Travelling Lore

A couple of years ago back when my fiance and I were still a relatively new item we decided to take a weekend to go explore Asheville, North Carolina.  In order to get there you can drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway , which is known for having overlooks and pull offs to small hikes so that you can explore and find spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The drive is extremely popular during autumn when the leaves are changing colors. There are a ton of overlooks between Virginia and North Carolina.  Since it was a 7-hour drive from northern Virginia to Asheville, in the interest of time we opted to stop at Rough Ridge Overlook , one of the most well-known trails along the parkway. The hike isn't very long, but some parts are steep and you have to navigate over some small boulders, which can be slick depending on recent weather.  There's also a boardwalk to climb, which was built to keep hikers from destroying the ecosystem.  Once you get to the top it can be

While I don't follow a Whole30 diet, though I do try to eat well, I enjoy the recipes they post on Instagram and draw inspiration from them.  This is the first time I've gotten off my butt to make one of their featured recipes, cranberry sauce, just in time for you to make while you're waiting for that turkey to finish cooking!  It's incredibly easy to take and doesn't really take longer than 10 minutes. Cranberry Sauce Ingredients: 12 oz. whole cranberries 1 cup apple cider 3/4 cup juice from an orange 3 dates, pitted and chopped 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) Dash of cinnamon and nutmeg (optional) Instructions: Preparing the pie crust: In a pot over medium heat, combine the cranberries, apple cider, and orange juice.  When you hear the cranberries start to pop, turn the heat to medium-low and begin to stir. When most of the cranberries are popped, add the chopped dates and walnuts and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.  Let simmer

I've been bouncing around a lot this month with a work trip, a short personal vacation, and everything else in between.  Like free food when shopping around for wedding caterers, yum!  But what better time to sit down and get back into the swing of things with a divine pie recipe just in time for Thanksgiving! Naturally this is a Pinterest find.  I was searching around on the internet for the cranberry pie recipe we've made the past few years, but it must only be in a recipe book as I couldn't find it.  However, during the search process I found this gem of a cranberry pecan pie recipe on I should be mopping the floor's blog .  Pumpkin pie will always be my favorite, but pecan pie is a close second and I love how festive the pie looks when adding the cranberries.  Plus they're full of antioxidants which makes this pie healthy, right?! I normally make a wheat flour-based pie crust and I try a different recipe each time since I haven't found the perfect

I'm a gigantic pizza fan, so obviously it's one of my favorite foods.  So when I saw this Julia Child's Eggplant Pizza recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen floating around on Pinterest, I thought I'd give it a try.  Why not?  I'd love to learn another way to incorporate eggplant into my cooking, plus it's a healthier alternative to real pizza.  I'm all for carbs, but sometimes I just don't want all of that bread! It takes some time to make simply because you have to wait for the salt to drain some of the water out of the eggplant slices, but overall these eggplant pizzas are extremely easy to make.  See below for my modified recipe! Slice the eggplant into rounds of same thickness.  Coat each side with salt and let them sit on paper towels for 30 minutes while the salt draws out the water from the eggplant. Sautee the finely chopped garlic until fragrant.  Then combine the petite diced tomatoes, dried Italian seasoning, and dried oregano.  Let t

And here we are at the end of our "Adriatic Adventure," taking on Rome, our final stop before heading home!  There's a TON of tourist information on Rome (ergo, it's easy to find information), so this will be more of a photo montage style of my favorite shots from the city.  Enjoy! Selfie on the Spanish Steps. Psychedelic shoe store lit up at night. Hello, Colosseum! Tunnels under the floor of the Colosseum. View of the Roman Forum.  Simply wonderful how many ruins you can see! And when in Rome, you check out the Vatican.  Let me interject my photo montage here.  In all honesty, this was my least favorite part of our entire trip.  I was pretty disappointed with my experience visiting the Vatican.  It had nothing to do with customer service, but it had everything to do with how difficult it is to enjoy all of the art and history that's inside due to the sheer number of people pushing through the rooms.  You're literal