I Love the Farmers Market

Hello all!  I hope this post finds you well.  We went to the Farmers Market this weekend, and I got such good-looking produce.  I hope it tastes half as good as it looks.

Thursday's Inspiration: Architecture

Because I love houses and interesting buildings (especially old buildings) I guess you could say I love architecture.  I was excited that Mary at Little Red House chose architecture as her cue for this week's Thursday's Inspiration.  I have a lot of existing pictures to choose from; and since I haven't had a chance to go anywhere this week to take new pictures, I'm sharing a few from the archives today.

Conservatory and greenhouse in Reynolda Gardens, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
"Historic Reynolda Gardens"

Winter Concert at UNCG

Hi everyone!  Can you believe it's December?  I like it when Thanksgiving falls a week earlier on the calendar because it gives us an extra week between the two holidays to prepare for Christmas.  I've really enjoyed seeing everyone's Christmas posts so far; I've seen some wonderful Advent wreaths this week as we enter into this holy season.

I don't have a Christmas post for you today.  I'm still decorating, and I'll have some pictures to show very soon.  In the meantime, I'm sharing some pictures of our son's winter band concert yesterday evening at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Dining at Bianca's

Tonight we had dinner at Bianca's.  I think that has a nice ring to it.  Don't you think it has a certain panache  -- sort of like Breakfast at Tiffany's?  I know; I thought so too.  :)

Just so you know, Bianca's is our favorite Italian restaurant on the continent of North America.  It truly is.  We consider it a special treat to have dinner there.  Would you like to see a menu?

 

 

DH and I think that Bianca's gives you a lot of bang for your buck.  Every entree includes the appetizer of the day, salad with homemade Italian dressing, garlic bread (also the best in North America), and main entree.  If your entree is a non-pasta entree, you get a side order of the pasta of the day; and last, but not least, dessert of the day.  Oh, and by the way, there is no pizza on this menu.  You'll have to go down the street to get that. ;)

The owner/chef of Bianca's, Lisa Carmella is of course, Italian.  She told us that her family is from Sicily, but she actually prefers the cuisine of Northern Italy.  Before opening Bianca's, Lisa managed a resort in Europe and had the opportunity to work with some of the chefs there.  So many of her dishes reflect the influence of northern Italy, France and Switzerland.  In addition, the menu includes traditional Sicilian style pastas with red sauce, such as lasagna, manicotti, and chicken parmigiana.  And I honestly think I could eat a bowl of her fresh tomato sauce all by itself.  Yum!  Her manicotti is the best I've ever tasted.  The crepes are homemade -- so creamy and delicate.

Her seafood dishes are really wonderful.  They tend to be lighter, with delicate sauces and seasonings.  The menu seems to have something for everyone.  She has vegetarian dishes, chicken dishes, beef, veal, pork, and seafood.

Now, how about some pictures?

Bianca's is a rather small and unassuming restaurant, but like the bright blue, jewel tones of the decor, it is a real jewel of a restaurant.  I like the size; I think it feels intimate and really adds to the charm.  And it has a following.  I think a lot of university students and faculty tend to frequent Bianca's, along with other Greensboro regulars. 

Our appetizer this evening was Bruschetta.

I love the presentation of the salad.

 

Delicious, golden-brown garlic bread,

 

and just about exactly five minutes and twenty seconds later...

Well, maybe I exaggerated a tad.  But it disappeared pretty quickly.

DH had the salmon special tonight.  I had the manicotti, and the bowl of pasta in the picture goes with the salmon entree.  You won't leave here hungry.

For dessert, there was cake with Nutella icing.

I think I've made it pretty obvious that we love Bianca's.  But judging by the awards on the walls, it seems that a large part of Greensboro and the surrounding Triad thinks so, too.  And they've cast their votes, year after year.

 

 

I love the plaque on the left:  "Best Restaurant for First Dates Winners Award.  1st Place."  :)  And 50 First Dates later, Mr. Forest Manor and I are still enjoying the food and the ambiance.

If you live in or near Greensboro, I hope you'll give Bianca's a try next time you're in the mood for good Italian food.  Thanks so much for visiting my blog, and "Buon Appetito!"

I'm joining the other bloggers at Seasonal Sundays, hosted by the Tablescaper.

Denise

 

 

 

A Beautiful Spring Campus

Today we took our son back to college to finish out his spring semester.  He was out a week for Spring Break, but most of that time, he was gone.  He went to Tennessee and then to the beach.  Then he was home for two and a half days and back to school.  I think he had a great week, and even though he was home only briefly, it was really good to spend some time with him.

I was hoping for good weather today (which we did get, by the way) so that we could take some pictures around his campus, because it really is pretty this time of the year.  I am learning to use our "older" digital camera, so I had been out last week taking some pictures of some local gardens.  But my hubby brought along his new camera today, so these are pictures he took of the campus.  He basically just took pictures of one section of campus, because that was all we had time for today.  I'll have to get some more another day.

When our son was just a baby, we lived within walking distance of this school.  My husband worked all day in a nearby town, commuted home, and then went to class in the evenings for almost four years to earn his MBA.  So even though we are no longer living nearby, it seems like we have come full circle since our son is now an undergraduate here.  The school has grown quite a bit these past years, but it still retains its original charm and character.  Hope you enjoy these pictures.  You can click on any of the pics to enlarge and see a lot more detail.

The first two pictures are the back side of their formal auditorium, where musical concerts are performed and may be attended by the public.  It is one of the older buildings on campus, and was beautifully renovated a few years ago.  I'll show some pictures of the inside of this auditorium in a future post.

I  love the raised medallion and garland shown here!  Many of the older buildings on the campus have these.

A bed of daffodils in front of Foust Hall.

Our four-legged family member.  Any guesses as to the breed?  Believe it or not, MacDuff is a "wee" Scottish Terrier, or Scottish Terrorist, as my husband likes to say.  At the moment, he doesn't have his usual Scottie hair cut.  His coat got extremely matted, and  the groomer had no choice but to cut all his hair short and then let it grow back.  We have gotten used to it now, and we think it's kinda cute.  Of course, we're not very objective you know.  Our previous Scottie was black, but MacDuff's color is known as wheaten, one of the three acceptable colors for Scottish Terriers, although black is the color we see most often.  MacDuff enjoyed  taking his brother back to school and exploring the campus afterwards.

Two side views of Aycock Auditorium.

A pretty daffodil bed and bird bath.

"Himself" does not like having his picture made; there are too many things to see and smell to be bothered with" photo ops".

I like the contrast of the dark pink buds against the blue sky.

This is the Julius I. Foust Building, designed 1891-1892.  It's probably the most unique and most recognized building on the campus with its beautiful, old red brick and its Victorian architecture.

Foust Hall again with the state and national flags flying proudly in the sky.

This is one of the new clock towers.  Its bells ring the Westminster chimes every quarter hour, and they make a wonderful sound floating through the air on a clear day.

This appears to be an early blooming azalea.

A beautiful tulip magnolia beside Foust Hall.

Here we are facing down College Avenue.  Cars are not allowed to drive down this avenue, and it contains some of the older classroom buildings on campus.  It's lined with tulip magnolias and Japanese cherry trees.

So stately and graceful.

The verdigris-tone statue is of Minerva, the Roman Goddess of Wisdom.  The university was originally known as Women's College of Greensboro, and Minerva was their mascot.  Later, when the school became co-ed and started competing in athletics, they adopted the Spartans as their mascot.  As our student guide pointed out, the guys weren't too keen on being the "Fighting Minervas".

These two pictures are the back of the Faculty Building.  I love the fan pediment over the door, and the brick arches in the breezeway below.

This is Forney Hall.  My attention was caught by the wrought iron banisters at the front entrance of this building.  They curve gracefully upwards on either side, and there is a linked circle pattern in the wrought iron across the front of the porch.  These old buildings truly fascinate me!  When I look at them, I can imagine the many footsteps that have walked these halls over the last 120 years.  

Chartered in 1891, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is the second oldest university in the UNC system.  The oldest, of course, is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which also has a very beautiful campus.

Japanese Cherry trees in front of Forney.

The Alumni House facing onto College Avenue. It has a beautiful glass fanlight over the front door and long elegant windows on either side of the porch.

 Is there a college or university in your town or a town near you?  Do you enjoy seeing it as you drive by, or maybe walking through the campus on a pretty day?  There's something relaxing about watching the students throwing a frisbee, or studying on a bench or a blanket in the grass.  People walking their dogs and students on skateboards and bicycles.  All in all, a nice way to spend a Spring afternoon.  Hope you all did something fun and relaxing this weekend.  Mondays always come around too soon.

Denise