Gosh these Farmer's Dinners are fun.  We had a delicious and intriguing dinner this week, with farmers from Hickory Nut Gap, Firefly Farms and Looking Glass Dairy here to share their ingredients and stories. 

 

I've begun talking to folks for the next dinner, November 19th.  Mark your calendars.   Nothing is quite set in ink yet but I think we're going to feature apples and salmon 9from Alaska but fished by the fellow who sells it here in Asheville. 

 

I also want to let you know about dinners for future months:

 

December 19: Comfort and Joy with Christmas singing led by my sister Heather (whose voice is one of my favorites anywhere!)

 

January 21: A Taste of Tuscany

 

February 18: Dinner on Safari

 

We do a Thanksgiving Dinner to go each year. People have been asking for the menu so here it is. We will take orders up until Monday, November 23rd. Dinners will be made on Wednesday the 25th.  You can come between 2 and 4 to pick up yours. We'll include reheating instructions. Order for 1 or for 50. (And yes, you can order parts if you wish, though I'd get the entire meal if I were you.)

Thanksgiving 2009

At the start:

Smoked Trout Pate

With Roasted Garlic Crostini

**

The Dinner:

Oven-roasted Turkey with Fresh, local Herbs

North Carolina Shitake Mushroom Gravy

Cornbread Stuffing with Hickory Nut Gap Apples

North Carolina Sweet Potato Wedges with a Sorghum Glaze

Brendan’s Southern-style Green Beans

With Bacon

Laurey’s Jubilee! Chutney

Soft Rolls made with YellowBranch Farmstead Cheese

**

The Sweet Finish:

Traditional Pumpkin or Apple Crumb Pie

A woman showed up the other day with these beautiful calendars.  Illustrated by a local artist, they depict flowers that bees rely on for honey production.  A good portion of the sales goes toward colony collapse disorder research. 

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.

Monday October 19 *Cornmeal Crusted Chicken with Monterrey Jack 10.75

Tuesday October 20 *Tilapia with Tomato Basil Gremolata 12.25

Wednesday October 21 Roast Pork Tenderloin with Spinach Spaetzle 11.75

Thursday October 22 Chicken and Mushroom Crepes Florentine 10.75

Friday October 23 *Bacon-Maple Scallops with Leek Potato Gratin 15.50

* these items are Gluten Free

We make a special casserole each Wednesday.

Order by noon or so. Order a half if you have around 4 folks. If you have a bigger group, or you just like leftovers, order a full-sized one. Then come pick up between 3:00 and 8:00. (Or bring a gang and enjoy your dinner right here. WE DO have beer and wine by the glass, you know.)

This week's special casserole is on Wednesday, October 21

Irish Beef Stew with Guinness Stout

Full: 55

We're part of this International Day of Climate Action.  I have this picture of our trash area because it is one way that we are trying to help the planet.  Reducing trash makes a difference and so we thank you for now separating compostables from recycling from trash.  Turns out that we can turn most of our detritus into compost or send it to the recycle bin.  All but plastic.

We're getting new biodegradable water bottles soon too.  One step at a time.

We hosted Miss Susan's kids the other day.  They made apple tarts and did a comparative tasting of pears.  We made some of their basil into pesto and they got to taste that too.

They are encouraged to take their time eating, making sure to look, smell, listen, feel, and taste. We put out crackers with the pesto and when they had devoured all of them, they switched to the apple slices that were left over from tart production.  Try it.  Apples and Pesto.  A new taste sensation.

More local produce.  more bounty for us, for you.

Here are some of Gaining Ground's leeks which have been appearing in soup.  And the other day a new farmer showed up with Jerusalem artichokes, turnips (pictured in the first story above) beautiful shiitake mushrooms, and, yes, kiwis.  Imagine that!

Happy Day. Happy October. It’s cold here today. We’ve already sent out two weddings. Our staff is all bundled up. I hope the wedding guests are too. Brr!!! It can go either way around here. Cold. Hot. You never know. Good thing both weddings have cold/rain plans.

Later on this evening we’re having a wedding right here. My office is filled with wedding decorations, beautiful ferns, potted flowers, special linens. My sister and I painted the Garden Room last weekend (well, we helped the professional do it) and so everything will be spiffy and bright for those guests. I’m the cook and can’t wait to see how pretty it will be.

Speaking of cold, I have a new pile of wood waiting for me at home. I spent last Monday traipsing around after two woodcutters as they felled dead trees on my property. One appeared threatening to my house and I decided to pay to have it cut rather than wait for it to go on its own. These guys did a bang-up job. Up. Cut. Saw up the pieces. Rake up the mess. Move on. For the whole day. My woodpile is tidy (I like stacking wood) and full and I just might give it a go tonight. Nothing like a wood fire to make me be glad to be home.

And, tra la! I have a new place to blow glass. I’m thrilled, having been out of the studio for months now. It looks like I get to head back in at the start of November, not too long now. My mind is filled with ideas and hopefully my hands will not be too rusty when I get back in there. It’ll be too late for fall pumpkins (or maybe it won’t) but I have plans for a pile of ornaments, some new vases, some things that might be just what someone might like for a present. We’ll see how it goes. Best of all, the studio is on an old landfill so the fuel is actually free, old methane that was trapped. Burned methane is better for the environment than unburned, as it turns into carbon dioxide which is not a greenhouse gas. Methane is one of those ones that traps heat. Anyway – turning the methane into heat for a glass furnace is a good thing.

And on we zoom. The café is full right now, the kitchen is buzzing, our food is here and there, or getting ready to be somewhere. Tomorrow is a busy day too. I like it this way.

Fall is here and my fireplace is ready. On we go. On we go.

Well, Henry is getting through this extremely tough time.  Today is "Transplant day + 7." It is an enormous challenge for him and for Emily and Adam, his parents.  None of us can really understand what they are going through.  We all send love, light, prayers, thoughts.

On a more concrete level, we're going to have a big pancake breakfast benefit for them.  They do have insurance (thankfully) but the expenses are still huge.  Join us here on Sunday, November 8th for pancakes, bacon, sausage, coffee...It's just 10.00 per person, and kids are free.  All proceeds go to the Thomes.  And yes, there's room for you to make a larger donation if you wish.

Also on November 11th we'll be part of another benefit, "11% on the 11th."  More about that later.  For now, please mark November 8th.  9am - 1pm.