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The Weekly Newsletter |
Menus and Stories for March 21 - 26, 2005
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| We're # 4!!! |
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Who gets excited about being fourth? We do!
Last week we participated in the 15th Annual Altrusa/Literacy Council Spelling Bee. Martha, Karen and I formed a team, studied like crazy (they had some TOUGH words) and, last Monday, shaking, we went off to test ourselves.
"It's all about having fun," I kept saying to them - and to myself. "Let's just see how we do."
There were 17 teams in all. Doctors, nurses, teachers, high school students, college students, and some regular folks too. The first few rounds were easy enough, with words like "macaroni" and "scalpel" and "garrulous" but then the level of difficulty increased and teams began to drop.
"Tarpaulin" got one team. "Indefatigable" sank another one. "Pedestal" took out another. "Saccharine" proved to be the demise of the doctors.
In the 8th round, when it was our turn, we stood up, faced the official pronouncer and the judges, and heard our word. As we had done for all the previous rounds, the three of us huddled, conferred, and approached the microphone. The room full of spectators got very quiet.
"H," I began, "O - R - O - L - O - G," I continued, "G - U - E." I was sure of it!
"I'm sorry," the judge said, the correct spelling is "HOROLOGE."
No U!!!!
I coulnd't believe it!!! No U. The audience howled. By then everyone was cheering for everyone and a defeat of anyone sent the crowd into sympathetic moaning.
But that was it for us.
The two final teams, one from AB Tech and one from a book club, had a spell-off at the end and the book club gals won, spelling four out of the five final, very difficult words, correctly.
Fourth is pretty good for the first time. We'll be back next year. (By the way, I didn't mention this bee in advance because I wasn't too sure how it would go, but we'd love to have a cheering section next year so I'll be sure to give you advance notice, okay?)
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Into the kitchen - past the window boxes |
| Even if spring hasn't quite made it up to our mountains yet, our window box ferns are happy. They perch on the edge of our kitchen. Who WOULDN'T be happy? They get to watch the cooks create. They get the first aromas from the ovens. And, perhaps best, they get to hear all the conversations during the day. |
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| It's almost Easter |
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| We have treats for your favorite bunny's basket. These fun packs of gum are in the lighter vein of things. But who says everything should be so serious anyway? |
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The nightly dinners for the week (Call 252-1500 to order) |
Dinners come with a freshly-made green salad, salad dressing of the day,
and made-right-here bread of the day. We take reservations until noon or so.
Please order by phone (252-1500), by FAX (252-02002)
or stop in to speak to one of us in person.
Dinners are ready at 4:30 and can be picked up until we close at 6:00 pm.
Monday March 21 Chicken Breasts w/ Sun-dried Tomato and Prosciutto 9.75
Tuesday March 22 Sesame Beef and Snow Peas 10.25
Wednesday March 23 BBQ Braised Short Ribs with Roasted Potatoes 10.00
Thursday March 24 Dijon Roasted Pork Loin with Braised Red Cabbage 10.50
Friday March 25 Cashew-Roasted Tuna Fillet with Herbed Risotto 11.25
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Laurey's (yum!) Catering and Gourmet to Go |
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| Casserole for 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.
Wednesday, March 23
North Carolina Spring Chicken Pot Pie
Whole 33.00
Half 16.50 |
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More gum |
Who THINKS of these things? Check out our ever-changing display of hilarity. Right next to the cash register in the shop.
My favorites continue to be "Be Nice or Leave. Thank You." and "Boss Lady Gum," but there are nine choices and all are witty and fun. Stick some in your pocketbook for just the right moment. |
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| A little round vase |
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Getting bigger! |
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| A Note from Laurey |
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I remembered an important lesson this week. Here I am trying to learn how to blow glass. I have given myself the gift of a class or a practice session once or twice a week for a precious few hours. For the most part I have managed to leave whatever it is I am doing, go to the hot shop, and dive in. I have reveled in being swept off to glass world. And I have, up until this week, been very good at stepping through the door of the studio and switching gears.
I wasn't so good at it this week.
As a result, I broke almost everything I made.
I’d start to make a piece and all would go well until I let a snippet of some work concern drift in. BANG! All of a sudden I’d find that I had over-inflated my bubble. (It’s not all that different from bubble gum except that the hot glass, fortunately, does not go all over the blower’s face.)
The first piece I made was too thick. The second piece too thin. The third try was coming along nicely – for a time. But then I remembered I had to get on the road pretty soon in order to get to an appointment on time. BINGO! There went my piece.
Figuring I had time for one more try, I picked up a fresh pipe. The first “gather” went well. I AM learning and AM getting more comfortable, after all. The second “gather” where you collect more of the molten glass, was good too. I started shaping. So far, so good. Started inflating. NICE! The piece got bigger and bigger – in the very way I wanted to have it go. Hurray. The jinx on my day seemed to be lifting. Glancing at my watch, I saw I had enough time to do one more pass at a final shaping. Back to the “glory hole” for one last “heat” I tried to take my time. And, once I had a good enough shape, given my time restriction, I went to the area of the hot shop where the piece gets removed from the pipe.
This can be a tricky time. You have to cool the glass, cool it in just the right spot to create a weakness, and then tap just hard enough to send a vibration to the weakened joint but not too hard to break the piece.
I cooled the joint. Tapped the pipe. And, perfectly, the piece came off, just as I wanted it to. I smoothed the bottom with a blow torch and picked it up to take it to the annealing oven. (Glass has to cool down slowly or it will crack.) I opened the door to the oven and, just as I reached to put it away, I saw two huge cracks spreading down the sides of my beauty.
ARGH!!!
So, it was not my day. I could not get rid of the random worries and concerns. I never made it to the needed full concentration. And I ended up with just two things – one of which has two huge cracks to remind me, once again.
“Concentrate. Clear your mind. Concentrate.”
Maybe next week.
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Our friend |
We lost this sweet fellow this past week. Holcombe McDaniel came here three or four days a week for soup and conversation.
"The soup was delicious today," he'd tell me. "You have some soup wizards in that kitchen of yours."
His sweet dog, Bentley, was often with him, wimpering because he had to stay outside while his dad came inside for lunch.
We will miss Mr. McDaniel very much. He was a friend to all of us. Dapper. Lovely. A gentleman. |
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Contact Info: |
Laurey's (yum!) Catering
Gourmet-to-Go (and to stay!)
67 Biltmore Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801
828-252-1500
Hours:
Monday - Friday 10:00 - 6:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 - 4:00 pm |
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