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The Weekly Newsletter |
Menus and Stories for June 30 - July 4th, 2008
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| Henry Ryan Thome!!! |
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The newest member of the Laurey's family has arrived. Adam and Emily's little boy emerged last Monday, June 23. He was 6 pounds, 5 ounces and he was 16 inches long. He's bigger now, I'd guess, being almost a whole week old.
He's a good sleeper, is figuring the eating thing out, and is making his mother and father and assorted grandparents blissfully happy. We can't wait to see him (actually I did get a quick visit in on Day One but I look forward to a much longer viewing as soon as everyone is ready for me.)
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Dinner on a rooftop |
Oh I DO have a fine life.
Last night I had the pleasure of cooking dinner for friends who had the great good fortune to be dining on top of a building right here in downtown Asheville. Though it rained off and all through the afternoon, everything stopped one half hour before the guests showed up. They had Shrimp Tempura with me, gathered around the stove as I told about Blueberry Hill and Elsie and John (my parents.) And then they watched me put their salads together and each guest hiked up the stairs to the roof, salad plate in hand.
Twenty minutes after they'd left I went up to check on their salad-eating progress and found the guests all clumped together watching the sun drift down over the Western mountains. Seeing me they all looked guilty (though there was no need) and moved off to their seats.
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| Finding their places |
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The table was up on this lovely platform. City Hall hovered to the East, The Grove Park Inn to the North, and Mount Pisgah off to the West.
Glory be.
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Dinners to go for this week |
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 June 30 Pesto Chicken with Caramelized Onion Risotto 9.95
Tuesday July 1 Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Plum Chutney 10.25
Wednesday July 2 Teriyaki Shrimp and Beef Skewers 14.25
Thursday July 3 Turkey Parmesan with Pasta 11.75
Friday July 4 please order by Wednesday if you can
A Special 4th of July Menu
At the start:
Deb’s Pimiento Cheese
With Salted Lavosh Crackers
The Dinner:
Firecracker Fried Chicken
(1/2 chicken – cooked on the bone)
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Snazzy 4th Tri-colored Cole Slaw
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Good Old Fashioned Potato Salad
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Creamy Swedish-style Locally-grown Cukes
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Red, White, and Blue Shortcakes
(Blueberries, Strawberries and Lavender Whipped Cream)
Price per person:
17.76 + (7% NC Sales tax)
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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, 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, July 2
Summer Vegetable and Shrimp Paella
Whole: 34.00
Half: 17.50
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The Dinner |
Richard marinated some Grouper for me and Deb had created a new Israeli Couscous. Cate cut some fresh herbs from our garden and Martha spruced up the rooftop garden boxes. The whole team was a part.
I stayed in the hosts' kitchen, finishing up everything and plating it in front of the men, who had come downstairs to help carry the plates back upstairs. Not exactly traditional service, but who says tradition can't be altered, right?
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| A toast |
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The hosts opened their wine collection for the occasion and Cate, who is very smart about these things, decanted or chilled or turned the bottles as needed. Everything looked so pretty up there in the last of the day's light, sparkling from candles and the few remaining raindrops.
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A Lavender Finale |
Marty made shortcakes for me and I warmed them up and scooped on a pile of sweet berries and whipped cream. Since the meal featured everything with fresh herbs it seemed fun and appealing to toss in some fresh lavender. (I'm kind of nuts about lavender these days...)
The perfumed air caught the guests' attention. And all the dishes came back to the kitchen with not even a crumb remaining.
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| A Note From Laurey |
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June 28, 2008
Hiya,
Oh wow – here we are at the end of June. I’ve been looking at this weekend on the calendar for some time. It has been a long time since I have personally worked at or attended this many parties in a row. But it has been a whole lot of fun.
On Thursday I cooked dinner for a group of people about a half hour from here. The dinner featured local foods, made and served by the staff here and, there, by me. I admit to having some jitters earlier in the afternoon. I mean, I USED to breeze into peoples’ kitchens many days of each week. Now it is much less common. I write the menus and happily send my staff out. The guests are happy with the food and I get nice reports from my staff and from those guests too, that things went well. I’m happy, on those frequent days, to be the one who gets to go home and stare at my bees.
But that is not this week’s plan.
Last night, as you see from all the pictures, I went to a very nearby rooftop and cooked a fun dinner. I DO rely on the staff here to help organize me but I really DO cook still every once in a while. But I still do have a bit of a discomfort with the main event portion of the meal. I am very comfortable with platters of hors d’oeuvres and with big presentations on a buffet, but for some reason I still get shaky on that main course on a "plated and served" party. Last night was, for me, a bit of a triumph. I REALLY liked the way the food looked on the plate. A small, personal triumph it was, but it’s the small things that matter. Yes, the starters were pretty and so was the salad and the dessert looked and tasted very nice too. But I went home thinking about the way the main course looked. Kept me smiling through the dark streets and the dark roads and my dark driveway and even all the way up until the time I crawled into bed.
Today we have a big wedding and a birthday party to do. I’ll get to go to both parties. I’ll get to say hello to the families of the bride and groom and then I’ll get to help celebrate my friend’s 40th (I think) year. The wedding is going to be under a tent next to a river and should be lovely. The birthday party is at a house overlooking downtown Asheville and THAT should be pretty too.
Tomorrow is a day of biking. And then the next week starts.
In my bee world I was delighted to find that my more active hive needed its first “super,” that additional box where the bees will concentrate on honey production. Looks like I WILL get to sneak a bit of a taste of their elixir this summer after all. What a flurry of things. We’ve had rain at home for the past couple of days and things are green and lush and just fine. All, I am happy to report, is good.
Say – here’s a reminder to check our dinner to go list this week. We’re doing a special July 4th picnic. Nothing like a Laurey’s picnic and a night full of fireworks to make you feel like summer is really here.
Okey doke, a desk full of menus awaits so I’d better go.
I’ll be in touch next week.
Cheers,
Laurey |
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Night's end |
Vintage Port concluded the evening for these folks. Candles and music from the street and chatter from these guests twisted together. I had sweet dreams of the night, feeling tired but happy for having been a part.
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