Calling Collect from Asheville

View from here

Confession: yesterday was the scariest driving moment of the Turtle so far. Was I falling off a cliff? Being pursued by bears? Trying to get close to a toll booth? No. I followed Miss GPS onto a road narrower than the Turtle. Until abruptly coming to my senses and about time, the road ahead was becoming a path. 

A call to Bill and realizing that the road I'd passed, a road with the name of his road = I'm an idiot, really was where I wanted to go and I began the backing out process. With a fence on one side and the woods generally trying to eat the Turtle on the other, it was slow. Until the crunchy sound, then it was stop. Luckily, it's only a two inch tear in the skin of the Turtle, which Bill caulked and taped for a temporary fix. The offending branch that wasn't in the mirror and was probably pushed over the road by a bear wasn't injured. At least not more than it was when it fell off its tree.

I wish I'd taken photos but for some reason, that thought was just not uppermost.

Around the corner and up a good sized part of the mountain that turned out to be only the lower third, Bill and Jo's beautiful home awaited. Planned and built by them, it is sort of the miracle in the woods. I think I told them I'd never be leaving as soon as I saw my guest room. They thought I was kidding. Ha ha.

After a lunch where Jo joined us at a very good Japanese place with outdoor seating, including a screen of bamboo that kept the parking lot slightly out of sight, Bill took me on a tour of the core of town. There were only two chain stores and I'd never heard of either one of them. And they were cool anyway. Everything I saw was right sized, the restaurants and shops welcoming in scope and no frills approach. A mineral rocks shop, a yarn shop, a shop with all things bee related. 

The biggest thing was the oldest indoor mall in America. If this pattern had been followed, how different life might be. First of all, it was IN TOWN.

But let's start with the morning. The wake up in fog morning.

View from Mount Vu Motel

Skipping the branch piercing, arrival at both a beautiful home and a willing mechanic's, forgetting the forgot to take food photos of my tuna roll and their tempeh and salads and soups, we'll jump to the view from the parking garage. Bill was wondering at my first choice a bit, but hey, I like old signs.

These doors are so great! The handles are some kind of plumbing pipe.
Next door is another store with a garage door front so these buildings
were probably warehouses of some kind once upon a time

Just because. All soap holders need a water spout.
All bottle openers need a bath.

This was a very cool store. If you like old rocks with magic inside them.

There were a few of these around the shop, some taller than me.
Ok, that's not super tall but damn big for a fossil!

Yes, the Kress building is authentic. No, there is no Kress's inside,
but other shops are thriving.
Of course, I was just taking a photo of the truck.

She captivated us.

Sort of how a lot of places are here. Tucked in and unassuming but very much there.

And they ARE fine shoes

Every good city needs a building shaped like this

Inside the Kress building they restored the old soda fountain/luncheonette.
Beyond it is art, little stalls where various artists show off their wares. 

Iron for the Flatiron (musician bonus points here)

Bill gave me a lot of history on a number of levels.
Better than me mangling it, if your curiosity is
standing up saying feed me, go here for more

This place (the mall) is so elegant and well thought out,
I could have wandered in there for a couple of hours getting
details. For more, you'll just have to come here yourselves!

So much better than an elevator.
First floor, shops, second, offices, third, apartments.
That works.

I love the underside of the stairs. Yes that is stone.
Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a math person but I can seriously
appreciate the math it took to do this.

Hey! said someone. Let's put a bar on this roof! So they did.

Oh, the mind boggles with potential.
Public Service Building...there should be one in every town!
Just say it softly to yourself...public service...public service.
What a concept.

This is a very unique yarn shop. Someone has an excellent sense of humor.

Underground wires! Keeping the charm.

Bill told me how many shops have come and gone but
this wig shop, on a corner in pricey real estate land, lives on.
I wanted to buy the Princess Leia wig. 

Some soulful horn

If you ever went to an S & W cafeteria, this was the headquarters building.
Now it's not. 

Another building I wish I could be on scaffolding to look at, let alone shoot.

As any good city should have, there are nice bits of public art here and there. This bench is one of them. 

It was commissioned to celebrate...never mind, read it yourself below

Wouldn't it be a cool deal as a sculptor to be asked to do a piece celebrating
the first woman doctor in the United States (a music teacher to this? nice flow)?
I guess she didn't read the manual that women were repressed.

I've seen some great things done with old suitcases. This now heads the list.

Chickens!!!!!! I needed to see some.

Blurry but so cute and the stone/brick/bricks had to be shown

Bill answering my endless annoying questions with patience, grace and humor.

This is not really a bank. Or crooked either but time's a'flyin!

Bill says they've been in business five years now so they must be funny

This is in Vanderbilt world (actually, it is Biltmore Village). There is some very fascinating history here and you can read about it here.

"George Vanderbilt sought to create a home in the mountains of Western North Carolina that emulated the working estates of Europe.  Not only would there be a grand house and grounds, but it would include a self-sustaining settlement to support the estate workers.   To accomplish this extraordinary undertaking he commissioned two of the most accomplished architects of the time, Richard Morris Hunt, and Frederick Law Olmsted."

After a good dinner Jo made that we ate out on the sky deck of their home and the continuation of a conversation that began a long time ago, Bill and I went to a songwriting class he attends once a month. Incredibly, except for thanking them for letting me be there and asking if photos were okay, I kept my mouth shut. Yes, mark the day.

Bill singing the song he and the guy next to him co-wrote for
an assignment. It was smile making. 

Nice people, interesting topics and some good music. 

Back home, talking 'til midnight and eyes getting heavy all around, I went down to the amazing guest quarters and slept the sleep of the content, which is a very good sleep indeed. 

Clouds are hanging on peak tops and fall is making a quilt of the mountainsides. Where is my luckiest woman in the world crown? Under the phone waiting for the mechanic's verdict. I better put it on quick!

Have a tiny home Tuesday (I've not forgotten, just trying to catch up before drowning)! Do something tiptoeing through tulips.

Free Range Friday ~ Freaking Fabulous Fare, Cher

I just want to say at the outset that this isn't my every day fare. That will surprise a few of you, those who think we all sit under palms sipping pina coladas all day, while browning our skin under non-cancerous rays, listening to the waves gently crash ashore. Ok, for the one of you who thinks that. For the rest, who just wish that, you know Paradox is just full of wonderful surprises, I can only say may you get to have a Tres home meal someday.

When Doug comes to town, I know I'm always in for some sort of feasty treat and this year he promised to raise the bar by inviting along their friends Tres (pronounced like the three that it is, trace) and Nancy, Tres being a chef of New Orleans background, style and substance (was it the 'Hello, chère' that gave it away?). After months of hearing about this, the meal was on. And so was Tres, with his lovely assistant Nancy.

My first clue that something good was going on was what I first noticed on walking into the kitchen. At first glance, his scrap bowl could almost have been a sort of primitive salad. 

My second clue was that he moved faster than light and food wasn't flying except where it should be flying. 

I think the point I started whimpering was when he said that this was duck meat he'd brought with him to make the empanadas. 

Nancy and Tres making empanada skins from the delicious dough Tres had made earlier

And the goodness grows

Gandules, bacon (I think, I had been rendered speechless for a second there), pumpkin and brussel sprouts

Stuffing the yellow tail with his simply made cilantro pesto. Next time I'll turn him on to racao. Well, unless he already knows it, in which case I'll just pass on a handful.

Local fresh caught yellowtail

Corn meal and flour dusting for the gator bites. Yes, he brought along gator too. I know, right?

and the fires roared. Tres was making flash fried super skinny fries from...not yucca but..oh! one of the root vegetables that goes into Susie's island mash. I'll think of it later. Of course I will. 

Sometime in there, Tres headed off to clean up and the party started gravitating to the kitchen. Actually, the party had been gravitating on and off into the kitchen for the last hour or so, drawn in by the lasso of aromas curling around corners, right into our soul belly centers. 

But it wasn't ready yet. Insert the rumbling of stomachs. Not from hunger, there were plenty of horse de vores on hand, rather just from watching the island start to get loaded with the goods. It wouldn't be long now.

Yes please, everyone pour their own libation.

Tres and Nancy giving an overview of what will be pleasing our palates this night

A N T I C I P A T I O N

All good boys and girls deserve flavor.

The yellowtail was ready to come off of the grill

At first, Tres considered deboning the fish. Then, no, just cut them in half to be sure everyone got some and let the grown ups figure it out.

Where is my drool bib?

What did we do before we could take instant photos of our food? I can't...oh, yes, we remembered and told stories!

Serve yourself up, master planner guy!!! 

At last, Tres and Nancy get their plates and we get stories. Really good stories. Food stories including Taj Mahal and Willy Nelson type stories (no bad gossip, nice guy stories), traveling and cooking stories. Like that.

Tres feeds me a brussel sprout. 

While eating his amazing food, I thought this might just be the time to break the 'I hate brussel sprouts' cycle. And damned if it wasn't! Crunchy texture and bacon for flavoring? I may never eat another brussel sprout I like but this one (and the other ones) were sheer brussel sprout heaven. I'll keep sampling now, but the bar is high. This photo is to prove I really did eat (more than) one. Yay, Tres!

I think the grown ups figured it out

It's the little things. Like roasting the seeds from the calabaza to sprinkle on the finished dish of mashed spiced pumpkin angels are singing on the tongue result.

Carrot escabeche that Tres says is as common to the table as s & p in his world.  

What is Tres world anyway? He is chef at Bouchon, a restaurant in Asheville, NC that specializes in French comfort food. From a New Orleans background, Tres has that pretty down, in this case taking French and Boricua based foods, combining them with his own flair with a lot of love poured over all of it. Bouchon is also a creperie, but Tres works the other side of it. It will definitely be a Turtle stop in the future!

I never made it to the cole slaw or rice, filled up with some of every other thing on offer. Oh regrets are made of these...but a very happy belly said 'Enough!' and it was exactly that. 

The thing is, there was nothing fancy here. Just good food prepared with skill and a knowledge of how to make flavors sing without the use of sauces or other covering ingredients. Comfort food indeed. Get inspired! and Buen provecho!

Thank you, Doug, for putting this all together. Thank you, Tres for your gift of really enjoying what you do and sharing it with us. Good food, good friends old and newly made, what a night!

Have a friends with food Friday. Do something finely.