Gourmet Pantry

This week has been pretty busy. Monday night I went to the Gourmet Pantry for "Women and Wine" night. This is the first one they have held (the name is a work in progress) but I met some really interesting people. One was an author and local council woman so I got lots of info about things in the area and brought her book which is about the local area. I haven't had chance to read it yet but at a glance it looks really interesting. Though the group were a little cliche!

Drank the wine too quickly!

Some of the group

I had a fun chatting to people and at the end, a few of us just stood around talking and finishing off the bottles Quinton (the wine vendor) had left. There were some very nice wines but I have way too many as it is so restrained myself from buying more!

I hoped to get the bus back but just missed one so sat around waiting for the next (and last) bus, and playing with my camera.

VT campus at night

At the bus stop - proof Uni students are odd.

Then on Wednesday night I was back at the Gourmet Pantry for a Persian cooking class. It started at 6.00pm but by 4.30pm, my brain had well and truly died. So I left work and headed towards downtown. Every month in the downtown market square, they have "Jam in the Square". The market stays open later and there are food, beer and wine stalls with live music. I have been meaning to go for a while but haven't managed it until this week. So I sat listening to the live music (which was really good), watching very hyperactive kids having a great time dancing and drinking a lovely glass of Sangiovese from Villa Appalachia (now on my list of vineyards to visit). The square was great. I will definitely be going again!

Blacksburg market 

Live band

Glass from Villa Appalachia

After, I headed to the Gourmet Pantry. I have been to a few of the cooking class to get ideas but this was the best! The food was amazing. My favorite restaurant back in Preston was the Persian Palace before it closed so I am really happy to now have a few recipes I can make. Though not often, as saffron is super expensive.

The chef, Roya  

Clockwise - Saffron rice, Cucumber mint yogurt, Cucumber and tomato salad and Chicken Khoresh

Colorful

The full meal

I didn't get a picture of the kebab patties for the first course as I was really hungry. They disappeared very quickly. Nor of the saffron ice cream because once I started eating that, it was all gone! It was amazing!!!!! On the class night, I get a 10% discount. So after the ice cream, I HAD to buy saffron and a bunch of other spices. I have got to make the ice cream, possibly for when my parents come over in a few weeks. A really good night.  :-)

Cascades waterfalls.

This weekend I hired a car to get out and about. (I am still waiting for my contract to get financing for a car. And I can't wait to be mobile.)

Friday:
In February I got a groupon voucher for a 90 min hot stone massage in Roanoke. So as I had the car, I booked it and headed in Friday morning. Once I got there it was great. Though I am finding my Sat Nav (GPS) has issues with left and right. (And I swear it's not me!) The massage was very nice and the first time I have had a male masseuse.
After, feeling very loose and chilled out, I headed into the city centre to have lunch with a friend. After finally finding a place to park, I wasn't quite so chilled out! But I got to the coffee shop and meet my friend on time. We had lunch at the market and were going to wonder around but the weather had different plans. So we sat on the tables in the empty outdoor market under cover for a while.
And on Friday evening I went back to the Monkey House for another concert. The music was ok but I had a hard time concentrating as the male guitar player was pulling some really funny faces. I think he meant them to be serious "I'm really involved in my music" faces, but I had a hard time keeping a straight face! :-)

Saturday:
The weather wasn't great but I went with another friend to the Cascades anyway. The Cascades are in the Jefferson National forest and only a 15 min drive from here. I will definitely be going back once I have a car.

The walk is a 4 mile round loop with 2 different ways to go. The slightly harder way is much prettier and along the river so you see a lot more of the rapids so we decided to take the lower path there and the easier upper path back down. It's not that much harder but I guess because it had been raining recently most people thought it would be too muddy so took the easier way and we had most of the trail to ourselves. It was a bit muddy but much nicer. And I got to play with my camera. Luckily Jake didn't mind when I stopped for photos or saw a little path off down to the river and ran off!

Bridge over the river at the halfway point 

Lower path along the river.

Cascades along the river.

The walk took a while, mainly because I was dawdling. :-) And we stopped a few times to sit and chill out. Or more to the point for me to cool down. It was pretty hot but mostly really humid! So we stopped a few times to cool down. About 3/4 of the way to the falls, we found a bench with a cool mist coming down the rocks behind. It was amazing! Natural air conditioning. We sat there for quite a while.

The main falls is 66ft tall and well worth the trip. Normally in the summer it's not very impressive. But thanks to the amount of rain we have had this summer, everything is very green and the falls were in full flow.

The Cascades.

Cascades Falls from the base.

View from the walk to the top of the falls.

You can swim in the pool and I think one day I am going to have to. But it was really cold! No one was swimming though there were a few other people paddling.

Proof I paddled!

After going to the top of the falls, we headed down the easier path back to the car, with me stopping to take photos again, though more of the local flowers and wildlife as this path wasn't as pretty and further away from the river. (Despite the heat I was really glad we took the other path up as it was much nicer.)

The leaves are starting to turn. :-( 

mushrooms by the river.

One of many creepy crawlies on the path back down.

The walk ended up taking 4 hours for the 4 miles! I was going really slowly and took loads of photos! :-) We headed for mexican for dinner at a place in Christiansburg which has a salsa bar, which as we' were both really hungry, instant chips and 10 different types of salsa was a good choice. I also had my first white wine Sangria. Which was interesting but I'll stick to the real red wine stuff.

Sangria el anglo

Sunday:
As I had a car, I spent sunday shopping. Not as much fun but necessary and with the car I could get the bulk foods and juices and some more storage units. And I did get to go to Red Robins for lunch, which is a gourmet burger place that does gluten-free burger buns and sweet potato fries. Being able to have a good burger is one of the only things I miss about not being able to eat wheat. And the burgers are good! :-)
I am really looking forward to having a car! :-)

Steppin' Out Festival.

Friday and Saturday was the Steppin' Out Festival in Blacksburg, the biggest non-game day event in town. The downtown area was cordoned off and filled with stalls selling food, arts, and crafts. There were 3 stages set up for live music throughout the 2 days. I went on Saturday to wondered around. I got there a little early and immediately saw a bunch of things I just had to have. So ran off to find a ATM. :-)

They had a pool set up for scuba diving lessons. I signed up for their information sheets but there was no why I was going in a little swimming pool. 

When I finally meet up with Duncan, my boss, we wondered around for a while. There were interesting stalls and some amazing things for sale. I also saw a stall selling the bracelets I have been making. Selling for $40 each. Serious markup! I should go into business!

I had a serious geek moment seeing this!

Wreaths - The face is the Hokie bird.

And of course, no festival would be right without children's toys. American style. 

AK-47 anyone?

Every child needs a AK-47!

I found the guns a little creepy. A lot of kids have little hand gun so they can play cowboys and indians. But I'm not sure the educational use or fun of an automatic.

There were also lots of people wondering round with "Guns Save Lives" stickers. People watching was really good fun though. A wide range of people there.

However my favorite part (but only for kids) was the bouncy castle. Just amazing!

Tigger!!!!!!!

We had lunch from a Thai stall and I really liked the Green curry so I am going to have to find this place and add it to the lunch list, which now makes 5 places to eat! (BB is quite small!)

I treated myself to a photo. I saw it early on but it was a little more expensive than I would normally pay and there was no one manning the stall so I took it as a sign but I kept thinking about it. So I had to go back and get it. It's is now sitting opposite my bed so I am see something sunny and cheerful 

every morning.

(Outdoor) Concert

Well, it was supposed to be. On Saturday, Cissi and I had great plans to go to Claytor Lake (partly to test out my new water-proof camera) and then to a concert in the back garden on one of her friends house. However the weather had other plans and it rained so much I had a lake in my parking lot. Why travel when you can just step outside?

We ended up going to a wine tasting at the Vintage Cellar where I got a very nice Albarino from the distributor. I know I have more than enough wine but they only made 500 cases of this bottle so I wouldn't be able to get it again.

Then we headed to the concert. Due to the rain, it was moved to the church basement. The music was not exactly to my taste, a little too religious for me, but I have a great time playing with my camera. Cissi showed me some of the setting I didn't even realize it had before despite having it for years now - I am taking a photography course soon!  And there were some beautiful faces and gorgeous kids.

As you can see, I love the sepia setting!
There were 3 different "groups", a duo, a sole male and a younger boy, who I liked the best. He voice was a base and very cool. (Plus he sang the only 2 songs I knew in the evening!)
It was a potluck dinner, with everyone bring a dish. Cissi and I were probably the least creative, grabbing a couple of bags of Doritos from Kroger before we went. But as thankfully everyone else was more creative, the food was amazing. And as most of the group were Chinese (from the Church and Bible groups), it was definitely the best Chinese food I have ever had.

Food queue.

Loaded plate

And yes, the thing on top of the beans is a chicken's foot. I had to try it! I am not sure I would have it again in a hurry. The flavor was fine - it was soaked and cooked in some spices - but the texture was odd and it's very fiddly with little meat. But I had to try it.
It was a fun afternoon. Though as I was leaving someone tried to talk to me about cosmology, starting the conversation with "the problem I have with atheists is..." Not the best start but hey, I was in their church! 

Wine party

Last Friday night I had a party at mine for some of the people I have meet here. The main reason, other than it's fin is I have way too much wine. I am part of a wine club here and get a case of 12 bottles every 3 months, and my latest case got delivered recently. I had also brought a few groupon vouchers for money off wine ages ago when I first got here which were due to run out. So I ordered the wine. No point is wasting it.
When it all arrived I decided to have a party, and save my liver and kidneys. I supplied the wine and other people brought the food. Some of my friends were only too happy to help me make a dent in my collection. :-)
The ones who showed up were from the regular wine tasting I go to every few weeks.

Ready. I think

Chatting

"Have a pepper"

We ended up with loads of food (as some didn't show up and I had made some food for them). So I have had plenty of food for the week!

Part of the table

We didn't drink all these bottles!  Or eat all the salad.

Cissi's artistic veggie master piece.

My famous Malteaser cake (which disappeared quickly)

 It was a great night, sitting around chatting and drinking wine. We got through 3 bottles of red and about 1 and half white. So I still have quite a few bottles left. Maybe I should have another party....