C-ville

We confirmed a rumor that my Aunt Mary has the cutest dog in Virginia. Our visit to Charlottesville was brief, just over 24 hours, but action-packed. Naturally, one of the highlights was...

food.

We started off with delicious pear butter sandwiches and a spinach salad when we arrived. We spent some time wandering around the downtown mall and got some coffee at the Mudhouse. Later that evening, we feasted on roasted vegetables (beets, carrots and leeks), sauteed greens, and a short-grained rice, Mediterranean-style rice dish. A ginger chocolate bar was our desert. The next day, we made some hummus and a sort of tapinade made from the leftover roasted vegetables of the day before. Mary took us to Breadworks, where we got some truly delicious bread, which we spread the hummus and tapinade on. We ate another scrumptious salad. For dinner that evening, Mary whipped up a pasta dish with garlic, cauliflower and sundried tomatoes. Since we were taking the midnight train to Georgia (well, actually the 8:52 pm train, but who could resist that reference?), Mary packed us some sandwiches and fruit for the trip, and snuck in some more chocolate for us. It was a great deal of fun hanging out with Mary and Sadie, and we are definitely looking forward to a longer visit, when we come back in May.