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The Weekly Newsletter |
Menus and Stories for April 25 - 30, 2005
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| They're married! |
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| Emily (our office manager) and Adam (our shop manager) got married 14 days ago. (No they did not meet here, sigh, but arrived as a well-established couple.) After a week at the beach they are back with us, happy, sweet as ever, and oh so cute! |
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Our "Southern Antipasto" |
It is wedding season. This was Karen's presentation of one of our favorite offerings: our own pickled okra, oven-roasted beets, and oven-dried tomatoes. As the growing season progresses, we'll have even more in the assortment.
(Boy we are lucky to live in this food-oriented spot on the earth. We have an amazing bounty right here in our mountains and this year we aim to increase what we buy and then offer to you. Lucky us! Lucky you too.) |
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| Yellow Branch Farmstead Cheese gets noticed! |
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Wow! Yellow Branch Farmstead (this means that the cheese makers raise the animals that produce the milk that becomes the cheese that the cheese makers make) Cheese has received recognition from Saveur Magazine as one of their 50 favorite American cheeses. This, as you can imagine, is quite an honor.
We offer this cheese on our parties as much as possible these days, and also carry it in our "help yourself" case up in the front of the shop. Pick some up with crackers for a simple appetizer. With the light staying later and later, porch-sitting is more prevalent. I, for one, like cheese with a beer before dinner. You? |
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Yellow Branch Farmstead Cheese |
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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 April 25 Greek Lemon Chicken with Orzo 9.75
Tuesday April 26 Shrimp Newberg 10.50
Wednesday April 27 Tuscan Meatloaf and Parsleyed Potatoes 9.75
Thursday April 28 Chicken Scallopine 9.75
Friday April 29 Seared Wild Salmon and Lemon Parmesan Rice 12.25
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Our website |
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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, April 27
Tarragon Chicken, Spinach, and Wild Rice “Pie”
Full 35.00
Half 17.50
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Ready for the food |
I think a mark of a good buffet is when it can be pretty before any of the food goes out. After all, when the food is gone, after it has been eaten, the buffet needs to look nice too, right? Here, then, is one of Karen's buffets on its way to being a party. (She does nice work, doesn't she?)
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| What a week! |
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It is a busy week. I already mentioned Dining Out for Life, the event happening on Thursday the 28th. Come for lunch if you can (come early if you can, as I think it might be pretty busy) or, if you prefer, take a dinner home. We'll donate 20% of sales to WNC Aids Project.
But wait, there's more!
After dinner, wherever you chose to dine (and many restaurants are part of Dining Out for Life), come to The Orange Peel for the YWCA's first ever Black and White Ball. I love the YWCA. I love the mission: "Empowering women and their families and eliminating racism." It is such a wonderful addition to our community, and has meant - and continues to mean - so much to so many people. Come join in on the fun. Great music, terrific auction items (we're donating a dinner/cooking class "Delicious Expedition" for ten that you can have here or at your home), and a night of dancing await. Come and work off your dinner and support this important place. |
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This week |
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| A Note from Laurey |
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Whewf! Springtime is a busy time around here. Do you think we feel compelled to dig in the dirt, making gardens because we know that we CAN, or is the earth itself propelling us outside, into the yard, knowing that, if we can be coaxed out, vegetables and sustenance will then follow? I know that I can hardly stay in these days. My lawn, recently completely out of control, is now neatly trimmed. Most of the garden beds are ready for the flats of flowers and seedlings that I can't resist on my Saturday morning visits to the markets. This weekend, if the snow stays away, I’ll get to the last of the beds, clean them out, and tuck in chard and kale, broccoli and lettuce, peas and radishes and cardoons!
Cardoons are my very favorites. They are everywhere in Italy. Around here, at least in this area of the country, cardoons are frequently grown as ornamental garden greenery. But in Italy they become “contorni” – vegetable side dishes. On each “Delicious Expeditions” trip we make, I make a point to buy some on a night when we are cooking at home. They are a bit tricky to make, needing to be peeled and cut and simmered and then baked, but oh my! Imagine a whole batch of just artichoke hearts. Zounds. I bought four plants this morning which will, I hope, keep me in cardoons before too long.
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I got back to the glass studio this week too. I blew up my first piece of the day, but I guess that the first piece should be considered a warm up. I tried not to get concerned, but just picked up the pipe, after my first explosion, gathered up some glass, and got busy with the second try. It worked! I went slowly and didn’t end up with anything very dramatic, but, after last week, I felt it important to just make something that was not broken. Michael, the glassblower in whose studio I practice, said that it is normal to have a slump. I, still very much of a beginner, realize that I hardly know enough to be in a slump yet, but it was nice to hear that, in a “slump-y” way, I am normal.
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I spent part of the week working on a new sign for the shop. Our existing sign says “Yum” in the center and then “Laurey’s Catering and Gourmet to Go” around the outside. Curiously, though perhaps not surprisingly – I guess – some people think that this business is called “Yum.” (!) Furthermore, even though we have what seems to ME to be a big sign, some people have said they can’t find us.
Now that we are encouraging people to come here for lunch, it seems important that people can find us. And that they know that we do have seats and have a place to eat and that we are not just a catering spot anymore. Figuring out how to convey this has been interesting. Describing what we do, in a simple way, has been a bit of a challenge too.
My style is to solicit input as much as possible. And then to take an idea and adapt, change, alter, tweak and, well, mess with it until the result elicits more “Nice!” reactions than, “How ‘bout if you made that line thicker?” comments. I like the one we’ve come up with and we’ll roll it out soon. Come see what you think.
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Nicely round |
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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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