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The Weekly Newsletter |
Menus and Stories for June 12 - 17, 2006
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| Up on a roof |
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The reason to have a catering company is that you get to put on parties in all sorts of places. Last night's rehearsal dinner was on a rooftop in the middle of downtown Asheville. The night was perfect, the bride and groom filled with delight at themselves (rightly so) and in the end all went just according to plan. Fun!
At the end of the evening I took the elevator downstairs and got caught up in the masses of visitors out enjoying the warmth and energy of the town before I drove home to the dark and the quiet and the fireflies.
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Elsie's Pickled Shrimp |
Here was the first course last night. We tucked John's Dunk Sauce down at the bottom of the glass, stuck a sprig of dill on top and that, as we put it, was that.
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| Circles of Love |
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Nicole, our gal who watches the tables and dusts the shop during lunch hours during the week, had an art show last weekend. She has been drawing fanciful pictures for some time and, along with another young woman, presented her drawings. Her mother helps organize them into collages and bigger assemblies. We got her to put a "sold" sign on this one and will have it hanging in the shop soon.
We're going to start selling Nicole's note cards too. We're doing our part to keep her supplied with her favorite magazines and CDs and DVDs! Do come see her work for yourself.
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Dinners to go |
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 this week:
Monday June 12 Gorgonzola Chicken with Fettuccine 9.75
Tuesday June 13 Fried Chicken with Hoppin’ John 10.50
Wednesday June 14 Tuscan Beef Stew with Orzo 10.75
Thursday June 15 BBQ Ribs and Sweet Potato Salad 10.25
Friday June 16 Citrus-roasted Wild Salmon Filet 12.25
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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| Special 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, June 14
Chicken and Green Chili Enchilada Pie
Full: 32.00
Half: 16.00
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Bright parts |
Kether was arranging these roasted peppers this morning. They'll be part of a wedding reception this afternoon. Another one of the pleasures of the kitchen. By the time the guests see them they'll be all perfectly presented, nothing casual like this picture. We alone get to see them unadorned. Simply beautiful.
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| Quick!!! |
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These fabulous chips are made by hand, a batch at a time by a small company in Texas. I probably shouldn't even tell you about them because then they'll be gone even faster than ususal. But really, they are so good I would feel bad if I kept them to myself. The salsas are pretty wonderful too.
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More glass |
It is unusual for me to like any of my glass creations for more than a moment or two. This one, however, still pleases me. At some point I may do a wholeseries of these globe-like vases. This one is in the office here. Do stop by if you'd like to see it. (It's on top of my bookshelf behind my desk in case I'm not here.)
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| A Note From Laurey |
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Good morning. Oops – it’s afternoon again. We’re BUSY here today. Filled with Cheddar-Cheese Grits and Aunt Susan’s Ginger cookies and Texas-style Barbecued Chicken and all sorts of things. It’s a bustle and I’m just now sitting down to this note.
The staff for today’s BBQ for 250 is collecting it’s gear. The staff for this evening’s wedding is on it’s way out the door. The graduation party, who picked up their food earlier today must be in full swing by now. And the revelers from last night’s rehearsal dinner are probably tucking themselves into their wedding seats right about now. The folks who enjoyed last night’s 50th anniversary party are out involved in their weekend activities, I’d guess. But some of them will come back to join the happy couple for a brunch tomorrow. It’s an interesting mix of events for one smallish catering company, to be sure. Just the way we like it.
I had a surprise letter this past week. It was a late birthday wish and tucked inside the card was a picture of me when I was about six. In the picture there are two young men who I remember as waiters at our Inn. One of them holds a bucket – ready for blueberries, no doubt. I’m standing next to my mother, who is also holding a blueberry bucket. My right arm reaches high up and rests on top of her shoulder. She cocks her head at the photographer, smiling and happy looking. It looks like we’ve all been out picking berries. The sun is pouring across the road and it looks like it is dusk. We’re all smiling. It looks like we’ve all had a nice time that afternoon. I wonder how we could all have been out at sunset. What about the night’s guests? Who would have been cooking dinner for them?
The most surprising part of this picture is that I don’t remember that day. Now let me point out that I am the one who remembers everything in my family. If anyone has forgotten a name, they ask me. If anyone questions the details of a story, they ask me. I’m the one who remembers. And here is something that I don’t remember at all. I am wearing sandals. I don’t remember those sandals. I DO remember a new pair of PF Flyers sneakers each year. Each year’s color was different from the last year’s: blue one year, white the next. One pair a year. I thought that’s the only thing I wore. And yet here is this picture of me in sandals.
I have lots of pictures of my family during the years at our Inn. We often had a photographer with us, taking pictures for my mother’s next book or her next article. I have boxes of them. Albums of them. So it is especially amusing to see this new picture of me so many years after its taking.
By the way, I have decided to go ahead with the book I’ve been writing. So many of you have asked about it and have been so persistent and so encouraging and so, well, full of belief about it. I am now working with a publisher and we’re seeing if it is possible to get the thing out for you by the end of October. It will be called “Elsie’s Biscuits: simple stories of me, my mother, and food.” I’ll include some of our favorite current hits too (Richard’s Sweet Potato Salad, for one) but it will be more stories than recipes. Does that sound good? I hope so. I’ll keep you posted.
For now – cheers,
Laurey
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Sophia goes "shopping" |
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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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