Friday, May 15, 2009

Jam Session

Whew. What a whirlwind the last two weeks have been! For starters, it's been raining like blueprints for an ark should be drawn up. Also, I hosted two incredibly kind friends of Glenn's for 4 days. They caught us trout-in a real mountain stream!-which was transformed into fish tacos, plus, gave us a generous gift certificate to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, so, Joel, T.J., my door is open to you, anytime. 
Then my fantastic and vivacious cousin Kristy, who lives in Philadelphia (home to most of my tribe, aside from the Carolina and Florida contingent), came to check out Asheville, and stayed with us for a few nights. Last Saturday, we hosted a Indian Supper Club potluck so she could meet some of my crew. Friends came with homemade naan, chicken tikka, curries, rosewater-drenched gulab jamun, and more! Glenn and I made saag paneer (I made the paneer!), tandoori shrimp, daal, raita, apricot chutney, mango lassies, coconut rum & rosé & mango & pineapple sangria, cardamom carrot cake, and indian rice pudding. Of course I forgot to take pictures, but with all the guests and Bollywood films and music and bindi-affixing and bonfire-lighting and injured dog-attending, you might come to understand how that could have happened.  
Right on the heels of the Indian blowout came two photo shoots for the "Canning & Preserving" book. Lynne Harty again worked her photographic magic, Chris Bryant crafted exquisite vignettes, and Nicole McConville kept us all in line (right, Freddy?). 
We munched on pickles, tweaked toast with jam, and prayed that the pressure canner would behave (which it did, with some man-handling from Chris). 
The books in this series are going to be truly gorgeous, folks. I can't wait to share them with you! More photos to come. 
*Regrets on the grainy quality of the photos. The battery died in the camera I'd hoped to use and I still haven't mastered use of the one I keep always in my purse, "just in case." Clearly, I'm no pro, which is why I'm the author, and not the photographer. I provide "glimpses," not "clarity." 

4 comments:

keri said...

That is so exciting! Can't wait to see the book. One of my college roommates lives in Morganton, NC. I visit her whenever I want reminisce about college with a tempeh reuben from the Laughing Seed.

nicoel said...

Every day our creative team spends together feels more like vacation than work. How lucky we all are to be able to collaborate on these truly exciting (and timely) books. We should find a way to get a photo shoot in at least once a month just to keep our spirits so high.

And seeing the photography with my own eyes, I can attest to how absolutely gorgeous and useful they will be.

Anonymous said...

Wow! wish I had been there.

P. said...

Oh hurray! I can't wait to see more pictures. I hope you are wearing a bindi in all of them. xoxo