Elvira's Cafe

During our RV trip to the Pigeon Forge area, we wanted to try a restaurant we'd heard about called Elvira's, which had great reviews on Urban Spoon, Trip Advisor, and Yelp. While the address is Sevierville, it's located at the far southwestern end of Wear's Valley on US-321 and is closer to Townsend (about a mile from the Blount County line) than Pigeon Forge.

As I was taking some inside shots a young lady walked over, introduced herself in a slight Russian accent as Elvira and inquired about the shots. After I told her about my blog, she told me all about the 5 month old restaurant, a little about herself, and her commitment to making everything possible from scratch - how hard is it to mix up a batch of pancake batter from scratch rather using a mix, was one of her examples.  

They have an open cooking area and you can watch your meal being prepared if you like - or just stare at a pan of fresh biscuits.

Seating is available in the cooking area, the dining room, and maybe a porch area.  The restaurant had a very pleasant ambiance, was uncrowded, and decorated for the area.  Both Elvira and her staff were very friendly and helpful - note the big smile on the chefs face.

We arrived about 10:30am and had the option of breakfast or lunch and Bev went the lunch Fried Chicken Crepe, perhaps made with buckwheat flour.

Pat opted for the breakfast Peaches & Pears Crepe.

And it was a no brainier for the breakfast food lover - two eggs over easy, potatoes, sausage, biscuit, and sausage gravy.  Pictured as served and ready to dig in.

The ladies both loved theirs and the only suggestion would be to get the sauce on the side as while it was delicious, it was pretty sweet. The only suggestion I'd make is eat there as often as you can. The biscuit was as good as it looked and obviously made from scratch, the gravy was just the way I make it at home with lots of sausage (locally made Swaggerty's), the eggs were perfectly cooked, and the potatoes crispy ( they may have been oven roasted wedges).

And as a bonus, their desserts were being delivered by the local couple who make them and we got a piece of coconut cream pie to go - it was awesome. And for another bonus, the dessert guy was a retired lifetime chef who gave me the secrets to his best-in-the-world biscuits - I feel a blog post coming on.

Elvira doesn't yet have a website, but info can be gotten from her Facebook page or one of the raters mentioned above. We will definitely make the hour drive from home to eat at Elvira's.  I hope they are prepared for the impending tourist season because I can imagine how busy they will be as word gets around.

Elvira's Cafe, 4143 Wears Valley Road, Sevierville, TN, (865) 366-2263.  Open for breakfast and lunch, Mon.-Sat., 7am - 2:30pm.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

5/13//13 meal date

Maiden RV Voyage

After a couple of false starts and a trip back to the dealership for repairs, we finally made the maiden voyage in the new RV. Since Madison was negative about RVing and we didn't know how the coach would do, we elected to go to the Pigeon Forge area where their were plenty of teenage girl things to do and it was less than two hour from home. Bev and Pat come up here often to shop at Tanger Outlet (about a half mile away) so this was perfect for all of the females.

We stayed at a very nice campground on the Little Pigeon River called River Plantation RV Resort and it was hard to believe such a serene place could exist in the midst of the throngs of businesses and cars just up the hill (I caught it at a low traffic time).

We had a nice back-in spot on the river with lots of room in back for the pups to romp.

As is often the case, we decided to stay an extra day, but had to move two sites down - gave us another opportunity to practice.  These shots are up and down the park taken early in the week and they were nearly all occupied when we left Friday morning.

While in the area, we looked at several campgrounds and talked with others who are regulars to the area and all agree that this is the best spot - for example, it was nicer than the Pigeon Forge KOA and and at half the price.  If camping up this way again, it will definitely be our first choice.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

5/12//13 – 5/17/13 event date

Jerk Salmon

We had four nice pieces of Scottish salmon and Bev wanted to grill them.  We like to use mayo and after using Sint Maarten Jerk on some tilapia, we decided to give it a try on the salmon. 

I rubbed oil on the skin side then dusted the non-skin side with the jerk and gave it a slather of mayo. 

I grilled it for a couple of minutes with the skin side down and as soon as it was peelable, I flipped it and removed the skin.  I then gave the up side the seasoning/ mayo treatment.  When the down side had a little crust, I flipped again and cooked to an internal temp of 135*.  We sided it with some grilled fresh asparagus (olive oil, salt, pepper, and some of the jerk).

I thought it was very good but think I may prefer other seasonings on salmon, however, Bev raved about it so I’m guessing it was beyond very good for her - even Madison ate a piece for supper and a half piece later in the evening.  While this is officially a jerk seasoning, it is obviously good on many dishes and will be used around here often - since we've always used a marinade for our jerk seasoning, this bottle of dry jerk seasoning has been in the pantry, unopened for a year.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

5/7/13 meal date

Orlando For SeaWorld With Madison

This is the last post about our FL trip and the big thing Madison wanted to do – make the 1½ hour drive over to Orlando for a SeaWorld day.  These folks know how to make money - $89 admittance, $20 parking, and my first ever $6.50 Bud Light (we made sure we ate just before going into the park). 

We saw most of the shows, except I missed the whales, and I thought the dolphin one was very professional (the seal/walrus was poor).  In addition to the dolphins, it included folks doing acrobats above the water, divers, and live birds flying around.  Following are a few shots with some using the repetitive shot “sports feature” of the camera. 

As I watched a bunch of tired looking folks heading for the exit, I was sure of one thing - this adventure is made for 40 year olds with kids and not 65 year olds with grand kids - it took me two days to recover J

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/30/13 meal date

Crappie – It’s Not Just For Supper

HAPPY BELATED MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU MOM'S OUT THERE

We had several small pieces of crappie (pronouned croppie around here) left from our meal the other night and surprisingly, Bev suggested we have them for breakfast – she never wants fish in the morning.  So I picked myself up off the floor and said “sounds good to me.”  We mixed up a 75/25 mix of cornmeal/flour for dredging after dusting with Sint Maarten Jerk Seasoning, which we've used on several things lately and really like.  It doesn't have the strong allspice flavor typical of most jerk seasoning.

Bev just ate the fish, but I added a couple of sunny-side-up, dippy eggs and a piece of sour dough toast to mine.  She also added some Sint Maarten hot sauce to her fish but I forgot to try it.

Pan fried fish is just darned hard to beat for any meal and this was an excellent way to start the day, providing me with protein, carbs, and a smile.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

5/8/13 meal date

Swimming With A Dolphin For Madison

During our trip to Palm Beach, FL, we visited Marineland so Madison could swim with the dolphins.  It is located south of St. Augustine and only about five minutes from where we were staying with friends, David and Peggy, at Palm Coast.

“Marineland of Florida” opened in 1938 as “Marine Studios” and had 30,000+ guests the first day.  In the fifties, it was the most popular tourist destination in Florida.  Through the years, other attractions opened, storms hit, the facility and visitors declined, and it fell on hard times. 

In 2004, it began to transform itself into “Marineland’s Dolphin Conservation Center” which opened in 2006 and is focused on education and intimate animal-human interactions.  In 2011, it was sold to Georgia Aquarium and now has some good financial backing.

They don’t really have shows like you might see at Sea World but focus on learning about and swimming with the dolphins, however the dolphins do put on quite a show before and during the swimming part as can be seen from some of my shots, such as the header.

Madison’s group consisted of four kids and one adult (one kid’s dad) and their event began with a 30 minute orientation where they were told about the dolphins in the tanks and how they trained them (one of them was born in the late 50's).  Then it was into the pool to be up close and personal with one of them with each swimmer getting equal time and making the motions the trainers use to get the dolphins to respond.

The first set of shots and the header were taken when we arrived and while the swimmers were in orientation – I was pleased the shots thru the tank glass came out so well.

These are shots during the swim session which lasted about 30 minutes.  Madison, the redhead, declined a wet suit and learned a valuable lesson in the 70* water – she looked pretty cold the whole time.

They were supposed to be closer in the last shot but Madison didn't get into the middle of the glass.

She seemed to have a great time and I believe it was a memorable experience.  I carped a little when Bev said it was $200, but after seeing the experience the kids got, it was worth it and it must be popular as there is a two month waiting list during the summer.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/29/13 event date

Seafood Platter in Palm Coast

Our first morning in Palm Coast, we went down to Flagler Beach for breakfast and the Saturday Crafts Fair/ Farmers Market/ Fishing Tournament J

The others were more interested in the crafts but I went to the food area, especially after I saw the lady selling fresh fish – I bought shrimp, scallops, and cobia.  Then Bev & I went through the produce tent and picked up small potatoes, garlic, lemons, and salad ingredients – we stopped at Publix for a bottle on Newman’s Caesar Dressing for the salad and to marinate the cobia.

Our friends share the house with her brother and wife and they had lots stuff to cook with, but I still had to improvise a little with what they had on hand rather than buy what I might normally use.

I was talking with the guy at the fishing tournament tent who is a fishing guide and fish eater, so he gave me some cobia cooking suggestions. It got a two hour soak in the Caesar dressing then I topped it with a little S&P, garlic butter, onion & lemon slices, and fresh parsley - similar to the bluefish I cooked at home.  I wrapped it in foil and cooked over low heat, without flipping, until everything else was done – no meat thermometers were available, so I just guessed at cooking time.

I used Jenn’s method for the small potatoes – check "Jenn’s Food Journey" blog for her recipe and some great shots.  I tossed them in the on-hand salad oil and Italian spices, but put them directly on the grill grate to cook without marinating. I found the 3 minute nuke, per Jenn's recipe, was perfect for the size potatoes I had.

The scallops just got S&P and garlic/ lemon butter (lemon added after the cobia got some garlic butter).  I should have started with oil on them rather butter as they stuck a little.

The shrimp went on the grill last over high heat, and had been lightly sprinkled with Old Bay and then got a heavy coating of the lemon/garlic/butter and were flipped twice with more butter added to create the flame necessary for the charring.  Since I had no basting brush and spooned it on, I had plenty of flame so the shrimp came off pretty quick - I was a little surprised the fire department didn't show up J .

I plated everything, drizzled with a little more of the butter mixture and we dug in.

Other than the scallops sticking, everything was just right and we all thought it was delicious.  The cobia was perfect (blind hog finds an acorn theory) as it was flaky but still moist with a light sheen on the inside.  I’d never eaten it but it was mild enough for Bev and very tasty – I’ll look for it at the fish store at home from now on, at twice the price of course.

My fish-a-thon continues and I had a piece of cobia and a couple of shrimp for breakfast the next day – no eggs though for the second day in a row – no wonder I was cranky J

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/28/13 meal date