The Weekly Newsletter
Menus and Stories for September 17 - 21, 2007
Food fun

We have a new fellow in our kitchen, Matthew, a newcomer to our fair city. He dropped by one day to talk about what restaurants were around and who might be hiring and so on. He used to own his own place in Vermont but sold it and migrated south and, well, by the end of the conversation, the talk turned to him joining us here for a while at least.

He's already put in his two cents and everyone here is well pleased by the additions he's brought. These are portobellos, by the way, with thick heirloom tomato slices, local spinach, and chevre. His pear and parsnip soup was pretty fabulous too. Stop by and see what he's got up his sleeve.

Bright and delicious (and healthy)

Need some soy but don't want to eat any more tofu? Here's a lovely option. Edamame (soy beans), all peeled for you (though the ones in the little pods are fun too) and some roasted vegetables. Dee - lish.

New fall bites

We keep finding new farmers. What a great thing that is for us. These cutie pie potatoes come from two newer ones (but she told me that she's moving to Portland and he's going back to school in the flat lands so this might be our only season with them, alas.) For now we'll be snapping up as many of their little potatoes as we can manage. They have some interesting varieties. We like to roast them all together and let you discover their various tastes.

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 September 17 Honey Sesame Glazed Chicken with Rice Noodles 9.95
Tuesday September 18 Baja Chicken Tortilla Shanty (stack) w/ Ancho Sauce 9.95
Wednesday September 19 Pulled Pork with Plum BBQ Sauce 11.25
Thursday September 20 Home-style Meatloaf with Roasted Garlic Potatoes 10.75
Friday September 21 Lemon Shrimp Corn Crepe w/ Local Tomato Coulis 14.95

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, September 19
Chicken Tetrazini with Fried Green Tomato Crust
(B+L’s Organic Tomatoes)
Full: 32.00
Half: 16.00

On the road again

Tonight begins a series of book events for me. Tonight's is in Belton, South Carolina, a little town which is due west of "Due West" (trust me, I am not making this up.) The event is sold out but do go visit my friends' shop if you're in that area (www.gritsandgroceries.com)

In October I have a few different events. Maybe you can come to one of them:

On October 22 I'll be at the Weymouth Center in Southern Pines doing two cooking classes, one leading up to lunch and one leading up to cocktail time. (www.weymouthcenter.org)

And on October 27 I'll be in Middlebury, Vermont doing a reading and book signing at the Vermont Book Shop at 3 pm. (www.vermontbookshop.com)

I'm also about ready to announce a new Elsie's Biscuits website. It should be ready in a few more days. One fun thing about it will be a blog (gosh I hate that word..) with musings about the book and writing and food and Vermont and this and that. I'll tell you when it's ready.

A Friday favorite

Elyse is our new baker. I found out yesterday that she is already getting a following for her morning sweets. Seems that you can come every Friday for her chocolate chip coffee cake. I encourage her to do that sort of thing every day. Well, every day except for Thursday, which is when Essie shows up and does her thing which, this week, was Blueberry Coffee Cake. Oh my.

Black Beans and Mangos (yum!)

Here's another deli case find from the other day. Martha's Black Bean Cakes (the recipe is in Elsie's Biscuits) with some Fresh Mango Salsa. You probably know this already, but there are a number of recipes in Elsie's Biscuits. Though the book is mostly stories, you will find the directions and secrets for Sweet Potato Salad and Crab Cakes and a bunch of other things too.

A Note From Laurey


September 15, 2007

Oh we had the nicest rain here the other day! It started at around 3 in the morning on Friday, rained all day and stopped sometime in the middle of the night. I did not realize how parched I had felt. The rain felt so good. Yesterday after work I went home and lay down and feel deeply asleep for about an hour and a half. I got up and went out to dinner after that but felt groggy and sleepy and coddled by the moisture all night. Oh it has been just lovely.

Things at home have been kind of slow too, which is a delightful contrast to things at work, which have been winding up like crazy. I go home and the dog and the cat are there, waiting for me. Their day has been a slow time. Skipper sits on the deck rail or on the hot tub cover or on the window seat. Tye waits on the bed or on the floor or on the porch, head poking out of the railings. Then I come blasting home filled with the rush of my day and it collides with their quietness. We both adapt, speeding up a bit or slowing down a bit. I take Tye for a walk and feel my shoulders drop. She’s filled with squirrel watching and squirrel smelling and squirrel chasing. She quivers, shakes, pants at the thrill of these little scolding creatures. I tend to just watch her, letting things drop away more and more and more and more until I’m the one who needs to get pulled by her instead of the other way around.

The change of seasons stirs me. I don’t think I could ever really live in a place that does not have them. I have spent time in the south west and it was fun to be warm in the middle of winter but I missed the leaves and the snow and the softness of spring. I like the coming chill, the stirring leaves, the rush of rain and wind and fall. It’s coming. I’m thrilled that I am getting to go to Vermont soon too. Fall there is not like any other place I’ve ever been and so, even though I’ll probably be there past the foliage peak, it’ll be lovely to eat a crisp MacIntosh apple surrounded by those old mountains.

Of course at work things are completely different. The café is steady, strong, filling up each day with folks happy to have our made-right-here foods. Word gets out further and further about what we have and what we do. And fall is a busy catering time for us. I’ve been meeting with lots of folks to plan parties for next spring and next fall and next summer in between figuring out the details on the parties that are coming up right here, right now. Gosh it’s crazy thinking so far in advance and also thinking about this week and then shifting to next month or next year or, well, do you know what I mean?

I’ve been thinking a lot about balance lately, looking for the comfortable mid point between the craziness and the slowness; the immediate hurry and the long distance stamina; the rush and the crawl. I have no conclusions. I like the contrast, to be truthful. I’m not always in control of the swing from one pace to another, not that I would choose to have that control even if it were offered to me. Some things are just exciting in the not knowing. But sometimes I do wish for a different pace. Sometimes I just go home and try to sink into the tempo suggested by the little companions that stay there, waiting to teach.

One more of Jones

No, the lawn mower was not running. (It had been off for days and was completely cool.)  But as many times as we suggested he get off, he'd climb right back on, settling himself in behind the pull starter. How is it possible that he is so mechanically inclined when he's just barely over one? (Don't you like the addition of the pacifier?)

• • • •