingers on the serrated cutting blade more times than I’d like to admit.

Wraptastic is designed to make it easier and safer to dispense plastic wrap, as well as foil, waxed paper and other wrappings. It’s a rigid plastic dispenser with a hinged lid that contains a shielded blade. By pressing on the lid, you cut the wrapping in one motion, quickly and neatly.

We liked that aspect when we tested the Wraptastic with plastic wrap and foil, although we discovered that pressing the lid took more force than we expected. Because the blade is less exposed than it is on a box of plastic wrap, Betty noted that the dispenser would be safer for a child to use.

We also liked that the dispenser’s design keeps the plastic wrap’s cut end from clinging to the roll.

Unfortunately, we had some trouble getting a roll to seat correctly in the dispenser. Often a plastic guide would rub against one of the wheels, hindering how easily the roll turned. Betty needed two hands to pull the foil out.

We also thought the Wraptastic would work better if it were heavier. Although it has nonslip feet, the dispenser was still too lightweight to stay in place when we pulled on the wrapping.

The Wraptastic is for use only with wrapping rolls no bigger than 200 feet. Forget buying jumbo rolls.

Like many of the products we test, the Wraptastic is a good idea that suffers from mediocre execution. We paid $10.88 for the product, and we all agreed we might use it for dispensing plastic wrap. But we wouldn’t bother with it for foil or other types of wrapping.

Verdict:

Betty: It Depends

Lisa: It Depends

Mary Beth: It Depends

Pocket Hose

Collapsible hoses are big this season. Several brands are on the market, but we tested the Pocket Hose because it’s the one we saw most often on store shelves.

We tried the 50-foot version, which cost us $19.88. The hose also comes in 25-, 75- and 100-foot lengths.

The Pocket Hose has a fabric covering and a plastic liner, so it’s lightweight and doesn’t kink. It expands and uncoils like a snake when the water is turned on, then collapses when the water is off.

Compared with a regular garden hose, we found the Pocket Hose much easier to move around while we worked. As Lisa pointed out, it’s a good option for someone who doesn’t have the strength to lug a heavy hose around.

But I have concerns about the plastic couplings. In my experience, plastic just doesn’t hold up. If I were buying a collapsible hose, I’d spend a little extra and buy one with metal couplings, such as the XHose Pro.

The instructions specify storing the Pocket Hose in a shaded area, presumably because sunlight will break down the components. If your spigot is in the sun, you’d have to disconnect the hose after each use for storage.

Another drawback is that the hose can’t be repaired, as a regular garden hose can.

Our Pocket Hose didn’t leak or break, but then again, our testing period was limited. While we try not to base our judgments on other people’s experiences, we couldn’t help noticing that several readers who wrote to us about the hose complained about leaks or the on-off lever breaking.

In our opinion, the Pocket Hose might be suitable for people who can’t handle a heavier garden hose, but it’s not a good substitute for a more substantial hose.

“If you are looking for a lightweight hose, this would be a good thing,” Betty said. “Just know that it may not last as long as a regular hose.”

Verdict:

Betty: It Depends

Lisa: It Depends

Mary Beth: It Depends

Smart Twist 
Cleaning System

This trigger sprayer from S.C. Johnson holds three cleaning products, so you don’t have to carry three bottles around.

The sprayer contains a water reservoir and space for three small bottles of cleaner in concentrated form. The cleaner and water are mixed automatically when you spray, and you can change cleaning products just by twisting the gadget. Each cleaner has its own spray nozzle, so the products don’t get mixed.

You have to refill the water reservoir periodically, but one fill-up is more than enough for a session of housecleaning.

The Smart Twist can be used with any of five products — Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner, Windex glass cleaner, Fantastik kitchen cleaner, Pledge furniture cleaner and Shout carpet cleaner. Each 3.3-ounce bottle of concentrate makes about the same amount of cleaner as a standard spray bottle.

When we tried the Smart Twist, we thought it felt a little awkward to hold. The sprayer weighed a few ounces less than a 32-fluid-ounce bottle of Windex, yet it felt heavier because the bulk of the weight wasn’t directly in our grip, as it would be with the Windex bottle. It’s a little like the difference between holding a mug by its handle and gripping a water bottle. Even if the two weigh the same, the mug will feel heavier in your hand.

Lisa wasn’t convinced the sprayer mixed the concentrate and water adequately, although I didn’t share her concern. I thought it worked fine when I tried it at home.

Our biggest complaint was with the price: $24.99 for the sprayer plus three bottles of concentrate. That’s the price we based our evaluation on, but it’s worth noting that the company’s website, www.smarttwist.com, has the product on sale until Sunday. You can buy a sprayer and five bottles of concentrate for $9.95, with free shipping. A second system costs $19.95.

The regular price of the refills is a little high, too. They sell for $7.99 for two, which works out to about $4 apiece. By comparison, S.C. Johnson sells concentrated forms of all five cleaners, designed for refilling a 26-ounce spray bottle, for $2.50 each.

Verdict:

Betty: It Depends

Lisa: Skip It

Mary Beth: It Depends

Flower Rocket

The Flower Rocket is a rolled-up seed tape that promises to turn into “thousands of flowers.”

But after a month, all we had were a few dozen sprouts.

The Flower Rocket package contains two “rockets” embedded with the seeds of 15 types of annual flowers. Following the instructions, we planted one in a container filled with soil, which we had to provide.

It was still too cold then to put tender annuals outdoors, so we let the Flower Rocket germinate and grow in a sunny window. We had to keep it well-watered, a task that involved twice-daily watering for the first few days and daily watering after that.

The first sprouts appeared after just three days, with more following. But 32 days after planting, the plants were still small, probably weeks away from producing blooms.

Betty thought the name and packaging implied that “you are going to get huge flower blooms within days, which rocket out of the pot.” While that’s never expressly promised, it’s fair to say the speed of growth is more like a dirigible than a rocket.

Maybe in a month or more, the thing will be gorgeous. I’m not sure we’ll have the patience to keep caring for the Flower Rocket long enough to find out.

It was also hard to see how the Flower Rocket gave us any advantage over just sprinkling some seeds in a pot of soil. Considering that some types of seeds cost less than a buck a packet, that approach would have been a lot cheaper than the $9.99 Flower Rocket.

Verdict:

Betty: Skip It

Lisa: It Depends

Mary Beth: Skip It

WaxVac

We tried the WaxVac ear cleaner at the urging of a colleague with two children, one who swims competitively and the other who has, in her words, “really waxy ears.”

Sounds like the perfect solution, right?

Wrong.

The seeds of our doubt were planted right away when we noticed that the product’s packaging and website mentioned nothing about earwax. Despite the name, those sources say the device removes “dirt particles and moisture.” Moisture we can see, but dirt particles? Whose ears have dirt particles?

Still, we were eager to see just what the $9.88 WaxVac would remove.

We enlisted the help of Dr. Sidney Steinberger, an ear, nose and throat specialist who gamely agreed to perform a before-and-after exam to help us quantify the WaxVac’s performance.

We had intended to test the device just on Betty’s son, Sam, but Steinberger’s examination revealed two pretty clean ears. So we also tested it on me, because — well, let’s just say I was the most promising candidate.

Steinberger looked inside our ears and used a slender scope with a camera to take before pictures — which, I might point out, I won’t be framing and putting on my mantel.

Then we put the WaxVac to work.

The device is essentially a low-powered, battery-operated vacuum cleaner that’s supposed to gently suck stuff out of your ears. We tried it on both Sam and me for 45 seconds each, and then Steinberger went back in with his camera to take after pictures.

The WaxVac pulled an inconsequential speck of what we assumed to be earwax out of Sam’s ear, and we could see from the photo that a bit of wax had moved within the ear but hadn’t been dislodged. There was no way to tell whether the earwax had been moved by the suction or just by physical contact with the WaxVac’s tip.

In my case, the WaxVac made no difference at all.

Later, I poured water into one of my ears to test whether the WaxVac would draw it out. I used the device for five minutes — the maximum specified in the instructions — but the water didn’t budge.

I think Lisa summed up our opinion of the WaxVac best. “It’s all hype,” she said.

Verdict:

Betty: Skip It

Lisa: Skip It

Mary Beth: Skip It

Have you seen an advertised product and wondered if it really lives up to its claims? You can suggest items to be reviewed by Lisa Abraham, Mary Beth Breckenridge and Betty Lin-Fisher by sending email to labraham@thebeaconjournal.com or calling 330-996-3737, mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3756 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3724.

But don’t limit yourself to potato and macaroni. Plenty of other grains — rice, quinoa and lentils — make for fine summer salads and pilafs.

Try out this salad made with farro, a popular grain in the Middle East. The recipe comes from Mediterranean Cooking from the Culinary Institute of America, by Lynne Gigliotti ($34.99, hardcover, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

The book has more than 200 recipes from around the Mediterranean — Italy, Lebanon, Spain, Israel, Greece and southern France — all of them filled with the fresh ingredients that make up the Mediterranean diet.

You can substitute wheat berries, barley or spelt for farro (sometimes the terms spelt and farro are used interchangeably on package labels). It can usually be found at natural food stores, if it’s not on the grain shelf at your regular grocery store.

FARRO SALAD

3 cups water

1 tbsp. salt

1 cup farro

1 cup oil-cured olives

½ cup diced red onion

½ cup diced carrot

½ cup diced celery

½ cup diced trimmed fennel

½ cup peeled, seeded and diced cucumber

1 cup sliced plum tomatoes

2 tbsp. capers

2 tsp. finely chopped garlic

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

2 tbsp. flat-leaf parsley

2 tbsp. chopped basil

2 tbsp. chopped mint

½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

In a 2-quart pot over medium heat, bring the water and 2 teaspoons of the salt to a boil. Pour in the farro and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.

Strain the farro and immediately return it to the warm pot. Pan steam it by covering the pot and letting the steam finish cooking the farro, about 10 minutes.

Mix the cooked farro with the olives, onion, carrot, celery, fennel, cucumber, tomatoes, capers and garlic. Add the olive oil, vinegar and herbs. Season with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper.

Serve hot, at room temperature or as a cold salad.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.

His culinary students at Maplewood Career Center in Ravenna had plenty to do.

They were readying their restaurant for its final days of operation where they would serve a barbecue buffet.

They had catered more than 150 boxed lunches for a group of health-care and law enforcement professionals who were attending a conference hosted by the Portage County Health Department in one of the center’s meeting rooms, and were scrambling to put together about 15 more for latecomers who had showed up for the conference without registering, as well as some vegetarian meals to fill special requests.

Finally, they were trying to get another conference room set up for a retirement party that the students were catering later that afternoon.

Jacobson’s kitchen classroom was in a state of constant interruption.

“Chef J,” a student called.

“Chef J,” said another.

“Chef.”

“Chef J. Chef. Chef.”

On and on it went, an endless stream of questions.

“What do I do now?”

“Is this right?”

“I need a recipe.”

It was enough to make a normal man’s head spin, but Jacobson seemed to float above it all, unfazed by the chaos.

“I don’t mind interruptions,” he said, his slow and steady speech revealing the remains of his Oklahoma accent. “Horseplay bothers me and,” he emphasized, “avoiding work.”

Jacobson hung up his chef’s hat at the end of the school year. The 66-year-old had spent the last 18 years of his career in food service helping to shape future generations of chefs.

A big part of his job was teaching them the hard work that is required in the culinary field. And on this day, there was an abundance of work to do.

Groups of students were setting up the Maple Leaf Restaurant for the next day’s service.

Several students were breading chicken tenders that would be part of the appetizers served at the retirement party, as Jacobson tried, despite the interruptions, to search for a recipe for a new dipping sauce for them.

Others were baking cookies, brownies and cinnamon rolls that would be served at the party, while more were making a last-minute batch of potato salad to go in the boxed lunches and rolling extra turkey wrap sandwiches.

Joseph Finn, 18, of Roots­town, stopped breading chicken for a moment to talk about Jacobson: “He’s pretty laid back. … He’s definitely a good guy. But don’t slack off.”

Like many of the students who enter Maplewood’s culinary program from districts throughout Portage County, Finn has big dreams. He wants to own his own restaurant some day.

Randall Wingate, 18, of Ravenna, stood at a stove sauteing vegetables that would fill wraps for the vegetarian lunch boxes, and expressed his hope to attend Le Cordon Bleu in Arizona, and one day work as a chef in Japan.

Fueled by years watching of the Food Network, young people have a newfound interest in the culinary arts.

By Jacobson’s estimate, there are about 20 or 30 working chefs out there whose careers he had a hand in developing. Not a bad statistic for someone who never intended to teach.

Native of Oklahoma

The Ardmore, Okla., native is the son of two teachers. His father coached football and taught physical education, and his mother taught high school math.

In college, Jacobson majored in hospitality management. At his first job, with Sky Chefs airline catering, he was making more than his father, who had been teaching for 30 years and was the highest paid in his district because he also was head football coach — another reason to avoid teaching.

So Jacobson spent the next 20 or so years working for hotels and restaurant chains, focusing on the front of the house, making sure the dining room looked just right and that customers were happy. At one point, he even owned a restaurant.

His work took him to Ohio, Massachusetts, back to Oklahoma and eventually again to Ohio, where his wife, Ann, an Ohio native, earned her doctorate in nursing at Kent State University and obtained a position on the faculty.

That’s when Jacobson learned about an open position at Maplewood Career Center, a school that prides itself on hiring industry professionals, not career teachers, so that its students can learn from those who know the business firsthand.

Jacobson started at Maplewood during the 1995-96 school year. “I ended up teaching all these years later,” he said.

For most of his tenure, Jacobson was up at 5 a.m. at his home in South Russell Township in Geauga County, and at the school by 7:45.

Each day is different. Monday is always in the classroom, Tuesdays are in the kitchen. Wednesdays and Thursdays, the Maple Leaf Restaurant is open for lunch, and students perform every job from chef to bus boy.

Jacobson’s teaching partner for the past 10 years, chef Dan Remark, marvels at how focused and steady Jacobson remains despite the frantic kitchen atmosphere. He describes Jacobson as kind and laid back.

“Sometimes my head is spinning like Rosemary’s Baby,” Remark said.

Because Jacobson’s background is restaurant management and Remark’s is in the kitchen, they divided much of their teaching duties that way, with Jacobson focusing on front-of-the-house and Remark in the kitchen.

“He has a wealth of stories from his years in the business, and at every opportunity, he uses a new story to relate to the kids,” Remark said. “He’s not a chef, he was more of a restaurant manager, and he really put the hat of a chef on and did a good job with it. We teach classic French cuisine and basic cooking techniques, and it’s not as easy as it seems for a guy like that to come in and teach culinary, and he did a great job with it.”

Food television has changed the field dramatically, elevating chefs from the role of domestic servant to rock star.

Each year, when a new crop of students arrive, Jacobson knows that most probably won’t pursue the field, but they do leave with job skills.

About a third have an actual interest in a food career, a third are looking for a way to escape their high school and reinvent themselves, and a third don’t know what they want and come searching for direction.

The two-year course quickly separates those who have the commitment and desire to stay in the field from those who don’t.

“They all want to own their own restaurant when they come in here,” Jacobson said.

Hectic day

Back in the kitchen, Jacobson’s day wasn’t supposed to be quite this hectic.

He was intending to oversee the conference and get set up for the next day’s service at the Maple Leaf, while Remark was supposed to take care of catering the retirement party. But Remark’s father-in-law passed away, and he had to go out of town for the funeral, so Jacobson was covering all of the events by himself.

Jacobson spent this afternoon popping between kitchen, classroom, conference rooms and his office, keeping everyone going, everyone on task.

“It’s too early to fry that calamari yet,” he instructed at 1:15 p.m., noting that it would be cold and chewy by the time it was served.

“I wish we weren’t having this retirement party,” Jacobson grumbled as he conferred with adult education custodian Chris Conn about how to set up the chairs for it.

“It’s all about the students with him,” Conn said of Jacobson. “I definitely will miss him.”

By 2:15, Jacobson was back in the classroom, all teacher, reminding students about the fees they needed to have paid before the end of the school year and talking plans for their senior breakfast.

By 3 p.m., the students had all gone, leaving a banquet table perfectly appointed with appetizers, pastries and punch for the party.

One of the women planning the retirement party seemed a bit annoyed that Jacobson was still in his classroom as the festivities were getting underway. He was showing the party-throwers where the extra food was to put out during the event.

Eventually, he headed into the party and took his place beside the two other Maplewood teachers finishing out their last school year.

Chef J had calmly catered his own retirement party.

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.

Claims: Just pull, press and wrap

What We Paid: $10.88

Available: Stores, online, TV

VerdictS:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: It depends

Mary Beth: It depends

Pocket Hose

Claims: Fits in a pocket but grows to a full size hose

What We Paid: $19.88

Available: Stores, online, TV

VerdictS:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: It depends

Mary Beth: It depends

Smart Twist Cleaning System

Claims: Cleaning will be faster and easier

Price: $24.99 (the manufacturer sent us a sample to test)

Available: Online, TV

VerdictS:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: Skip it

Mary Beth: It depends

Flower Rocket

Claims: Produces thousands of flowers

What We Paid: $9.99

Available: Stores, online, TV

VerdictS:

Betty: Skip it

Lisa: It depends

Mary Beth: Skip it

WaxVac

Claims: Gently draws dirt particles and moisture out quickly and safely

What We Paid: $9.88

Available: Stores, online, TV

VerdictS:

Betty: Skip it

Lisa: Skip it

Mary Beth: Skip it

When we asked readers to weigh in on the products we tested for today’s Does It Work? feature, we got eight responses about the collapsible hose.

Some liked it. Others felt they’d gotten soaked.

Gary Burg of Medina was pleasantly surprised by the hose’s performance and noted that Consumer Reports gave it a good review. Sue Fuller of Wadsworth and James Edmiston of Akron also submitted positive feedback.

Other readers had a different take.

Gwen Weber of Green, Mia Burns Lewis of Hudson and Meg Hopp of Akron all shared the same experience: The plastic knob that turns the water on and off broke off after only one or two uses.

For Lewis, it happened when she was trying to shut off water that was spraying back toward her from the end of the hose. “It would have made for a great ‘Funniest Home Video’ entry,” she said.

Carol Dolney of Stow and Dolores Shea of Norton both experienced leaks with their Pocket Hoses. Dolney even exchanged hers, and the second hose leaked, too.

Shea’s hose had so many leaks the first time she used it that it “would have made a good soaker hose,” she said.

We also got an earful about the WaxVac.

James Weibrecht of Lake Township, Pat Anthony of Ravenna Township and Steven Steidl of Barberton all found the ear cleaner to be useless on earwax.

Anthony called the advertising “bait and switch.” “It only vacuums up water, not wax,” Anthony wrote. “I was not able to see any debris from the so-called cleaning when I opened the device as instructions say.”

To Steidl, the product was “crap,” a word he used twice to describe it. “This product would not suck a piece of lint out of your ear,” he wrote.

We also heard from Clinton resident Krystal Erks, who loves Wraptastic dispensers.

“I can finally control my plastic wrap,” she wrote. “I have no trouble with the cutting edge, and they fit in my drawer. I think I’m going to order two more.” 

Claims: “Picture perfect pancakes every time!”

What We Paid: $19.99, plus shipping

Available: TV, online.

Verdicts:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: It depends

Mary Beth: It depends

The ‘Ove’ Glove Oven Rack Shield

Claims: “Protection from oven rack burns.”

What We Paid: $19.99

Available: stores, online.

Verdicts:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: Snap it up

Mary Beth: Snap it up

Pluck Sunny Side Out

Claims: “A magical white separator you have to see to believe.”

What We Paid: Retail cost is $12.99; one was sent to us for testing.

Available: online only.

Verdicts:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: Snap it up

Mary Beth: Snap it up

Tilt

Claims: “Replace ice with a gourmet chill.”

What We Paid: Retail cost is $14.99; one was sent to us for testing.

Available: stores, online.

Verdicts:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: It depends

Mary Beth: It depends

The Stackable Appetizer Maker

Claims: “The one-of-a-kind solution to make exquisite, gourmet, multi-layered, perfectly proportioned bite-size appetizers in just 5 minutes.”

What We Paid: Retail cost is $19.99; one was sent to us for testing

Available: online

Verdicts:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: Skip it

Mary Beth: Skip it

“I’ve had this product for over two years and am satisfied with the result. Don’t know if the brand was ‘Ove’ Glove. I bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond. I’ve burned my hands, wrists and fingers too many times. No more. Both pieces just snap on and I’m protected. Friends and family have bought the item after seeing mine and asking, ‘What is that in your oven?’ ”

— Jan Hyne, Stow

That’s a reason to rejoice, especially for beet lovers.

Yes, it’s hard to believe that not everyone is a beet lover, but there are skeptics out there. Those are the very folks who should be buying fresh beets in their beautiful shades of red and gold, and trying them out roasted and in salads. They bear no resemblance to the canned purple slices in the grocery store, and a conversion to beet lover awaits many.

When you spot beets at local farmers markets, try them out in this salad recipe, which also contains bacon. The bacon will help lure the beet skeptics to the table.

— Lisa Abraham

BACON, BEET AND APPLE SALAD

2 bunches small beets, about 1½ lbs., tops and roots trimmed, scrubbed or peeled

2 to 3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil; more as needed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into ½-inch strips

2 medium shallots, thinly sliced crosswise

2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

½ tsp. granulated sugar (optional)

3 tbsp. pumpkin seeds

6 cups tightly packed arugula

2 sweet-tart apples, such as Braeburn or Fuji, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

2 oz. goat cheese

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the beets into wedges about 1 inch thick at the widest point. Toss them with the olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper, and put them in a shallow baking dish. Roast the beets until they’re tender and slightly wrinkly, 30 to 45 minutes.

In a small saute pan, cook the bacon on medium-high heat until the fat is rendered. Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pan, and drain on paper towels. Add the shallots and thyme to the bacon fat and cook until the shallots have softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour the shallots in a small bowl and add the vinegar and sugar, if using. (Don’t wash the pan yet.)

Taste the vinaigrette and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil (this will depend on how fatty your bacon is); add pepper to taste.

Place the pumpkin seeds in the saute pan you used to cook the bacon. Cook on medium heat, swirling the pan to prevent the seeds from burning, until they are toasted and have golden brown spots, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the seeds to a small plate to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the arugula with about 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette and toss to coat. Arrange the arugula on a serving platter or in a wide serving bowl. Toss the roasted beets with another couple of tablespoons of vinaigrette and mound them on the greens. Do the same with the apples, arrange on the salad. Distribute the bacon over the ingredients, crumble the goat cheese on top and sprinkle on the toasted pumpkin seeds. Drizzle with any remaining vinaigrette. Serve right away.

Makes 6 servings.

— Fresh Food Nation, Martha Holmberg ($22.95 softcover, Taunton Press)

Find previous installments of This Week’s Harvest and a list of local farmers markets at http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/food.

Consumer reporter Betty Lin-Fisher, home and garden writer Mary Beth Breckenridge and I gave our best workouts to five new products, and here is what we found:

Perfect Pancake

This two-sided, flippable skillet promises “four picture perfect pancakes every time.”

If so, this pan does what it says. It has four wells that will hold batter and make perfect pancake circles. In fact, they were so round and perfect, they resembled crumpets more than pancakes.

The pan is not without its issues. The top half of the pan stays cool so that once you flip the pancakes, their uncooked side hits a cool surface, not a warm one, so that side of the pan needs time to heat before the cakes start cooking on their flip side.

When we used it to make eggs, we could appreciate how the round circles would fit nicely onto an English muffin or bagel for a tidy breakfast sandwich.

In general, however, we all just felt the pan was pretty unnecessary.

“It solves a problem I’m not sure exists,” Mary Beth observed.

As Betty put it, “Frankly, I don’t care about the perfect circumference of my pancakes.”

I realize that a lot of folks may struggle with flipping pancakes (it can be tricky, especially with bigger pancakes) but I think practice and a griddle is a better answer.

For the same $19.99 you would spend on this pan, you could buy an electric griddle, which will make six or eight pancakes at a time. They may not be perfectly round, but you can use a griddle for a whole lot more, like cooking bacon or making several grilled sandwiches at a time.

Verdicts:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: It depends

Mary Beth: It depends

‘Ove’ Glove Oven Rack Shield

This pair of shields promises protection from oven rack burns.

It’s not hard to get a burned wrist or arm on the edge of an oven rack when putting a pan in or taking one out of the oven, even when using pot holders or wearing oven mitts.

These shields do solve that problem. The strips, made of a heat-protective material, snap on to the front of the oven racks, covering them and protecting your skin.

Betty likened them to an “oven diaper.” Mary Beth thought they weren’t nearly as intrusive as she thought they would be.

I liked the fact that they worked and can withstand heat up to 540 degrees, which means you don’t have to take them off when using the broiler. In fact, we left them in the oven for five minutes with the broiler on, and the shields were fine. They got warm to the touch, but not warm enough to burn skin or to burn their fabric.

They are machine washable and can be tossed in the dryer, making them easy-care.

At $19.99, they aren’t as cheap as potholders, but for folks who bake a lot, they would be worth it.

Verdicts:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: Snap it up

Mary Beth: Snap it up

Pluck Sunny Side Out

The task of separating the yolk from the white of an egg isn’t terribly difficult. It can be done simply by moving the yolk from side to side of the broken shell until the white is drained off.

But we know that this is a challenge for many, and there are plenty of egg separators out there, including this new one, the Sunny Side Out. It claims to be “a magical white separator you have to see to believe.” That may be overstating it a bit.

It works simply with suction, like a squatty turkey baster with a wider opening for sucking up the yolk. You crack an egg in a bowl, place the separator over the yolk and give it a squeeze, and it sucks up the yolk cleanly and efficiently. Squeeze it again, and the yolk plops out into another bowl.

I thought it was a good design, and Mary Beth liked the fact that it was very simple to use and quicker than using egg shell halves. Betty showed us all how to do the same thing using an empty plastic water bottle, but I wouldn’t want to have to go through the trouble of washing a used water bottle that someone had been drinking out of, just to use it for an egg separator.

We also compared it to a traditional egg separator that sits over a bowl and found it to be much quicker than waiting for the white to drain off of that one.

It’s $12.99, and right now is available only online, although it likely will be in stores in the future. One was sent to us for testing by the manufacturer.

All of us felt the price was a little high for this type of gadget, and Betty suspected she would probably still use egg shells or her egg separator rather than having to wash it. But for someone who is challenged by separating eggs and prefers a tool, this one works quickly and easily.

Verdicts:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: Snap it up

Mary Beth: Snap it up

Tilt

Tilt is a solid stainless steel ball, or “gourmet freezeable chilling sphere” which is supposed to offer an alternative to ice.

It’s available online and in a limited number of stores, but the manufacturer sent us one and asked us to test it. It claims to “replace ice with a gourmet chill.”

The principle is simple enough: just freeze the ball for four to six hours, and then use it in a drink or in a bowl of food to help it stay cold and undiluted. It’s slightly bigger than a golf ball, has a small loop on one side and comes with a retrieval stick that resembles a crochet hook, for pulling it out of drinks.

That’s where our first issue with the Tilt came in: You can’t drink a beverage with a large stainless steel ball in it without having problems. The directions recommend the Tilt be removed from drinks “for safety” before they are consumed. That’s because, we discovered, no one wants to be clunked in the teeth with a giant ball bearing.

While this ball does a good job of chilling, as Mary Beth pointed out, it is “cumbersome” inside a drink.

“This is just stupid,” Betty said.

I know there are folks out there who are fanatical about not watering down their drinks with ice, and this does chill a beverage well. But it seems to me like an impractical solution to have to fish this out of a drink every time one takes a sip.

At $14.99 per ball, the price seemed too high for most folks to consider buying enough for guests at a party, and we discovered that ice worked better for drinks.

When we took the temperature of two glasses of water — one with the Tilt, the other filled with ice — the iced water stayed cooler after 20 minutes: 34.6 degrees versus 45 degrees with the frozen Tilt.

The Tilt fared better when tested it inside a small bowl of potato salad, alongside another bowl without a Tilt, and took the temperature of both every 15 minutes. Over the course of an hour, the salad with the Tilt stayed cooler longer, going from 40 degrees to 44.2, while the bowl without it warmed up from 40 degrees to 51.2 over the same hour.

I actually liked its cooling abilities for dips or salads better than its use in drinks.

Betty was unimpressed: “I can’t imagine making a nice dip for a party and telling people to avoid the silver ball.”

Verdicts:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: It depends

Mary Beth: It depends

The Stackable Appetizer Maker

After debuting this product at trade shows, the manufacturer sent us one and asked us to consider trying it out.

We watched an online video of the appetizer maker being demonstrated, thought it looked like fun and were eager to give it a go.

This claims to be “the one-of-a-kind solution to make exquisite, gourmet, multi-layered, perfectly proportioned bite-size appetizers in just 5 minutes.” It sells for $19.99 and is available only online.

The maker is about a foot long, and comes with a body frame, a cut-and-carry base, a tamper for pressing down the layers, and a knife/spreader. All four pieces snap together for easy storage, it’s not overly bulky and it’s top rack dishwasher and freezer safe, made of sturdy plastic.

The concept is to simply layer ingredients, tamp them down, and layer more on top, until you have achieved a multi-layer stack. The frame holds it all together and has an indented cutting guide for slicing these stacks into individual appetizers.

It comes with a recipe book, which is nothing more than lists of combinations for stacks. We tried out several including the Elvis, with bread, peanut butter, bananas, maple syrup and bacon bits; the Caprese, with Italian bread, fresh mozzarella cheese, basil leaves, tomato slices and pesto; and the berry cheesecake, with pound cake slices, berries and pre-made whipped cheesecake filling.

It isn’t hard to use, nothing more than spreading and layering ingredients and then tamping them down. Mary Beth likened it to a miter box for making appetizers.

However, every time we tried a recipe, it looked nothing like the ones we saw on the video after we cut it apart. “It’s a big gooey mess,” Mary Beth said, noting that a sandwich cut into small pieces would be more appealing than these messy stacks.

Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t get one stack to come out picture perfect, and I felt they were too messy to serve at a party. While Betty liked the cutting guide, she didn’t think the appetizers were worth the effort.

Mary Beth summed it up well: “It’s not worth the work.”

Verdicts:

Betty: It depends

Lisa: Skip it

Mary Beth: Skip it

Have you seen an advertised product and wondered if it really lives up to its claims? You can suggest items to be reviewed by Lisa Abraham, Mary Beth Breckenridge and Betty Lin-Fisher by sending email to labraham@thebeaconjournal.com or calling 330-996-3737, mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3756 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3724.

— Bev Lino,

Norton

A.: Baking in silicone is as easy as baking with traditional metal or glass baking pans. Silicone tends to bake very evenly, which is a plus. However, its flexibility makes it difficult to handle once filled with batter unless it is first placed on a baking sheet, so yes, definitely do this.

Bake at the same temperature called for in your recipe. Silicone can withstand oven heat up to 500 degrees.

As far as greasing the pan, you can grease and flour in the traditional way, but with silicone I find it is easier to just give it a good coating of nonstick cooking spray.

Got a food question? Lisa Abraham has the answer. Call 330-996-3737; email her at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com with “Ask Lisa” in the subject line; or write to her at 44 E. Exchange St., P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640. Please include your name (initials will be printed on request), hometown and phone number.

“It’s made of corn and it will last for 10 years,” the 12-year-old noted, proving that it’s hard to spend a day at Hale Farm and Village in Bath Township and not learn something about our area’s history.

The Smith family of Deerfield Township was among many visitors Saturday to the living history museum, which marked its opening day for the summer season.

The villagers were busy making candles, weaving cloth, shoeing horses and making brooms.

Jim Hensley of Bedford, a museum educator and broom maker at Hale Farm, showed off the wide variety of brooms he makes, as well as the field right behind his barn workshop where the broom corn is planted.

The museum harvests the corn, which is actually a member of the sorghum family, and Hensley uses it to make a variety of brooms from small pot-scrubbers to long-handled sweepers used for dusting the cobwebs out of barn rafters. He also makes a decorative wedding broom that starts out as two separate brooms, but turns into one.

Sandi and Daniel Smith said they purchased a family pass for Hale Farm this year after attending an earlier presentation on the Underground Railroad. The program depicts how men, women and children risked their lives to escape slavery before the Civil War through the Underground Railroad. He said the family hoped to come back several more times this summer.

Their 15-year-old daughter, Pollyanna, said she enjoyed learning about the lives of the slaves and emphasized how scary their journey to freedom must have been.

Their other daughter, Davia, 13, said the highlight of her day was seeing all the horses that were there on the farm.

The horses came with the Sixth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, a Civil War re-enacting unit, which had made camp at Hale Farm.

Member Chuck Stephens of Canton said when they meet school-aged children, members try to impart more personal bits of history about what a Civil War soldier’s life really would have been like — details that don’t get attention in school history books that focus on the war and the broader political aspects of North versus South.

The group, which is the largest mounted cavalry re-enactment unit in the country, will return to Hale Farm on the weekend of Aug. 10-11, for a full-fledged Civil War re-enactment.

Jane Mason, spokeswoman for the Western Reserve Historical Society which runs Hale Farm, said the Civil War re-enactment weekend is the largest in the state and always draws many visitors.

Also expected to draw the attention of plenty of folks this summer are the four lambs recently born to sheep on the farm, which will soon make their debut, as well as the farm’s team of oxen, Star and Bright, which performed work on the farm just as oxen did in the 1800s.

Jason Klein, site manager for Hale Farm, said other events scheduled for this summer include a home and garden tour June 29-30. The tour features historic buildings and gardens at the village. Another planned attraction is the Country Fair and Antique Farm Equipment Show that takes place July 20-21. The show will include large displays of historic farming equipment, along with livestock demonstrations and other activities.

Hale Farm’s daily summer hours in June, July and August are 10 to 5 p.m. The farm is closed for public visitation on Mondays and Tuesdays. For more information, call 330-666-3711 or visit their web site at www.halefarm.org

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.