Food in brief: snow, bacon, kiwi?
I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weekend to the fullest, because Mother Nature is turning her back on us again. It wouldn’t be Asheville in April without a snowstorm. If you live on the East Coast, brace yourselves for some rain and snow. We likely won’t get much accumulation here, but the temperature may drop to freezing. Bring in your seedlings and cover up your garden!
~ Exciting news! The Red Stag Grill at the brand new Grand Bohemian Hotel is open! Located in Biltmore Village, Red Stag’s dinner menu looks out of this world. The tasting menu is quite tempting and, by Asheville standards for fine dining, affordable.
~ Call for help: Can anyone recommend a quality vegan caterer in the Asheville area? A Google search turns up very little and a friend’s wedding is quickly approaching. Comment or send me an e-mail.
~ From vegan to bacon: Stopped in at L.O.F.T. yesterday and saw that they had a variety of bacon-themed paraphernalia: bacon band-aids, bacon gummy candy, bacon mints. Made me hungry just looking at it. I still want to experiment with some bacon salt. Maybe on some eggplant?
~ Does anyone eat the peel of the kiwi fruit? This article claims that the peel contains a good-for-you antioxidant. I’m not sure that any amount of good-for-me will convince me to eat something with the texture of sandpaper with the mouthfeel of rubbing alcohol, but…
~ A few months ago I made Amanda Hesser’s Vanilla Bean Loaves. Instead of two large loaves I made three mini loaves. Ate two, froze one. Defrosted the lone loaf over the weekend, and I have to tell you - still delicious. The crumb, the texture, everything just as good as when I made them. I own Cooking For Mr. Latte, but if you don’t, you can find the recipe over at The Amateur Gourmet.
Ah yes the April snow… never fails does it?
Oh sweet! Lets go and try it! Can we please?
Doesn’t Laughing Seed Cater?
Have you been to http://bacontoday.com/?
I have, but it depends on the kiwi. Sometimes the skin is so astringent it hurts my mouth. Sometimes it’s very tender and sweet.
The menu definitely includes a few things I’d be happy to try, so count me in for Red Stag, budget willing.
Bacon salt — weird! Reminds me of the flavor sprays advertised pretty heavily a few years ago, but I’ve heard nothing of them since.
I eat kiwi peel, mainly because I’m impatient with them and I hate losing any tiny amount of flesh in the peeling process. Most of them have soft, nice skins that are fun to eat, but I had one that was tough.
Mmmmmm vanilla loaves. I’m still not a pound cake convert (give me butter cake or French sponge, please), but those were mighty tasty.
@Woody - Bacon Today is hilarious! Thanks for the link.
@Nikki - Bacon salt claims to be vegetarian, which is kind of creepy, but I have to try it. I swear allegiance to all things bacon. Re: kiwi - what I usually do is peel it with a knife, then get the flesh off with my teeth, kind of like when you eat artichoke leaves?