'Tis the season, yes?

 

Everyone makes special holiday blends and our friends at Counter Culture do too.  I love their coffees (that's all we serve, you know) and also what they do as a company.

 

Our friends at Jo's Candies keep filling our shelves with goodies.  Here's something new from them for you and would be the perfect thing tucked in the very bottom of a fat stocking hung, you know, with care by the chimney.

 

Have I mentioned these?  We love making food of all kinds and in many ways.  If you like the idea of our food and just want to make it as easy as possible, think about having party trays.  We have a new, simple brochure in our cafe that you can pick up.  If you like the idea of having one e-mailed to you just let us know.

 

As always, we use the best ingredients.  Almost everything is made right here and, if it's not (like bread) we get the best we can find (keeping your budget in mind.)

 

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 for this week are:

 

Monday, December 7 Greek Lemon and Olive Chicken Linguine 11.25

 

Tuesday, December 8 Cheese Tortellini with Winter Vegetable Ragout 10.75

 

Wednesday, December 9 Pan-fried Catfish with Greens and Grits 12.50

 

Thursday, December 10 Wild Mushroom Risotto with Balsamic Onions 10.75

 

We make a special casserole each week. Usually it is on Wednesday, but this week we are going to put it together on Tuesday because on Wednesday we'll be full up with Thanksgiving dinners to go, okay?

 

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 casserole is for December 9:

Home style Chicken, Mushroom and Wild Rice Pilaf

 

Full 46

Sure this is a picture of our red water bottles.

 

But it reminds me to tell you about our Comfort and Joy Dinner.

 

Here's the plan:

 

Saturday evening, December 19

6:30 pm until…

 

Join us for our 2nd Annual Comfort and Joy Dinner

 

My sister Heather, the Masterton with the beautiful voice, will be singing and leading songs and carols in between the dinner’s courses. Join in or just listen.

 

Here’s the menu for this year:

 

At the start:

Bacon-wrapped Scallops

Rack of Lamb with Mint Chutney

Broiled Figs with Blue Cheese

 

The 1st course:

Salmon Timbale with Lemon Cream

 

The Dinner:

Duck a L’Orange

(let us know if you prefer a Vegetarian meal)

 

Risotto with Fresh Herbs and Wild Mushrooms

 

Confetti of Winter Vegetables

 

Black Pepper and Cranberry Brioche

 

The Dessert:

Elsie’s Coffee Cream Torte

(GF options are available just let us know!)

 

The price per person is $45.00. If you’d like wine or beer, please add 12.00.

 

Another sweet treat from Jo's.  This is their peanut brittle and, if you're anything like me (pity you if you are!) you are enchanted with boxes of all kinds.  (I LOVE BOXES!!)

 

Um, anyway, this peanut brittle is fabulous, as you would expect.  And so is the box.

I told you I'd finally gotten back to the hot shop.  Here's a glimpse at some ornaments I just made.  If you come to our shop (this one, not the hot shop) in the next little bit you'll see them.  I have a round of red ones, some blue ones, some clear ones, some opaque-y white ones and some multi-colored ones too.

 

December 8, 2009

 

Oops – for the first time EVER I am seriously late in getting this note out. SO SORRY! I have a good excuse. My dog ate it. (Okay, not really.)

 

I just returned from a long weekend in Ann Arbor where I cooked for the family of a close friend of mine whose daughter just celebrated her Bat Mitzvah. I made the Friday night dinner and also the Sunday morning brunch. In between I went to a big meeting at Zingerman’s (my favorite assortment of businesses anywhere),and visited with a friend from a bike ride I’d done in the Outer Banks a few years ago.

 

The Friday dinner was fun. I love grocery stores and got to go to a bunch of new ones to shop for the meal. And I love cooking and my friend has a great kitchen. There was a helper to do dishes (nice!) and lots of appreciative guests.

 

On Saturday I went to the Bat Mitzvah and the Kiddush luncheon which was cooked by an Ann Arbor caterer (yum!) I then did some grocery shopping for the Sunday brunch, did some window shopping in downtown Ann Arbor, and even got a little napping in. At night there was a fancy dinner and then dancing. It was really fun to be on the partying side of a party and I made a bit of an impression being one of only two “grown-ups’ who knew how to do “Soulja Boy” (a hip-hoppy sort of dance). I left that party at 11:30. WOW!

 

My Sunday morning cooking started at 7:00. Guests came at 10. Left at 2. Me too. Back to my friend’s house to watch her put up her Christmas tree (a very inclusive weekend it was.) Time for a moment or two of nothing and then I went back to the airport, returned my car, and sat in a daze until it was time for my flight.

 

The best part then was that I had three seats all to myself, somewhat unheard of these days, and I fell completely asleep until we landed in Atlanta. I got home at midnight. Got up at 7 yesterday and blew glass all day long. By the time I got home I was so tired I could not face writing and, since I was so late anyway I hoped you’d forgive me and say that today is okay.

 

We ARE hosting ukulele playing tonight, cooking class tomorrow, live music on Thursday, and other things too.

 

I really love this hobby.