Leaf Peeping.....

This year is the 75th Anniversary of the opening of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The weekend before Halloween, I hopped in the Jeep with my brother and his girlfriend and off we went to look at the Fall colors. We were, what the locals call, 'leaf peepers' for the day. The higher elevations had already peaked but mid and lower levels still had lots of color in 'em. It was a picture-perfect day, as you'll see. You'll also see that there is a reason it is called America's Favorite Drive...

The very first shot when we first pulled onto the Parkway....

Our first stop was the Folk Art Museum. I loved these handmade Cornhusk Dolls. I snapped this shot before I saw the "please, no photos" sign...oops.

At one of the many gorgeous overlooks....

I don't remember where this was, but the photo looks like it was taken at twilight even though it was the middle of the day. Very haunting shot....

Craggy Gardens Overlook

There are 26 of these 'thru the mountain' tunnels along the Parkway...

These split-rail fences are everywhere along the Parkway and they are just beautiful...

Atop Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the
highest peak in the Eastern US....

We sat on the front bumper of my Jeep here and ate lunch.
A meal with a view indeed!

Walking the trail toward Linville Falls....

I couldn't get a shot of the Falls because of the massive amount of people around, so I brought this one over from the Linville Falls website. Thanks!

Looking back at Grandfather Mountain....

The final shot before getting off the BRP and heading home....

Oh! The mystery of it all,
Of nature's colors in the Fall.
Displayed for us to revel in;
And touch the soul that lies within.

~Jeffry Tank~

P'nut Butter Ribbons....

Last weekend I was involved in a baking contest that was put on by the Historic Mordecai House in downtown Raleigh. This was my first year participating and their second year hosting it. I made my Oatmeal Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies as, I believe they are the best, richest, most decadent cookie in my stable of recipes. There is a peanut butter buttercream in the middle of two of the oatmeal peanut butter cookies and for this competition, because appearance was part of the grading, I ribboned the top with melted dark chocolate. They looked gorgeous....and tasted lethal. Out of 60 contestants, my cookies took 2nd place! Yay!

The grand prize cookie and 'best of show' as well, was a pumpkin cookie that I unfortunately did not get a chance to taste. I'm hoping to snag a copy of the recipe from the Mordecai folks so I can taste what beat me out of that blue ribbon! I did get a letter from the organizer of the event yesterday telling me that mine was her favorite and that my cookie lost the grand prize by only 2 points. Ouch. She did request my cookie recipe for their holiday cookbook that will be sold in their gift shop. Pretty cool...I'm gonna be published! And I will go back next September and get that Grand Prize.

What this has done is whet my appetite for competitive baking and cooking contest. The North Carolina State Fair is coming up next month and there are loads of baking events to enter there so that will be next up on my roster.....

Shades of Gray.....

My travels delivering breakfast to church on Sunday mornings are usually greeted with blaring morning sun. Not so today. It was a very, very foggy start to the day. Landscapes take on a completely different and equally beautiful look when they are fogged in versus when they are blanketed in sunshine.

three lone trees...

I love this old store. I understand that road widening
in the near future will take it down. I can't imagine
this intersection without it....

the sun tries to break through....

the fog begins to lift on the ride home....

Fall Creeps In....

The last of the summer tomatoes....

Yesterdays weekly trip to the Farmer's Market was very nice for a couple of reasons. 1--we hit it earlier than normal, so we beat the crowd, and 2--Fall time produce is starting to show up. It was kinda sad to see that all the fresh corn from summer is gone. Last weekend, there was corn in every booth. Not anymore. There are still plenty of tomatoes and okra and peaches, but those will soon be phased out too.



Apples have arrived! Every type you could ever want is there and cheap too! We bought 3 varieties yesterday from one farmer for .89 a pound. When the grocery store is selling 'Imported from Chile' apples for $1.89 all the way up to $2.29 a pound, WHY wouldn't you by from the farmers???? Local and fresh is always gonna be better....and cheaper!


The Mums are starting to show up too. I love Mums! I'll wait a couple of more weeks and then I will load up the truck with pots of gigantic mums and place them on the steps leading up to our front door. Ahhhh....there is no doubt.....Fall is coming.....

Mum buds....

Mum-face

(This is so not my photo. I don't have
the camera to get this detail. This
is gorgeous.
Thanks, PDPhoto.org!)

The Daily Casper....

One of my favorite blogs is The Daily Coyote. I found it a couple of years ago and it's a daily destination for me. Shreve Stockton is a 33 year old woman who lives in Wyoming on a farm with a cow, a horse, a dog, a cat and a coyote. The coyote--named Charlie--found her when he was orphaned as a little pup after his parents were shot for killing sheep. Charlie is as much a part of the family as any other dog. Shreve takes daily pictures of Charlie living life on the farm. The pictures are gorgeous. Not only because they feature Charlie, who is beautiful in all his wildness anyway, but she catches him in the Wyoming wildness.

It made me giggle to think if I posted daily pictures of my cat, Casper. He is strictly a house cat, so his 'prop' possibilities are trimmed down quite a bit, but none the less, here is my experiment after one week.

The Daily Casper:

Squirrel Whisperer....

Contemplating Trouble

Hours of Fun

Cool Ceramic Hammock

Bed Stealer....

I have to say that I was shocked at all the different poses I got of Casper because I always see him only doing 3 things --laying on the bed, sitting at the food dish or digging to China in the litter box (I'm not taking pictures of that, sorry). Hard as I try I can not get a picture of him playing with his toys because as soon as he sees me coming with the camera he stops and rubs up against the lens. All that produces is a bunch of blurry, black face shots. Maybe The Daily Casper wasn't as unadventurous as I thought it would be. Thanks, Shreve for the inspiration. And thanks for sharing Charlie with me everyday!

Foodscapes.....

Food Landscapes by Carl Warner
comes out Oct. 1st

On Food Network's "Challenge" some weeks ago, they had the competitors create big, monster landscapes out of nothing but food. These are known as foodscapes. But no one can do foodscapes like Carl Warner. He does Foodscapes with a capital "F"! Carl Warner is the master of both the creation but also the photography of said 'scapes and he has his first book of his Foodscapes coming out October 1st. (hello?!? Christmas list for this year!). He hopes that the book encourages kids--and adults for that matter--to eat healthier.

I find these pictures so fun and soooo mesmerizing. Remember that everything...everything in the picture is a food. It's a foodies version of "Where's Waldo" to see how many different foods you can find in each one. Carl has also reminded us all that, yep, it is ok to play with (and photograph) your food!

(These pictures are completely and totally the property of Carl Warner)

a salmon sea and potato rocks....

An Italian-style home make of nothing but veggies and fruits....

This boat of watermelon, peas, olives and asparagus plows
through a stormy radicchio sea....

This is his books cover: the castle is made out of rice
and cheese and the wagon wheels are mushroom caps....

Mountains of bread....

A Winter Wonderland of Cold Cuts
(and lots of bacon!!! yum!!!)

Carl Warner: photography good enough to eat! NICE!!

Come On Mornin'.....

Driving into the sun....

In my opinion, there is but one reason to wake early on the weekends. To see the sunrise. On Sunday mornings I deliver breakfast to the volunteers at my church and my route includes the most glorious stretch of road through horse fields and farm land. As soon as I make that left turn, I see the first rays of the day spilling over the fields in bucket loads and every time, I pull off and take pictures. I'm the only one out there, so I think of it as a private show just for me. It is God at His finest moment I do believe.....

first dawn at the horse barn & pond

almost there....

Ta-Da!!! Finally above the trees....

Warming the horses in the field.

I stood upon the hills, when heaven's wide arch
Was glorious with the sun's returning march,
And woods were brightened, and soft gales
Went forth to kiss the sun-clad vales....

"Sunrise on the Hills" ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~