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The Weekly Newsletter |
Menus and Stories for May 31 - June 5, 2004
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| Through the yellow window this morning |
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What's in this issue: |
1. A window with a view
2. Carolina Kitchen
3. Dinners to Go
4. Casserole of the week
5. Our Mission - "...talented individuals.."
6. Summer Salad Plate Specials
7. The Girl and The Fig
8. A Note from Laurey
Say, if you don't wish to continue to receive these weekly notes, simply scroll to the bottom of this page, follow the instructions about "unsubscribe" and consider it a done deal. No sweat.
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| A couple of TV spots |
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I had a fun morning last week taping three new spots for the local tv station. Called "Carolina Kitchen" and broadcast at noon on WLOS, these very short shows, quips, really, are a chance to quickly show a recipe to you.
This time I did one quick lesson on my mother's "Tomatoes Seven Seasonings" a very easy and, to me, delicious way of doing something about with what will soon be too many tomatoes.
I did one on my version of the Gorgonzola Tart that is so prevalent in southern France. Ours is a Puffed Pastry Tart made with Caramelized Bermuda Onions, Kalamata olives, and a sprinkling of Spinning Spider's Herbs du Provence-rubbed Chevre.
The third was a quick take on a fresh Thai Cucumber Salad.
Three minutes is not much time. One barely gets time to say, "Hi Bob," before the gal standing behind the camera is waving and gesticulating with her hands, warning that time is almost up. But it is a fun way to spend an hour or so on a hot Tuesday morning. If you want the written recipes you can go to the WLOS web site and ask for them.
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The nightly dinners for the week |
Dinners-to-go are available Monday through Friday.
Here's how it works:
Just call us in the morning and we'll take your order. Then come back between 4:30 and 6:00 to pick up your dinner - all ready in a heatable container. Simple, yes?
Tuesday June 1 Fresh Sage, Spinach and Artichoke Lasagna 9.25
Wednesday June 2 Roasted Rack of Lamb with New Potatoes and Peas 12.25
Thursday June 3 Provencal Meatloaf and Parslied Potatoes 9.75
Friday June 4 Thai-marinated Salmon and Asparagus 11.25 **
How's your low carb plan going? ** means you can enjoy this meal to your heart's content. Yum! |
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Dinners to go for the whole month |
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| The Casserole of the Week |
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Casseroles are made each Wednesday.
Call to order on Tuesday if you can.
Orders will be ready on Wednesday between 4:30 and 6:00.
Order a full pan for 9 (or so) or a half pan for 4 or 5.
This week's casserole (for June 2) is:
Sweet Potato, Roasted Corn and Monterrey Jack Tamale Pie
Half 14.50
Full 29.00
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Our mission: "...talented and interesting individuals..." |
One part of our mission is: "to have a staff of talented and interesting individuals."
We do.
No one does just one thing around here. All the shop folks are cooks too. The cooks are gardeners. John, our delivery fellow, plays guitar with the Rib Tips. Many of the gang are artists. Karen, our Catering Director, is a sculptor (which is why her buffets are so artful). We have athletes, musicians, students, caring souls, and, well, a varied and interesting bunch.
Our dishwashing department is especially interesting. Eddie, who now has RED hair (like a fire engine, you know) is going to go poke around Europe pretty soon. Zayt is a poet. Andy, who comes here sometimes, is a baker, cook, gardener, organizer.
I used to feel upset when someone left, wondering how, if at all, I would manage. Now my view is that there is a full, strong, and clear flow of talent that choses, on occasion, to stop in the eddy of this place of work. These people come in, add their artistry, and then, sometimes, move away.
So, when you come in to pick up lunch or dinner or a muffin, know that the person underneath the t-shirt is a pretty interesting soul. I, for one, continue to be surprised at this pool. |
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| Summer Plate Specials |
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You know that in the winter we have the "Hot Lunch of the Day." Well, the kitchen gang has decided to offer a special summer salad special each day. They'll put together a meal's worth of their favorite salads, tuck 'em all on a plate or into a lunchbox for you, and will send you off to the Parkway or, um, to our very own Garden Room.
This is another way we can give you the freshest salads and, as it comes in, local produce.
Of course, if you wish, you can continue to put together your own "Try Two" or "Sample Three" or "A Little of Each" salad plates. We know some of you like that. This is just something for you for when you don't feel like making any decisions. (Know what I mean?)
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A Note from Laurey |
May 29.
Hello to you from Asheville. Warm. Green. Nice.
We’ve had days of sun and afternoons of rain for some time now. The clouds appear in the late morning, fill up, and then, later, let it all go. The ground seems not to mind, opening up and soaking it all in. The gardens are thriving. At my house the tomato plants, a birthday present, are dark green and leafy and full of energy. Tomatoes. Soon.
My days, these days, are filled with not knowing. Sometimes this is the way it goes. I am never very good at sitting with the not knowing, but I guess it’s fair to say that one never really knows, for certain, much of anything anyway. But recognizing that this is, absolutely, a time of not knowing much of anything at all, I feel a bit wobbly. Mostly I feel filled with curiosity about how the various irons in my little fire will come out once the blacksmith (me?) decides it is time.
There is the curiosity about this dream in Italy. I have now found the owner of the pile of rocks that has caught my attention. She lives in Switzerland and is interested in talking. Can you imagine? I’m being taken seriously. Now what?
There is the wonder about what might happen with this collection of stories I have sent out into the world. Some people have said no. Some people have written that, lovely as the collection is, it is not right for their “catalog” this year. And some publishers haven’t said anything yet. There is not much I can do about any of this.
Wait. Wonder. Breathe.
And there is the thinking about various bigger picture things. We all have these curiosities, right? Something shifts and then everything moves and then, well, who knows what will happen.
So this morning, not knowing what to do or how to think or where to begin, I walked across to the market and just stood still. Bob sat in his chair playing some sweet, faint tunes. Shoppers visited with each other. Babies crawled around. Tables, filled with tomato plants and stalks of Rhubarb, waited. I did too. I stood. Thought. Breathed. Let these bits filter in. Gradually I relaxed, looked around, heard Bob’s fiddle more clearly. Things came into focus a bit more. A breeze came up. The Hollyhock leaves bent, ever so slightly.
These curiosities will unfold, just as they are meant to. They always do. No matter what.
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| The Girl and The Fig |
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I usually don't write about a new product until it is in my hands, or in the shop, but this one keeps popping up and it is on the way and it will be here soon and SO - please forgive me for being so eager, but I just have to be.
The Girl and The Fig is a place in Sonoma. Great name, huh? There is a shop. A restaurant. A cookbook. And a well-developed sense of the importance of careful ingredient selection and hand cooking of these ingredients.
We read about these preserves and sauces recently, called for samples which we tasted, and promptly placed an order. We got an e-mail note just last week saying that the figs were on their way (from the trees to THEIR kitchen!) and would be cooked on Thursday and shipped on Friday.
Now, one usually does not have the chance to have this kind of fig product this fresh unless one has a big copper pot and a fig tree in the back yard, and, since no one I know does, well, here's your chance to get pretty close to that experience.
The jams should be here in a week or so. When they get here I'll remind you, but I suggest you put these on your list for a summer zip. |
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A lovely new red fern holder (with a lovely new fern) for the shop |
| Irresistable, no? |
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