Blogger get together in Asheville & a clue for the cookbook giveaway

What do fourteen women bloggers do when they get together? Talk, eat and shop of course. Last weekend I was one of those fourteen bloggers invited to a get together at Penny The Comforts of Home’s lovely home in Asheville, North Carolina.  The states of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia were all represented.

From left to right:
Back row: Ulrike, Angie, Mary, Sherri, Jeanne, Jennifer, Melinda
Front row: Me, Penny, Rhondi, Diane, Penny (our hostess), Donnie

I apologize to Kim because somehow I’m missing her in this photo. I have no idea why she’s not pictured. Here are a few shots of getting to know each other before brunch.

Penny is a talented mosaic artist with a studio in her home. She is a fantastic decorator and her home and gardens are gorgeous. She also happens to be a great cook. For brunch she prepared a selection of delicious homemade quiches, a lovely fall salad of baby greens, pears and nuts, and for dessert a yummy pumpkin bread and fresh fruit.

After brunch she took us to her favorite spots for antiques in Asheville. We went to six antique malls, including The Screen Door, which was my favorite. In addition to lovely antiques, collectables and fascinating yard art, The Screen Door has a large bookstore with an absolutely huge selection of cooking and decorating books – all at half price.

We all had a fabulous time. I’ve met so many wonderful friends through blogging and now I’ve had the opportunity to actually meet some of you face to face. This is the second blogger get together I’ve attended. Last June you may recall I met some of my Tennessee blogging friends at Larry Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings home on beautiful Lake Tellico in eastern Tennessee and did a post. Blogging is such fun, isn’t it?

Thank you again Penny for hosting this wonderful get together in Asheville last weekend. On the way home we took a couple of pictures of the fall foliage in western North Carolina. It wasn’t quite at its peak as you can see, but it’s getting there.

In my last post I featured a restaurant and quiz with a cookbook give-away for the first person to be able to identify the name of the restaurant. I didn’t realize that it would be as difficult as it was, so I’ve decided to provide a clue.

Here’s the clue – one of the gentlemen in the photo is Patrick J. Dunne. Although he’s not the chef, with that lead you should be able to follow the crumbs on the internet to the name of the restaurant.

I really want one of you to receive the give-away - Top Chef's Tom Colicchio’s great cookbook Think Like a Chef. The rules remain the same. The first person to correctly name the restaurant will win the cookbook. There will be only one winner, so best of luck. Please post your guess on the actual post featuring the give-away, not this post. Thanks so much.

Update: The Quintessential Magpie Sheila has correctly identified the name of this restaurant. The race is over. Check out her answer.