ATV fun YEAR 'ROUND in McDowell Co,. #AlmostHeaven West Virginia!

Elkhorn Inn ATV Guests!

ATVing from the Elkhorn Inn!

ATVing home to the Elkhorn Inn...

Believe it or not, one of the main reasons Dan and I chose to save and restore the historic "Coal Heritage Trail" building we would open as the Elkhorn Inn, and move to McDowell Co., WV, is because we love to ATV! And as Dan is 72 and I'm 59, we (and our guests) can attest to the fact that ATVing is NOT just for kids! AND as it's LEGAL to ride ATVs and UTVs on the roads here, we- and our Elkhorn Inn guests- can ride right from the Elkhorn Inn to the trails- and in addition to the famed Hatfield McCoy Trails, (their "Indian Ridge Trailhead" in Ashland, WV is only 8 miles from the Elkhorn Inn), there are literally HUNDREDS of miles of FREE trails throughout McDowell County! There are wonderful places to ride to where you can have a glorious picnic up on a mountain top, such as Miracle Mountain Wilderness Park, which has a gorgeous lookout, a beautiful 1940s log cabin, and a nearby koi pond! There are waterfalls to enjoy, fun mud puddles to splash through, interesting and historic small towns to ride through, such as Gary, War, Elbert, Filbert, Crumpler, Matoaka, and Beartown, and deer, wild turkeys, goats, and even bears to see! There are wildflowers and butterflies in the spring and summer, and cattails and magnificent "leaf-peeping" in the fall! There are even fun places to stop for a bite to eat along the way! This spring we ATVed to the place we call "Ramp Mountain", and dug ramps on the mountainside so we could make Pickled Ramps and Ramp Pesto, and we recently went ATVing several times to pick wild blackberries, and got so many that Chef Dan and I not only made Wild Blackberry Cordial and Sorbet, and Wild Blackberry-Ancho BBQ Sauce, but we also put up several gallons of Wild Blackberry Wine! You can Railfan on your ATV, "leaf-peep" the gorgeous fall colors, AND you can even ATV to the Golf Course- Black Wolf Links near Gary, WV! There are SO many great places to ATV here that I can't begin to list them all, but below are photos of some of our favorites for year 'round fun- this is TRULY "Four Seasons Country"!  

Call the Elkhorn Inn at 304-862-2031 or 1-800-708-2040 for reservations, and come on down!

Spring: ATVing to dig ramps up (and down) on "Ramp Mountain" in April:

Elisse digging ramps!

Pulling each other out of the mud!

Ramps!

Ramp diggin' Chef Dan!

Somewhere in McDowell County!

 Summer: ATVing to pick wild berries!

Berry-pickin' Dan!

Picking wild blackberries!

ATV wild berry-picking!

And blueberries!

YUM!

Summer fun: Miracle Mountain and other places...

Log Cabin at Miracle Mountain

 

Koppers Store, Capels, WV

Elbert, WV

Beartown, WV

Gary Coal Diggers Museum

Welch, WV

Kimball, WV

Gary, WV

Waterfall near "Ziggy's"

An adventure!

An obstacle!

Northfork, WV

Ashland, WV Company Store

Stopping for a hamburger at "ATV Rider's Paradise"

Lunch on the trail!

The Elkhorn Inn...

ATVing up on the mountain...

Bramwell, WV Train Station Museum

YES, YOU CAN ATV TO THE GOLF COURSE!

A bite to eat at the "Pinnacle Beach" Cafe!

Matoaka, WV

Wild goats!

Mud!

A picnic on the mountain top...

Miracle Mountain look-out

A painting in the Miracle Mountain cabin...

The Heart-Shaped Koi Pond near Miracle Mountain...

Dan and Elisse at the Miracle Mountain look-out

Miracle Mountain

More mud!

Up on the mountain...

An old coal tipple...

War, WV

Railfanning via ATV!

Wild turkey!

Frog Rock!

Fall: Leaf-peeping and picking cattails!

Beartown, WV

Picking cattails for fall decor!

Crumpler, WV

ATVers and trains at the Elkhorn Inn
(c) John Sagert

Elkhorn Inn's January ATV Guests!

Winter: ATVing on the Hatfield McCoy Trails with our Elkhorn Inn Guests in January! 

Yes, you can ATV here in JANUARY!

Call the Elkhorn Inn at 304-862-2031 or 1-800-708-2040 for reservations, and come on down!

Elise Avella Feiner's Ricotta Gnocchi- the Tutorial!

Gnocchi on the paddle!

Gnocchi al forno!

 

Gnocchi a la Elise!

This is the first "Guest Post" on my blog- and I am SO seriously excited!  Say what you will about Facebook, it does create wonderful friendships between people who probably never would otherwise have met each other! Crazy as it may sound, I have Facebook Friends who I've never actually met (yet), who are SO close I feel like we're family and we've known each other for years! Elise Avella Feiner, who runs THE best "foodie" page on Facebook: Foodfanataholics - is one of them, and when I asked her to write a "guest foodie post", she gave me permission to post her wonderful recipe and tutorial for Ricotta Gnocchi on my blog- and this is THE best gnocchi tutorial you're ever gonna get!  So if you are longing for "real deal" gnocchi, here is how to make them- and it's actually "doable"! And it's fun to form the little gnocchi- you'll feel like a "Real Italian"!

                                               Ricotta Gnocchi  - 
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients
: 
250 grams Ricotta Cheese (yes, you really should have a scale...)

3/4 cup “00” pasta flour, divided, plus a little more if necessary. (You can use AP flour, too).
1/4 cup grated cheese (Elise uses Pecorino Romano)
1 egg
Kosher Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
     A ridged Gnocchi Board - see photo below- but you can also use a fork.(Note from Elisse: This is an inexpensive Gnocchi Paddle I found online: https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/gnocchi-board/1018911507 They are also on amazon and eBay...)
     Cookie Sheet
     Parchment paper
     Freezer bags, if you are going to freeze the gnocchi

Directions: 
Assemble your ingredients:

Put the ricotta, 1/4 cup of the flour, the grated cheese, egg, a pinch of salt, and the fresh-ground black pepper into a large bowl, and stir gently with a wooden spoon to combine.

Ricotta and flour in the bowl...

Add the grated cheese...

Add the pinch of salt and ground pepper...

Add the egg...

If the dough is too sticky, add another 1/4 cup of flour to the mix.  Begin kneading the dough with your hands. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour if needed.  The amount of flour will vary depending on the air temperature, type of flour used, and moisture of the ricotta. Continue to add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time at a time, until you have a smooth, elastic dough that is soft, but not too sticky.

Shape into a log and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15- 30 minutes. (If you are in a hurry, as Elise was, just shape them- they'll be fine!)

 

This is a Gnocchi Paddle!

The log and the floured Gnocchi Paddle

Flour your work space. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the cookie sheet, and flour that generously, as well. Cut the log into about 6-8 pieces. Working one piece at a time, roll into a long rope about 1 inch wide. 

Cut off a piece, and roll into a long rope about 1" wide

The rope of dough, cut into 1/2" segments

Using a knife or a pastry cutter cut the rope into ½-inch segments.

Using the floured Gnocchi Board (or you can roll them off a fork to make the gnocchi shape), form your gnocchi. 

Roll them on the floured Gnocchi Board (or around a fork) to obtain the ridges, and leave them open in the middle to catch the sauce!

Place the gnocchi on the floured parchment paper on the cookie sheet.

Repeat with the remaining cuts of dough. The gnocchi may be refrigerated or frozen at this point. (If you are freezing the gnocchi, freeze them on the cookie sheet, and later transfer them to a zip-lock bag or container, so they don't stick together).

Cookie sheet, dusted heavily with flour

 

Making your gnocchi on the floured gnocchi paddle...

Roll them to obtain ridges, but be open in the middle to catch the sauce!

Gnocchi, on the floured cookie sheet

  


 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

 Add the gnocchi and cook, stirring often, for 3 to 5 minutes, one minute more after they all float to the surface.

Drain (with a large slotted spoon or mesh strainer by choice- you want to remove as much water as possible). Immediately toss them with either a marinara cause, brown butter sauce with sage, or a pesto sauce- or anything you like!
Elise likes to put a little tomato sauce into individual (oven-safe) casserole dishes, top with more sauce, grated cheese and mozzarella, and then a little more sauce, and bake them for a few minutes until the cheese melts.  (400° F for about 15-20 minutes):

Tomato sauce in the dishes...

Then Gnocchi...

Top with more sauce...

Grated Cheese (Pecorino Romano)...

Top with good Mozzarella...

And a little more sauce...

Bake in a 400 degree pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes

Check at 20 minutes; it should just melt the cheese- and, voilla! – perfect gnocchi!

Serve the gnocchi with a salad and some fresh bread and a dip or shmear of olive oil with roasted garlic and grating cheese mixed into it...  So good!
Buon Appetito from Elise and Elisse!

THIS is the size of perfect gnocchi!

Dinner!