bossy little dogs: Home Again, with Pictures!

Whew, this was a high speed visit, but full of fun and FOOD, OMG!!!

I went way off the plant-based, because I was in a crowd of people who were not hostile at all about eating plant-based, but certainly skeptical, and I'm not one of Those People who impose my dietary preferences on everybody. I just go with the flow, so I ate a lot of meat, though not a whole lot of dairy. I realized to my own amusement that the favorite thing I ate all weekend was the "Wonder Taters" side dish served at Mr. Frog's. I asked what they were, and was told it was a mix of potatoes, parsnips, and I think cauliflower? Son and DiL know the owners, so DiL said she'd ask if I could have the recipe.

And BTW, if you are going to Asheville for the fall colors, make sure you stop by Mr. Frog's. You will wonder where the hell you are, because the buildings around it look like they are in rough shape. The owners have run really successful restaurants in the area and they chose that location on purpose, to bring fresh business life into the block.

My son described it to me as "really casual, you order at the counter," and I knew where it was located, so I was picturing a very casual, walk-up, formica tabletop thing, paper napkins and those little plastic baskets for the food. I wore jeans, a sweater and running shoes, and walked into this really charmingly decorated little place and was surrounded by affluent looking tourists and seasonal people, women my age in slacks and cute boots, etc. My son, brilliant as he is, is still remarkably un-observant about such things as dress codes. Should have double checked with his wife. (She was at a work-friends birthday party thing, so it was just me, my son and Supergirl.) We did indeed order at the counter, but the food was delivered to the table beautifully plated on china, and studded with a sprig of fresh herbs. Bottom line: It's not a fancy restaurant, no need to get "dolled up" unless you want to, but it's a couple of notches over jeans and sneaks. Slacks or nice jeans, cute boots, cute top and a cool scarf, you're good for Saturday night dinner.

The weekend was a major indulgence in fat and salt and meat, and while I didn't spend hours in the bathroom this time, I realized again that my palate has changed. I taste salt more intensely. This is a HUGE change for me. I like sweets but don't have a sweet tooth. I have always had an intense salt/savory craving, but now a lot of salty things are just too salty. I still like them, but a little goes a long way. This is somewhat shocking, but very welcome. I don't have to fight too hard to keep my sodium intake low - fresh foods and other spices are just fine now. I'll be detoxing off the salt and meat for the rest of the week.

Tonight's dinner menu: mujadarrah. (That's not the exact recipe, but it's similar. I'm doing a vegan variation on this recipe from Forks Over Knives - The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-Based Eating All Through the Year.

The weather couldn't have been better - cool but not cold, cloudless skies. The kids' new neighborhood is absolutely charming. (None of these are their house - I am not putting their house on the innerwebs in an abundance of ~~paranoia~~ caution.) (Their house is new construction and a different architectural style, and was also much more affordable than these beauties - but they are already dreaming of moving a few doors away in a few years.)

We took a long walk on Saturday, and I found my next house:

The view is nice:

All I need is a winning Lotto ticket.

On Sunday we went to Hardlox, the Jewish food and cultural festival. It was delightful! We ate (I at least kept it vegetarian with a falafel sandwich), Supergirl had a great time, got her face painted and braved the bounce house (with Daddy). She was ridiculously good for the face painting lady, who did a fabulous job. We got a huge kick out of watching a 2.5 year old sit so perfectly still, a total pro, like a model in the makeup chair. She didn't even twitch a muscle until she was told it was done and she could open her eyes!