What we've been doing

If you haven't heard by now, MW and I have made an addition to our family.

Meet Zoe!

After Gus had a great time playing with Buster over Christmas, MW and I decided to look into getting another cat to keep Gus company. We strolled into Forsyth Animal Control Shelter, with the intention of finding a new, non-black cat. And then, we fell in love with a black cat. 

She was so playful and friendly when we met her that we immediately felt like she'd be a good fit for Gus, whose energy seems endless. We spent about an hour with her and then decided to run home and bring Gus back, to see how they reacted to each other. Gus was anxious from hearing barking dogs and the meeting wasn't ideal, but he wasn't aggressive towards her at all. We went home that night and had the forms filled out the next day to adopt her. 

She came home on the 17th, after being spayed, and she and Gus had a slow start. He's been our baby for three years now, so he was a little put-off by this little mini version of him in his territory. I'm happy to say that after a week and a half, they're getting along perfectly!! 

Pooped from surgery, her first night home

They've been helping each other groom those hard to reach places

She's a nose licker. MW loves it.

She's been a great addition to our family. Even though she and Gus tore through the house like crazy cats at 6am this morning. 

Last sunday, MW had the idea to make some ravioli, something we've planned to do for a while but just hadn't yet. 

We roasted some cherry tomatoes

Used some local sausage mixed with onions, garlic, and parmesan for the filling

And spent some time stamping out the ravioli

Our stamp isn't ideal for making a lot, so we'll need to get a mold for quicker production,

but it worked fine for our first attempt. 

After they were cut, we left them to dry

Sausage Ravioli with roasted tomatoes and pesto. 

I can't wait to make it again! Good thing we froze some. 

A few days later, we had some leftover chicken. MW got creative again and made homemade mayo so we could have chicken salad sandwiches. 

It was so simple! And very flavorful.

We barely use mayo, so it's more than worth it to us to make it fresh when we need it for chicken salad or to spruce up sandwiches. 

This was even better than it looks, if possible. 

Wednesday evening, our good friends Joseph and Miranda were in the hospital, expecting the birth of their first child. Miranda was due to be induced the next morning, so while she rested, Joseph met us so we could get a pre-fatherhood drink for him. It was ideal timing, since Finnigan's Wake had just tapped their limited release keg of Bell's Hopslam.

Savored.

To fatherhood!

We were so happy to be able to spend that time with Joseph and we know they're going to be great parents. Congratulations Joseph and Miranda!!

Saturday we spent the day with our friend the Snowman, who was getting a new tattoo in honor of his Nana. He took some ideas to a local tattoo artist and the artist drew up his interpretation, which turned out beautiful:

Snowman with the artist

 The tattoo shop was a few doors down from Foothills, where this year's Sexual Chocolate Stout was released on Friday. Naturally, we had to go (even though MW and I went by friday evening for a taste!)

It is divine. 

Creamy, chocolatey, and so silky smooth. One of my favorite beers. 

With two limited release beers (which we got to have on draught!) January turned out to be a great time for craft beers. We're excited to continue branching out and enjoying craft brews from around the state (and beyond). We're so glad we were able to get some time in with great friends this weekend, just before the semester starts getting busier for MW. 

Fall Excursions

MW has pointed out that I've been failing miserably at my regular posting duties. My excuse is that Rocktober was an extremely busy month for us! So here's a recap for all our fans:


MW took me on a beautiful weekend to the mountains of Asheville to see the comedian Louis CK. As a result, we may have found our future home. We arrived on friday night in time to get a beer and a hummus appetizer at the Asheville Bier Garden before running over to the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.
Louis was hilarious and we had a great time laughing together. I am lucky to have someone to share so many of my interests.

After the show, we stopped by Asheville Brewing Company where we gorged ourselves on gigantic made-to-order pizza slices with fresh toppings. I ordered a Rocket Girl, which was crisp, sweet and a little fruity. Not my usual go to brew, but it was refreshing and enjoyable. The brewery was a little off the beaten path of the friday night crowd but it was perfect for us to sit and talk about the show.


The next morning we slept in a little and woke to a perfect fall day. The leaves were just starting to change, the sky was completely clear, and the weather was crisp- my favorite kind of day!

We spent some time exploring downtown. We were lucky enough to find a cheaper hotel right in the middle of downtown and were able to walk everywhere. It was the weekend of Oktoberfest, so there was quite a crowd milling about downtown. We opted not to participate in Oktoberfest, since there are so many independent breweries in Asheville that we wanted to visit. 

(The Grove Arcade)

We spent a little time walking around the Grove Arcade and even bought some apples from a small market inside. The Grove Arcade was commissioned and built by E.W. Grove (who also built the Grove Park Inn) and was the center of commercial and civic life for over a decade in Western NC. It now houses small shops and local artists. The architecture is stunning and definitely worth some time if you're in the area. 

MW took me to brunch at a lovely small diner called Early Girl Eatery.

We sat at a "community table," a long table in the middle of the dining area where small groups of people can sit together. Since we were on vacation, we started the meal with some mimosas. 

My tummy was bothering me a bit that morning, so instead of having the usual morning goodness, I ordered house-made granola and yogurt with fruit.

MW ordered eggs with fried smashed potatoes covered in a tomato aioli sauce. 

We both had the local pork sausage, which was deliciously spicy without being too rich. 

My granola was good and it filled me up without upsetting my stomach more, but I still felt like I missed out on the eggs and potatoes. Next time!

After lunch we immediately began our tour of the local breweries, starting with LAB (or Lexington Avenue Brewery). Located right downtown, LAB had a cool vibe to it. The entire front wall is made of garage doors, which they had open since it was so nice out. 

I had a sampler to get a taste of all their beers. 

While we were at LAB, my best friend EK called to meet up with us. She lives in Asheville and I (regretfully) do not see her often. We decided to freshen up and meet her at our hotel so she could take us to another brewery. 

BFFs!

EK took us to The Wedge in South/West Asheville. It was a little outside of downtown, and definitely not a place we would have found on our own. But it was by far my favorite brewery we visited. 

It consisted largely of outside space with a few chairs on a patio and some tables in the yard. Inside was just a small bar area with hardly any stools and a bathroom. 

The yard had cool ironwork art

We nabbed a table in the yard and chilled hard for a few hours. 

All the tap handles were cute. 

We stayed until it was dark, catching up with EK and enjoying some pitchers of well-made beer. 

The Wedge was so relaxed and was more our pace than typical packed tight bars on a saturday evening. 

After a while, we got pretty hungry and MW had planned to take me to the well known Asheville staple:  Tupelo Honey Cafe. 

MW is going to kill me when he reads this, but somehow the pictures I took on my iPhone were lost when I upgraded to iOS5. Total sad face. 

At Tupelo, they serve you outrageously good scratch made biscuits with Tupelo Honey and marmalade to spread as liberally as you desire. This, my friends, is food heaven. I ordered a BBQ plate at the recommendation of our server and it did not disappoint. The BBQ was tender and literally fell apart as it hit my tongue. It wasn't too saucy, either. I hate when bad BBQ is compensated for with too much sauce. It also came with a cob of corn full of butter and parmesan cheese.

I would eat there everyday. The bad part is, they don't take reservations, so wait time for us was 2 hours on a late Saturday night. But it was completely worth the wait and I can't wait to go another time!

We spent the rest of the night catching up with EK as one of her friend's played some music with a small band at Craggie's, another small brewery. It was a lot of fun and the band was great. 

It was hard to leave on Sunday morning, but Sunny Point Cafe made it a little better. I had the house Breakfast Sandwich: "Roasted tomatoes, maple black pepper bacon, a small sharp cheddar cheese omelette, and chipotle aioli served on a buttery croissant  with stone ground chipotle cheese grits." This was the biggest breakfast sandwich I've ever had. And it was out of this world! MW ordered a "mighty good breakfast" with 2 eggs, local sausage, and herb tossed spuds. I was envious of his sausage and he, recognizing this, lovingly shared half of his sausage with me! That's called real love. It was a nice way to end a wonderful trip with a few minutes to spend with each other before getting back to work/homework/life distractions. 

to be continued...

Nice little Saturday

Our weekend with friends is coming to a fast end. I hate how quickly time goes over the weekend. Playing host is one of my favorite things to do. Especially when we can include our friends in the things that bring us happiness every day.

Friday after picking up The Regg, we came back to Winston and had a couple beers at First Street. I had the DuckRabbit Milk Stout, which is always a nice little dessert in itself. The boys had a couple IPAs (including Terrapin's Hopsecutioner; which I think has a nice bite to it). Fergie kept cool with some southern style sweet tea. Naturally, we became hungry so we went out to one of the coolest (and only) late night options: Breakfast of Course (Mary's too). Open until 3am on Friday and Saturday, BOC is a great place to go after a night out with friends, or a show at the soon to be opened, reincarnated Ziggy's.

(LOVE the artwork at BOC!)

I built my own breakfast sandwich with a biscuit, sausage, egg and cheddar grilled 

and with a side of hash browns. 

Art-o-matic dispenses original, local mini pieces of art

Fergie tried to get some for our households, 

but Art-O-Matic wanted nothing to do with her $5.

Proving to be one of the latest nights for me in a very, very long time, we eventually crashed into bed only to wake up early to go Kayaking on the Dan River with our good friend J-Rowdie. 

Gus got comfy with Fergie

In the morning, I packed us (with Fergie's help) some lunches of homemade BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches, strawberries and pineapple, and two homemade granola bars. 

It was time to fuel up for the trip. 

What better way to start a day of outdoor adventure than with French Toast on homemade honey-wheat bread?

Yum!

The boys (and Kermit) are ready to take on the rapids of the Dan.

The River seemed to run a little higher than last weekend when we went and it was quite a leisurely float. About 1/3 down the route, it started to rain and like last weekend it started to rain again. We took shelter in the same cave and waited for the rain to pass while eating our bag lunches. Twice we got out of our kayaks and sat amid the small rapids ("hillbilly hot tub"). The water rushing past gives you a nice massage, if you can find a good spot to sit still. 

After getting home, we all crashed for a good two hours before we could even think about starting dinner. To show off our new skills, we made homemade pasta with basil (with the help of Fergie and The Regg, who rolled it out like pros). Additions included shrimp sauteed with onions, garlic and bacon and oven-dried tomatoes all coated with pesto. As a side we made the corn and roasted red pepper relish again. 

The Regg enjoyed his namesake IPA

oven dried tomatoes are my new favorite food

Fergie and The Regg roll out some pasta

Gus supervises

J joined us for dinner and we recapped our Highlights of the day

This was a pretty good Highlight

Of course we topped off the night with Ice Cream!