Fresh + Local = Supper
I stopped at a roadside stand in Georgia this week, and picked up some of the sweetest peaches, ever. The vidalia onions were enormous and irresistible, so those went into my market bag, too. I’ve been eating the peaches all week, but the onions were waiting for today… Wednesday means the Waynesville Farmer’s Market is […]
Saturday morning at the Farmer’s Market
This particular Saturday morning at the market was special: I was meeting up with a bride. Ron & Cheryl were married here last November, and now (because I’m insanely lucky) they are also my part-time neighbors. Our schedules have kept us like ships passing in the night, and I’m always arriving in Maggie Valley just […]
The Creek House kitchen
I have been remiss. With eleventy bazillion photos of the Creek House all over this website and also www.maggievalleycottage.com, I didn’t realize I skipped pictures of my hands-down favorite place to be – in the kitchen! Now, this is not a dream house magazine spread designer gourmet kitchen. Far from it. It isn’t snazzy. But […]
Picnic Lunch in the Great Smoky Mountains
At last! Something special for our hikers. Our Picnic Package always includes the basket – so that you can take it with you on your travels. We’ve just gotten in our newest edition of baskets: a backpack! These things are SO COOL! The body of the backpack is insulated, and when you unzip the outside […]
Squirt guns, and their use
Never let it be said that we can’t use humor to end an argument. I recently posted this on facebook, “Serious advice for the ladies: If you share an office area with your sweetheart, as I do, get a pretty little dish and sit it by your mousepad. Now, get an itty bitty squirt gun […]
Mother’s Day Wedding Story!
So, today is Mother’s Day. Today’s bride, Lisa, tells me that a couple of years ago she worried about what her sons thought of Scott. They were all in the kitchen and she said, “I don’t think I’m going to call him anymore.” She turned around and both boys had stopped what they were doing. […]
Wine Tasting at Frankie’s Italian Trattoria
The Ca’ Viola Barbera d’Alba… It stole my heart.
October’s Bright Blue Weather deserves a mention, today!
October’s Bright Blue Weather by Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885) O SUNS and skies and clouds of June, And flowers of June together, Ye cannot rival for one hour October’s bright blue weather; When loud the bumble-bee makes haste, Belated, thriftless vagrant, And Golden-Rod is dying fast, And lanes with grapes are fragrant; When Gentians roll […]
Fairygodmother Superpowers
In addition to all that wedding fairygodmother magic…. Now that I’m over 50, I have developed a super-power:invisibility!! Put me on a beach, any beach, where there are 20-something women in bikinis and I disappear. My life rocks.
A Celtic Handfasting
A handfasting is an ancient Celtic custom, which allowed a couple to make a marital commitment to each other, for a year-and-a-day.