Carol and Roger's Excellent Adventure

Asheville, North Carolina

Along the highway, redbud trees were everywhere

You can see why they call them the Blue Ridge Mountains

Biltmore - you can understand why we were exhausted after walking all over this gigantic house.  It has 61 bedrooms!  The stables were off to the right.  They didn't allow any pictures inside.  It sits up on the mountains and the views were spectacular.

Looking out from our stall in the Stable Café - the floors were brick

The Glass Conservatory

Seating areas were scattered throughout the conservatory.  I didn't envy the house, but I wouldn't mind having a place like this

This is all we got to see of the garden.  I took the picture through the car window as we were on our way to park.  As we were ready to step out of the conservatory and tour the garden, snow, hail and rain poured down.  I can look at tulips at home without getting soaked.

I think that's a palm trunk in the background - each year the fronds fall off and leave a round scar.  I have no idea what the snaky vines are but it all looked rather surreal.

Front view of the Thomas Wolfe house.  Because the house went directly from the family to the Thomas Wolfe Foundation, all of the original furnishings were still there and most are on display.

The house was built as a private residence and I was fascinated by the elegance of even small things like this door latch and the hinge below.  All the fireplaces had decorative tile surrounds.

 

Sample of fireplace hearth - they were all different

Lady's bedroom with dress laid out - this was definitely one of the better rooms.  All the walls were white and had no pictures or decorations of any kind.  Only the room later used by Thomas Wolfe and the one his father used the last years of his life had any personality or decorations.

Sun porch had two more beds on the other side.  Four strangers might be in this room together.  In the winter, it would have been freezing.

The kitchen is furnished just the way it was when Julia Wolfe was running the boarding house from 1906 to the late 1940's.  The original floor was linoleum but it was destroyed.  The linoleum under the table is a reproduction.  Just that little piece cost $7,000!  The Biltmore Foundation paid for it.  They paid for several things after the Wolfe house was damaged by a fire bomb in the late 1990's.  The dining room was almost completely destroyed and the furniture in there all comes from the period but is not original to the house.

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White Shrimp Pizza

Prepared crust (I bought one that was pre-baked, but you could use unbaked)
1 medium sweet onion
2 cloves garlic
12-20 cooked shrimp
4-5 large leaves fresh basil, chopped fine
grated Parmesan cheese
shredded Mozzarella cheese
2-4 oz crumbled Feta cheese
olive oil
cornmeal

Heat the stone in the oven as per instructions while preparing the toppings.  Sprinkle it with cornmeal before putting pizza on top.

Cut onion into thin slices and cook slowly in a small amount of olive oil.  You want to make them soft but not brown.  Toward the end of about 15 minutes of sautéing, add your garlic, which has been cut into fine pieces.  Sprinkle a little sugar and salt on the onion and garlic.

Brush a light coat of olive oil on the crust.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Spread cooked onions on cheese.  Top with shrimp, chopped basil, Mozzarella and crumbled Feta.

Use paddle to place on pizza stone and bake at 425º F about 12 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is just beginning to brown. 

You could also add diced fresh tomatoes, black olives or sautéed mushrooms.  You could substitute leftover chicken for the shrimp.