The Weekly Newsletter
Menus and Stories for April 14 - 18, 2008
Dining Out for Life - next week
April 24th is our Dining Out For Life day.  There are a whole bunch of restaurants participating.  Each of us donate a fair amount of the day's proceeds to WNC Aids Project.  Yes - there are still a lot of people around here who need our help. And this is one of the rare times when almost all the money they get is sent right to the beneficiaries, there are very low administrative costs associated with this event.

So do plan to come in for breakfast or lunch, or think about taking dinner home with you (the special dinner is Chicken Gorgonzola with Fettucine but if you don't care for that, take a look at the day's offerenings in the deli case and if you don't see anything THERE - well, there are a bunch of other places who'd be happy to have you.)

Just do go out to eat that day, okay? 


Sacred Geometry class (last call)
This is your last chance to say yes to learning about Sacred Geometry.  My friend Terry is going to conduct a 4 class series.  The dates are April 22 and 29, and then May 6 and 13.  Class will meet here at my shop from 6:30 until 9:00 on those four Tuesday evenings.  The cost is 120.00.

NO MATH SKILLS are needed!  In fact, this class is about art and spirit and, for me, life.  We will draw, dream, wonder.  Want to join in?  e-mail me: laurey@laureysyum.com 

Delicious Expeditions in Vermont!!
My traveling partner, Monroe, and I have missed our trips to Italy and keep saying we're going to do one, but the Euro is too expensive and so we thought we'd like to take you to Vermont this summer.  (Hey - there's no jet lag!)

We'll go at the end of August and will follow the trail of Vermont milk: from the cows to cheese, to ice cream, to, yup, compost.  We'll also learn about other Vermont food things: chocolate, apples, honey, etc.  We'll have cooking classes, market visits, excursions to visit crafters (do you know about Simon Pearce glass? have you ever seen a wooden bowl being made?) and much more.

If you think you'd like to do something like this, please give me a shout.  We're trying to see how much interest there is.  (We're looking at Labor Day weekend.  The trip would be for 5 days and would cost around 1700.00).  e-mail me at laurey@laureysyum.com

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 is this week's menu:

Monday           April 14            Rosemary Lemon Chicken Romesco 9.95

Tuesday           April 15            Dijon Lamb Chops and New Potatoes 12.75

Wednesday      April 16            Coffee-grilled Flank Steak 10.75

Thursday          April 17            Pub-style Fish and Chips 11.95

Friday              April 18            Crabcakes with Vermont Maple Cole Slaw 11.50

Our website
Special casserole of the week
We make a special casserole each week, usually on Wednesday. Order before noon 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,  April 16

Chicken, Spinach Casserole with Lemon Tarragon Cream

Whole: 34.25

Half: 17.25

Yellow Branch Cheese
Adam, our shop manager/cheese aficionado (and Emily's husband), and Emily, our office manager/enthusiastic gal (and Adam's wife) spent a recent weekend in the far Western part of our state.  They were celebrating their third anniversary.

They planned to drop in on the folks at Yellow Branch cheese, expecting to say hello and visit for a short time.  They ended up staying for four hours, and had a chance to watch Bruce turn the day's milk into some of his farmstead cheese.  (Farmstead means that every bit of what is in that product came from that farm's animals.)

Bruce and Karen have been making cheese since 1986.  That, my friends is a long time.  Milking twice a day.  Making cheese twice a week.  Every day.  Every week.  Every year.  Karen, by the way, grows the herbs that go into their blends.  She makes pottery too. 

We're one of the few places around here where you can find their cheese.  Adam has a nice selection of it available for you in the help-yourself deli case in the front of our shop.  Come see.  (It looks like one of our recipes, using their cheese, is going to be in a new cookbook.  I'll let know about it when I know more.)

New in my garden
Though I'd been hearing about people putting glass in their gardens (mostly glassblowers who stick discards out there) I had never seen it in practice.  But last week I visited a nearby glassblower and was amused and inspired by his gardens - graced with cracked bits of this and that.  I went right home and took all my odd things off my shelves and stuck them outside.  Fun!!!

I'll be making "Lawn Orbs" pretty soon which you can, if you like, put in your garden.  I'll let you know.  (And they will not have any cracks in them.)

Laurey decorates
Last week I got out my hat and added my glasses (never used to need them for cake decorating...) and had a fine time playing with butter cream.  It caused a bit of a sensation.  Sky, our new office gal - actually, she's been here for 6 months now - took it upon herself to get out the camera.  I don't think she knew that I did anything except sit at my computer!

This is the work in progress. Marty baked the cake, my mother's Perfect White Cake.  I just got to play.  All turned out very well.

A Note From Laurey
April 9, 2008

Hi there,

Saturday morning.  Light rain.  Occasional sun.  The market is up and running across the street.  Our new windows, here in the shop, are open (thank you Jim and Laurel!!!) and the spring air wafts in.  Austin and Wendy and Andrew and Marty and Deb and Richard are working to some lilting Brazilian tunes.  Life is good.

Last night I opened more windows at home.  I hear it is going to get very cold tomorrow and I’ll probably have to close them again, but last night was balmy and it had started raining a little and it just felt good to feel the breeze and smell the freshness in the air.  Something woke me up at around 3 and I just lay still, listening.  The cat and the dog were not disturbed by whatever it was that had gotten to me and, finally, their breathing lulled me back to sleep. 

But before dawn the birds woke up and got us all up.  Yesterday I hear the Wood Thrush for the first time this season, its calls piercing the trees, piercing my heart.  I love that song. 

Late yesterday afternoon I went home and mowed part of my lawn.  Got it done just before the sprinkling started.  Just in time for the rain to come and soak everything.  So this morning, when I opened the door to let Tye out, the gardens sparkled from the  night’s showers and the lawn looked great.  My garden beds, cleaned and trim, are filling in.  Each day there is more and more to see.  Last year and the year before and the year before that I traveled to Italy at this time of year and I missed these not-so-slow changes at my  home.  This year I have no major plans to travel and so each day is a gift, opening itself up for me.

I feel everyone else stirring too.  Town is filling up more and more, strollers, visitors, guests coming in, roaming around, popping in, seeing what we all have to offer.  We’re ready for them and we’re all happy to have our doors and windows cleaned and opened. 

I think I’ll get my bees next week.  All of my hives are assembled.  All of the 80-some frames have been put together.  My gear is all ready.  Well, I still have a tiny bit more to paint and I need to move the boxes into their home position, but I know where they will go and I’m planning to put them there on Monday.  50,000 bee guests – and a Queen -  are coming!  What a thrill!

Thanks for your regular visits to my shop.  The out-of-towners are fine.  Weekends are fine, time for all the “away” folks to fill up our streets.  But, to tell you my truth, my favorite times are our weekday lunchtimes when you come, bring your work colleagues, and grace us with your visits.  You come back again and again.  Great stuff, that.  Thanks.

I’ll be in touch next week (maybe with bee pictures!!!)

Spring at home
A few years ago, when I cycled off the YWCA Board of Directors, this tree was my going away gift.  It's a flowering, Weeping Crab-apple.  It has the loveliest scent, very delicate and soft.  Couldn't resist this snap of my house through the blossoms. Gosh I love Spring.

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