Asheville | thesofiamagazine

A Squash in the Kitchen

by Laurie Richardone | Oct 28, 2021 | Asheville, Food, Holidays, Women

To have an understanding, and the quiet confidence, that creating a meal means creating your own reality.

Do you really need a recipe? No. Does it have to be more complicated than knowing how to choose an
ingredient, what to look for? It does not.

What you do need to know is the seasons of the garden. Butternut Squash is grown in summer, however, for peak flavor it takes 3-4 months to mature. As the weather gets cooler, squash gets sweeter. It is now a blank canvas for you to express your own culinary creativity.

“Let’s all play with our food, I say, in doing so let us advance the state of the art together” Julia Child

A Few words about Squash…

Squashes are one of the oldest known crops –10,000 years by some estimates of sites in Mexico.

Squash has an abundant amount of powerful antioxidants, including vitamin C. Antioxidants help prevent
or slow cellular damage and reduce inflammation.

There’s a whole world of squash varieties, from starchy kabocha to versatile delicata, and everything in between. I will offer creative ways to cook them so you won’t find yourself bored of gourds by November.

Thanksgiving is around the corner. The ubiquitous sweet potatoes, and I dare say, the bland butternut squash soup arrive at the table.

You don’t get much more classically “fall” than squash soup.

This unique and exciting version gives it an infusion of new life, with the tartness of granny smith apples, tanginess of sheep yogurt, and crunch of toasted walnuts.

Remember… You do not have to cook complicated elaborate masterpieces.

Just cook good food, from fresh local seasonal ingredients.

To your good health ~ Laurie Richardone

If you are a curious cook, join me on my Podcast ~ “A taste for All Seasons”

It is a cooking, cultural, and inspirational way for us to explore the world of food. And… as always, l will share cooking tips, seasonal shortcuts and kitchen essentials that will make your life easier in the kitchen.

You can now listen to all the shows, on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and Google Podcast. We talk to local farmers, where you can learn how to cook your way through the seasons.

Visit: A Taste for All Seasons Show Page @ WPVMFM.ORG. This Podcast is in conjunction with WPVM FM 103.7 in Asheville, NC.

Laurie Richardone is a seasonal gluten free chef and certified health coach.

To work with Laurie, visit LaurieRichardone.com

Top 10 Recommendations for Women Business Owners

by admin | Oct 28, 2021 | Asheville, Business, Leadership, Management, Women

By Susan Clark Muntean

As a consultant, mentor, and advisor to entrepreneurs over the past two decades, I have identified patterns, principles, and paths for entrepreneurs to follow. My passion is to support women as entrepreneurs and my expertise is in how to connect women with the resources they need to succeed. These are my top ten pieces of advice and words of wisdom to support you on your journey. You’ve got this!

Seek Mentorship
Seek out inspirational role models and establish a mentoring relationship with them. Establish yourself with mentors who will be honest with you and who will respect you. Seek well-connected members of your community to advocate on your behalf and who will offer to connect you with important stakeholders. Don’t forget to seek mentors of the opposite sex as well.

Find Your Tribe
Find a supportive community that will nurture your soul, feed your ambitions, sell your expertise and creative genius, and help you to market yourself and your business. Leverage both formal and informal networks to spread the word about you and your business. Connect and support others and pay it forward.

Secure Sensible Funding
Seek low interest loans, SBA loan guarantees, forgivable and/or flexible low interest loans, and government or non-profit sources of funds for launching and growing your business. In addition, consider equity investment, especially among family and friends as well as crowdfunding campaigns. Avoid high interest credit card debt at all costs.

Listen to Your Customers
Design your product or service around the needs and wants of your target market. Solicit frequent and honest feedback. Get a minimally viable product into their hands early on and use the beta version of what you offer to improve what you produce. The customer is queen and should be an integral part of the development of your business model, product lines, service delivery and customer relationship management strategies.

Use Weak Ties
Research shows that women tend to rely on close connections, family members and close friends when networking to generate new business and when seeking financing, partnerships, and support while men tend to use distant connections and engage in transactional networking using so-called “weak ties”. In the business world weak ties—those expansive loose connections of friends of friends who know people—are critical to scaling your business and selling more products and services. Get on LinkedIn and connect with second and third level weak ties.

Find Support Organizations
Entrepreneurship is a significant driver of economic development and local, regional, state, and federal governments allocate taxpayer dollars to supporting inclusive entrepreneurship as a means to economic growth. There are so many free and low-cost resources to take advantage of as an emerging entrepreneur or as an established business owner. Seek out the assistance of small business centers, women’s business centers and networking groups, business incubators, accelerator programs, community colleges that offer instructional programming for entrepreneurs, and shared co-working spaces that support entrepreneurs.

Manage Bias
Gender bias is a well-documented all-to-common experience that women face, especially when seeking equity financing and the support of resources critical for success. Don’t gaslight yourself if you experience very subtle forms of discrimination or exclusion or if the services you are receiving feel in any way disrespectful. Manage systemic bias by preparing responses to it in advance. You are not alone on your journey, and you are inherently powerful, capable, intelligent, and worthy of support and the respect you deserve. Don’t forget it!

Differentiate Yourself
Small business owners need to compete on specialization, uniqueness, customization, and delightful experiences that customers rave about relative to existing offerings. How are you better than the competition? Why are you special? Communicate how you are above and beyond the rest with crystal clarity. Own and exude your unique, amazing brand and be consistently clear in communicating that to your target market.

Expand Your Entrepreneurial Mindset
Work on your capacities to identify opportunities, take calculated risks, empathize with your customers, and execute on your ideas. Successful entrepreneurs have a future focus, are optimistic, persistent, and self-confident. Activate your passion and apply your ambition towards continuous self-improvement. Dedicate time to developing your entrepreneurial mindset daily.

Orient Yourself Towards the Future
Too many small business owners are trapped in the cycle of putting out fires and reacting to the immediate, daily, urgent needs of the business. Take time and space away from the daily grind to put your feelers out to the external environment. What is the competition doing? What are shifts in the regulatory environment? How are customer tastes changing? What are groundbreaking emergent technologies and how will they impact your business model? Today’s marketplace requires constant innovation and that requires understanding changes impacting your business model as well as creating future opportunities. By orienting yourself towards the future, you position yourself to take advantage of emerging opportunities that can secure your success over the long haul.

Susan Clark Muntean is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of North Carolina, Asheville. In addition to being an author of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A Gender Perspective published by Cambridge University Press, she serves as an advisor, mentor, board member and advocate supporting women entrepreneurs in Western North Carolina.

Women Making Music – Spotlight on Ashley Heath; harnessing the power of connection…

by Peggy Ratusz | Oct 28, 2021 | Asheville, Music, Musician, Women

Awards, accolades and high profile bookings only bolster Ashley Heath’s purposeful journey to cultivate deeper connections. She tunes into a feeling, allows it to emerge in lyrics, melody, chords and strumming styles. She surrenders all, to engage and inspire potential listeners.

Along with her current band members, “Her Heathens” Ryan Crabtree on bass and Paul Gladstone on drums, playing to live audiences allows her that cyclical connection she’s so fine at maintaining long after the doors to the music hall are closed and locked up for the night. When her love light shines, you feel it all the way in the back of the room and all the way home in your car.

The path from open mics to Tennessee’s infamous Bonnaroo Festival has been steady, deliberate and well planned. Band mates, mentors, booking managers, venue owners all say the same things about Heath; she’s the real deal who’s got something important to sing; unpretentious and full of wit and spunk; evokes goose bumps with her captivating voice; one of the best laughs they’ve ever heard and the hardest working musician in town.

Here’s just a few of the scores of fan-reviews I found online:

“Sweet, sultry, bluesy musician, Ashley Heath is as authentic as they come.”

“Her performances will rock and soothe your weary soul.”

“…an excellent guitarist, who writes songs that speak to my soul…a
genuine human being.”

“….one of the most talented singer/songwriters ever. Her energy is pure and tangible.”

“Her band is mad-talented! Ashley can sing like nobody I’ve ever heard!”

“Heath’s Heathens provide the right tones and beats that serve the lyrics and Ashley’s soaring voice.”

An excerpt from my June 2016 interview: “With a blend of Soul, Blues and Americana sounds, Ashley Heath is rising as one of Asheville’s finest and uniquely gifted musicians with her velvety vocals and bluesy guitar style. Her bravery for pursuing aspects of herself through music is limitless.”

The actual question/answer part of our phone interview a few weeks ago was all of maybe 15 minutes long. The entire conversation was over 70 minutes!

Nerding out talking about music is one of my favorite things to do too so when she started talking about chord structures and where to put a whole note and when to play a quarter note to give the phrase some space, I listened intently and just kept saying “yeeees.”

We vented about our shared experiences with the proverbial unsolicited critic or two at every show; the ones who aren’t the slightest bit careful of our feelings when they approach us, spewing banter about what we should do more and what we should do less. We talked fondly of the fans that support and dig what we put out and how some have become friends.

She’s grateful for the friends she’s made music with outside her own project that empower and teach her. For example the performances she enjoyed at Archetype Brewing, pre-pandemic, where she played regular Sundays for several years with an impressive and popular quartet. That group consisted of the incendiary guitarist and phenomenal singer, Patrick Dodd (who she still performs with there), the formidable harmonica player and mellifluous vocalist Joshua Singleton and the eminent and selfless saxophonist and Asheville matriarch Ruby Mayfield who sadly passed away in April.

The implication of what this global pandemic has brought to the forefront for artists has been profound. Ashley’s first experiences playing out again have happened at prominent outdoor festivals. Catching theTedeschi Trucks band’s set at Merlefest where Ashley and Her Heathens also performed, she expresses it this way, “I felt like I was in the Olympics. It was huge and overwhelming, inspiring and emotional.”

“The mindset I’m trying to change is the one where I think, if I can do this one thing then I can do this other thing that I really want. Then if I do that thing, I’ll get to yet another thing that I really want. So I refuse to go back into that mindset, now that I’m back out in the world and doing some touring. That’s the clarity I found spending almost 2 years of my life home alone.”

What she was doing before the lockdown, was working at a breakneck pace soliciting and getting gig after gig on the local scene.

“It wasn’t really working because even though I wasn’t showing it, I wasn’t happy going at that pace. I don’t know what my future holds exactly, but I do know that I’m not going to take 20 gigs a month if I’m not happy doing them. I can create the same monumentally satisfying experiences I have doing the bigger stages, for my smaller audiences too. That connection can be made no matter how many gigs I accept, no matter how many people I’m playing for or how big the room is.”

We talk about the community driven polls where winners in categories are announced after allowing fans and peers the chance to vote for their favorites online. “I take the standings and my wins in any given category as testimony to the hard work I’ve done to create a fan base.”

She poignantly equates creating music to a painter’s blank canvas. “We interpret through color choices and brush strokes, how many colors and where we place the colors and how the colors blend, and establish the sonic outcome of the song.”

By early 2022, Ashley hopes that she’ll release her third collection of “paintings” via a 6 song EP. The songs have been written and the basic tracks are recorded. The most intimate parts are still left to do, like final vocal tracks, solos and order. She’s excited to work with engineer Clay Miller over at Crossroads Studios in Arden.

After listening to a 3-song sampler from one of her recent shows, I heard a song I hadn’t yet called “Something to Believe.” Ashley assures me it will be on the next EP. The chorus lyrics: “Are we done with the hard times, are they over? Let me in or let me out, give me answers, tell me somehow. Are we’re gonna end this, end this and work it out? The push and shove is killing me, there’s no end in sight you see. Give me, give me something to believe…”

“Ashley Heath is an open songbook who embraces vulnerabilities.”

Links to stream and purchase Heath’s records and to keep up with her schedule:

pbs.org/video/ashley-heath-and-her-heathens-11kmeo/

facebook.com/AshleyHeathMusic

facebook.com/ashleyheathandherheathens

amazon.com/Where-Never-Ashley-Heath-Heathens/dp/B07BW319P3

amazon.com/Different-Stream-Ashley-Heath/dp/B01FJ3UQ1A

open.spotify.com/artist/37y8xDxW9JSGer0J9fd843

open.spotify.com/artist/1FlOl4q9T6MqCBJsGGVSOp

Peggy Ratusz is a vocal coach, song interpreter, and songwriter.
For vocal coaching email her at [email protected]

Five Things to Do at the Beginning of a New Relationship

by admin | Oct 28, 2021 | Asheville, relationships, Wellness, Women

Entering a new relationship is a fun and exciting experience. This phase consists of discovering each other’s interests, laughter, and late night conversations that you spend the next day thinking about. The world is filled with endless possibilities. It’s electric, and so far everything is as close to perfect as it can be. But it’s important not to get too swept away during this time. As your emotions surge, it will be harder to keep a level head and set necessary boundaries, but if you want your new relationship to truly blossom, to mature and grow in a healthy way that’s exactly what you need to do. Below, you’ll find a few tips to help as you navigate your new relationship.

Be Yourself

It’s no secret that everyone wants to appear appealing and put together to their new partner. While you certainly don’t want to dump all your childhood trauma on them right out the gate, you shouldn’t lie about who you are either. You don’t have to put on a show to make someone like you. An ideal partner is someone who will love you for who truly you are, but in order for that to happen, they have to know who you are. Building a relationship based on lies is a foolproof way to create drama and trust issues down the line. Be yourself. Don’t change for anyone. Be honest about your hobbies and your likes and dislikes. Be your goofy or clumsy self. Tell them your favorite movies, even if they don’t appreciate the genre. Don’t tell them you love the outdoors if the idea of spending the day hiking sounds like your own personal hell. Obviously, you can learn to love and appreciate new things in the relationship, and you can certainly try out things they enjoy simply because you want to be around them, but don’t lie about who you are and what you like. Be your beautiful self, and let that be enough.

Don’t Give up Control

Relationships aren’t a game. They shouldn’t be a power play or a battle of any kind, but that being said, you can still lose the power in the relationship by constantly deferring to the other person. If you find yourself asking questions like, “When can we take this step?” “When can I say this without scaring them?” “I want to spend more time together, but should I tell them that?” then you are giving control of the relationship’s speed and direction to the other person. One thing a lot of people forget but should remember is that you are equal partners in the relationship. It’s your relationship too; it belongs to both of you. You have an equal say in things. Your voice matters. Your needs should be met just as much as theirs. Don’t lose your voice, and don’t leave all the important decisions up to someone else.

Set Boundaries

When you’re swept up in someone new, it’s easy to let other aspects of your life fall to the side. You start seeing your friends less because you’re spending all your time with your new partner. You don’t put in as much effort at work because you’re too busy thinking about your possible future together. You don’t spend time alone because you’d rather be with them. And while there’s nothing wrong with being excited about a new relationship, it shouldn’t consume your life and make you put everything else on hold. You are still important, and spending time away from your partner is healthy for your mental health and your identity. Your friends are still important; these are relationships you’ve spent time cultivating and people who’ve been by your side through thick and thin, and they deserve your attention too. Your career is still important. Your goals and hard work shouldn’t fade into the background just because you’re falling in love. Putting boundaries in place, like not seeing each other every night and making time for other aspects of your individual lives, is crucial in the beginning of the relationship. It’ll help prevent you from ‘losing yourself’ within the relationship and neglecting the people and things that matter to you because you’re enchanted with the light of new love.

Be Honest About What You Want

If you want a long term relationship, don’t act like you’re okay with something casual and temporary. If you don’t want kids, don’t say that you can see yourself starting a family. If you love where you live and never plan to move, make that known to your partner. Everyone has to make small compromises in relationships, like eating at a restaurant you aren’t fond of because it’s your partner’s favorite, but no one should have to compromise on the big issues. You need to remember that this is your life; it should look the way you want it to. You should never rearrange your biggest dreams, goals, or desires in order to be with someone. Some lines should be drawn and never crossed, and you should do it early.

Don’t Bring Past Trauma into Your New Relationship

Obviously, you won’t magically heal from all your past pain the moment you get into a new relationship. That would be great, but it’s simply not realistic. Still, you need to keep your past and present separate in your mind. Just because your last partner cheated on you, doesn’t mean your current one will. Just because your last partner was controlling and manipulative doesn’t mean your current one will be. Certainly keep an eye out for red flags, but don’t project other people’s behaviors onto your new significant other. It’s unfair and will only cause doubt and drama to fester in the relationship. Communication and vulnerability are crucial in order to succeed in leaving the past behind you. Talk about your insecurities without accusing anyone of anything. Have a mature and open discussion, and do your best to trust your significant other unless they personally give you reason not to. Relationships are hard enough to navigate without the ghosts of past partners lingering around to mess things up.

If you recently entered into a new relationship, or you think you might start one soon, use this list as a guideline to help you enjoy the happiness new love brings while also making smart decisions for you and your future. It’s not always easy setting boundaries or being open and honest, especially when you want your partner to see you as ‘perfect,’ but it’s crucial if you want your relationship to mature win a healthy way.

Traditional Chinese Medicine for a Healthy Autumn Season

by Natasha Kubis | Oct 28, 2021 | Acupuncture, Asheville, Wellness, Women, yoga

In the traditional Chinese medicine five element theory, autumn is associated with the metal element. On an energetic level, the metal element represents organization, boundary setting, and communication. It is a good time of year to decide what you want to prioritize in your life and what you want to let go of. As the trees shed their leaves to make room for new buds in the springtime, our bodies also go through similar changes. It’s the transitional period into the most yin time of year as we go more inward.

The lungs and the large intestine are the organs associated with the metal element and they assist in the elimination and cleansing of the body. Autumn is the time for nourishing and strengthening these organs on a physical and energetic level to help us let go of that which no longer serves us.

The lungs are called the “tender organ” because they are susceptible to the wind and cold. During the change to cooler temperatures, it’s important to dress properly and wear scarves and sweaters to cover the neck and throat. Fall weather tends to be very dry, and this dryness can damage the lungs. It’s especially important to stay
hydrated throughout autumn to help the lungs stay healthy. Drink hot teas with ginger and honey to keep the throat moistened.

This time of year has an abundance of wholesome fruits and vegetables. Try to incorporate seasonal foods into your diet such as squash, artichokes, arugula, spinach, beets, cabbage, and leeks. Chinese medicine recommends eating lots of soups and stews. Transition away from the cold, raw, crisp foods of summer and begin to eat warm, cooked foods. Switch out cold cereal with hot oatmeal, iced tea with warm tea, and raw salads with oven-roasted root veggies. Add in pungent foods to your cooking that benefits the lungs, such as onions, ginger, garlic, or mustard. If you want something sweet, stew seasonal fruits like apples, pears, figs, and persimmons.

Ginger Poached Pears

1 cup sweet dessert wine

One 1″ piece fresh ginger

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 cup of maple syrup or honey

4-6 ripe pears, peeled

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup raisins

Directions

In a saute pan over medium heat, add 2 cups water, dessert wine, fresh ginger, cinnamon stick, maple
syrup, or honey. Bring to a simmer and stir to combine.

Add the pears, turning occasionally to cook evenly. Allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the pears are tender through. Then remove the pears to a serving plate. Continue to cook the liquid for another 15 minutes, or until it has thickened to a sauce-like consistency and reduced to half. Top the pears with the sweet poaching sauce and,
if you’d like, top with nuts and raisins.

Natasha Kubis is a licensed acupuncturist and certified yoga teacher.
For more information, visit acuwellhealth.com

Honeycrisp Apple Cakes

by Laurie Richardone | Sep 27, 2021 | Asheville, Cooking, Recipes

8 servings
For the cakes

3/4 cup raw cane sugar, coconut sugar, or monk fruit

3/4 cup organic unsalted butter

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk, or nut milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups almond meal flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Cake ~ Preheat oven to 350

Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat until fully blended. Add milk and vanilla and mix until just combined.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and beat until creamy. Do not over mix.

Spread into a greased 9’’x13″ cake pan. The batter will be thick.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let cool completely on the rack before icing.

If making small cakes, cut out rounds with a 2″ cookie cutter. Shortcakes can be made a day Ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature ahead.

Sliced Apples

2 honey crisp apples, sliced

1 tbsp. unsalted butter, or coconut oil

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Heat a non-stick pan. Add butter or coconut oil. Then add sliced apples. Saute until browned around the edges. Toss with
cinnamon and lemon juice.

Coconut Cream

1 can unsweetened COLD coconut milk, solid parts only.

1-2 tbsp. maple syrup, or confectioners sugar, preferably organic.

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, or paste

Whipping Coconut Creme –

Add cold solid parts only of the coconut milk to a bowl with a whipping attachment. Add
maple syrup, or confectioners sugar and vanilla. Whip on high speed, until fluffy.

Assembly: Top with coconut cream, and apples. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Optional.

Buon Appetito

For scheduled Cooking Classes in Asheville, Visit: LaurieRichardone.com

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