Term Break Begins

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Grandson Nathaniel raised the mirror, indicating that he is now with us for a few days. It’s a bit less grand than the flag flying over the palace when the queen is in residence, but we Americans are not as formal with our rites and rituals.

We drove by Sunburst Falls, my favorite of the close ones. It seemed to be accepting of the ice and snow.

Snow falling at Sunburst Falls

In Brevard, we ate lunch and divided this key lime cheesecake at Square Root restaurant. I asked if this was a plated dessert. Nathaniel explained that it had five elements – dessert, crunchy crust, drizzled sauce, whipped cream, and sugar sculpture. Yes, by definition it was a plated dessert. Fancy!

Day two began with custom-made pancakes by chef Nathaniel. He mixed the batter and personalized them for each of us. I couldn’t resist dark chocolate chips in mine, and John chose banana. Rose was imaginative. She thought of a coconut-walnut duo, which Nate easily produced. The pancakes were huge and as light as could be. My frying pan was surprised at such perfection, because it usually sees measly, flat little pucks.

The highlight of Nate’s day was hiking with Rose and son John $pencer. They scrambled along snowy trails near the Blue Ridge Parkway. Some of the trails had not been used for a while, and they had to climb over fallen trees. Rose brought me a special photo of Nathaniel with a giant icicle. I loved the pose and was struck by how much he looks like Cousin Lars here.

Unicorn Nathaniel?

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

34 thoughts on “Term Break Begins”

  1. It’s good to have the chef in residence even without to Flag Flying but where’s David ? I had a pancake on Shrove Tuesday as well, a traditional sugar and lemon one that was a delight.
    Massive Hugs

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  4. Beautiful plate! The sugar sculpture was amazing. They grow icicles huge up there. It was a great photo posing as the Unicorn. Glad that everyone had a good time, and the pictures are super.

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  11. I think Nathaniel is having way too much fun in his studies! He makes those creations look easy doesn’t he? In fact, I’m guessing that he might be sad to leave the “creating part” of his studies to go to the book work aspect and business side of culinary arts? I know I would be.

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    1. We love everything Nathaniel prepares. He had a rest from cooking today, but you should have seen him in the supermarket. John said he looked like a boy in a toy shop or like John in a train store.

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  14. I love reading about the rituals you and your grandsons have. Reading about them gives me hope that our grandsons will still want to spend time with Bill and me when they are teenagers (good Lord willin’)! 🙂 You are fortunate to have a professional chef visiting.

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    1. I was sure our grandsons would outgrow us. We had fun together when our grandsons were young, and they continued to visit us and to travel with us. Surely teen friendships and girlfriends would lure them away. No, they always had special times with us. After we moved to NC, they spent summers with us and got jobs near our town. We have been so fortunate to have had them this long.

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  15. Anne,
    Each of those grandsons is a blessing. I love to hear of the fun you have with them. I loved the pancakes and the sugar formation on them- I have watched them on TV and it is difficult to create.
    I loved the picture of Nathaniel with the bayonet- it looked like that to me.
    Susie

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