Food, Glorious Food

Everything we shipped, ordered, ferried or sent by carrier pigeon is scheduled to arrive at the exact same time, approximately 10 days after we actually arrived here. I don't know how it happened exactly. I thought we planned so carefully. But that's the way it is. So we've been sitting on the floor, discovering back pains we never knew existed. We've also been eating off of plastic plates and using plastic utensils. Our breakfast and lunch consist of anything that doesn't have to be cooked, since we don't have any pots or pans yet. Frankly, it feels like I'm back in college or in my first apartment where the contents of my refrigerator included water and Slim Fast and nothing else.

For dinner, we've been exploring the foodie offerings of Asheville. Asheville boasts some really fantastic restaurants. The people here seem really excited about food, and you'd be surprised at the diversity and creativity of the menus here. As Michael mentioned in his blog, we went to a place called Scully's on our first night to try their onion rings. I had the black bean veggie burger, and it was delightful. I also indulged in a special vodka and lemonade concoction that was both sweet and refreshing. I was too embarrassed to order the drink I really wanted, which was called The Freddie Mercury and was described as "fruity."

Monday night we revisited our favorite vegetarian restaurant in Asheville: The Laughing Seed. As vegetarians, we're used to going to restaurants and having maybe 2 or 3 choices. So when faced with an entire menu of choices, we are practically paralyzed with indecision. After reminding ourselves that we'll be here for a year and have plenty of time to try everything, Michael had the mushroom risotto cakes and I had the yellow curried Napoleon. Both were sublime. We sat outside on the patio and took a moment to breathe and relax and contemplate what exactly we think we're doing with this whole kooky project.

Last night, I Googled "the best pizza in Asheville" and found a place called Marco's Pizzeria. It's a family-owned restaurant with a warm and comforting old-school Italian restaurant feel to it. Michael had the pesto pizza and I had the white pizza with fresh mozzarella, ricotta and garlic. Lots of garlic. We had a 2004 Monte Antico red wine, which was a blend of sangiovese, merlot and cabernet from the Tuscan hillside. I described it as caustic, but in a good way. Michael described it as red and drinkable. Really, it was very good and much better than either of us has described here.

When our cookware, dinnerware and cutlery arrive, these nightly restaurant jaunts will probably slow down quite a bit. There are still so many places to try and quirky little specials to discover. So when the moving truck finally arrives, I might just wave them on and tell them to keep going.