China and Questions

This is not an international commentary, rather a musing about the people who came before.  I ran across some china that VERY closely resembled my Great Grandmothers pattern, and while it may seem counter productive to purchase some extra pieces that are not exact, it leaves me in the position of knowing which was really hers and which was added.  

There is this rather dusty antique store in Morgantown Indiana, which is one of those places that makes you want to wash your hands after visiting, but there are hidden treasures under that dust if you just reach out and touch.  Mom and I were there  browsing and Mom had managed the entire store and came back to find me stroking some china that I thought might be the same as mine/great-Grandma’s.  I purchased 2 square luncheon places, and on arriving home realized that they are not a perfect match. But I wanted the rest of what was in the store and so returned yesterday.  While I was picking out the rest of the scattered pieces of the Eggshell Nautilus Ferndale pattern, I  came across a lovely, lonely cup with delicate pink and lavender flowers, with a gold edging.  I thought  it might make a lovely morning coffee cup, as if I needed another, but still……

This morning as I drank from this cup I wondered.  Who was the last person who drank from this cup, how long ago, was is, were they happy, sad, or so-so when they did?  Did they have a good day, are they still alive, was it close or did this cup travel, and from where.  It has no markings for me to research and it is a stout little cup, in that it is not that fine, delicate china that one would expect to break, but rather a nice little cup that might sustain itself.  I hope so, as my china cups must be happy in the dishwasher!  My morning beverage was more delightful for the beauty of this little cup and saucer and my morning musings. 

Devour Indy Follow up

 We never heard back form Izzo’s what a disappointment as it truly was a favorite and we will be fearful of  making plans so spend limited resources on a possible/probable disappointment.

In a brighter notes I went to one other Devour Indy meal at Ambrosia, and it was as wonderful as Izzo’s was disappointing!

It was a 4 course meal, with a wonderful  Clabrese bruchetta, (toasted ciabatta, smeared with goat cheese, topped with caramelized peppers) Caprese Salad, Formagi Rosa ( baci pasta [ little purses with cheese] with a Parmesan  cream sauce topped with a swirl of meat sauce.  Caniloni and coffee for dessert!  We shared a bottle of wine and my companions also liked their meals.  Definitely a do over!

Disappointed in Devouring

As usual I « saved » ‘myself for dinner out with a friend.  We were going to Iozzos food Devour Downtown.  We have been going there for many years, often during Devour, but « »off season » too, as my friend delights in their Lobster Ravioli.  

About an hour before she texted and said that it was not participating in Devour this time.  Disappointed, as I was fantasizing about the fillet that was always on the Devour menu, I remembered a time when I had spied other items that looked interesting and I said let’s still go.  

So we did.  There is a complete new menu and cook staff, which has little resemblance to the menu I last encountered in the early spring. The waiter seemed to understand the loyalty of old customers and tried his best to put a positive spin on it.  I perusing the wine list and was offered a Montepulciano for $9.00 a half liter.  o.k.  Pasta/red sauce wine., and it was o..k. We ordered fried ravioli and it was good.  It paired with the raviole fairly well.  So trying to rearrange my mind from steak to pasta was a bit more difficult and there were several dished that after perusing the menu left me in doubt, but in the end, and in spite of his recommendation to do the seafood ravioli, i went with the cheese ravioli.  My friend, though went with his recommendation as she had been dreaming about the old Lobster Ravioli.  

It came with a salad or we could change out to a Caesar  ( which upgraded to the tune of $3.00 a person).  It lacked the anchovy element and was predominantly lemon.  It was just not something I had to Devour.  

When our foot arrived I tentatively speared a mushroom with my fork and popped in my mouth, it was a burst, and I mean burst of something I later defined as lemon and vinegar.  I went for a ravioli & mushroom bite which also assaulted my taste buds.  Honestly someone should take the lemon and salt away from the chef.  Just remove it from the kitchen.  I believe in salt, it is a good thing, but in this case it was too much of a good thing.  I am still thirsty this morning as I write.  

My friend Dawn and I went to Iozzos tonight, it was a total disappointment . 

So this morning I made myself a Pear with BtterScotch sauce for the recipe I the nice guys at the Engadine shared.  It is a balm to my soul!

PAris (KY) Encore

 Saturday 8-14-21

This morning Breakfast began with a baked pear with walnuts and butterscotch sauce. It is as heavenly as it sounds!

Course 2 was a bacon and spinach quiche, accompanied by hash browns, sausage links and tomato.  The quiche was amazing of course, I am not a potato’s fan but who needs hashbrowns anyway.  

We packed up and headed out passing the grapevine that is a descendant of the original grapevines of the Engadine Inn.

  The original owners made their living by producing wine until Prohibition.  I had trouble this week getting my mind around a government that could pass a law that your business was illegal and then just raid and destroy it.  I mean I understand if you intentionally set up an illegal shop, but for it to be o.k. today and not tomorrow seems a bit autocratic.  This is what happened to this property.  

Regardless this place was a do over! I even wheedled some recipes out of Rick!    I already have the ingredients on my Jungle Jim’s shopping list!

We arrived in Paris in a downpour and read in the car for a while while the clouds got the water out of their system.  We  checked in such as it is and then went to dinner at the Pizza place which is under new ownership still good, just not quite what it was.   It is called Rustica and also had Italian dishes as well as pizza.  But we did not get hassled by the owner over wanting what we wanted rather than only the options on the menu.

Sunday 8-15-21

We read after we got back to the room, we carried in a camp chair as there was only one chair in the room we were staying in, though I think the other one only had one comfy chair as well.  

This room is cute but tight, I would not want to stay an entire week in it like we did last year.  I had the idea to come her in the bath tub a few weeks ago.  With no real plan, other than to not drive the entire way home yesterday, I was in the bath tub.  I have babied the bar of Bourbon soap i took home from Art on High B&B, along this entire year and it was about a half an inch tiny sliver and time too throw it out, and I thought:  If we stay in Paris again I can get another soap, I can say we went to Paris again and we can dine at Lil’s and even maybe get the above mentioned pizza.  Problem solved.  I got on line after checking with Jodi and made reservations.  What I did not take into account is that last year we left on Saturday, not Sunday.  By the time we rolled into town Lil’s was closed and not open on Sunday.  :(.   The soap in the room, while lovely Apricot scented soap, is not what I had hoped.  I could not figure out the breakfasts this morning, ( It is a self serve deal which worked well for us while under the extreme concern for COVID last year) Last year there was a card at least with the day of the week and corresponding breakfasts offering on it so I had a guide, but nothing.  Also last year there were these delicious Bourbon molasses cookies and none this year.  So it is coffee and hope for something along the road for breakfast for me.  ( I spied a donut shop last night on the way into town…..) The day is cloudy.  I am banking on a good time in Jungle Jims which is where we are headed

On the Ridge

After an amazing breakfasts of a baked apple with yogurt and home made granola, with agave nectar,  it was delish!

Followed by A twist followed by a ciabatta in half with refried beans, salsa and guacamole accompanied by sausage patties and tomatoes.  

It was very good, and again I could not eat it all.  

We decided our last day should be relaxing , and we could find an overlook and hang.  So off we went, back to the ridge to the East, looking, looking looking for a pull out.

  Finally  I needed a bathroom break, and we drove all the way to the Ranger Station where we had watched the sunset a few nights before, and there were Porta Potties.  They were a disaster, nothing else to say.  Just a disgrace, but later we ( short sighted one me to say the least) came back due to urgency and found a decent bathroom attached to the Ranger Station. 

We went back to the Mt Mitchell overlook and I sat up painting shop and Jodi read. 

 I just do not have the skills to look and paint like I want to do.  But I tried.  It was pleasant in the 70s and  partly cloudy which aids the temperature control.

After the second foray to thee Ranger Station we wend the other way on the parkway looking for new scenery for me to « paint ».  On the way we encountered a Momma & two cubs.  We had to have a go back and snap a pic. I am thinking maybe a WC project.

  

We moseyed to the South and stayed long enough for us to dine elegantly on ham and cheese, and for me to produce yet again another poor WC and watch the Sun Set.

Frocks and French

 We started off slowly today, we went to Cheap Joes and I found $60.00 more of trouble to get into.  

Then Jodi wanted crushed ice and we went on an ice safari, ended up in West Asheville.  What a cute little berg!  I wish I had known about it sooner.  Hmmmm.

Anyway we FINALLY found her ice, and headed back to Asheville proper and to …..April Cornell!

I tried on over a dozen dresses, the didn’t have everything they have in the catalog there is still a hold out but I counted my pennies before we left and I didn’t EVEN be that naughty!  

Jodi sat in the convenient couch and read and I motored through trying on, considering, looking at the pics she took so I could get a second opinion.  

Then we stopped for a goodie, she had Birthday Cake gelato and I had cocoanut.  « It was not Coldstone Creamery » and she is not fond of sprinkles but she finished it!

  Mine was good, I sure would do it again!

Then we found Toms Shoe store, I tried on a few items, but no go.  We wandered a bit for out 5:15 reservations, and by golly they mean 5:15, not anywhere before!  Regardless they had a daily item on the menu that was tempting to get rather than the Tartare, but that WAS why we were there.  So I got it, and it was ( to Co-opt Jodis comparative abilities) not Le Fleur en Isle, but it was good, I ate it all!  

The wine I had with it was like drinking liquid velvet, that perfect embodiment of dry.  Sigh.  

Now we are back on the top of the hill at the back of the B&B waiting for sunset with a glasss of wine. 

Sticks and Sunsets

It was going to be a water falls day.  It was rather a day to remember and laugh at.  We started off with GPS to Catawba Falls.  I was determined for Jodi to see some falls, darned it.  We got off of US 40 and drove ,and drove, and drove even onto gravel.  NO falls.  Finally we sort of  (but not really) gave up and decided to head to Black Mountain and at a gas station near US40 I said should we give it one last shot and ask for directions?

Yes, so in I went and the person spoke limited English, but she said it is right there, at the Exit, it is tricky, just on the other side of the exit but before the overpass.  We drove by and could not figure out how to do it, and drove by the other way and could not figure it out, pulled into McDonalds to scope it out and still was not sure, so finally  we did it, with seriously tense anal sphincters.  It was sort of a « y » on a « y » in reverse, if you will.  Tricky was right.  Now the rain that we were hoping to elude was seriously threatening so we sat and piddled hoping for  a break in the weather, I suggested we dine, so out came the ham and cheese and we picknicked in the car, hoping it would pass over, and it never really did.  We decided to pack umbrellas in my backpack and give it a go. 

 It started our lovely all covered forest floor a reasonable path, but I guess it was naive to not take into consideration that a falls has to fall.  It started going up hill.  NO problem, I am with Jodi and she is not a general when we climb.  But I began to notice that her back was bothering her again.  I wished we had brought out golf chairs as a sit seems to help, and they make not great but reasonable walking sticks. I had considered this but not suggested as I was not sure of the environment and how feasible it wouldn be.   

But I was kicking myself later.   On we kept walking, sweating, getting wet from the drizzle that has started and my sweat ( which I HATE to do).  It was lovely, but one cheeky little bastard made some comment as they were passing us going down,  beware of slippery rocks and snakes and then I was obsessed about snakes.  I mean we are in North Carolina and Jamie got bit by a snake in Outlander in NC, right?  I know, I know but I am just not rational when it comes to snakes.  We went to a Dinosaur Train ride with the kids a few weeks ago and there was a reptile exhibit there.  The kids loved it, but I kept a respectable distance while keeping an eye on the kids, I do not went to even be close to them! The Snakes.  Anyway I am walking watching my footing, looking for snakes and worrying about what we are going to do it Jodi falls how we are going to get out of there and here pops up a sign that says 0.3 mi to go.  We are both rather deflated as we felt we had been ( or at least I can speak for myself and say so) walking for quite a bit already! We discussed going back and Jodi said « we got this far let’s keep going », until we got to some rocks, uphill and wet, and just scary.  We decided to pack it in.  We tried to joke about getting old, asking people passing us back down for a pic of the falls, and wishing we had brought the golf chairs.  The trip down felt maybe as long or longer,  ( OMG the owners just suggested that this couple that just left go to Catawba Falls and he has back problems too) but we made it without incident. 

 There was a family that had been fishing and this little  guy had a couple 6 inch trout on a line, dragging them on the ground behind,  he was so cute!  So lesson, learned, next time A walking Stick or Golf chair!  I don’t care if I think it might make us look old!!!

This house had some amazing yard art, I just had to stop and take pictures, I am thinking the birds nest might be a fun WC.

Next was ice cream at a shop we had encountered in Black Mountain, Jodi had honey and I had Chocolate salted Carmel,  Neither of us felt it was a do over, but it was good enough and a rest!  These workmen were on the corner , sharing the LOVE I guess.  

We decided then to shoot for Mount Mitchell as the B&B guys has suggested this.  The GPS ( Jodi calls her Delores and I have another name for her now Jodi says Crueloola, but that was not what i had in mind.)  took us to to the Blue Ridge Parkway by means of a road called Old Curtis Creek Rd.  It started out o.k.  about 10 miles to the parkway.   The area was sparsely populated, but eventually there was a sign stating that the road was not supported by the NC Highway department ahead and then it turned into gravel and then it turned in the sounds of Dueling Banjoes.  The road was one lane, multiple signs  said that the coming bridge was one lane, and I got tickled, the darned road was one lane!  The road was full of hairpin turns, barely there road, washout ruts, and uphill.  I was terrified that I was I was going to encounter another car on one of those turns, we did encounter a car, thankfully not on one of those hairpins though.  Needless to say poor old AS ( Anal Sphincter) got a workout yesterday .  We had had somme difficulty earlier in the week with GPS, we were trying to find the parkway and Delores said to turn down this road that was clearly a driveway with a sign that stated « Your GPS lied ».  So I began worrying that we wold meet a dead end rather than the parkway,  imagine my relief when we actually encountered the parkway!

I said to Jodi, at least we did not do that in a stick!

  We did get to The Mount MItchell overlook, accidentally, it was rather hidden, I said to Jodi, want to go back to that overlook we missed, she said sure and we were glad as it was what we were looking for.   

It was a nice look and as we were meandering the parkway we encountered sunset and it was lovely, overpopulated, but lovely.

    At. Least the young people there drinking in the « No Alcohol » zone a Montepulciano  rather than  Boones Farm or Olivers Red!  Home at last our old creaky joints did not really want to move nor climb stairs on arrival  to the B&B.  It was a glad of wine and a nice hot (  yes hot) bath in the cute slipper tub in the room, and BED!

This mornings offering is a tropical fruits salad with oranges, Kiwi, Pineapple and yougurt with cocoanut!  The bites with pineapple are like a mini pina colada in my mouth!

This was followed by french toast and bacon. Which was also tasty, my food until dinner!  I am gonna save myself for another  French meal