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The Weekly Newsletter |
Menus and Stories for September 5 - 10, 2005
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| The faces behind the food |
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Ah my friends, it is Labor Day weekend. I thought I'd introduce you to some of the folks who raise the food that we buy and serve. These folks are friends now, hard-working, impressive souls who take care of us, you, each other, and the earth.
Then there are the folks here in my shop who take these ingredients and turn them into the salads and entrees and dinners-to-go. It takes everyone on this team to imagine, create, present, and serve this food. It takes dedicated, polite, caring people to answer the phones, drive the delivery vehicles, make one gal's business musings a reality.
I found out last week that we were selected as Best Caterer for 2005 in Asheville. This, my friends, is not MY trophy. Nope. This one came to this business because of this amazing team. Farmers. Cooks. Service staff. Shop staff. Office staff. Everyone working together.
These are my heros. In this issue of the newsletter I salute them.
(At a birthday party last night I served a dinner that came, almost exclusively, from the folks whose pictures appear in today's newsletter. I feel so fortunate that this is something I can do. Making food for friends, using ingredients from friends. I can't imagine anything better.)
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Frank |
Frank grows tomatoes, squash, greens. Our invoices from him always contain a charge for "Cute Baby Squash." I say, keep 'em coming!
We've had a tremendous response to our platters and platters filled with Frank's Grilled Baby Squash with Sun-dried Tomatoes. Seems like one minute the deli case is filled with them and the next - gone!
Last night I served some of his tiny Patty Pans, scooped out with a melon baller and filled with Spinning Spider's new Lemon Chevre. YUM!
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| Cullen |
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Cullen and his two brothers, Silas and Morgan, along with mom Chris, raise and care for a small herd of goats. The boys are home schooled. The goats are adored. The resulting cheeses are amazing, filled with love.
A couple of weeks ago I cooked at the tailgate market which meant that I got to play with all the food the farmers brought me. It was an inspiring day for me, reminding me about why I do what I do. Getting to be a part of the cycle of this chevre is one reason. Do try their cheeses, either at one of the local markets, or - heck - we sell 'em right here in our "Help Yourself" case.
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Dinners to go |
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.
Monday is Labor Day. We will be closed for the day but will be back in full form on Tuesday.
Tuesay, September 6 Baked Chicken Lasagna 9.75
Wednesday, September 7 Lamb Chops and Potatoes with Cucumber Mint Sauce 12.00
Thursday, September 8 Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Potatoes au gratin 11.50
Friday, September 9 Scallop and Shrimp Fettucine 12.25
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Our website |
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| Dave - and our "Casserole of the Week" |
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Here is a photo of Dave, who sells us our Sourwood Honey. Dave does a lot of other things too, including teaching troubled kids how to cope with the world. His wife Patty teaches little ones too. And in between, Dave moves hives around, gathers honey, and brings it to market. I think he also teaches other people how to keep bees. Without bees, you know, we'd be nowhere. No fruit. No berries. Nothing.
Oh - the casserole:
We make a special casserole each week on Wednesday. Please give us a call by the end of the day on Tuesday and we’ll fix yours for you. Come by between 4:30 and 6:00. Get a half (for 4 appetites) or a full sized pan (for 9 or so.)
Wednesday, September 7
Seafood Cottage Pie
Here is a nice comfort meal for you. Filled with shrimp, salmon, vegetables, cheese, cream. Topped with puffed pastry. Very nice. Very nice indeed.
Full 44.75
Half 16.50
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Aaron and Anne |
Anne brings in flowers, heirloom tomatoes, all kinds of wonderful things. Right now she has sauerkraut too. In our shop today we have her Striped Cavern Tomatoes (pictured at the beginning of this newsletter) which are being served filled with Richard's Provence-influenced Orzo Salad. I served some at last night's party as a First Course. It was very nice - a pasta and a salad all in one. Right before I left here for the event I snipped a few bags of herbs from our garden out back of the shop. The Lavender made a nice enhancement, I thought.
Aaron, of Mulberry Gap Farms, supplied last night's Pork Tenderloin. I was happy to see two kayaks in the back of his truck this morning. I hope that means he's going to go do some playing on his way back from today's market. (The pork was delicious. Wonderfully flavorful. Remarkable, actually. Do try some.)
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| Barry |
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Barry was the very first farmer who I bought local produce from - way back in 1988, I think it was. He and Laura farm a steep section of land near the top of a mountain to the north of here. Because of their altitude, they can bring many things that have "gone by" at other, lower farms.
B+L Organics continues to be a regular supplier of ours. These days we just step across the street and go shopping at Barry's tailgate. (By the way, last week's puppy picture featured one of the farm's unexpected progeny.)
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Mary |
Broadwing Farms growns the blackberries that become "Jam Babes'" jams. (That's the sweet stuff that we make right here in our shop, always using local fruit.)
If you go to the North Asheville tailgate market you might, if you arrive early enough, be able to buy one of their Sticky buns. As you see, they make and sell jams too. Nice.
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| A Note from Laurey |
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What a gut wrenching week it has been - a week of days of terrifying pictures and horrific stories.
It has also been a week filled with tales of people finding ways to make a difference. We, here in the mountains, are close enough to Louisiana that we have really felt the impact. We have been moved. Deeply moved. A year ago a hurricane came here and made a gigantic mess, flooding, destroying, altering lives. This year it missed us, but changed the lives of so many of our friends. Along with the obvious tragic tales that we see in the news, I wonder about my restaurant colleagues from New Orleans, feeling deeply sad for them at this disastrous turn of events. I cannot imagine what it would be like to see this creation of mine ruined in an instant.
Today is a busy day for us here. We are catering a big wedding that will take place this afternoon beside a beautiful lake near here. The bride and groom have a beautiful day for their wedding. I see no clouds. The temperature is perfect. We're making food for a birthday dinner. There is a seminar going on and we're providing lunch. Another group is taking our "Southern Sampler" on a family picnic. Then there are the clients who will drop by our shop to stay and have lunch with us or to take our salads off for the long weekend. Life, here, goes on.
A few years ago, right after September 11, Monroe and I took a group of people to Tuscany. Many people were staying home then, paralyzed by fear. We decided to go, decided to act as if we'd be fine. We WERE fine. Our Italian hosts were so gracious, expressing their sadness to us, often crying as they described their New York visits. Being there brought all of us closer together. Friends, forging bonds, made it better. Life moved on then.
The other day, when the word started to spread that the destruction was worsening and that there might be a gas shortage, a panic threatened to overtake us. I was cooking, right at that moment, preparing a tasting meal for a bride and groom. It seemed a bit superficial to keep cooking. What good does cooking do when people's lives have been destroyed? But the shop was full of visitors and the bride and groom were about to arrive. I pulled on a hat, stepped up to the stove, and plunged in, trying to push everything else out of my head.
The bride and groom liked their tasting. The shop's guests seemed happy. My staff kept working, kept busy, kept taking care of folks. As the days go by, things here calm down even more. Yesterday a whole team of soccer players showed up for lunch. 25 college girls came in, ordered sandwiches, waited patiently, ate, and then left. We had never had a group of 25 show up all at once. For a moment everyone scrambled around, but after just a second more we all got to work, forming a very smooth and efficient production line. The soccer players did not have long to wait, and our other customers were quickly taken care of too. There was seating for everyone. Life, here, was going on.
Life does go on, at least I hope it will. We can do our best to make sure it does. We can go there and help if we are able. Or we can stay here, keep things going, help make life good where we are. Some of us can send money. Some of us can offer shelter to newcomers. Everything matters. Nothing more than anything else. Whatever you can do will help too.
(By the way, for the next few weeks we will send a percentage of our sales to The Red Cross - so thanks for being a part of us being a part.)
Take care of yourselves.
Laurey
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All in the family |
Jen, who makes wonderful bread at her Natural Bridge Bakery, adopted the other puppy from B+L's surprise litter. "Bo Bo" is a happy, waggy, jumpy fellow who is already far more outgoing than he was last week when he was in search of a home.
By the way, for her bread Jen grinds grain into flour just before she bakes it in her wood-fired oven. This is the real deal, my friends. We, in this community, are truly fortunate to have her and all of these others to grow and make our food.
Especially this week, in the aftermath of such horrific destruction so near to us, it seems particularly important to remember that we really all live in a fragile place. We must do all we can to elevate the good. It might seem insignificant, but buying local really does matter.
Thank you, farmers. Thanks so very much.
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Contact Info: |
Laurey's
"Gourmet Comfort Food"
Eat In - Take Out - Catering
67 Biltmore Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801
828-252-1500
Hours:
Monday - Friday 8:00 - 6:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 - 4:00 pm |
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