Alright y'all, I know it's been a while but I just wanted to let you all know that we are still adventuring and we plan on posting soon!
-JR
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
pumpkin carving - better late than never!
we know, we know. it's two weeks after halloween, when jack-o-lanterns sit on front steps and we "ooo" and "ahh" at the patterns and glowing lights.
but why save that magical pumpkin-y glow just for that one day? today was the perfect day to finally dig in to the orange globe and carve away.
jessie grabbed all of the little orange carving tools, i grabbed some bowls for seeds and pumpkin innards, and we went outside to join zoie in the cool november air.
after some tracing, poking, pulling and scraping, we had a pumpkin ready to be lit up.
since it was just a little after one in the afternoon, we brought our little masterpiece into the bathroom and struck the match. magic!
happy halloween! two weeks later...
but why save that magical pumpkin-y glow just for that one day? today was the perfect day to finally dig in to the orange globe and carve away.
jessie grabbed all of the little orange carving tools, i grabbed some bowls for seeds and pumpkin innards, and we went outside to join zoie in the cool november air.
after some tracing, poking, pulling and scraping, we had a pumpkin ready to be lit up.
since it was just a little after one in the afternoon, we brought our little masterpiece into the bathroom and struck the match. magic!
happy halloween! two weeks later...-catie
Thursday, October 21, 2010
special edition: weekday "weekend" adventure on lexington avenue
last night, wednesday, we met up with our friend em at the LAB for dinner and drinks. the spread included a belgian white ale infused with coriander, orange peel, and chamomile for em, the oktoberfest brew for jessie, and a refreshingly non-alcoholic cranberry & soda for me. the munchies were delivered hot and fresh, and we cleaned our plates so well that jessie was complimented on having such a "neat" plate. excellent.
we finished our meal around 8:30 and headed up and across the street to the BoBo Gallery for music and some more tasty drinks. this time around i enjoyed a wonderfully fruity and sake-full orange mango "slush" which was quite easy to drink - mmm. the gallery was softly lit and the art geometric and striking against the light.
around 9:30, holy holy vine and sin ropas started to play - with two members of the trio jumping up from the front table and taking their seats to perform, much to our surprise. good music, but better company, as we were getting a little antsy for the main act to get up and start singin'. soon after my second slush treat arrived, zoe boekbinder came on.
her spunky attitude, sky-high bang poof, and whimsical lyrics complete with looping on most songs proved to be worth the wait. her cover of beyoncé's "all the single ladies" required a little more audience participation than we seemed to be willing to give, but was adorable and fun nonetheless.
her set was short, a little less than an hour long, but we were tired and definitely ready to retire from our wednesday "weekend" adventure.
she's playing tomorrow night, friday, at 8pm at the chocolate lounge, another block up the same street! we might stop by for a truffle or two and some more sweet tunes.
i'm liking the idea of weekday "weekend" adventures...
-catie
we finished our meal around 8:30 and headed up and across the street to the BoBo Gallery for music and some more tasty drinks. this time around i enjoyed a wonderfully fruity and sake-full orange mango "slush" which was quite easy to drink - mmm. the gallery was softly lit and the art geometric and striking against the light.
around 9:30, holy holy vine and sin ropas started to play - with two members of the trio jumping up from the front table and taking their seats to perform, much to our surprise. good music, but better company, as we were getting a little antsy for the main act to get up and start singin'. soon after my second slush treat arrived, zoe boekbinder came on.
her spunky attitude, sky-high bang poof, and whimsical lyrics complete with looping on most songs proved to be worth the wait. her cover of beyoncé's "all the single ladies" required a little more audience participation than we seemed to be willing to give, but was adorable and fun nonetheless.
her set was short, a little less than an hour long, but we were tired and definitely ready to retire from our wednesday "weekend" adventure.
she's playing tomorrow night, friday, at 8pm at the chocolate lounge, another block up the same street! we might stop by for a truffle or two and some more sweet tunes.
i'm liking the idea of weekday "weekend" adventures...
-catie
Skinny Dip Falls: Where People Swim In Dresses in Mid-October
the leaves are just beginning to turn, and no picture can do the view justice
stylin' on the parkway
the bottom pool of the falls
patient dog
the water wasn't too high, but it was flowing steadily
the leaves and water glistened in the late-afternoon sun
red shoes on the bridge
ruler of the forest
"i love the waterfall!"
jessie
Monday, October 18, 2010
A Saturday in Seven
Saturday. The plan: find a waterfall on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
1
Every weekend adventure is necessarily preceded by some amount of research. For this weekend we knew where we wanted to go generally, but how to find the specifics was an unclear task. After a brief google search, we came upon both the official Blue Ridge Parkway website and a detailed website aptly titled "Waterfalls of the Blue Ridge Parkway". After scanning the latter, and overwhelmed by the multitude of choices, I followed the link that caught my eye for obvious reasons: Skinny Dip Falls. After receiving an unwarranted reprimand from the site author instructing anyone in search of nudes catapulting themselves off boulders into icy cold basins to try a more specific wording in their search browser, I decided this was to be our destination.
2
A certain amount of preparation ensues between a chosen destination and a foot out the door. Directions are printed, bags are packed, shoes are tied, a leash is grabbed and a general lay of the day's plan is discussed, or at least considered.
My weekend standard:
On this particular day, the general plan as the movement started simply consisted of "get lunch"; "waterfall" took a backseat to the hunger pangs setting in as the morning's
strawberry smoothie wore off.
3
And we're off. The day's adventures begin. Nothing is considered trivial and neither of us even thinks to murmur that this or that part might not count. We settle down for an avocado hoagie (J) and a calzone filled with soy cheese, pineapple, and banana peppers (eaten by C, designed by J) at Mellow Mushroom. We cross the street to peruse Ragtime's latest. I try on every jean jacket, glance at the sizes on the tags of blazers (never mine), and resist a reversible down vest. Catie is torn between the idea of velour and the perfection of the blazer made from it. We leave empty-handed and satisfied like it was the first potato chip out of the bag.
"More vintage!", we scream in our glances.
"How about Honeypot?"
4
Now ensues the real adventure. We are drawn in like Japanese tourists' video cameras to the Mona Lisa (really y'all, she's not going to move). We head over to Lexington and stop into Hip Replacements for a quick second before reaching Honeypot. While inside Catie tries on sunglasses goggles while wearing a raccoon-themed hat. I'm drawn to some reddish wingtips. Once again we leave empty-handed, but we are realize we're not really here to buy so much as try on. As much as store employees might despise it, we've all been there, right?
5
After stops at Parlour, Malaprops, Union, and Tops, we decide to head a little south.
In Biltmore Village, we feel like tourists. Unlike in downtown, we don't recognize a face and no one seems to care about ever recognizing ours'. After a coffee and a brief walk-around we realize we are exhausted for the day. In my typical style of suggesting the plans for the next few hours, I detail my desires.
"You know what I want to do now?"
"What's that?"
"Go home, cook dinner, read books, and sit on the couch."
"Yes."
6
We've got consumer exhaust. We make it home and settle in with our Heiwa leftovers (best sushi and soup in Asheville) and our respective books. While I'm reading "The Town That Food Saved" and dreaming of having my own farm sooner rather than later, Catie is getting lost in Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman's "Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation".
We drift off to sleep just in time to bypass any regret we might feel about completely ignoring our waterfall-seeking plans of the day.
7
Rule number one of weekend adventures: don't sacrifice spontaneity for the sake of the destination.
We didn't make it to a waterfall on Saturday, but the town-exploring was worthy of the title "adventure" in and of itself. Sometimes the best remedy for the stresses of a week is to avoid specific time-limited planning and simply give into your desires when it's over.
We tell ourselves "this is what we want", and so we do it.
Theme song for the day: Lupe Fiasco's "Paris, Tokyo"
-JR
1
Every weekend adventure is necessarily preceded by some amount of research. For this weekend we knew where we wanted to go generally, but how to find the specifics was an unclear task. After a brief google search, we came upon both the official Blue Ridge Parkway website and a detailed website aptly titled "Waterfalls of the Blue Ridge Parkway". After scanning the latter, and overwhelmed by the multitude of choices, I followed the link that caught my eye for obvious reasons: Skinny Dip Falls. After receiving an unwarranted reprimand from the site author instructing anyone in search of nudes catapulting themselves off boulders into icy cold basins to try a more specific wording in their search browser, I decided this was to be our destination.
2
A certain amount of preparation ensues between a chosen destination and a foot out the door. Directions are printed, bags are packed, shoes are tied, a leash is grabbed and a general lay of the day's plan is discussed, or at least considered.
My weekend standard:
On this particular day, the general plan as the movement started simply consisted of "get lunch"; "waterfall" took a backseat to the hunger pangs setting in as the morning's
strawberry smoothie wore off.
3
And we're off. The day's adventures begin. Nothing is considered trivial and neither of us even thinks to murmur that this or that part might not count. We settle down for an avocado hoagie (J) and a calzone filled with soy cheese, pineapple, and banana peppers (eaten by C, designed by J) at Mellow Mushroom. We cross the street to peruse Ragtime's latest. I try on every jean jacket, glance at the sizes on the tags of blazers (never mine), and resist a reversible down vest. Catie is torn between the idea of velour and the perfection of the blazer made from it. We leave empty-handed and satisfied like it was the first potato chip out of the bag.
"More vintage!", we scream in our glances.
"How about Honeypot?"
4
Now ensues the real adventure. We are drawn in like Japanese tourists' video cameras to the Mona Lisa (really y'all, she's not going to move). We head over to Lexington and stop into Hip Replacements for a quick second before reaching Honeypot. While inside Catie tries on sunglasses goggles while wearing a raccoon-themed hat. I'm drawn to some reddish wingtips. Once again we leave empty-handed, but we are realize we're not really here to buy so much as try on. As much as store employees might despise it, we've all been there, right?
5
After stops at Parlour, Malaprops, Union, and Tops, we decide to head a little south.
In Biltmore Village, we feel like tourists. Unlike in downtown, we don't recognize a face and no one seems to care about ever recognizing ours'. After a coffee and a brief walk-around we realize we are exhausted for the day. In my typical style of suggesting the plans for the next few hours, I detail my desires.
"You know what I want to do now?"
"What's that?"
"Go home, cook dinner, read books, and sit on the couch."
"Yes."
6
We've got consumer exhaust. We make it home and settle in with our Heiwa leftovers (best sushi and soup in Asheville) and our respective books. While I'm reading "The Town That Food Saved" and dreaming of having my own farm sooner rather than later, Catie is getting lost in Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman's "Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation".
We drift off to sleep just in time to bypass any regret we might feel about completely ignoring our waterfall-seeking plans of the day.
7
Rule number one of weekend adventures: don't sacrifice spontaneity for the sake of the destination.
We didn't make it to a waterfall on Saturday, but the town-exploring was worthy of the title "adventure" in and of itself. Sometimes the best remedy for the stresses of a week is to avoid specific time-limited planning and simply give into your desires when it's over.
We tell ourselves "this is what we want", and so we do it.
Theme song for the day: Lupe Fiasco's "Paris, Tokyo"
-JR
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
River Walk
after the pumpkin patch we headed to the swannanoa river for a walk and time to relax.
catie waded in the water and built carins while jessie took pictures and played with zoie.
we walked a little further down the path to zoie's favorite spot. she found the same hole where she dug a couple of weeks earlier and dove right in again.
so content, with a mouth and paws full of soft, sandy riverbank dirt.
no clouds at all! a beautiful day on the farm and by the water.
Monday, October 11, 2010
more apple treats? yes!
after our first adventure to hickory nut gap farm, we had a quarter peck of crisp, tasty apples ready to be eaten in any way we could think of.
a couple were sliced up and enjoyed with peanut butter, some were diced and mixed into a gluten-free cinnamon muffin batter, others were pressed into cider that we also picked up at the farm, and two select apples got the most important job of all.
they were sliced into little half moon slivers, sauteed with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar, and cooked down to a state of almost-melted apple bliss.
here's my best attempt at a recipe:
. 2 apples, preferably a little tart and firm, but you can have one tart and firm and one sweet and soft, if that's what you like
. 2 tablespoons of butter or something butter-like, like earth balance
. 3 or 4 shakes of cinnamon, more if you want
. probably about 1 or 1.5 tablespoons of dark brown sugar, or 3 good size pinches
slice up the apples, and heat the butter in a saute pan until it's melted. add the cinnamon and the apples and stir to coat. sprinkle the brown sugar on top and stir to mix, and then let the apples sit for a minute or two, and stir again.
i left the heat on about medium-high, and it probably took about 10 or 12 minutes until when i stirred the apples, a bit of stringy delicious caramel started to form. at this point the apples were getting soft, so i took them off the heat, but if you want to make the caramel thicker and richer, you could keep cooking the apples.
just be aware that it's a thin line between slightly crisp sauteed apples and the beginning of applesauce (always good, too).
-----
unfortunately, the apples didn't last long enough for us to take a picture, but just imagine something like this:
(thanks to thezoeblog.blogspot.com for the picture!)
next cooking adventure......pumpkin!
-catie
a couple were sliced up and enjoyed with peanut butter, some were diced and mixed into a gluten-free cinnamon muffin batter, others were pressed into cider that we also picked up at the farm, and two select apples got the most important job of all.
they were sliced into little half moon slivers, sauteed with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar, and cooked down to a state of almost-melted apple bliss.
here's my best attempt at a recipe:
. 2 apples, preferably a little tart and firm, but you can have one tart and firm and one sweet and soft, if that's what you like
. 2 tablespoons of butter or something butter-like, like earth balance
. 3 or 4 shakes of cinnamon, more if you want
. probably about 1 or 1.5 tablespoons of dark brown sugar, or 3 good size pinches
slice up the apples, and heat the butter in a saute pan until it's melted. add the cinnamon and the apples and stir to coat. sprinkle the brown sugar on top and stir to mix, and then let the apples sit for a minute or two, and stir again.
i left the heat on about medium-high, and it probably took about 10 or 12 minutes until when i stirred the apples, a bit of stringy delicious caramel started to form. at this point the apples were getting soft, so i took them off the heat, but if you want to make the caramel thicker and richer, you could keep cooking the apples.
just be aware that it's a thin line between slightly crisp sauteed apples and the beginning of applesauce (always good, too).
-----
unfortunately, the apples didn't last long enough for us to take a picture, but just imagine something like this:
(thanks to thezoeblog.blogspot.com for the picture!)
next cooking adventure......pumpkin!
-catie
Sunday, October 10, 2010
How to Find a Pumpkin in Apple Valley, NC
we'd been talking about getting some pumpkins for awhile now, but it just didn't seem close enough to pumpkin carving and seed roasting time to get a little orange buddy for the front doorstep or my windowsill. today was the perfect day - no clouds in the sky, an orchard where we could bring zoie, and lots of energy.
the drive to hendersonville was about 40 minutes, and on the way to Stepp's Hillcrest Orchard we passed a handful of other orchards, all boasting the best apples, cider, and more.
following the directions and as we got closer, the hand-painted wooden signs, we arrived upon rows and rows of apple trees. after being handed a map with the names of about 30 apples and their corresponding rows throughout the orchard, we headed to the pumpkin patch.
a little lookin' and we found two perfect orange globes - a bigger one for jessie's front step and a little one for my windowsill. can't wait to carve them and roast the seeds! mmm!
-catie
(Photos Copyright JR 2010)
An Apple Festival- Almost
This past weekend my girlfriend and I went searching for an apple festival. It's that time of year, and we were craving something past our standard east-west borders of Charlotte Street and French Broad Ave. So, we grabbed a Mountain Express and she started flipping the pages as I set my foot to the gas.
We were headed towards Bat Cave, NC, a town I've heard from reliable and more aged sources is a "cute little place". "You should go there!"- that was the advice I received from my work supervisor my first year of college. She informed me that, yes, there really is a cave, although she wasn't quite sure where it is. I mentioned my love of both bats and caves, but kept my comments about running into Bruce Wayne to myself. Three years later and I was on the way.
Off of I-240 we exited onto 74-A. I was very quickly reminded of how thin the lines between city and farm country are here. A ten-minute drive and the landscape opens up into pastures filled with rolling hills on which cows somehow find a way to balance themselves; their mottled black-and-white or smooth, deep brown fronting the backdrop of mountains that actually have blue-tinted tops. Needless to say, it was and always will be a magnificent and humbling sight.
It was a journey that really needs no end-point, but we were, after all, searching for trees laden with a certain red fruit. At a point along the road, a modest sign pointed us left. "Apples" was all it said, and all it really needed to say. A few yards after was a sign for a place I've come to know through numerous restaurants in Asheville, but never actually seen: Hickory Nut Gap Farm, known for its sustainable practices and healthy, happy livestock.
"Is this it?"
"Well, I guess so. It says 'apples'. And I've always wanted to see this place and meet the animals."
"Meet the animals?"
Yes, I prefer to know the meat I eat. A reassurance that they are as happy and healthy as advertised.
We parked the car and watched as people carried bags full-to the brim with apples across the road. We checked out the farm store first thing. I wanted to get an idea of the selection and prices of meat products before we got to picking out our lighter fare. Ground beef at $5.00/lb, a whole chicken at $3.50/lb, among about forty other beef, pork, and poultry items. Not bad for the quality.
We then set out to do what we came here for. Bins and bins of delicious-smelling apples: MacIntosh, Gala, Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Staymen Winesap, all from the 10-acre Hickory Nut Gap Farm orchard. We decided to get a quarter-peck, the smallest option, probably about fifteen fruits.
After filling our little bag past full, we walked around the farm, although we opted out of the corn maze. Well-groomed horses, goats and two baby cows were surrounded by doting children, including myself. The baby chicks in the chicken coop were being chased, picked up, and inevitably dropped by a group of about five 5-year olds. Given that the fall was all of one foot, none of them really seemed to mind.
On our way out, the bus/food stand served me up the best hot dog I've had in my entire life, hands-down. It must have had little or no casing, as it was grayish in color and practically melted in my mouth. Covered in kraut, ketchup, and a line of mustard, it was so perfect that I don't know if I can ever bring myself to eat a hot dog of any other kind.
Satiated and loaded up with apples, we deemed our adventure a success. "We should do something like this every weekend."
"Absolutely."
It was a few days later, after a good portion of those apples were no longer even in our digestive tracts, that we found out the real apple festival, the one in Bat Cave, was actually a few miles past that left turn. I guess we have another weekend adventure coming up.
-JR
We were headed towards Bat Cave, NC, a town I've heard from reliable and more aged sources is a "cute little place". "You should go there!"- that was the advice I received from my work supervisor my first year of college. She informed me that, yes, there really is a cave, although she wasn't quite sure where it is. I mentioned my love of both bats and caves, but kept my comments about running into Bruce Wayne to myself. Three years later and I was on the way.
Off of I-240 we exited onto 74-A. I was very quickly reminded of how thin the lines between city and farm country are here. A ten-minute drive and the landscape opens up into pastures filled with rolling hills on which cows somehow find a way to balance themselves; their mottled black-and-white or smooth, deep brown fronting the backdrop of mountains that actually have blue-tinted tops. Needless to say, it was and always will be a magnificent and humbling sight.
It was a journey that really needs no end-point, but we were, after all, searching for trees laden with a certain red fruit. At a point along the road, a modest sign pointed us left. "Apples" was all it said, and all it really needed to say. A few yards after was a sign for a place I've come to know through numerous restaurants in Asheville, but never actually seen: Hickory Nut Gap Farm, known for its sustainable practices and healthy, happy livestock.
"Is this it?"
"Well, I guess so. It says 'apples'. And I've always wanted to see this place and meet the animals."
"Meet the animals?"
Yes, I prefer to know the meat I eat. A reassurance that they are as happy and healthy as advertised.
We parked the car and watched as people carried bags full-to the brim with apples across the road. We checked out the farm store first thing. I wanted to get an idea of the selection and prices of meat products before we got to picking out our lighter fare. Ground beef at $5.00/lb, a whole chicken at $3.50/lb, among about forty other beef, pork, and poultry items. Not bad for the quality.
We then set out to do what we came here for. Bins and bins of delicious-smelling apples: MacIntosh, Gala, Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Staymen Winesap, all from the 10-acre Hickory Nut Gap Farm orchard. We decided to get a quarter-peck, the smallest option, probably about fifteen fruits.
After filling our little bag past full, we walked around the farm, although we opted out of the corn maze. Well-groomed horses, goats and two baby cows were surrounded by doting children, including myself. The baby chicks in the chicken coop were being chased, picked up, and inevitably dropped by a group of about five 5-year olds. Given that the fall was all of one foot, none of them really seemed to mind.
On our way out, the bus/food stand served me up the best hot dog I've had in my entire life, hands-down. It must have had little or no casing, as it was grayish in color and practically melted in my mouth. Covered in kraut, ketchup, and a line of mustard, it was so perfect that I don't know if I can ever bring myself to eat a hot dog of any other kind.
Satiated and loaded up with apples, we deemed our adventure a success. "We should do something like this every weekend."
"Absolutely."
It was a few days later, after a good portion of those apples were no longer even in our digestive tracts, that we found out the real apple festival, the one in Bat Cave, was actually a few miles past that left turn. I guess we have another weekend adventure coming up.
-JR
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