Good day and welcome to DKos Asheville. This is the weekly DKos Asheville Open Thread for Saturday, November 20th, 2021. Happy Thanksgiving.
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Mountain Express, Kay West, 11/18/2021
Kelsianne Bebout, pastry chef for All Souls Pizza, agrees. Though the ingredients for pie crust are simple — flour, butter and salt — “making it all come together is complicated and takes a lot of skill,” says Bebout, who also sells custom desserts through her Instagram account, @beebowbakes. “Pie is very finicky.”
As we approach high pie season (what is Thanksgiving without that dessert on the table?), pie anxiety nibbles away at the confidence of many hosts. As a result, they often turn to — shudder — store-bought, premade crusts.
According to food writer Megan McArdle’s July opinion piece, “Can America Save Its National Dish?” published by The Washington Post, over 50 million Americans used frozen pie crust in 2019, while an additional 40 million opted for the refrigerated cylinder of dough to roll out at home.
Swell sighs. “I was talking with friends last week about Americans accustomed to eating store-bought crusts — terrible, inadequate and mediocre crusts. But many people just look at the crust as a vehicle for holding the innards. It’s no wonder people often leave the crust on the plate.”
Recipe time!
Apple spice pie, by Kelsianne Bebout
Barbara Swell’s butter pie crust (top and bottom for 9-inch pie)
Mrs. Painter’s pumpkin and bittersweet chocolate pie (courtesy of Barbara Swell)
What’s yours?
Cookie + Kate, Kathryne Taylor
Welcome! I’m happy you’re here. You can call me Kate, which is one of many nicknames, or Kathryne, which is my full first name. Either way, I’m a self-taught photographer and cook from Oklahoma. I started this blog in 2010 and named it after my canine sidekick, Cookie. Now, we live in Kansas City and work on this blog full-time. I love my job!
Thanksgiving is just two weeks away! Have you finalized your menu? Whether you’re vegetarian/vegan or interested in fun veggie-forward dishes, I hope you’ll discover the perfect recipe in this roundup. You’ll find plenty of colorful main dishes in the list. From veggie lasagna to stuffed acorn squash, these recipes will appeal to everyone. No meat substitutes here!
Mountain Express, Edwin Arnaudi, 11/18/2021
Thanksgiving 2020 was tough on many people, including Steve “Big Daddy” McMurry. Since 2005, the singer/guitarist for Acoustic Syndicate looked forward to playing in the bluegrass rock band’s annual holiday weekend show, which originated at The Orange Peel and shifted to The Grey Eagle in 2014. But with the venue and many other spaces not yet back to hosting in-person performances last November, the event was canceled.
“I really missed it. That left a huge hole in my year, and I’m sure it did for a lot of folks,” McMurry says. “A lot of things didn’t happen. We didn’t have our family gatherings. For the last 10 years, I’ve had at least 50 people at my house for Thanksgiving, and that didn’t happen. But I’m optimistic and I’m looking forward to the days that we can get back to being sensibly and responsibly together again. Let’s get this COVID thing in the rearview mirror and move on.”
Acoustic Syndicate will be part of one such gathering when the tradition resumes on Saturday, Nov. 27. In the years since the group moved the event from downtown to the River Arts District, McMurry and company have made plenty of fond memories — including one occasion when, unbeknownst to the band, someone passed out jars of moonshine, resulting in an especially raucous and joyful atmosphere.
“It’s such a warm and inviting place to be, and it’s got a good vibe,” McMurry says. “It’s always kind of a homecoming. That’s what it feels like to me — like a family reunion. It’s always a happy occasion.”
Mountain Express, Justin McGuire 11/17/2021
Elio Gonzalez launched the Miss Gay Latina Asheville pageant in 2008 as a way to highlight the talents of local drag performers who otherwise lacked a venue. The event long ago outgrew the modest West Asheville church where it started, but Gonzalez says the pageant’s original goal of empowerment and self-expression remains at its heart.
“It is important to have an event like this in a city like Asheville that’s not only growing, but also growing in its diversity, because that’s what the pageant has done each year: grown to include representation of all cultures, sexual orientations and identities,” says Gonzalez. “It has been so important that our contestants have felt welcomed, accepted and embraced by the Asheville community.”
This year’s annual gathering takes place at the Wortham Center for the Arts on Saturday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m. (Tonight) A double feature, the celebration will also feature Mister Gay Latino Asheville, which Gonzalez first introduced in 2019. Both events were canceled last year due to COVID-19.
Raw Story, Brad Reed, 11/19/2021
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) on Friday celebrated Kyle Rittenhouse's not guilty verdict by encouraging his followers to arm themselves.
The right-wing congressman posted a video shortly after the Rittenhouse verdict in which he called the jury's decision a victory for freedom. "Kyle Rittenhouse is not guilty, my friends!" he said. "You have a right to defend yourself! Be armed, be dangerous, and be moral!"
Cawthorn also posted a text message on the video offering Rittenhouse an internship at his office.
WLOS, Ty Russell, 11/19/2021
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — North Carolina politics are once again getting national attention. Most recently, that attention is a result of the new district maps approved by the Republican-run state legislature.
News 13 Anchor Ty Russell spoke with ABC News Political Director Rick Klein Friday, Nov. 19 to get his take on what’s happening here in North Carolina. News 13 sought Klein's insight into possible infighting among Republicans in the state after the new maps came out.
"What a fascinating snapshot of the infighting. The fact that you have a very Trump-friendly freshman Congressman -- one of the youngest members in the history of the House, brand new to Washington, only been here less than a year -- who is considered such a juggernaut that he can move across a different part of the state and edge out one of the most powerful Republicans in state politics," Klein said.
"I think there's more to the story that'll ultimately come out. Is someone opening up a spot in Cawthorn's district? Keep in mind, that was Mark Meadows' district, former White House Chief of Staff," Klein continued. "There's going to be a lot of buzz about potential candidates. To me, it's a real statement of force around Trump loyalists."
Raw Story, Tom Boggioni, 11/13/2021
In a column for the Charlotte Observer's opinion page, the editorial board scolded Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) for putting himself before his party in his home state and disrupting local Republican's plans for the 2022 midterms.
At issue was a redistricting plan that will create a Republican Party-friendly district where N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore (R) could safely run until Cawthorn decided he wants to move and run for re-election in that one.
As the editorial board notes, Cawthorn threw a wrench into their plans because he thinks only of himself and not the good of the party.
"The freshman representative from Western North Carolina thwarted Moore's plans Thursday when he announced his decision to change congressional districts. Cawthorn will run in the newly created 13th Congressional District instead of the 14th Congressional District, which state lawmakers had drawn with him as the lone incumbent," they wrote before adding Cawthorn's announcement led to Moore giving up his plans to run for the U.S. House in 2022.
Thanks again, I hope you have a safe weekend and a Happy Thanksgiving. Be prepared, we are looking at some pretty cold nights.