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The Weekly Newsletter |
Menus and Stories for March 27 - April 7, 2006
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| A hint of Spring |
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Noel works in our office, keeping things very organized. She has a whole book filled with systemized charts and versions of everything that she needs to do in her job! (What an odd things this is to me, who believes that organization means lots of piles of papers...!)
She is a very clever person too. For instance, right now she is teaching knitting classes to some fo the staff. She teaches stained glass too, and all sorts of other things. The other day she suggested we sell her chocolate pops.
"Sure" I said, my nose in a pile of papers.
And, just like that, they appeared! Can you imagine?
They are very good. I devoured a peanut butter sample in an instant. You might want to stock up. It's almost time for Easter Baskets, isn't it?
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Small versions of the fancy chocolates |
You will notice an emphasis on chocolate in this newsletter. It just feels like that kind of day to me. Emily, our office manager, who chooses most of the items in the shop, found these chocolates. Well, we've had them before, but they've been in a cute little box, all put together for sampling. By now you might have chosen your favorite flavors. If so, here's your chance to get an handful of just your favorites.
Go ahead, root through the bucket. Pick the ones you like. No one here will keep track or accuse you of "strip mining." (In case you don' t know that term, it refers to the person who, when handed a bag of mixed snacks at a lunch rest on a back-country hike, digs around and picks out all the m+m's.)
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| ***** Bars - a haiku |
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5 Star bars - oh boy!
Caramel or raisins too.
How about some nuts?
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Dinners to go for two weeks |
I'll be in Italy for the next couple of weeks on one of our "Delicious Expeditions" culinary adventures. Since I won't be near a computer, I'm going to put two weeks' worth of menus here for you.
Dinners, as you know, 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 is the menu for the next two weeks:
Monday March 27 Roasted Chicken with Red Pesto Sauce 10.00
Tuesday March 28 Pub-Style Fish and Chips 10.25
Wednesday March 29 Swedish Meatballs with Dilled Buttered Noodles 10.25
Thursday March 30 Bone-in Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes 10.00
Friday March 31 Crabcakes with Remoulade Sauce 11.50
Monday April 3 Grilled Mesquite Chicken with Tarragon Potatoes 9.75
Tuesday April 4 Spinach and Chicken (or vegetarian) Calzone 9.75
Wednesday April 5 Moo Shoo Pork with Vegetables 10.25
Thursday April 6 Hungarian Goulash with Egg Noodles 10.00
Friday April 7 Shrimp and Arugula Sauté with Risotto 12.25
In case I'm not back in time, the offering for Monday, April 10th is Chicken and Guacamole Fritattas. yum!
By the way, 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 a few months ago, 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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| Casseroles for two weeks |
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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, March 29
Chicken Tortilla Pie
featuring Fullam Creamery’s Queso Fresco
Full 34.00
Half 17.00
Wednesday, April 5
Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya
Full 39.50
Half 19.75
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MORE chocolate! |
New flavors for the chocolate enthusiasts.
We're FULL of chocolate, I tell you. We have a bunch of new flavors, a bunch of new combinations. Oh my they are good. I suggest you get a bar, eat a third now, a third later, and a third right before bed. Sweet dreams are a guarantee.
Listen to these names:
Milk Chocolate filled with Hazelnuts
Milk Chocolate with Almonds
Milk Chocolate filled with Caramel
Raspberry filled Truffle bars with Dark Chocolate
Java Truffle Bars with Dark Chocolate
Rum Caramel with Dark Chocolate
Dark Chocolate with Peppermint
Dark Chocolate with Almonds
Let's see, it looks like you eat could one a day for a whole week and not have any repeats. Zounds!
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| Just looking |
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Okay - so let's say you don't WANT all that chocolate. Or, to be precise, you want it, but, well, aren't going to get any. In that case, how about a magnet of a banana split? We try to be egalitarian around here. Just looking? No problem!
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Remember vegetables? |
Spring is here officially, but today is not a very convincing specimen.
This morning my deck was covered in snow. The Forsythia is bent over, covered in white. The Daffodils are trying to stay upright. Ah me.
I thought I'd put this photo in to remind you (and me, to be completely honest) that things ARE happening under the earth around here. Peas, planted on St. Patrick's Day (or earlier) are probably out of the ground. Before we know it we'll have spring onions, carrots, beets, radishes. I, for one, cannot wait.
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| A Note From Laurey |
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| Hello to you all.
I write today filled with a swirly, fidgety feeling. I am not sure what is going on, but I think it has to do with spring and wanting so badly for things to get warm and fill with light and sun and flowers. I know it will come. It always does. But this year, for some reason, I can hardly stand it: the waiting, the wonder, the when of it all.
I want to put my coat away. I want to shift into a light jacket, a sweater, a t-shirt alone, for that matter. But I leave home, coat-less, and find myself going back in for a warmer layer. “Not today. Not today. Not today.” I hear in my bones. “Maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow,” I whisper back.
My sister calls from Vermont and she, too, is sick of the cold. It’s not so much fun to live in the middle of winter if you don’t ski, or if you have to drive to work, or, frankly, if you’re just plain sick of it. She’s sick of it. We talk about figuring out how to find spring. In catalogues? In our dreams? Where?
I’ve been doing some glass blowing. I’m at a difficult stage in that too. Sort of in between being good, knowing what I am doing, translating my ideas into real things. At the moment I do have lots of good ideas, and not as much ability as I wish I had.
The other day I decided to concentrate on tumblers. “Tumbler” is glassblowing lingo for a drinking glass, but obviously EVERYTHING is glass, so a drink receptacle is called a tumbler, not a glass. For my day’s efforts I now have a counter at home filled with my attempts. This funny little collection reminds me of that series of pictures about the evolution of man – starting as apes and, as time passes, standing more and more upright.
My first attempt that day turned into a wobbly little thing – very much off center. The sides on that one flopped over and it turned into a cup of sorts, not that it would hold much. The next one looks more like what I was trying to do, but it leans to one side, has an uneven lip, warped sides. The next one is better. Instead of straight sides, though, this tumbler’s sides flare out. Trying to drink from it would simply not work. The drink would pour all over your shirt. Argh. The next one did get a bit better. It is straighter. It’s even at the top. Not too thick. You could, I imagine, drink from it.
But then, just as I was feeling confident – too confident – the next tumbler’s sides started to collapse and I lost the center point, lost the lip, lost the piece’s symmetry entirely. Not wanting to throw it out, however, I managed to turn it into a vase. With time for one more piece, the last one in the day’s series did turn out pretty well. Straight enough. Thin enough. Nice enough. All lined up on my counter at home, the collection is an entertaining record of the day’s work. What a laugh.
The process of trying to make things from glass is a lot like waiting for spring. Nothing seems to be happening. The ground is a mess. All the innards show. Dirty garden beds don’t seem to have much to offer. “It’ll never get here,” I whimper to myself.
But then, when it seems like it will never happen, when it seems like I will never learn how to do glass well, I find that I am, actually, moving with a surprising fluidity. The piece emerges, the colors work, the result is just as I wished. Those beds in the garden fill in, the farmers come back to the markets, and life just gets better. I’m not very patient. But it all will come soon enough I suppose. Right when it is supposed to.
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A beautiful family grows |
My buddy Monroe and his partner Lupe got word a week ago about the birth of this little boy. They thought about adding to their family (but didn't ponder for very long!) and, by the end of the week they were bringing this new brother home. Oliver Henry is a good sleeper, as you can see. Maria and Beatrice are proud big sisters. Life goes on. Love fills it right up.
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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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