This year’s meal fed over 700 people and was served by community volunteers, including Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, Vice Mayor Gwen Wisler, District Attorney Todd Williams and Terry Bellamy, director of communications for the Asheville Housing Authority.
From dry-cured turkey to vegan mac and cheese to Caribbean coconut rum drinks, some of Asheville’s most creative chefs talk about favorite Thanksgiving foods that range from the classic to the unconventional.
Local restaurants, breweries and organizations have developed creative ways to celebrate the holiday without the meat.
Local Thanksgiving dining options include everything from five-course, sit-down restaurant dinners to ready-made turkeys, side dishes and desserts to bring home.
A few local organizations and businesses are highlighting gratitude and strengthening community this Thanksgiving through food-focused events that are open to all.
“Thanksgiving is a symbolic holiday, a time when it makes more sense than ever to be mindful of the environmental and moral issues that come along with eating.”
Thanksgiving can be a heartwarming holiday full of good food and family. But kitchen calamities, unruly house guests, uncooperative appliances and other snafus can sometimes conspire to dim Thanksgiving Day’s rosy glow. Some Asheville residents — including a few Xpress staffers — were willing to share their own stories about surviving Thanksgiving.
“Sure, tofu turkey and all the other meat-free equivalents may be a stretch for some, but isn’t that what it means to be human —to continually move and stretch beyond the norm?”
From potlucks to free community dinners to gourmet, multicourse meals, Asheville-area restaurants have a staggering number of options for those who want to stay out of the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day.
Lester and Marietta Crayton of Asheville have been married for 70 years and grew up on farmland that is now the Oakley community in East Asheville. Marietta recalls going barefoot all summer and that when fall came, she gathered chestnuts to sell to the grocery man so she could buy shoes in Mars Hill for school. The Appalachian Food Storybank has been collecting stories like these since 2011. (photo by Tim Robison)
Steve “Big Daddy” McMurry has plenty to be thankful for this year. High on the list for the Acoustic Syndicate singer/guitarist are his wife, Jerrianne, his family and his Cleveland County farm, in which he and his cousin/bandmate Bryon McMurry (banjo, electric guitar) are partners. And then there are Acoustic Syndicate’s loyal fans, without whom […]
Garrison Keillor once said, “Thanksgiving is the closest Americans will ever come to understanding the Middle East conflict.” And while most of our dinner tables might not get quite that explosive, it is always wise to keep some wine on hand as a welcomed social lubricant.
Being the “middle child” of holidays, Thanksgiving is the Jan to Christmas’ Marcia.
There are plenty of excellent reasons to go out to eat on Thanksgiving. No dirty dishes. No eccentric uncle’s special venison stew. But the best reasons to leave your oven off this Thanksgiving are the holiday offerings from local restaurants.
Whether it’s a traditional turkey with 50 of your closest relatives or a vegetarian spread for two, there’s no escaping the trappings of the Thanksgiving meal. It’s a holiday that revolves around food as much as it does family. Of course, there are also traditional beverages — a certain type of wine with dinner, a […]
Nothing compares to a feast on Thanksgiving Day without any dishes to clean up! If you plan to eat out for the holiday, it’s a good idea to make reservations as soon as possible.
Can you still taste the flaky crust on your grandma’s pumpkin pie? Or do you wish you could forget the year you dropped the turkey on the kitchen floor? Maybe your most memorable Thanksgiving was helping serve a meal at a homeless shelter here in Asheville? Tell us about it!
Here’s a list of Asheville bars and restaurants that will open on Thanksgiving.
For me, Thanksgiving will always be tied with Asheville. Later in December, that’s for traveling back to see my old haunts and my kin. Thanksgiving is something else.
