Just another Sunday on a tilapia farm
Until a few Sundays ago, I had never been to a tilapia farm — much less eaten dinner in one. But now, thanks to the super creative and talented folks who host the Trust Fall dinners, I have done both....
View ArticleBiscuit Festival expands to perfection
The International Biscuit Festival, held this past weekend in downtown Knoxville, was an absolute delight. In fact, if you ask me, it was the best one in the six years of its existence. Why? Because...
View ArticleSouthern Food Writing Conference is full experience
Last week, leading up to the fabulous International Biscuit Festival, Knoxville was host to almost 100 food writers, chefs, photographers, bloggers and other foodies attending the Southern Food Writing...
View ArticleFood writers deliver history and humor
Using the 1900 tome called simply “Knoxville Cook Book,” historian Jack Neely illuminated attendees at the Southern Food Writing Conference earlier this month with information on just what a...
View ArticleGive me credit for sampling moonshine!
You know those University of Tennessee non-credit culinary courses that you’re probably tempted to take whenever the new catalog comes out? Well, some friends and I have taken several of them and, in...
View ArticleEWA finds power in numbers for 35 years
Thirty-five years ago, I hate to say, women were almost invisible in the power structure of Knoxville. That’s when a handful of local professional women got together and formed a support group, of...
View ArticleA barn-raising good time in Norris
Well, here’s something you don’t often see on my calendar: barn dance. But I’m glad it was on there on a recent Friday evening. What more appropriate fundraiser could the venerable Museum of Appalachia...
View Article‘Taste of Greece’ perfect antidote to adversity
If ever a church seemed snake-bit (aside from the actual snake-handling churches, of course) it is Saint George Greek Orthodox Church on Kingston Pike in Knoxville. Reeling from the alleged theft of...
View ArticleClarence Brown Theatre has the right stuff
I don’t know about you, but Alan and I decided some time ago to stop buying more “stuff” at the charity auctions we attend. Instead, we only bid on “experiences” that are offered. That way, we don’t...
View ArticleRed pandas and party animals at Zoofari
The Knoxville Zoo was transformed earlier this month into an exotic Himalayan village, the home of the elusive red panda, an animal that has put Knoxville on the zoological map. It is there, in Nepal,...
View ArticleClarence Brown Theatre tops itself with move to big tent
The Clarence Brown Theatre’s annual gala last year held in downtown Knoxville at The Standard was so successful that Alan and I wondered to ourselves how in the world it could be as outstanding again....
View ArticleThis Summer Supper soared
The Knox Heritage Summer Suppers are in full swing and they are a blast, as usual. Take the one we went to earlier this month at the beautiful mid-century modern home in Westmoreland of City Councilman...
View ArticleTriumvirate expands trust to edge of plate
“Make your choice, adventurous stranger, Strike the bell and bide the danger, Or wonder, till it drives you mad, What would have followed if you had.” Yep. It was time for another of the increasingly...
View ArticleI think that I shall never see a beer so lovely in a tree
Garden party season is in full swing in East Tennessee. And that’s fine with me. The Great Gardens Party, a fundraiser for the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum, is held each year in a different...
View ArticleJack Rose: He was a good guy
That, actually, is what Jack wanted people to say about him. And those are the very words that were printed on the program at his memorial service last week. Jack passed away at age 58 from an...
View ArticleSmokin’ good time at the Botanical Garden
Fancy parties and galas are nice, but sometimes you just want to kick back and relax a little, enjoying some pretty scenery, fun music, great food and interesting friends. That’s why Alan and I enjoy...
View ArticleBring on the Baileys!
The last bride at Moxley Carmichael was married off last month. This is a big adjustment for us. We have been through the planning of four weddings over the last couple of years, including three this...
View ArticleTosca’s kiss, a green-eyed monster and a great idea
Diana Salesky, the wife of the executive director and conductor of the Knoxville Opera Company, had a good idea for an auction item to be offered at the annual Opera Ball. She contacted the group of...
View ArticleChef makes her father’s garden shine
Dr. Don Heiser and his wife, Carole, and their neighbors, Dr. Robert Madigan and his wife, Brenda, are big supporters of the Knoxville Museum of Art. That’s why when it came time for the annual L’Amour...
View ArticleUnderstated honorees, over-the-top soiree
What if you threw a party for Randy and Jenny Boyd and everybody came? That’s exactly what Hash and Nazzy Hashemian did a couple of weeks ago. A virtual who’s who of Knoxville was at this over-the-top...
View Article