Heirloom tomato tasting on the Test Kitchen today for the back cover of Cook’s Illustrated. (A live Instagram snapshot from the Test Kitchen. http://instagr.am/p/N_9O28rkeN/)
OBSESSED with tomato’s. My garden is done for the summer other than jalpeno’s, green peppers, Anaheim peppers and banana peppers. Time to start heading to the tailgate market for my maters. Garden you gave me several good months. Now what to plant for the fall …….. :).
(Source: ashappyaskings, via motel)
Our beautiful garden in Avl…greens, greens & more greens.
My beautiful orchid from my sweet man today after my basil cell surgery. Ladies wear sunscreen!
Bonfire on a mountain.
A warm cozy lounge with hot chocolate, coffee, red wine, truffles, brownies, ganache, cakes, liquid truffles, live music and local art on the walls. All local and organic. Need I say more. Salted chocolate caramel, port and fig, lavendar and honey…just a few favorite truffles.
The Biltmore Gardens
Christmas at the Biltmore. A fabulous weekend with Sara, Frank and baby Barrett Shingleton. It was a super long wait so if you plan to do this for Oct-January plan for at least 4-6 hours. The farms, the house, the gardens, the conservatory…all decorated for the holidays. BEAUTIFUL. Americas largest private home which features 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, and 65 fireplaces.
My neighborhood during peak season
Downtown Asheville
So many things to do and so many things to see. This place is truly amazing. Everyday I pinch myself as I wake up, go outside and look around me. The crisp cooler air, the beautiful mountains in the distance, the friendly people..there is something about this place.
Yesterday I drove out the countryside to Sunburst Trout Farm- a 3rd generation family owned trout farm in the mountains on Canton NC along Lake Logan. Here I met and greeted 40 people, helped give them a tour of the raceways and outside process, showed them the inside and a 5 minute video of how the inside process works which is featured in “Our State” magazine. I met some of the coolest people that drove in from Charlotte, Mt. Holly, Atlanta. I met local chefs, their wives and children. This place is truly special and so is the family who owns and runs it.
After a long day on the farm I headed back into Asheville to pick up some take out sushi but decided the weather was just too nice to take it back home. I decided to sit outside at Zen Sushi on the patio with the mountains once again in the background, great sushi, a big ol Sapporo and complimentary ice cream for dessert. Full and happy as a little lark I headed home after such a relaxing perfect dinner just sitting by myself recapping the day and taking it all in.
About to get in bed early for the night, I received a phone call from a good friend who was a few blocks away “with some really awesome people I just had to meet that were about to jam out”. What the heck I decided…I am new here…it is always good to meet new people especially if they are semi-neighbors. I walked in to an amazing house walked out back and was overwhelmed by the awesomeness of their backyard. The landscape, the artwork, the lightening, the a 5 person band set up at 10:00 PM that was about to start playing. I meet a few out of the 20 something people there. Grabbed a seat and a PBR with my buddy and sat down to enjoy some Grateful Dead, The Band, etc and once again for the third time today realized I am in such a good place…such a good decision. There is just something about this place.
