“For many years, the stereotype was if you were a woman in the kitchen, you would do pastry, and that was seen as a lesser thing. That perception still lingers, but I think it is changing,” says James Beard Foundation Award-winning pastry chef and Asheville native Camille Cogswell.
From conchas to cemitas, Western North Carolina’s Latino bakeries craft a huge variety of pastries, breads and more.
As national subscription meal services like Freshly and Sakara gain popularity, similar homegrown businesses are finding success in WNC with locally produced ingredients.
“Many people come in and have an idea of what kind of house they want: an older home like a Victorian or Arts and Crafts, a bungalow, a ranch, midcentury modern, a fixer-upper, a new green build,” says Stephanie Cochran, a broker with Mosaic Realty. “In many towns that pinpoints the area where you will look. But in Asheville, so many neighborhoods have a mix of many if not all of those.”
Western North Carolina’s mountain views beckon home cooks to head outside.
WNC’s family farms are broadening their horizons to explore new avenues for income.
The market, which is open daily, comprises 14 buildings spread over 36 acres.
Deep bonds forged between local farmers and chefs at area markets feed Asheville’s culinary creativity.
Drinking water, sunscreen, hat, closed-toe walking shoes, cash and a camera: These items are all on the “items to bring” checklist provided by Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project to people embarking on the 11th annual ASAP Farm Tour on Saturday and Sunday, June 22-23. But the real key to a successful tour, according to tour coordinator Robin […]
“It’s absolutely not too late to plant,” says Ruth Gonzalez of Reems Creek Nursery in Weaverville.
Local beers made with the popular product are more approachable than they may seem.
According to the Green Burial Council, burials in the United States annually put 4.3 million gallons of embalming fluids, 20 million feet of wood, 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete, 17,000 tons of copper and bronze and 64,500 tons of steel into the ground. Local green burial sites offer an alternative with less environmental impact.
The blurring of the liquor and beer worlds appeals to local craft beverage drinkers.
“We are continually amazed by the philanthropic nature of our culinary and hospitality community here and how generous they are to the local community,” says Mary Nesbitt, chief development officer of Asheville-based hunger relief nonprofit MANNA FoodBank.
While each tailgate market serves its own area and demographic, they all adhere to roughly the same model, policies and procedures, the logistics of which begin well before opening day and continue through the season.
Local restaurant owners discuss the strategies and motivations behind their expansions.
The fund, which has grown to over $40,000 through gifts and investments, purchases replacements for downtown trees that are old, diseased or removed for redevelopment. Not all of the trees on Main Street are gifts from the Sherman Fund, but the many that are likely played a role in Hendersonville’s 2018 designation as North Carolina Tree City of the Year by the N.C. Forest Service.
The reserve’s biggest public-facing project is its red spruce restoration effort, which has planted roughly 4,000 trees on public land since 2009 in conjunction with state, federal and nonprofit partners. “When you get down to it, we’re just little plant nerds, doing the good fight and sharing everything we learn,” Holdbrooks says.
“The average family spends well over $1,000 a year on toys,” Dobroski points out. “A Toybrary lets you check out three toys at a time for a couple of weeks — it saves money and keeps toys out of the landfill.”
“Culture is the closest to my heart,” says Fleming, who plays steel guitar, of activities at the second biennial Get Off the Grid Fest . “The best way to build the culture of a community is through music and dance, and we have an incredibly strong line-up. It’s an empowering and joyful event.”
Clere calls the effort a “natural outgrowth” from the last of the seven Unitarian Universalist Principles: “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”