The Weekly Newsletter
Menus and Stories for August 13 - 17, 2007
The newly-planted blue pot

Okay - the bad news is that someone came and yanked out all the new things I'd planted in our new blue pot. Cate came in one morning and found them strewn along the sidewalk. She picked them up, dusted them off, and tucked them back into the dirt. They're limping along but don't look very good a the moment.

We're having a fancy wedding reception here in a few hours and the mangled plants are just not the thing I want to show to our guests. So I went across the street just now and Barry hooked me up with some herbs, which are a fitting thing to have in front of this place anyway, right?

I thought so.

Flowers for a wedding

The kitchen is a-buzz this morning. They've already sent out one whole wedding and a number of other orders and now are putting the finishing touches on the wedding that we'll be having in here in a few hours. The mother just came by to get some breakfast for the bride and her friends (who were all too nervous to eat with the rest of the guests and, in any event, are now having their hair done.)

The car was full of wedding flowers and I could not resist snapping a few pictures for you. Aren't they beautiful?

New aprons

Here's Jaime modeling our newest addition to the "Don't Postpone Joy" collection. These are our new aprons, made of lovely, soft flour-sack cloth so they already feel like you've had them for years. I think one would be nice hanging in the kitchen, or tucked in a drawer to greet you every time you open it or, heck, you could even wear it - (now that's a novel thought!)

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.

As a reminder, 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.

Maybe you'll win next month.

Order a lot? Enter a lot!
Good luck!!

Here's this week's menu:


Monday August 13 Chicken Baked a l’Orange with Egg Noodles 9.95
Tuesday August 14 Wild Mushroom Ravioli 13.25
Wednesday August 15 Beef Tenderloin Kabobs 13.50
Thursday August 16 Summer Vegetable-stuffed Pork Tenderloin 10.25
Friday August 17 Tilapia Piccata with Wild Rice 13.75

Our website
Special casserole of the week

We make a special casserole each week. Order before noon on Wednesday and we'll have yours ready to pick up between 4:30 and 6:00 that very afternoon. (Yes, you can order in advance too.) Order a full for 9 portions or, if your gang is smaller, opt for the half-sized one, which serves 4 or so.

Say, we'll happily make a salad and provide bread for you if you like, just let us know when you call and we'll get you all set up.


Wednesday, August 15
Chicken Marbella
Full 32.75
Half 16.50

Summer's here - oh yeah

Emily got a call for a fruit and cheese basket the other day and Andrew hopped to it, assembling this box of summer bounty for her to tuck into her basket. I am a sucker for fresh fruit and thought this assortment and arrangement was particularly nice - even strutted around the kitchen bragging about Andrew. He blushed but deserved the attention, I thought.

A Delicious gift basket

And then Emily put Andrew's fruit and a whole assortment of local cheeses (Adam has been finding and displaying an ever-increasing assortment of unique, and highly delicious cheeses lately) and some other tasty bites together and made this gift basket. Snap, snap. Here's a picture. Yum!!!

More summer color

And here is a look at one of the vases filled to the very brim with Judy's posies. Can you even begin to imagine what her yard and gardens must look like if these are the bouquets she is able to arrange? I think I might faint if I were to see them in the fields.

As it is, our shop windows are now filled with this amazing color. My glass has been moved out of the way and the shop is shimmering with her arrangements. Gosh - they're beautiful.

A Note From Laurey


August 11, 2007

Hiya,

Happy day. The shop is full of flowers (as you can see). I have new sneakers (as you can see), and life is just very good.

I’ve been taking a yoga class for some time. I am not the best student but find that it really makes my body feel strong and my mind feel calm and, well, I just like it a lot. I have a lovely young teacher who is a wise gal. Each class starts with some words of wisdom from things she has learned. Some of her lessons stick with me for hours, some for days, some for, well, longer.

This week, in the relentless heat, which many of us were moaning about, she talked about the idea of making everything a chance for deeper self-study, or self-awareness. “What can you find in yourself to learn about in this heat?” Sort of like that magnet that has the Buddhist (I think) saying, “Barn’s burnt. Now I can see the moon.” A re-framing, so to speak.

A couple of days ago, when I noticed the scraggly spindles in our planter I found myself stepping into anger at the inconsiderate person who would do such a thing as rip plants out of a shop’s display. But, remembering my teacher’s words, it was a nicer thing to be able to look up, see Barry, stroll across the street, find fresh herbs and just fix it. New plants. Nice.

It has been too hot to do much of anything when I get home. It’s too hot to go for a walk, to garden, to sit. But it has been good to take a deep breath, slow down, sink into the heat, realize it really isn’t THAT bad, and carry on. I’ve been taking Tye for late walks and, the good part of that is that we’re generally out as the sun sets and most everyone else is home inside their air-conditioning so we mostly have the lake to ourselves. I’m not in a hurry to get home for any reason, so she gets to explore everything that catches her attention. Life for us is slower right now, and that feels just fine. And then, by the time we’re home, things are much cooler and we can sit on the porch and watch the fireflies.

It can seem corny, to have this tiny reminder and to stop short and realize how much of a difference a simple idea can have. But it HAS made things feel much better for me this week. So I don’t really care if it is corny.

I’ll be in touch next week.


New sneakers - whee!

Well, in addition to being a sucker for colorful flowers I am somewhat a sucker for shoes and also am a big fan of almost anything red so you can imagine my delight at finding red shoes. They have only left my feet in the evenings ever since I found them.

Red shoes. Round sneakers. Yellow straps. I'm just very happy.

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