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The Weekly Newsletter |
Menus and Stories for January 23 - 28, 2006
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| Make Friday the 27th a Special Night |
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Special North Carolina Coast Dinner to Go – Friday, January 27
Emily, our wizard of the office, came up with the fun idea of having a once-a-month special dinner to go. We’re kicking it off this month with a dinner featuring the best of the state. Please, if you can, order by Wednesday, the 25th. The dinners will be ready to pick up on Friday between 4:30 and 6:00 (as usual.)
Isn’t it nice to stay home and NOT have to cook?
Here is the menu for this first one:
The Salad:
Elsie’s Mushroom Salad on Bibb Lettuce
The Dinner:
North Carolina Grouper with Jet Fresh Pineapple Salsa
(okay, the pineapple will not be from North Carolina)
Corn and Shrimp Fritters
Parsnip and Potato Puree
North Carolina Spoonbread
The Dessert:
Black Bottom Pie
(trust us – this one will be great!)
The Price: 21.25
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The Perfect Coffee Cake |
I am a real coffee cake fan. This one, made by Melissa, fits the bill as the quintessential cake in my opinion. Moist, not-too-sweet cake. Crumbly top with a little bit of zip. One piece is the perfect accompaniment for a cup of coffee. I have had a piece-a-day since she started to make it. I think its a keeper. That means, I will try to use my influence to make sure we have a stock of it every day. Come see what I'm talking about.
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| And, speaking of ZIP...! |
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Spicy Hot Chocolate seems to be the thing these days. We've carried Lake Champlain Hot Chocolates for some time and they have always been a popular addition to a cold night and a hot fire. I think I mentioned that we had our staff Christmas party a week ago (when we finally had time to catch our breath.) Homemade Spicy Hot Chocolate showed up in a couple of different gifts, making me sit up and take note. If you are clever, like some of the folks who work here, you can blend your own. If you're not (clever in that way, that is) come give ours a try. The heat of the spice warms you down to the inside of your bones. And THAT, my friends, is a lasting warmth.
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Dinners to go (Free dinner drawing*) |
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.
Here's this week's menu:
Monday January 23 Spinach and Ricotta-stuffed Chicken Breast 9.75
Tuesday January 24 Eggplant Parmesan 9.75
Wednesday January 25 Pork Tenderloin with Braised Red Cabbage 10.25
Thursday January 26 Beef and Mushroom Stuffed Peppers 10.00
Friday January 27 Special North Carolina Coast Dinner
* Every time you order a dinner to go you are eligible to enter our drawing. Just drop a card in our drawing jar (a business card works or fill out one of the cards that we have right here) and, at the end of the month, we'll pull one card which will be good for two free dinners-to-go. Inaugurated last month, our first winner was delighted! Maybe you'll win next month.
Order a lot? Enter a lot!
Good luck!!
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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, January 25
Chicken Pot Pie
Full - 32.00
Half - 16.00
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Sweet Thoughts |
At home I have been making Poached Pears on more than one occasion. (I'd say "a lot" but that would be an exaggeration so I won't.) Richard, it seems, has been poaching some pears around here. I had one for my breakfast this morning and was very happy about it indeed.
Take a look in our deli case to find them. Winter fruits are less outrageous than summer ones, but I find a certain comfort in the quieter flavors that they have. This one has a sauce of the reduced pear liquid which turns into a lovely syrup and makes a simple, light dessert. If you're feeling bold, drizzle some hot Tanzanian Chocolate Sauce on top (we have that in our shop, don't worry, you won't have to make it yourself.)
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| A bit of sweet comfort |
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You know, I hope, that we offer a sweet bit to go with your lunch or dinner to go. Sure, we have lots of cookies and brownies and bars and such. The baker makes a special sweet to go with the dinner each night. Ask, about the evening's offering, if you're so inclined, or be impetuous and see what we have when you get here.
By the way, we boxed and ribboned a couple of these the other day, tucked 'em into a gift basket along with some salads and cheeses and crackers and drinks and the guests called it a picnic. Nice.
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Got Chocolate? |
More from Lake Champlain.
Heirloom Cocoa beans with "Delectable Taste Characteristics."
"Intense flavor profiles reflect the climate of origin."
Right. What this means is that, if you pay attention, you get to taste Tanzania and Grenada and Africa and Brazil and you can take this trip at your own dining room table. Sounds like fun, yes?
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| A Note From Laurey |
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Oh I got to take a little trip this week to another part of the state and that was a very fun thing for me. A bit of an adventure. A bit of a jaunt. A bit of a change.
I taught a cooking class the other night in Southern Pines. Amazingly, for I’ve now lived here almost 20 years, I’d never ventured to that part of the state. I have a tendency to stay in a tight space, preferring to delve deeper into my immediate surroundings than to go too far away (except to places like Italy, that is.)
I had never been to Seagrove. Never been to Lexington. Never tasted that barbecue. Never visited those potters. And a group of some 50 people had signed up for my class which featured classics from my mother’s cookbooks. Sounded like a good trip to me.
After Monday’s all day long staff training, which was very involved and energizing and exhausting all at once, I came to work early on Tuesday, loaded up the car with ingredients, utensils, recipes, books, pajamas and a toothbrush, and headed out.
Monroe loaned me his new satellite radio so the audio portion of the trip took on an interesting and different twist. I flipped through “70s dance” and “classic oldies” and “Broadway Favorites” and “Piano Jazz Standards” and “Hip Hop” and “The Pulse” and “The Beat” and such. Seagrove popped up before I would have believed possible.
I have a small collection of red-glazed pots made by Ben Owen III so it seemed appropriate, since I did have a limited amount of time, to pick him as the one I would visit. January, however, is his month off, so I wandered and followed my steering wheel and ended up at the old Jugtown Pottery joint. The air is different there. Drier maybe, or softer, maybe. The trees are different. The pines, too. January is not when most people travel to that old pottery-making enclave so I roamed around the old log cabins, browsing, reading old captions on old pictures, poking my nose into dusty rooms where the current generation of Owen family still works. Jugtown in January is a quiet place and the hustle of my current days fell away.
And then, in an instant (“Old Country Classics” “Symphonic Favorites” “Mexican Pop”) I was in Pinehurst surrounded by gigantic golf balls and golf courses and golf paraphernalia and then, a second later (“Margaritaville” “Classic Vinyl”), the sleepy (in January) center of Southern Pines.
Found the class venue.
Unloaded my things.
Set up.
Taught the class.
(there’s more to say about the class but this note is about the trip so we’ll leave it at that)
Cleaned up.
Put on my pajamas.
Brushed my teeth.
Went to sleep.
And then, early, early in the morning, I packed the car and took off. A big front had moved through overnight, banging the plantation doors, rattling the windows, making the tree branches scratch against my room’s screens. I, alone in the place for that one night, didn’t mind leaving.
I pulled into Lexington at 8:45. Just in time for breakfast, except that I had come to try the barbecue. I did not ask directions. I did not arrive with recommendations. I parked and went into the first place I saw, noting a full parking lot and hoping that to be a good sign. The waitress, eyes elsewhere, brought me a menu. All breakfast food. No barbecue. Unh.
“Coffee?” she asked, not looking at me.
“Sure. Thanks.”
She brought it, set it down, didn’t look up.
I don’t see any barbecue on this menu.” I said.
She lowered her pad, looked at me.
“Honey, if you want BAR-be-cue, well, that’s what I’ll bring you. You want a chopsandwich?”
“Sure,” I said.
About two minutes later another waitress brought me a little bundle wrapped in white paper.
“You havin’ the chopsandwich?” she said, smirking.
“Yes. Please.”
I sat. Ate it – quickly. Everyone else was eating eggs and bacon and grits and gravy and talking and – yes – smoking – and I felt out of place with my chopsandwich.
Hopped back in the car. Turned on “Dance Beat 80’s” and sped on back to the moist mountains that are my home. I had a good visit. But it felt good to be back.
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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
"Don't Postpone Joy!"(tm)
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