Food life fall 2017

High-Rise Cuisine

with Chef Philip Bollhoefer

3 Mountains

Brews African Blends

PLUS

FALL 2017 Vol. 4, No. 3

FoodLifeMag.com

recipes restaurants & more!

FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

features FALL 2017

VOL. 4 • NO. 3

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HIG H- RIS E C UIS INE Chef Philip Bollhoefer brings farm fresh food to the clouds.

by JONATHAN AMMONS

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T HER E ARE PUM PKIN IN Y O NDER H ILLS

Michael Rayburn’s reign as the Pumpkin King

by TIFFANY WELSH

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ALL T HE TEA IN RWANDA

3 Mountains brews African blends in Asheville.

by MAGGIE CRAMER

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IT ’S T HE GREAT PUM PKIN PATCH EXPR ES S , C H ARLIE BROWN The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad has integrated a beloved story into an annual WNC Fall tradition.

by TIFFANY NARRON

FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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VOL. 4 NO. 3

F A L L 20 1 7 High-Rise Cuisine

with Chef Philip Bollhoefer

3 Mountains

Brews African Blends

High Rise Cuisine

with Chef Philip Bollhoefer

3 Mountains

Brews African Blends

ON THE C OVE R Dig in Y’all! and It’s Fall Y’all!

Photos by Tiffany Welsh

STA Y C ONNEC TE D

PLUS

recipes restaurants & more!

FALL 2017 Vol. 4, No. 3

FoodLifeMag.com

PLUS

FALL 2017

FoodLifeMag.com

Vol. 4, No. 3

recipes restaurants & more!

the guide S OW WHAT? 16 A guide to planting & harvesting in the Southern Appalachians.

AWFF REC AP 20 Photos from the 2017 Asheville Wine & Food Festival.

by JACK SOROKIN

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TRAVELI NG LOC AVORE 27 Tiffany Welsh sinks her teeth into Knoxville, TN. C OMFORT FOOD FOR ALL S EAS ONS 35 Pete’s Pies is a hidden gem in downtown Asheville.

FoodLifeMag.com facebook.com/foodlifemag instagram.com/ foodlifemagazine

recipes PU MPKI N PI E ROLL U PS 22 PU MPKI N LEEK S OU P 32 PERKY TU RKEY C HI LI 39 PEC AN PI E C HEES EC AKE BARS 40 PU MPKI N PI E I C E C REAM 46

C ALENDAR 52

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FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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EDITOR’S LETTER In every fall issue, I have told you how much I love fall. And I’ll probably say the same for every fall issue to come.

It’s simply the best time of year in my estimation. The weather is gorgeous, the scenery is colorful and the food is so comforting - filled with spices and warmth. This fall, after much discussion, we decided on pumpkins as our theme. While pumpkins are well known as the harbinger of Halloween, I didn’t want this to be a Halloween issue. I think we’ve managed to give a more well-rounded presentation to these beloved gourds of fall.

Come with us on our pumpkin journey as we talk to Michael Rayburn of Rayburn Farms, who is the facilitator for all things pumpkin flavored in town, plus we have sweet and savory recipes that go beyond the traditional pumpkin pie. We also talk to Chef Philip Bollhoefer, of the Montford, who is turning out delicious food at high altitude. Warm yourself up with a cup of tea with Sara Stender from 3 Mountains Tea. And to finish it all off, we go on a adventure with the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad.

So without further ado, dig in y’all!

EDITOR twelsh@iwanna.com

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FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

General Manager/Publisher PATRICIA MARTIN BETTS Editor TIFFANY WELSH Art Director CARRIE FAYE HARDER Production/IT Manager JEFF RUMINSKI Contributors JONATHAN AMMONS MAGGIE CRAMER TIFFANY NARRON TIM ROBISON JACK SOROKIN GAYLE TILLER Advertising Consultants PAM HENSLEY RICK JENKINS ROSE LUNSFORD

www.ashevillegoods.com

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Your favorite local products packaged with care in a handcrafted wooden box or our original kraft box.

Perfect for clients, customers, and friends.

Online at AshevilleGoods.com Call 828.252.9175 for large orders

Production DAVID DENTON RANDY WHITTINGTON Distribution Manager SAM HOWELL A Publication of

I WAN NA PU BL I CATI O NS 3 1 COL L EG E PL A CE A S HE VI L L E OF F I CE PA RK , IWA N N A B UIL DIN G AS HEV IL L E, N C 28801 828. 274. 8888 Food Life, a publication of IWANNA, has accepted contributions which may not reflect the opinion of the publisher. No portion of Food Life may be reproduced without permission of the publisher.

Nestled on the majestic French Broad River just 15 minutes from downtown Asheville, Olivette is a 346 acre farm-based community where connection to food, nature, neighbors and the arts are essential elements of the community design. We are available 7 days a week to guide you to your new home.

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828.407.0040 • www.OlivetteNC.com FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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FEATURE

C HE F

High-Rise Cuisine Chef Philip Bollhoefer brings farm fresh food to the clouds.

by JONATHAN AMMONS

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FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

photos by TIM ROBISON

Y

VIEW THE MENU AT THEMONTFORD.COM

“YOU MIGHT WANT TO PUT THESE ON.” He says as we reach the top of the steps and the door to the roof of the hotel, handing me a pair of plastic wayfarer sunglasses. “This whole floor is white, and when it is sunny, it can be absolutely blinding,” he laughs as he pushes the door open and the sun bursts through like a spotlight. Once outside, surrounded by the haze of the Blue Ridge Mountains on a hot summer morning, with the penthouses of far off buildings peaking through the fog, we step over the puddles collected from the irrigation system and into a booming rooftop garden. Herbs, flowers and squash blossom and grow in large metal grow bins, stone center in the heart of downtown, and eight stories high.

“I don’t buy herbs or garnishes, because we can grow all of that.” He says, pointing out the nasturtiums, citrus marigold flowers, and Johnny Jump-ups harvested for the bar. “I’ve grown a couple hundred pounds of squash up here throughout the year. It’s 14 hours of sunlight, and we have an irrigation system built in, so it is a perfect growing environment.

There’s no grass or weeds or anything up here to starve it out, so it is just good soil, perfect sunlight, and good soil.”

From up here in the clouds, it could be easy to oversimplify Chef Philip Bollhoefer’s decision to leave the Omni Grove Park Inn’s massive kitchen at the Edison -- where he helped to develop one of the largest commercial consumers of locally farmed produce in the city, often serving local product to well over 1,000 covers per night -- to assume the helm of a tiny rooftop bar and restaurant at the Montford in the Hyatt Hotel, which nestles neatly between the neighborhood from whom they borrow the name and downtown. But any assumption would be reductionist at best.

Why would a chef leave an army of staff, an extensive budget, and one of the largest, and most historic venues in the city to man a 70 seat bar with a staff of three cooks? Why would he give up an advanced kitchen with grills and fryers, ovens and salamanders to take control of a kitchen the size of a walk in closet? But to go back even further into his timeline, why would a chef bent on local, farm to table cuisine choose to spend his entire career working in hotel kitchens up and down the country?

Orson Welles once wrote that, “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations,” and even Van Gogh claimed that his work would be impossible without the constraints of his canvas. Sometimes it takes reducing our abilities to truly find the roots of our skills.

“If you walk through our kitchen, it’s not a serious kitchen.”

Says Bollhoefer, “It’s like a little galley. There’s no fire, there’s no hood system, so we have a little table top fryer and that little oven, and that is our biggest limitation. But I’ve found that it is really interesting to have those limitations because it really focuses what you can do.”

Those restraints, and reliance on regional farms, tend to tailor a menu of their own, and the bar environment lends SUMMER FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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FEATURE

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itself to sharable plates with a southern flair. He uses Carolina Bison to fashion meatballs with local Goat Lady Dairy goat cheese and stewed tomatoes, and serves braised Hickory Nut Gap pork flatbreads with homemade pimento cheese, and house pickled veggies, as well as cheesecake made with Three Graces chevre.

“That’s something I ask of a lot of people when we do events, is to give me some limitations!” He says, a large part of his job being to cater banquets for hotel guests. “Don’t tell me just to do whatever I want! I think for a lot of creative people, it makes it easier for us to have some kind of direction, some kind of parameters. That way you can really focus your passion and attention on one specific thing. It’s been really nice to be driving inside the guardrails here.”

Bollhoefer grew up in the small pan handle hamlet of Navarre Florida. According to the 1990 census, during his youth, Navarre had a population of around a mere 8,600. “It was a really small town, but I got to grow up outside and in the woods.” He tells, “My uncle had an acre garden, and that is one of the reasons I was really interested in food from a young age. When you go to the grocery store and try something, and then you eat something out of his garden, they taste nothing alike! That really planted the seed of how, if you grow it yourself or buy it local, it is just that much better!”

While in high school, he enrolled in a Chemical Engineering 10

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

course at his local community college. “I got my AA in that and decided it wasn’t for me,” he says, “so a few months later I moved to Orlando and went to culinary school.”

Taking a job at a sushi restaurant where he worked full time on top of a full load of classes at Le Cordon Bleu, he met his wife Chelsea, who also worked in hospitality, and after graduation, he followed her to San Antonio. There, after taking a job at the Omni’s Las Canarias, Bollhoefer connected with his boss and eventual culinary mentor, John Brand, whose James Beard celebrated cuisine has always focused on curating intensely seasonal dishes that are as accessible as they are respectful to the integrity of their ingredients. “Where I got most of my culinary chops really was when I moved to San Antonio,” says Bollhoefer, thinking back to his once head chef, “He would tell people, ‘I’m not a hotel chef, I just happen to work at a hotel’. And that’s really what I have modeled my career after.”

Following their stint in Texas, the Bollhoefers found themselves in Chicago, where Philip wound up at the farm to table and house-Charcuterie focused 676, once again, a property of the Omni.

From there, they followed the hotel trail to Asheville, where Chelsea returned home to work with the Windsor, while Philip found himself at the Grove Park for three years before jumping ship for climb up to the eighth floor rooftop of the Hyatt.

“I’ve always been at hotels, but I’ve always been at hotels that operate as independent restaurants.” He says now, his thermometer and Sharpie poking out of the sleeve pocket of his chef’s coat, with the reflection of the sun blinking through the Chamber of Commerce windows in the distance, just over his shoulder, highlighted through the floor to ceiling glass that wraps the room. “I like the hotel structure because my power bill is paid by room revenue. I can run a higher food cost and bring in better products because I don’t have to account for electricity, gas, water, and all those things because it is already paid for by the building,” allowing him to serve higher quality foods at a more reasonable price for his guests.

“It’s really nice to be here, and be able to focus on making sure that everything is nice for the guests that are up here,” he says, “when I was at Grove Park it was a matter of figuring out how to do 1,600 covers out of one kitchen in a day, which was great in a different way. We did some really great food over there, and they still do, but it becomes slinging hash at some point. But here you can really try to make every plate perfect and make sure everything is seasoned perfectly and taste everything before it goes out.”

The Montford is located at 199 Haywood St, Asheville, NC 28801. View the menu at themontford.com.

FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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Oct 7th, Noon-6PM A Free, fun & food focused garlicky festival!

Follow the WNC Garlic Trail to collect authentic garlic experiences from our vendors: Garlic Ice Cream, Garlic Pizza, Garlic Cookies, Garlic Jun, Garlic Tea, Garlic Elixir, Garlic Honey and lots lots more! FREE to participate and super fun for the whole family. Music, food trucks and gastronomic wonderment!

PLUS 4 Free workshops throughout the event on growing, preserving and cooking with garlic. Hosted by Sow True Seed at their new location, where you can purchase a full range of seed garlic and shallots. Eat Garlic, Learn Garlic, Grow Garlic!

243 Haywood St, Asheville NC more info at www.wncgarlicfest.com Receive 10% OFF everything at our new location during WNC Garlic Fest ONLY 12

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

RAYBURN FARM

FEATURE

There Are Pumpkin in Yonder Hills

by TIFFANY WELSH photos courtesy of RAYBURN FARMS

Growing up just over the state line in Tennessee, Michael Rayburn always wanted to be a farmer. He planted his first garden at just five years old.

You might say that was when the seed for Rayburn Farm was first sown.

EVER SINCE THAT FIRST GARDEN YEARS AGO, Rayburn has had a love of plants. He studied horticulture in college with the hopes of maybe having a hobby farm. After college, when reality set in, he realized that if he wanted to farm, he needed to make a full time commitment and he needed it to be a business. So he began saving and studying and making plans for his future farm.

When he and his wife were finally ready to plant some roots, they settled on Western North Carolina as the perfect location, purchasing their own land - a little over 16 acres - in

Barnardsville. “I’ve always had a love of the mountains,” says Rayburn.

The Rayburns are now in their third year of full time farming. Although they have ample property, they only actively farm an acre and a quarter. Through extensive research, Rayburn has been able to identify plants that grow differently, that produce more usable product in less space. Research that he encourages everyone to take advantage of, “If you don’t limit yourself to doing what everyone else says to do, if you really dig into things, there are a lot of things out there FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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FOR MORE INFO VISIT FACEBOOK.COM/RAYBURNFARM

cites Rayburn most about working with wholesale accounts. “I really like to be creative. I like to mess around research-wise,” says Rayburn. “So being able to work with these customers - they get to tell me what they want, what they’re looking for and I get to make that happen.”

His customers seem to appreciate the one-on-one approach. If you’re enjoying pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin beer or even a pumpkin pastry this fall, it was likely from Rayburn’s farm. Even so, you will rarely find pumpkin as the star of the meal. “We’re growing flavor,” Rayburn tells me.

for you.” Including specialty pumpkins that have lower water content or a better flavor.

One of the pumpkins Rayburn grows, an heirloom variety that he keeps to himself, is a bushing variety that allowed him to turn out over 2,000 pounds of pie pumpkins from just 200 feet of planted beds last season. That particular variety is known for its low water content, so it’s a perfect candidate for ice cream, one of the Rayburns main markets.

Their other main market should come as no surprise in Beer City. They work with 26 different breweries to provide flavor ingredients for beer, including pumpkins. For Wicked Weed, they grow a special long pie pumpkin, which Rayburn says “is one of the most flavorful pie pumpkins I’ve ever grown”.

While it has great flavor, it also has a lot of moisture and a short shelf life, so it would be terrible for ice cream.

The Rayburns have taken a different approach to farming than most. They don’t sell directly to consumers, but instead deal entirely with wholesale accounts. “Our main markets are beer and ice cream,” smiles Rayburn. “It’s a fun life to have.”

Being able to discern the needs of his customer is what ex14

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

In addition to pumpkins, the Rayburns also grow strawberries, ginger, garlic, hibiscus, edible flowers, corn and lots and lots of herbs. In fact, they consider themselves to be a primarily herb and spice farm. A diverse selection of crops, which is lending itself to future expansion. They are planning to start offering their special Blue Shaman (purple) popcorn this year and to create a line of seasonings to compliment the corn. All of those seasonings will come from the herbs they are already growing.

This year’s pumpkin crop was not as big as last year. The weather was cool and dry in Barnardsville and that led to less pumpkins. “They came out earlier and there was not a good quantity and the quality was not there,” says Rayburn, “That’s one of the challenges of being a pumpkin farmer - pumpkins are very fickle.” Last year the jack-o-lantern pumpkins suffered, but the pie pumpkins were spared. This year, they were not so lucky. “That’s the life of a farmer,” Rayburn acquiesces.

“That’s why it’s good to have diversity.”

Rayburn Farm grows herbs, seed, popcorn, and specialty produce in the mountains of western NC. Follow their adventures online at facebook.com/rayburnfarm or instagram.com/rayburnfarm

FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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A Guide to Planting & Harvesting in the Southern Appalachians DE C

JAN

FEB

MA R

A PR

MAY

KEY

How to plant

space between plants / planting depth Plant seeds Plant transplants, shoots, or roots Recommended planting dates

JU N E

JU LY

AU G

N OV

*seedlings

50-55 days 2 years

4-5 ft apart / plant same depth as nursery 18” apart / ½” deep

70-80 days

12” apart / ½” deep

70-80 days 85-95 days

2” apart / ¼” deep

85-95 days

12” apart / 1½” deep

85-95 days

10” apart / 1” deep

90-100 days

60” apart / 1½” deep 75-80 days

4” apart / ½” deep

75-80 days

18” apart / ½” deep 95-120 days

10” apart / ½” deep

2 ft apart / ¾ inches deeper than transplant soil

2 years

2 years 95-125 days

12” apart / 5½” deep

75-85 days

18” apart / ½” deep 24” apart / 1½” deep

OCT

2 years

3” apart / 1” deep

10” apart / 4” deep

Days to maturity Winter Spring Summer Fall

6-10 years*

15-18 ft apart / 12-18” deep* 15” apart / 6” deep

S E PT

Harvest

50-60 days

Compiled from research provided by the University of North Carolina Cooperative Extension, ASAP, and the Farmer’s Almanac, this guide includes suggested dates for several crops. Note: The Southern Appalachians are diverse, and growing seasons vary. The months above are approximate.

16 2017 2017 50 FOODLIFEMAG.COM FOODLIFEMAG.COM || FALL SUMMER

All the Tea in Rwanda

by MAGGIE CRAMER photos by TIFFANY WELSH

3 Mountains brings African brews to Asheville.

F

FANCY A CUP OF TEA? These days, if you order one at your favorite local restaurant, coffee shop, or bakery there’s a good chance the leaves came from Rwanda. That’s thanks to Asheville entrepreneur Sara Stender, who launched her direct-trade tea company, 3 Mountains, last year.

Stender couldn’t be happier that community interest in the African teas has reached a full boil, but the reason is much more than a boost to her business’s bottom line: Since 2007, she’s worked to help the country’s residents continue healing from its civil war, which culminated in the genocide of 1994 when almost 1,000,000 people were killed in just 100 days.

In 2013, she founded the nonprofit Africa Healing Exchange (AHE) to offer solutions for ending the cycle of trauma and sharing skills for economic empowerment. She crafted 3 Mountains as a socially conscious company to support the nonprofit’s work and benefit Rwandan farmers and producers impacted by the devastation.

A Trip of a Lifetime Just how did a woman from a small town in Vermont end up tackling trauma in Rwanda? It’s a serendipitous story.

“I grew up with this feeling of being uncomfortable; this feeling of wanting more and not knowing what my place was in the world,” Stender shares. It came to a head in college, she says, where she studied business management and felt unfilled in her pursuits. “I was searching, searching. One night, I rented this documentary about the genocide in Rwanda.”

She was shocked: She remembers questioning why, in 1994, had she only heard about the Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan scandal, the OJ Simpson trial, and Kurt Cobain’s death on the news—nothing of the horrific acts in Rwanda.

“It broke something open in me,” she says of the film. “It was this motivation to do something big, to work really hard and look within myself.”

Stender was especially stirred by the women who shared FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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FEATURE

3 MOUNTAINS

their stories. “Even though I was watching them on TV, I felt connected because they touched something so deep within me. At that point I didn’t know what I had to offer but I knew that they had a lot to teach me.” The seed for her to one day live and work in Africa was planted.

Eventually, she did just that—a decade later once the stars aligned. After college, she opened her first business, a Frenchstyle café with a community building vision. During that time, she began researching Fair Trade coffee and learning more about the idea of conscious consumerism. After closing the café, and while earning a second degree in nonprofit management, she started Fair Trade Towns USA and also began engaging with producer groups in East Africa. And then, as she was shaping her nonprofit career, she opened an email supposedly from her graduate alma mater about a position in Rwanda that required her particular combination of skills and experience: to run the restaurant and social enterprise Heaven for a year. Interestingly, no one at the school knew anything about that email.

It was “definitely,” she feels, “a spirit thing.”

She landed the job and met and befriended women just like those on her screen years before, most of whom were coffee and tea farmers or tea pluckers. Leaving at the end of that year wasn’t easy.

The Journey Home “When I left, I knew I would go back,” Stender recalls. “My closest friends asked me if I would come back with some solutions for the emotional turmoil and for the trauma that they were still carrying.”

So she returned to Asheville to establish her personal home and a home base for AHE. Since 2014, the nonprofit has worked with individuals and groups on the ground in Rwanda; recently, it has begun offering workshops in Buncombe County to aid area residents and refugees in coping with chronic stress and preparing for overseas travel.

“I learn so much from our partners there, in how to stay in the now and how to manage what comes your way,” she says.

“The most important thing is building relationships and,” she pauses, “taking time for tea.”

Ultimately, it’s relationships and conversation over food 18

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

and drink that led her to tea—specifically to a community of farmers high in the Rwandan hills from where she now imports.

She’d been steeping the idea for a direct-trade business for a while but wasn’t sure of the exact route to take. “I was seeing so many amazing products being developed in Rwanda, and I wondered why aren’t we seeing these on the shelf,” she remembers. After touring the facilities of her current supplier and the lush, verdant fields from which they source—a co-op of small farms that support 8,000 families in the area— she knew tea was the way.

“3 Mountains was born as a vehicle to connect with consumers in America who want premium products and also perhaps want the opportunity to build a relationship with the producer groups, and as a way to open up new markets for the people in the tea industry in Rwanda.”

Annually, Stender offers a “Crop to Cup” tour. Interested folks can travel with her to Africa, learn about the industry first-hand, and see the fields where their tea (and coffee) are grown.

Teastory Lesson A country with few natural resources and a subsistence farming way of life, tea has always been a critical export crop for Rwanda. According to Stender, the country’s tea culture began after WWII, when it became a United Nations trust territory with Belgium. It’s believed the first tea plants were harvested in 1952.

The genocide wiped out Rwanda’s economy and all but erased their tea trade. But the country’s leadership has worked diligently, Stender says, to rebuild.

Today, tea is one of Rwanda’s biggest export earners. The tea it’s producing, Stender notes, represents an exciting evolution.

Historically, its farmers cultivated black tea, selling it crushed in bulk to large corporations who blended the harvests with product from other countries—rendering it unidentifiably Rwandan. Now, thanks to companies like 3 Mountains, an increasing number of Rwandan farmers recognize the value in harvesting their Camellia sinensis plants at

FOR MORE INFO VISIT 3MOUNTAINS.ORG

different stages in order to produce different tea types, and in marketing their products as grown in the country.

What’s Your Type?

3 Mountains currently sells single-origin, purely Rwandan black, green, white, and silver teas retail via its website and area stores, as well as wholesale to clients from restaurants to bakeries and spas to breweries.

There’s a growing interest in tea in the states, Stender says, perhaps because of an increased awareness of its health benefits—chiefly its content of free-radical-fighting antioxidants—and its widening use as a culinary ingredient in sauces, pastries, and cocktails. As a result, she’s finding that her customers are excited to step outside of the black-tea tin and try all things tea. She hopes they’ll embrace her new line of kegged and refrigerated tea when it launches in breweries this fall.

As far as loose-leaf goes, 3 Mountain’s Rwandan Silver Needle Tea is high in antioxidants and low in caffeine, with a flavor Stender describes as crisp and cooling with jasmine notes. The Rwandan White Tip Tea, also high in antioxidants and low in caffeine, tastes earthy and fresh, she says. Rwandan Green Tea leaves are steamed without oxidation for a smooth, mildly astringent final product with hints of peach.

And 3 Mountain’s Rwandan Black Orthodox Tea, Stender believes, particularly shows off the character of Rwanda’s terroir; she suggests tastes of rich molasses, which seem to naturally sweeten the nutty tea. All of the teas are pesticide-free and certified Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance.

“The teas are not charity products,” Stender stresses. While she hopes her customers value that the company works in partnership with AHE to provide social services to Rwandans as well as Americans, she wants to remind that, first and foremost, Rwanda tea is premium tea.

Known as “land of a thousand hills,” the distinct high-altitude landscape produces distinct, hardy, and award-winning tea leaves.

It’s the country’s mountains—along with the mountains in her two homes of Western North Carolina and Vermont—that inspired her company’s name. The climate in Rwanda’s hillsides, she shares, is surprisingly similar to WNC’s.

“If I close my eyes in the morning in my house in Asheville, I could be in Rwanda,” Stender says. She hopes when others try a cup of 3 Mountains, they’ll be transported there, too.

Find 3 Mountains online at 3mountains.org.

For more about Africa Healing Exchange, visit africahealingexchange.org

YOUR CUP OF TEA 3 Mountains is for sale at the following WNC businesses: ASHEVILLE

67 Biltmore Asheville Tea Company Bhramari Brewing Co. Dobra Tea Firestorm Books & Coffee French Broad Food Co-op Ginger’s Revenge Herbiary The Hop Karen Donatelli Bakery Noble Cider Nourish & Flourish Over Easy Café Owl Bakery Rhubarb & The Rhu Sovereign Remedies The Block off Biltmore Trade & Lore Coffee

BLACK MOUNTAIN Dobra Tea

BREVARD

Food Matters Market Jaime’s Creole Brasserie & Market 36

FAIRVIEW

Mountain Mojo Depending on location, the tea is available loose-leaf, blended with herbs, by the cup or pot, and/or on tap. To order directly from 3 Mountains, visit 3mountains.org.

FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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THE GUIDE

ASHEVILLE WINE AND FOOD FESTIVAL

“People who love to eat are

-

Photos from the 2017 Asheville Wine & Food Festival. photos by JACK SOROKIN

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FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

FOR MORE INFO VISIT ASHEVILLEWINEANDFOOD.COM

always the best people.”

- Julia Child

FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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THE GUIDE RECIPE

Pumpkin Pie Roll Ups recipe & photo by TIFFANY WELSH

3 C Pumpkin Puree 1/2 C Water 2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

2 Tbsp Honey or Maple Syrup 3 Tbsp Sugar

Mix all ingredients together. If using a food dehydrator, spread onto trays and cook at 115 degrees for about 10 hours.

For a conventional oven, set to lowest temperature (usually 170F) and bake for 6 hours on a parchment lined baking sheet. To test for dryness, color should be even, leather should be tacky but not wet and it should easily peel away from the lining. Cool completely, cut and store in an airtight container.

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THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE, located along the Tennessee River, was the first capital of Tennessee. Knoxville is a city not particularly well-known for any one thing. Like Asheville, its downtown struggled through the latter part of the 1900s, until their city decided to host the World Fair in 1982.

This was a planned effort to revive the downtown seen and it worked wonderfully.

Today, Knoxville’s downtown is vibrant with restaurants, shops, and culture. Just two hours west of Asheville, Knoxville makes the perfect destination for a weekend getaway and I can’t wait to eat my way through this city.

text & photography

by TIFFANY WELSH

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THE GUIDE

TRAVELING LOCAVORE

9am - Having arrived to Knoxville late the night before, I am up and out the door

right away to start exploring. First stop, breakfast at PETE’S COFFEE SHOP, a Knoxville institution since 1986. It seems like there are a lot of regulars here, and I really mean A LOT. When I arrive there is a line snaking it’s way through the entire restaurant. I must’ve looked a little lost, because a waitress kindly pointed me to the end of the line and said it would take five to ten minutes. I did not believe her estimate given the number of people waiting, but she was right - they turned the tables quickly. Once seated, I was happy to find the food was well priced, about $6 per person for a full breakfast. They serve everything from pancakes to breakfast club sandwiches. I had eggs, potatoes and bacon and it was served up fast and was delicious.

10am -

After breakfast, I go straight to the MARKET SQUARE FARMER’S MARKET. Market Square is located in the heart of downtown Knoxville. It was originally home to Market Hall, an indoor market for local farmers and artisans that was built in the 1800s and removed around 1960. Now Market Square is a large pedestrian plaza that is perfect for street performers, farm stands, outdoor dining and more. There is a stage located at the north end, which hosts public performances, and a park complete with a small waterfall located at the south end, plus restaurants and shops lining both the east and west sides. This farmer’s market definitely makes my top 3 list. There are over 60 vendors selling every type of produce and food imaginable, plus food trucks, food carts, buskers, and a splash fountain. This is basically a street festival merging with a Saturday morning market and I love it! I could spend the whole day here!

12pm - With all the restaurants in Market Square, I cannot pass up eating lunch here. I decide on SOCCER TACO, which as you would expect from the name is a sports bar/mexican restaurant. The walls of the restaurant are lined with unique murals of skeletons playing soccer. The food is good and the drinks are served in huge glasses - perfect after being in the sun at the market. They also have a huge tequila selection at their bar - more than 50 different choices.

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TRAVELING LOCAVORE

THE GUIDE

1pm - After lunch, I head a few blocks away to the WORLD’S FAIR PARK. Knoxville was host to the World’s Fair in 1982 in an effort to bring some life back to their downtown area. The Fair was a success as it was one of the most well attended in the world.

The park is home to the Tennessee Amphitheater, Volunteer Landing, a lawn space for events and the Sunsphere - one of Knoxville’s most well known landmarks. A short trip to the top of the Sunsphere will reward you with 360 degree views of Knoxville and the surrounding area. And at the far end of the lawn space you will find a huge splash fountain for the kids (and the young at heart).

3pm - After burning off a few calories at the park, I decide to try out CRUZE DAIRY FARM for some ice cream.

Cruze Dairy is a local farm, which produces buttermilk, chocolate milk and white milk all for sale in local markets and food co-ops. For the season, they have opened an ice cream shop on Gay Street, which is a hot spot in downtown Knoxville. All of the ice cream is soft-serve but can be dipped or sprinkled. The atmosphere of the shop is like something out of a magazine, everything perfectly adorned. The girls who work there all don retro styled red and white checked dresses and bright red lipstick, with smiles as sweet as the ice cream they’re serving up!

4pm - After ice cream, I take a walk in the park near Market Square, which houses a public art exhibit, the ART IN PUBLIC PLACES PROJECT. The amazing sculptures line a meandering path, which runs along a small creek and water feature. It’s wonderful to see people just sitting alongside a large scale work of art chatting with a friend or eating lunch. I step out of the park and back into Market Square and hit a few of the local shops.

6pm -

For dinner, I’m in the mood for burgers, so I hit the STOCK AND BARREL - home to Knoxville’s best.

They have all the traditional burger toppings plus some. How about the Elvis burger with peanut butter, fried bananas and bacon? Or the Bernie with bleu cheese, blueberry preserves, bacon and jalapenos? I decide on the Ring of Fire - topped with black bean and corn salsa, habaneros, jalapenos, pepper jack cheese and garlic aioli. It’s spicy thank goodness for the huge drink selection - more than 80 bourbons and another 50 whiskies. Can’t decide? How about the Tennessee vs, Kentucky bourbon flight?

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THE GUIDE

TRAVELING LOCAVORE

8pm - After dinner, I have one more stop - MAPLE HALL BOWLING. A boutique bowling alley located on Gay Street in the heart of downtown. Located in the basement of what once was a J.C. Penney’s, this bowling alley is unlike any you’ve ever been in before. They have exposed brick, plush leather sofas, a full bar, a farm to table menu with lane service.

They even have a stage for hosting live music. I feel like my level of cool is increasing just by being in this bowling alley. They charge by the hour instead of by the game, so the price is very reasonable, but there are only 11 lanes, so be prepared to wait if you go on a weekend night. I didn’t bowl my best game, but I had so much fun. I can’t wait to come back to Knoxville.

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THE GUIDE

RECIPE

THERE ARE MANY RECIPES for puréed vegetable soups that use milk or cream for thickness and creamy flavor. Although those soups may taste delicious, I have always been a fan of vegetable soups that rely on their own delightful flavors to be thick, creamy, and delectable. The thickener in this soup is potato. Using vegetable stock rather than water as a cooking liquid adds yet another layer of mouthwatering flavor. photo by TIFFANY WELSH

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RECIPE

THE GUIDE

Pumpkin Leek Soup Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegan Yield: 4-6 servings 2 Tbsp grapeseed oil 3 large leeks (white & light green parts only), halved & sliced ¼ inch thick (3 C) ½ lb russet potatoes, peeled & cut into ¼-inch cubes (about 1 C) 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée 2 tsp kosher salt ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper 2 Tbsp Corsican blossom honey 1 tsp ground ginger ½ tsp ground allspice ¼ tsp ground nutmeg 4 C unsalted or low-sodium vegetable stock, divided 2 green onions, sliced ⅛ inch thick on the bias, for garnish

Heat the grapeseed oil in a small stockpot over medium heat until it’s hot but not yet smoking.

Add the leeks and sauté for 5 minutes, making sure they don’t get any color. Add the potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin purée, salt, black pepper, honey, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg. Cook, stirring well, for 2 minutes.

Add 3 cups of the vegetable stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are softened, stirring occasionally to prevent the potato and pumpkin from burning.

Remove the pot from the heat and add the remaining 1 cup of vegetable stock.

Blend the soup in batches in a blender, 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Ladle the soup into four to six soup bowls. Garnish each bowl with some sliced green onion. Serve immediately. Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Reprinted with permission from The Asheville Bee Charmer Cookbook by Carrie Schloss, Surrey Books, 2017.

The Asheville Bee Charmer is located at 38 Battery Park Ave. View their wide selection bee-related products at ashevillebeecharmer.com

Photo by Angela B. Garbot, courtesy of Agate Publishing.

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A NIGHT

YOU CAN’T FORGET STARTS WITH A PLATE YOU CAN’T TOUCH.

HALLOWEEN DINNER & HAUNTED GHOST TOUR

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31ST AT 6PM We invite you to showcase your best costume for a walking ghost tour through the Village! Later, indulge in a special Halloween four-course wine dinner.

Reserve your table today for this unforgettable evening.

828.398.6200 (Costumes not required, but strongly encouraged.) $100 per person (plus tax and gratuity)

0004964639

FEATURING 25+ LOCAL FOOD TRUCKS REGIONAL & NATIONAL CRAFT BEER

ASHEVILLE FOOD TRUCK & CRAFT BEER

F E S T I VA L SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11 0004964640

Asheville Outlets • 800 Brevard Rd General Admission: 12-5pm VIP hour: 11am-12pm

Get your discount tickets at: foodtruckfestivalsofamerica.com 34

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

PETE’S PIES

THE GUIDE

Comfort Food for All Seasons

by TIFFANY WELSH photos by GAYLE TILLER

There is a hidden gem lying among downtown Asheville’s many eateries.

BEHIND A GATED ENTRY near the corner of Lexington and Walnut, you will find Pete’s Pies, Asheville’s only British pub and savory pie restaurant, which was recently awarded 2nd place for best European food in the Mountain Xpress Best of WNC after only six months in business.

Pete Waissen, owner and namesake of Pete’s Pies, is clearly proud of his roots. After his sons both moved from England to North Carolina on college scholarships, Waissen was trying to decide what to do with his life. His son, Matt, who studied Economics at UNC-Asheville, told his father if he were ever to open a restaurant in Asheville, it should be a pie and mash shop. Something he missed terribly from England and that was an unexplored niche for this area. So when Waissen finally decided to move to Asheville to be closer to his family, he made the leap from mechanical engineer to restauranteur.

Given his engineering background in England, where he also had experience building and renovating houses, Waissen took on the job of contractor for the construction of the restaurant. But that’s not all. He also worked with the chef to create the entire menu, based off of his mom’s recipes, his own and collaboration with his chef, Eli Barnard. “Yeah, I can do most things,” says Waissen, “including cook.” In fact of the 10,000 pies they have sold in the first nine months of business, Waissen estimates he hand crimped 8,000 of them.

“I don’t do so many now, it’s mostly Eli and Christian,” Waissen reflects.

Since inception, the menu has been evolving. Waissen has taken a step back from the recipe creation and turned the reigns over to his chef Eli Barnard and sous-chef Christian Kerwin. “Eli’s changed the flavors, he’s changed the stews for the pie,” says Waissen, “We’ve added a curry and a caribbean jerk and that’s the work of Christian and Eli. Christian is a spicy guy.” But even with the subtle flavor changes, the menu FALL 2017 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

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FOR MORE INFO VISIT PETESPIESAVL.COM

Above: Owner Pete Waissen Below: Chef Eli Barnard

is something that is truly reminiscent of British pub food. Not only do they serve seven different savory pies, they also offer scotch eggs, fish cakes, salads, crisps (chips) and chips (fries), plus half a dozen beers on tap and a full bar. They try to keep a mix of local craft beer and British imports, some of which are Waissen’s favorites from home. And even though the menu may be internationally inspired, the ingredients are all Western North Carolina. “We get all the beef from Apple Brandy Farms. We buy bread from City Bakery. We use Scott’s Knots for our pretzels. We use The Chop Shop. Where we can we’re using local ingredients,” says Waissen, “ And we grow all of our own herbs in the courtyard.”

The courtyard, once home to the Creperie Bouchon, is an idyllic location for this restaurant. Hidden away from the street it is possibly the best outdoor eating space in Asheville. “People are used to being roadside here. But in England, especially in London, a lot of bars have open spaces or courtyards in the back,” explains Waissen, “So this was really fitting. It’s kind of like an English garden.” A very lively English garden, which hosts live music on the weekends and boasts outdoor TVs broadcasting every English sporting event available. “We show all the English football games.

We’re showing Rugby. We’ll show most British sports if we can get them,” says Waissen. And when they can’t get live football on TV, they cheer on the local Asheville City Soccer Club.

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So where does a restaurant go after winning the public’s vote within months of opening? Waissen is hoping to expand into off-site pie sales. He is working with some local breweries to offer food to their customers, a great fit since several of the stews are made with local beer. He also wants to sell at markets, either frozen or prebaked pies. For now he says they are focusing on quality and consistency with their food. And the public’s reviews speak for themselves, nearly all five stars.

Where many Asheville restaurants have struggled to find staff, Waissen has been fortunate. The core of his restaurant is made up of family, his son handling the business side, his son’s fiancée, Chelsea Zappel, managing the restaurant, and his girlfriend working on marketing, but he really emphasizes the efforts of the whole team. Waissen smiles, “We have such a good staff and a good chef. That’s one of the reasons we’ve been so successful.”

For more information, including the current menu visit petespiesavl.com

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THE GUIDE

F A I R RE C I PE S

Blue Ribbon Try out two first-place recipes from Western North Carolina’s 2017 Mountain State Fair. photos by TIFFANY WELSH

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Best

FAI R REC I PES

THE GUIDE

Perky Turkey Chili

by D’NISE HEFNER 2-3 Tbsp cooking oil 2 lbs ground lean turkey 1 medium sweet onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced Two 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes undrained 1-2 teaspoons tomato paste 15-ounce can dark kidney beans undrained

21/2 tablespoons chili powder 11/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 sweet potatoes, peeled & diced into 1/2� cubes 2 cups fresh corn, or small bag of frozen corn 1/2 teaspoon salt, if desired

Place the oil in the bottom of a dutch oven. Brown turkey, onion and garlic. Add remaining ingredients, except for sweet potatoes and corn. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and continue to simmer until cubes are just beginning to soften. Add corn and cook until the sweet potato cubes are just done. Remove from heat and serve.

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THE GUIDE

F A I R RE C I PE S

Practically Perfect Pecan Pie Cheesecake Bars

by SHARON GATES 2 cups graham cracker crumbs 2½ cups chopped pecans, divided 1 cup sugar, divided 1½ sticks butter, divided Two 8-ounce blocks cream cheese, softened 3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla, divided 1 cup brown sugar ½ cup corn syrup ½ cup heavy cream ½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs, ½ cup chopped pecans, ¼ cup sugar and 1 stick of melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking pan. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, remaining sugar, eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat with hand mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add cream cheese mixture to graham cracker crust. Bake in oven 30-40 minutes until set.

While bars bake, combine remaining butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, cream and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil for 1-2 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in remaining vanilla and pecans.

When cheesecake bars are done, pour pecan mixture on top and spread to cover. Chill bars until ready to serve.

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GSMR

FEATURE

It’s the Great Pumpkin Patch Express, Charlie Brown

by TIFFANY NARRON photos courtesy of GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN RAILROAD

Over a half century ago, Charlie Brown’s creator Charles Schulz introduced an elusive Halloween mascot into one of his beloved Peanuts stories, allowing the characters to balk and bicker and wander around with curious eyes awaiting the Great Pumpkin.

IT’S ONE OF HALLOWEEN’S most treasured tales, with fans from five to 55 years old. And lucky for Western North Carolinians, the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad has integrated the story into an annual fall celebration, complete with a train ride, pumpkin patch, trick or treat street, and the entire Peanuts gang!

“Peanuts is a tradition and classic that’s been around for years and most people are very familiar with it,” Great Smoky

Mountains Railroad Marketing Manager Sarah Pressley shared.

“I’m 31 and remember that show from when I was a kid so it’s just really a timeless story. The oldest we can remember doing it is 15 years ago so it’s definitely been one of our longest running and most successful events.”

The fall fun begins from the train station in Bryson City where it’s all aboard to explore a pumpkin patch in Whittier, with hundreds of locally sourced pumpkins as far as the eye can see.

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During the 30-45 minute ride aboard the iron rails, the classic tale is read aloud to excited ghosts and goblins and families dressed in their ghoulish best. “Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere,” Linus shares in the infamous story. “He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.” As travelers listen in, they’re each treated to a sugar cookie and apple juice until they arrive at the grounds full of all your fall favorite activities, including a hayride, marshmallow roasting, a coloring and activity station and trick or treat street.

“We encourage people to dress up each year to celebrate and it’s really fun to see how creative people get. We do have this one family that comes every single year and they always pick a theme and it’s fun to see how they champion a theme every year,” Pressley shared. “My favorite year was two years ago when they came as the Pirates of the Caribbean. The dad was dressed up as Jack Sparrow and they were all different pirates and his wife was Mrs. Swann. It’s really fun to see the kids grow and their costumes become more elaborate year after year.”

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After picking out the perfect pumpkin, kids can wander through a 60x60 tent filled with tiny make-shift houses and doors awaiting their knock and the cry for a trick or a treat from the other side. And plenty of candy and goodies await them and parents can wander close by knowing their little ghost is safe. “All the kids get to go through as many times as they want and they can knock on the door. We have people inside the little doors but it’s safe and controlled and everything is already set up and ready to go and they can trick or treat just like they would in their neighborhood,” says Pressley. So not only are we providing a pumpkin patch but we’re also providing a fun place where it’s safe to do that.”

After an hour and a half of fun, families find their places aboard the locomotive and the iron rails that drastically changed the way of life in the mountains of NC in the late 1800s. The railroad welcomed travelers from the outside world into its forested cove in 1881, one year after the rails were extended to Asheville. It didn’t take long for workers to continue digging and blasting a path through the mountainside 100 miles further into the town of Murphy, which changed travel to and from the mountain oasis. Now a tuckered out Wonder Woman and Spider Man with their pumpkins in tow are one

FOR MORE INFO VISIT GSMR.COM

of few precious cargo being transported on these old tracks.

“Who doesn’t love the fall and Charlie Brown, pumpkins, Halloween, October and all the great things that come with that. So we’ve been fortunate to latch onto such a successful thing and reap the benefits year after year of having this great event. People are really looking for that family fun traditional thing they can do every single year, and it brings together so many different elements to make it really a perfect event.”

This event will run Friday-Sunday throughout the month of October with one event on Friday and two on both Saturday and Sunday. Tickets and train seat reservations can be purchased online at http://www.gsmr.com or by calling 1-800872-4681. The full itinerary can also be seen on the website as well as the variations in seating options. This event does tend to sell out quickly so reservations are encouraged ahead of time. Ticket prices start at $38 for Adults (13 years old and up), $33 for Children (2-12 years) and complimentary for Infants (23 months and under).

This event will run Friday-Sunday throughout the month of October. Purchase tickets and train seat reservations at www.gsmr.com or by calling 1-800-872-4681. The full itinerary can also be seen on the website as well as the variations in seating options. This event does tend to sell out quickly so reservations are encouraged. Ticket prices start at $38 for Adults (13 years old & up), $33 for Children (2-12 years) and complimentary for Infants (23 months & under).

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THE GUIDE

CALENDAR Saison Tasting. This version features two pounds per gallon of fresh, Carolina Peaches making it the perfect celebration beer. Purchase tickets at gaburnpile2017.brownpapertickets. com JA M I E DEM ENT PR ESENT S T HE FA R MH OUSE CHEF Oct 18 | Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café Jamie dement presents the Farmhouse Chef: Recipes and Stories from My Carolina Farm. On fifty-five acres of beautiful piedmont farmland in hillsborough, north carolina, dement and her family raise sustainably nurtured and sought-after heirloom varieties of produce and livestock. Every day on coon rock farm, dement cooks robust, flavorful, satisfying meals for family, crew, and farm interns--and now you are invited to share the bounty.

More info at malaprops.com R EG I ONA L FO OD W A ST E SUM M I T Oct 20 | Warren Wilson College The Regional Food Waste Summit will bring together industry leaders to initiate cross-sector conversations and spark collaboration. Attendees will learn more about what the food waste systems are in our area, with a goal of establishing a collaborative network to address food waste recovery issues. This event is FREE and open to the public, but registration is required.

Register at asheville-greenworks.networkforgood.com

Blue Shaman corn at Rayburn Farm. photo by Tiffany Welsh

OCTOB ER W NC G AR LIC F E S T Oct 7 | South Slope, Asheville Garlic fest is an opportunity to eat some creative and awesome garlic inspired dishes - garlic ice cream, garlic fudge, garlic cookies...There will also be opportunities to learn about growing your own garlic. Workshops will be scheduled and run on a first come first served throughout the day. Garlic Fest is organized by Sow True Seed. Admission is FREE wncgarlicfest.com SO U TH EAS T W I S E W O ME N HE R B A L CON FER ENC E Oct 13-15 | Lake Eden, Black Mountain Surrounded by the ancient Blue Ridge Mountains, the venue at Lake Eden offers a beautiful, serene backdrop for over 60 workshops and classes in herbalism, nutrition, personal growth and natural healing. This year’s focus is on women’s health, inside and out. sewisewomen.com B U R NPILE H A R V E S T F E S T Oct 14 | Burial Beer Co. Seasonal Beers from 40+ Breweries. Harvest Feast by Salt & Smoke. Live Music. Every year, at Burnpile Harvest Fest we release a special bottle that speaks to the harvest season. This year, a fruited version of The Separation of Light and Darkness will be released in 750ml bottles online as part of a Burnpile ticket and bottle package. Our Mixed Culture Saison received the honor of the number one spot on Paste Magazine’s Blind 44

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2017

FA LL CHI LI CO OK - O FF Oct 28 | Madison County Farmers and Artisans Market Do you have the BEST chili recipe?!? Join community friends at the Madison County Farmers and Artisans Market in Mars Hill for their 2nd annual Chili Cook-Off. Prizes awarded! Great food - Great People - Great Times! More information can be found at marshillmarket.org B EET LEJUI CE, B EET LEJUI CE, B EET LEJUI...

Oct 29 | Location undisclosed The Blind Pig Supper Club brings you the brilliantly bizzare, creepy, macabre and fun halloween celebration supporting Invest Collegiate Charter School of Asheville. Halloween costume party and six course pop up menu featuring chefs Sarah Cousler, Jill Wasilewski, Cody Boyer & Mike Moore.

Get your tickets at theblindpigsupperclub.com

NOVEM BER FA R M ER ’S B O UNT Y DI NNER : A B EN EFIT FO R T HE R A D FA R M ER ’S M A R K ET Nov 2 | Yesterday Spaces Join Intentional Swine, the River Arts District Farmer’s Market & Yesterday Spaces as we celebrate the bounties of the fall season with a communal farm dinner to benefit the River Arts District Farmer’s Market! Featuring four bountiful courses, served with wine & accompanied by live music from Searra Jade. Enjoy local produce and meats from area farms, prepared by Chef Jeremiah DeBrie of Intentional Swine.

This hearty fall meal will highlight the best of the seasonal harvest **vegan and vegetarian options available** Located on a fully functioning family farm, the 100-year old dairy

barn of Yesterday Spaces makes the perfect backdrop for the quintessential farm-to-table experience. Ticket info at intentionalswine.com 2ND A NNU A L H E N D E R S O N V I L L E RE S C UE M ISSI O N FU N D R A I S E R Nov 9 | Postero, Hendersonville We will have a very special five course menu in support of and to raise awareness for the Hendersonville Rescue Mission. A local organization that not only serves delicious hot, balanced meals to those in need, but also provides shelter, guidance, education, support and hope to those looking to better their lives. More information at postero-hvl.com HIG H L AN D S FO O D A N D W I N E F E S T I V AL Nov 9-12 | Highlands Food.Wine.Music.Mountains.That’s what you can expect at Highlands Food & Wine 2017! From James Beard Award winning chefs to Grammy Award winning artists - all convene at 4118 feet above sea level for a magical autumn weekend to celebrate the art of food and wine. For ticket, schedule, talent lineup and lodging options, please visit highlandsfoodandwine.com ASHE V ILLE O N T A P Nov 11 | US Cellular Center The 2nd annual Asheville On Tap Craft Beer Festival will be tapping into 100+ craft beer styles from more than 50 of America’s best craft breweries while you enjoy sip the day away with live music entertainment, local vendors & delicious food!

Purchase tickets at americaontap.com T ASTE O F A S H EV I L L E : T A S T E & T UN E S Nov 16 | The Venue, Asheville The 2017 Taste of Asheville, “Taste & Tunes,” presented by Mission Health, will bring together over forty of Asheville’s best restaurants for tastings and samplings of old favorites and new creations. Choose from delicate pastries, smoky barbeque, melt-in-your-mouth organic chocolates, Southern comfort food, French favorites, colorful Indian curries, ice cream like you’ve never tasted it, local craft beers, hard cider, spirits, wines and more.You can also count on music! Get your tickets before they sell out! airasheville.org FALL M EA T & C RA F T S A L E Nov 18 | Warren Wilson College It’s time again for the annual Fall Meat and Craft Sale! This year Warren Wilson College Farm will have thier bulk beef and pork packages available, chicken boxes, and bacon boxes for pre-order. They will also be selling additional items by the pound, including various individual cuts and organ meats of beef and pork, whole chickens, some lamb from the Spring of 2017, and eggs! The Warren Wilson College Craft Crews will be at the sale as well, including Fiber Arts, Fine Woodworking, Blacksmith, The Garden and Herb Crew, and the Plant Crew!

Bulk order forms available at warren-wilson.edu/farm

2017 market closing dates asheville city market

December 16, Saturdays 8-12

asheville City market South October 25, Wednesdays 12-4

Black mountain tailgate market November 18, Saturdays 9-12

French Broad Food CoOp tailgate market November 22, Wednesdays 2-6

henderson County tailgate market October 28, Saturdays 7-12

mills river Farmers market October 28, Saturdays 8-12

north asheville tailgate market November 18, Saturdays 8-12

Original waynesville tailgate market

October 28, Wednesdays + Saturdays 8-12

river arts district farmers market November 22, Wednesdays 2-6

weaverville tailgate market

December 20, Wednesdays 2:30-6:30

west asheville tailgate market

November 21, Tuesdays 3:30-6:30 For a complete list of the 90+ tailgates in the region, including their season closing dates, visit ASAP’s online Local Food Guide at appalachiangrown.org

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THE GUIDE LAST BITE

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream recipe & photo by TIFFANY WELSH

1¾ C Pumpkin Puree (1-15 oz can) 1 7.4 oz can Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk 1 C (8 oz) Soy Milk ½ C (4 oz) Coconut Milk ½ C Brown Sugar ¼ C Maple Syrup ½ tsp Cinnamon ½ tsp Ginger ¼ tsp Cloves ¼ tsp Nutmeg Whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Prepare according to your ice cream maker’s directions.

Place into a freezer safe container and freeze until solid.

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