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The Weekly Newsletter |
Menus and Stories for September 29 - October 3, 2008
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| It's really Fall now |
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I'm back in front of the heat of the glass furnace. What a fun thing for me. I devoted my Thursday session this week to making pumpkins. The best thing about pumpkins is that nature does not like things to be uniform. My pumpkins are decidedly NOT uniform.
Come visit my growing pumpkin patch, distributed in the cafe's windows. If you wish, you my take one home. (Peek underneath for the price sticker.)
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Fall brews are here |
Did you know you could have a sip of something local with your lunch? Adam keeps up with locally made beers and switches things around to keep it interesting for you. We have wine too. Just ask about the day's offering.
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| New Crackers |
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Okay - so I've been chirping about the cheeses we have but, you may have been wondering, what do we have to accompany our really wonderful local delights? Here's your answer.
Urban Oven is a new company (to us) but none of us could stop eating the samples and I figure that's always a good sign when it comes to considering something for our shop. These crackers are made in small batches with just the kinds of ingredients you'd wish for if you were wishing about crackers.
They say they give their product "extraordinary attention to quality and detail," and that, we think, lines right up with us. Give 'em a try to go along with your cheeses.
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Urban Crackers |
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Dinners to go for this week |
| Dinners 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 (252-0200)or stop in to speak to one of us in person.
Dinners are ready at 4:30 and can be picked up until we close at 6:00 pm.
Monday September 29 Chicken Parmesan 9.95
Tuesday September 30 BBQ Ribs with Sweet Potato Salad 11.75
Wednesday October 1 Pork Tenderloin with Fruit Confit 11.75
Thursday October 2 Brazilian Seafood Stew 12.50
Friday October 3 Crab Cakes - oh joy! 13.25
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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, October 1
Home-style Chicken, Mushrooms, and Wild Rice
Full: 35
Half: 17.50
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In our Garden |
Right behind our shop Martha pokes and weeds and creates this lovely spot. It is open for you (though it's kind of a trick to get to. But there is something sweet for us (um, for me) about entering through our back door each morning. I have to walk past and through her little garden. This morning it stopped me in my tracks - bees sipped around in the herbs. The early sun worked its way through the fig tree, which has sprouted right next to our compost bucket storage. And dots of color reminded me, again, about the earth and taking care and of those sorts of things. It's so easy to forget. This little place brings me back.
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| Henry helps again |
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Pretty soon he'll be too big to sit on my desk, tucked under my chin. But for now, Emily and Adam's sweetie pie fits perfectly. He continues to spend a couple of days with us and I must say, he tends to calm things down. I mean, seeing his sleeping or smiling or even crying little face makes us all just stop. A baby puts things into perspective. I'm so very glad he gets to come in and grace us with his sweet presence.
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More flowers |
This lavender plant is filled with, yup, chives. Go figure. Did I tell you about the time I was in Provence, wandering around in the scrub? I looked down and realized I was stepping on lavender, rosemary, thyme and sage. Voila! Herbes de Provence.
Maybe lavender and chives are Herbes d'Asheville.
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| A Note from Laurey |
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September 27, 2008
Hiya,
Ooh it's a quiet day around here. We've had a gas shortage and, though the lines have stopped and the supply seems to be back, everyone is spooked and is staying home. Maybe they're getting their yard work done. It's certainly time.
I kind of like these quiet days. I have a list of things to do and, frankly, the list is longer than the available time. A quiet day means few phone calls, few interruptions, lots of space and peace for me to plug along, checking things off, getting organized.
I'm now back from my New Orleans conference and, as happens at these things, have a long list of things I want to do, need to do, might do. Today is a good day for that too.
I must say, I had some extraordinarily memorable bites and glimpses and snips of this and that in that city. Things there were kind of quiet too, but that just left more room for those of us who were there. It was bustling enough, but roomier than I'd seen before. We went there specifically to help our colleagues in the culinary world. They've been hit hard but watching them and listening to them was a revelation to me.
A dear friend of mine is a blues singer and one of her favorite songs is "I'm Still Here," a Sondheim song from Follies. "Good times and bum times, I've seen ‘em all and my dear, "I'm still here...." I have been through those good times and bad times. We all have. But I have never had every single thing I own carried away by flood waters. I have never had to leave my home and I have never had to be completely out of contact with everyone I love and care about. These women have. But there they were, cooking and sharing and being so lovely and so gracious. It was heart-stopping. Life changing.
So make a point to go to New Orleans. The food is SO good. Go to Dooky Chase, where 85 year old Leah Chase is still at the stove cooking authentic Creole du Coleur cuisine. Go to Bayona for Susan Spicer's offerings, go to Commander's Palace, go to Lillette and have some of Beth Biundo's fabulous panna cotta, go to MiLa and have anything that the two young chefs make. Go to Café Adelaide's Swizzle Stick Bar and ask Lu to make you a "Sunset on the Rocks." Look for Poppy Tooker inteh markets. She's a champion of that city and will regale you with stories. Go to Rock ‘n Bowl on Zydeco night. Ask John to dance with you. He'll make you think you're a good dancer. Laugh. Cavort. It'll do you good.
I'm glad to be home. And I also can't wait to go back.
A weekend is not nearly long enough.
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I can't resist! |
Monsieur Henri was learning how to update our inventory lists in this shot. He has so much to learn - and so many willing teachers. I spent my very early days in a basket while parties were going on in the dining room of Blueberry Hill so this all makes complete sense to me.
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