The Weekly Newsletter
Menus and Stories for August 18 - 22, 2008
What a setting!
We took ourselves up to the top of a mountain on Friday.  OUrselves, that is, and a bunch of food and such.  The occasion was a 60th birthday party.  The hostess, who I had not known before this event,  is now a friend.  I love how that goes.

Here's Jaime setting up the bar.  Zounds!

Artisanal Cheeses
The birthday gal had these slabs of wood sawn and polished and they became the perfect base for our cheese selection that night.  Adam finds such nice cheeses and they sure do look beautiful when presented in this sort of setting.  Got a mountain top cabin?  Is it almost time for your 60th birthday?  Just let us know - we'll run right over!

Nice parking lot!
The setting was exquisite.  A transformed parking area, covered with a clear tent, tucked under a wooden open structure - the whole thing was simply gorgeous.  A couple of her friends hauled some beautiful pink flowers up the extremely steep road, filled some of the birthday girl's vases, and then changed and joined the guests.

We were tucked away in the tent behind the tables.  Our view was the vegetable garden and, beyond that, a round stone shed that the birthday girl called "The South of France."  It WAS filled with lavender and rosemary and that seemed fine and fun to me.

Dinners to go for this week (with a new drawing prize)
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, starting this month, will be good for one of our new "Don't Postpone Joy" (tm) bags.

Maybe you'll win next month.

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

Here is this week's menu:

Monday           August 18         Elsie’s Chicken Baked in Wine 10.75

Tuesday           August 19         Shrimp and Avocado Quesadilla 13.75

Wednesday      August 20         Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Apricot Kebobs 13.25

Thursday          August 21         Lamb Meatballs with Saffron Risotto 11.75

Friday              August 22         Grilled Tuna with Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes 14.25

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,  August 20

Shrimp and Scallop St. Jacques

Full: 49.75

Half: 25.00




 

The side yard
Here's a side yard where guests mingled, sipping wine and tasting our Shrimp Tempura (always a huge hit) and a couple of other hors d'oeuvres. 

Did you know that hors d'oeuvres means, "outside the work," essentially something that is given that is other than the main event.  Just a little vocabulary lesson for you, my friends.

Sunburst Trout Caviar
It has been a dry year here and I was concerned that I would not be able to honor the hostess's request for this caviar.  Enough rain came through, however, that the folks at Sunburst Trout, over at the base of Mt. Pisgah, were able to harvest enough for us to take to this party.  Hooray!  At this party we served it on toast points with creme fraiche.  Lovely.

Part of the main event
For this summer dinner we served everything as a "Seated Buffet" (fancy family style).  I like how everyone has to help each other, holding the platters, waiting until everyone has been served - and being responsible for seeing that happens. 

Here is a bowl of Heirloom Tomato Salad.  What beauty!  In my market forays I found Mr. Stripeys, Cherokee Purples, Zebra Stripes, and some others too.  Presented with Fresh Basil, these lovelies glistened in the candlelight.

A Note From Laurey
August 17, 2008

Fewf! What a weekend it’s been!

I write from home this time.  It is now Sunday and I’m just now thinking clearly enough to take a bit of time to stop and tell you about the week.

We went up to a mountain on Friday, as you can see from the pictures.  It was a spectacular night, a delicious menu, a fun time.  The location was two hours from my shop and, of course, it takes time to set up something like this, so our crew gathered mid-afternoon and caravanned south and then east to the site.  The driveway of this place is steep!  And, on top there is limited parking space.  Three of us had wine or food or dishes in our vehicles and had to get up to the top.  Our fourth car parked at the base of the hill and those staff members hiked up.  Our little Honda Element was not up to the task of this hill, it turned out, so the wine (tucked in the back along with a huge rain barrel that the client had wanted us to deliver) got taken out, loaded into another vehicle, and THOSE staff members hiked up too.  My Honda zipped right up (yay!) and Jaime pushed the accelerator to the floor and – amazingly, also made it up.  I’ve started calling her Jaime-o, (like Mario). 

The party, once we got up to the top of the mountain, was perfect.  Clear air, beautiful guests, delicious food, great staff.  The birthday gal enjoyed herself, basking in the candle glow, talking, already, about the next event.  The rain barrel, after its trek, rested comfortably in a corner of the garden.

After we had put the cake on the plates, I cleaned my knives and took the other cooks with me.  The rest of the crew had coffee service and, inevitably, cleanup.  I got in my car at 11:30. 

First thing on Saturday I took off, leaving the cat and dog staring at me, “But you just got HOME!” and skipped off to the shop to collect ingredients and apparatus for a morning cooking demonstration at the North Asheville Tailgate Market.  It was Tomato Day and I became Fried Green Tomato Babe for a couple of hours.  I had to put the image of the previous night’s party aside and concentrate on my morning demo.  I showed up with everything but a table (yipes!) but remembered that the Honda has a picnic table as a part of its cargo lid.  SMART!!!  Between that and Frank (“Cute Baby Squash” grower) Teneralli, I managed to get set up and cooked a pile of tomatoes, chattering with shoppers, friends, clients.  Fun.

But by the end, I was fading.  Two stalls over I noticed a chair massage stand and so, after I packed up, I stumbled over for a 10 minute refresher.  A miracle!  I recommend it.  Trying not to feel guilty about this indulgence, I sank in, relaxed, and stopped.

By the time I got back to the shop, things there were in full swing.  We had three big events last night.  I had volunteered to help Marty with a bit of cake decorating, so I put away my tomato paraphernalia, got out my spatulas, and hopped to it.  The massage had helped and so did a coke! 

After that it was all I could do to answer a few pressing notes, clean up my desk, and head home.  I had seen Charles come in with a crew (many of whom were with me on the mountain) and pick up everything for one wedding; I had also seen Jaime come in and pick up everything for HER wedding (she stayed up late too but seemed much perkier than I did); and then I watched for a bit as Andrew started to transform our café into the venue for the night’s third event.  

(Amusingly, Jaime mentioned that the clean-up crew had packed the rain barrel BACK in the van and had made sure IT made it back to Asheville too.  Argh!  Best laid plans. Birthday Girl can pick it up the next time she's up our way - or we'll bring it back to her next event, I guess.)

 

Home.  Nap.  Up.  Walk the dog.  Watch the Olympics.  Swirl.  Go to sleep.

In the olden days I would have been serving one of those Saturday weddings too.  Thank heavens these are no longer those days.  I’m happy to be the one who gets to go home.

As for today, I’m going to go for a bike ride and a slow down.  We have another big week in store for us next week.  All is good.  I’ll be in touch next week with another story or two.

Ciao,
Laurey

A sweet finale
When I was ten, my mother was a judge for the MRS. America contest. 50 married women (that was one of the rules) did not model bathing suits, but cooked casseroles and cakes.  My mother tasted all of them, grading on simplicity, taste, ease and that sort of thing.  The gals had to bake these things in front of the judges.  My, times do change, don't they?

This cake, The Miracle Meringue Cake, was a winner.  Layers of meringue, cake, whipped cream, and fruit make for one of my very favorite cakes ever.  This one, the one we brought to the mountain top, was filled with fresh peaches.  Nice!

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