The Weekly Newsletter
Menus and Stories for October 1 - 5, 2007
Happy October

I figured that Spike would be too little to mind being dressed up.
I was wrong.

I thought he'd be a cute pumpkin.
He did not agree.

Oh well.

Outstanding!!!

Rick's Picks are our newest find. Actually, Emily found them - phenomenal pickles and preserves with fun names ("Bee&Bees" instead of Bread and Butters). They are unusual, delicious, and right along the lines of the kind of companies whose company we like to keep: organic, small, independent. That sort of thing.

Oh, and they won top prize at this summer's Fancy Food Show which is like an Academy Award for food. You can find them at Zabar's or Dean + Deluca's or Fairway Markets or, um, here!

A new montage

Did I tell you about this? It's been in my head for countless months and FINALLY I got it out, to the print shop, back to MY shop, and up on the walls. Come see. Right up front. The farmers are all our local folks, the ones we buy from right across the street. The guys at the print shop wondered why I had a picture of egg shells, but once they realized it was our compost bucket all was good.

I'm very happy with this.

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, October 1 Savory Chicken Cacciatore (Bone-in) 9.95
Tuesday, October 2 Grilled Mesquite Chicken 9.95
Wednesday, October 3 Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary Potatoes 14.25
Thursday, October 4 Apple Cider BBQ Pork Ribs 11.75
Friday, October 5 Pan-fried Catfish with Wild Rica and Pecans 12.25

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, October 3, 2007
Macaroni and Cheese with Roasted Fall Vegetables
Full: 27.00
Half: 13.50

Back at it

Whee!!! It's finally cool enough to get back to the hot shop. I spent three glorious hours there last week, getting the feel of the tools, the heat, the color. I really love glass. As the fall progresses I'll be excited to see if the things in my mind can come out through my hands into the world. (We'll have our semi-annual staff craft fair in December so keep that in mind - I'll have some glass available for gifting.)

Who says catering isn't glamorous?

I still go out on parties every so often. This one was at the Arboretum's new visitor's center. The building is quite lovely, as is the loading dock. Actually it was very fun. The night was perfect and as I finished cooking the moon came up, the stars came out, and I cleaned up and went home and Jaime and the gang portioned out the Apple Pie.

Upcoming events with Elsie's Biscuits

Here's a bit of an advance word on a couple of events this month:

On Monday, October 22 I'll be in Southern Pines, NC demonstrating and reading. Twice. Morning and afternoon. If you live in that part of the state, give The Weymouth Center a shout and come listen and taste.

And then, the next weekend, I'll be in Middlebury, Vermont at the Vermont Book Shop. 3 in the afternoon. Reading, signing and visiting. That's the last time I'll be up that way for awhile so do make a point to come over or down or up or, well, you know.

A Note From Laurey
September 29, 2007

Oh it’s the last of the month. Zoom.

Fall is perhaps my favorite time of year. Unless it is Spring. Or maybe Summer. Or Winter. Yes, winter might be it. No, it’s Fall. Really.

The Dogwood tree at home is turning red. My garden is filled with Goldenrod. It’s also filled with a bunch of dried up old stalks of this and that. And some lovely light purple Wild Asters. And some scraggly remains of my crummy tomato crop. Everything I planted is limping along or has gone by or, well, never came up in the first place. But there is a lot of color at home – none of it planned by me. So much the better, I think. It’s a lesson in relinquishing control. I HAD a plan for the garden but other plans were being made at the same time. I lost. I’m glad.

I don’t miss summer one bit. This one was too hot and too steamy and went on too long. Plus there was too little rain and it all just felt too dry. Now, even though we haven’t had rain, things feel better. There is a thick layer of dew in the mornings. Tye and Skipper and I get up, look around, pad to the front door, and stand, surveying our lives. Skipper and Tye go out, lick up moisture from the remains of this and that. I watch them while I serve their breakfasts. We have our little routine. Out. Look around. Lick up the dew. Back in. Eat. Go back out. Sit and survey.

At night we do it in reverse. Eat. Go out. Come in. Follow me from room to room. Skipper now gets in his bed and naps until I come in. Tye comes with me, observing all that I do, offering to help. Finally I brush my teeth, turn out the lights, and get in bed, settling in with a magazine or book or puzzle or catalog (I love catalogs so that makes me happy at this time of year too). Skipper gets out of his bed at this point, comes over to me, nudges me for a while before curling up and settling in. Tye, by this point, is curled on her section of the bed too, though she keeps an eye on Skipper, making sure that he does not get more of me than she gets. The colder it is outside the more snuggly they get at night. It’s fine with me. These little bundles of warmth keep me toasty too.

Oh – there’s a nice little story about Tye in this month's WNC Woman newspaper. And there are some fabulous pictures of me and Tye too, taken by Max Poppers. Do pick up a copy. We have them right here for you to enjoy while you eat some nice easy-going lunch.

Enjoy this spectacular day. If you’re not from here, I hope yours is as good as ours is. If it isn’t, come on over. There’s plenty to share.

Alright, gotta go do some stuff. I’ll be in touch next week.



My turn

I tried to tell him that it wasn't so bad, but Spike would have none of it.

Laurey ("Pumpkin Head") Masterton.
Not as cute as little Spike but I do my best.

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