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The Weekly Newsletter |
Menus and Stories for September 19 - 24, 2005
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| Lake Champlain Chocolates - new, DARK! |
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Our friends up in Vermont don't miss a beat.
Dark Chocolate is the thing these days. Exotic sourcing is popular too (that means going to far away places to get unusual ingredients, you know.)
The new line, called "Select Origins" is all dark chocolate, and has cocoa beans from all over the world. Oh, the packagin is quite nice too, so if you need a quick present for someone (not that YOU can't get some for yourself, mind you) come on by.
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Roasted Vegetable Salad |
Here's a nice late-summer salad that was part of a wedding last week. I feel sad that summer is coming to a close around here since it's been so nice to walk across the street to fill our refrigerators with fresh produce. Today when I went over there to browse I heard from most farmers that the season is just about done. Sigh.
We're still getting nice tomatoes (Frank brought us a load of fat variegated yellow fellows this morning) and we're seeing squash and basil (lots of basil) and potatoes here and there. Mary tells us that her hoop-grown cukes are beginning to come along, so we'll be able to keep offering Shepherd's Salad for a while now.
We'll do our best.
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| The Wedding - pre-food |
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I really like this picture of Karen's handiwork before any food has been presented. Nice, isn't it?
I told you, I think, that Karen's degree is in Fine Art (she even has an MFA.) I think she finds some pleasure in sculpting these buffets - though I know it is not the same as sculpting fine art (but really, just think how many people get to view her buffets...)
Anyway, she is very clever and I just thought you might like this picture.
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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 September 19 Chicken Gorgonzola w/ Spinach + Tomato Linguine 9.75
Tuesday September 20 Ropas Viejas (Spanish Pot Roast) 10.00
Wednesday September 21 Chicken and Dumplings 9.75
Thursday September 22 Maple-glazed Pork Tenderloin 10.25
Friday September 23 Thai-style Red Curry Shrimp with Coconut Rice 12.00
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Our website |
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| Casserole of the Week |
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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 21
Eggplant Parmesan
Full 28.00
Half 14.00
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Smoked Turkey and Peach Salad |
Mmm MMM!
The cooks are full of ideas these days.
Here is Richard's invention, as realized by Kether. It starts with Richard's cousin Zeb's smoked turkey, which is blended in with the usual salad-y things and then gets tossed with fresh peaches (which are still very good around here, even though they are not from our immediate area.)
This one is REALLY good. If you prefer, ask for a sandwich of Richard's cousin Zeb's Smoked Turkey.
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| Grilled Chicken |
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Here is Kether's Grilled Chicken with a Ginger and Orange Drizzle.
Richard has been on vacation for a week and others have been taking his place at the grill. This one flew out of the case. I heard pleased murmurings, though never got to even give it a try. You snooze, you lose, right?
A couple of other new salads and discoveries in the deli case:
Edamame Salad with Tofu and Oranges
Sesame Tofu with Fall Vegetables
Flank Steak Quesadillas
Heirloom Tomato Salad with a Balsamic Drizzle
And, um, I can't remember any more but I can tell you it's hard to decide what to have these days. So many choices. I suggest following the lead of many of our guests - come more than once a week.
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Sweet Grass Dairy |
Adam discovered a new cheese recently. In browsing through the catalogue of a new supplier, he noticed this dairy and requested samples of their goat cheeses. Well, they were pretty good, but we already have a fabulous supplier - Spinning Spider - right here in our neighborhood (almost) so we weren't deeply interested. However, he also noticed that they have a herd of Jersey cows too, so, without sampling, he ordered a test batch of some of their cheeses.
WOW!!!
We currently have three, though at this rate, they'll be gone before you know it. Try their Thomasville Tomme, their Georgia Gouda, and - my absolute favorite, their Myrtlewood. Put it this way, it's been three days since a sliver made its way to my tongue, and I can't forget the exquisite taste. My oh my!
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Sweet Grass Dairy |
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| A Note from Laurey |
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Whew! It’s been a busy day! Here it is, nearly 11 at night and I am just now getting the time to sit and finish this newsletter that I started sometime in the middle of this morning.
My day:
Up and at ‘em early. I got to be “substitute baker babe” today, having the pleasure of decorating a wedding cake. The bride, when we met, said that a psychic had foretold a disaster with the cake. Talk about pressure! When you decorate a cake there are many times when you take a cake out and put it back into the refrigerator. The cake had a chocolate mousse filling and a buttercream exterior. There was a lot of moving of the cake and each time I moved the thing I imagined it crashing to the floor.
Midway through the cake decorating project, right after the “crumb coat,” I met with a bride and her mother to talk about a Spring wedding. That meeting was a nice diversion from the cake project. We talked about the groom, the menu, the décor, new peas, baby carrots. All fine.
Back to the cake. Time for its second coat of frosting. So far so good.
The phone rang. Someone was calling, looking for some Chocolate Canyons, her favorite cookie. We only had one. She wanted six. No sweat. I pulled some from the freezer and got them ready to bake.
It was time to take a moment to hop over to the tailgate market to visit and find out what was available – we have a dinner for 100 next week and the client wants all local food (yay!) Got distracted by the flowers: huge sunflowers and bright red zinnias and more.
Back to work. Time to bake the cookies. Okay so far. While they baked I had time to start the newsletter. But I needed some pictures, so I skipped around the shop, snapping shots, planning articles, considering the flow of it all.
Karen arrived to get things for the wedding. She decided she wanted some flowers for the cake so we went back to the tailgate market, bought her some and bought me some too. I simply couldn’t resist those sunflowers. They brighten up the shop so! Back at work I started re-arranging the table vases with the new sunflowers.
A big crowd showed up at the shop so I stopped to chip in a bit. Finished arranging the flowers, said goodbye to Karen and her crew, greeted some clients in the shop, and went to write more of the newsletter.
Then my second client meeting was there and I stopped (!) to go talk about a January wedding. January! What can I serve in January, now that I want to feature seasonal produce. Nice meeting. Nice bride. Nice mother. Nice all in all.
Back to the newsletter.
But this time, as I tried to get to the newsletter program, I kept getting an error message. No internet. After tying everything I knew, I called the cable company “Your waiting time will be 8 minutes” the robot cheerfully announced! While I waited I tried to find the bottom of my desk – somewhat successfully. And, when the tech support person finally came on, he told me that ALL of the cable service in North and South Carolina was down. All of it! So much for the newsletter.
Sigh.
I decided to take an hour and catch up with menus, billings, some clerical tasks I had. Periodically I’d glance back at the modem, looking for four solid lights, a telltale sign that the internet was working again. Nope. Blinking away, indicating that it was NOT working, I was about to give up. At any rate, now it was time to get the evening party going. I was the guide for this one, making sure that two newer staff folks could do the set up. They could. Once I’d checked in on them, I thought I’d give the newsletter one more try.
But first, it really was time to get the heck out of town. I’d had enough by that point so I went to the store to stock up on cat food and dog food and Laurey food and headed home where I fed the cats (the dog is at sleep away camp since I’m going to a conference tomorrow) and then myself.
And NOW, finally, the internet is working again and I am able to finish this note and say, have a fine weekend. I’ll be in touch in a week.
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A view from our deck |
We had such a nice time on our Labor Day staff trip to the Lake. I couldn't access my camera last week, so here is a belated deck's eye view of our friends Scott and Laura's boat. None of us could move the next day after water skiing and wakeboarding, and we had some dramatic head-over-heels spills to remember, but there were many triumphs too.
Labor Day at the Lake. A grand tradition has begun.
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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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