In our never-ending quest to have fun things for you to do, we've added Thursday evening music.  Right here!  You can call them "House Concerts" if you like.  That's fine with me.

 

There are SO many wonderful musicians here in the area that we've started inviting them to play for a couple of hours on Thursdays. This coming Thursday, Rayna Gellert will be taking the lead.  She's my FAVORTE fiddle player ever!  (If you are familiar with Uncle Earl you'll know just who I'm talking about.)  She's been working on a new cd so you'll probably hear some previews of it too.

 

We're doing the next few Dinner and Conversations a little differently since the farmers are in hibernation for the next few months. So we thought you might like to have dinner with your friends AND learn a little too.

 

SO! The January one will be A Visit to Tuscany. (In February we will visit South Africa! In March, well, stay tuned for that one.)

 

Here are the details:

 

Join me (Laurey) and your friends for a casual, fun evening. I’ll be making and serving some favorites from Tuscany. With each course I’ll demonstrate and show you what I’m doing (the way they taught me in Italy) and I’ll also tell some stories, show some pictures, and tell you about travels in that fair country. If you have ever been, or would like to go, this dinner will be great fun for you!

 

We’ll have hors d’oeuvres (“Antipasti”), a First Course, a Pasta Course (“Primi”), A Main Course (“Secondi”), and a traditional Tuscan finish too (“Dolce”). The cost will be $55.00 (+ tax) per person which will include recipes, the demonstration, all the food (of course!)

 

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the FIVE special Tuscan wines to go with it all.

 

As they say, “Buon divertimento” (“have fun!”)

 

My little nephew Jones is quite the cook. He loves helping, as you see here, assisting my sister in making butter dishes for our Thanksgiving Dinner guests.

 

We're going to have two special cooking classes this month. Both are on Saturdays. Both are from 10-12. Both are hands on classes, and both are designed for one big kid (you) and one little kid (you chose one). Both cost is $35 which will cover both of you.

 

On Saturday, January 23 we will make:

 

Real Onion Dip

with Real Potato Crisps

Mini Pizzas

Apple Tarts with Honey

Spiced Apple Cider

 

and on Saturday, January 30 the menu is:

 

Savory Cheesy Pastries

Carrot Curls with Ranch Dip

Banana Boats

Pineapple Turnovers

Sparkling Fruit Punch

 

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. Orders are ready by 3. Feel free to stay here with us, listening to music and visiting with your friends. I can't think of a nicer place to linger and we're now open until 8, you know.

 

Please order by phone (252-1500) or stop in to speak to one of us in person.

 

Dinners for this week are:

 

Monday, January 18: Chicken Cordon Blue 11.00

 

Tuesday, January 19: Lamb Burgers with Rosemary Home Fries 11.00

 

Wednesday, January 20: Brendan’s Gnocchi w/ Smoked Scallops and Vodka Sauce 12.50

 

Thursday, January 21: Shrimp and Polenta with Gorgonzola Sauce 12.50

 

We make a special casserole each week.

 

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.)

 

Please order by phone (252-1500) or stop in to speak to one of us in person.

 

Wednesday, January 20

Cider Chicken with Cheddar Potato Gratin

Full 35

Half: 17.50

 

Brendan, our chef, and I showed up as twins this week.  (I promise you we did not call each other that morning...)

 

Did I mention being delighted with the talent he is bringing to us (and to you?)  If you haven't tried his Gnocchi, you have two chances (Wednesday's dinner to go and also the Taste of Tuscany dinner on the 29th.)

 

You HAVE to come see this gal!  She is an amazingly talented banjo player and last month her managers asked ME if she could play HERE!  (I mean - WOW!)

 

She has played with Uncle Earl and also, more recently, with The Sparrow Quartet - you know Bela Fleck, right?  (She's also been known to sing old time songs in mandarin Chinese.)

 

She WAS going to play here twice.  The first date is Monday, January 25.  She's going to try out some new material.  SWEET!

 

Yes we do still have bottled water.  BUT this is new, improved plastic that actually is compostable.  We are working with a new commercial composting company and they are delighted to accept these.  We just toss them right into the compost bucket!

 

A friend asked about our plastic lunch boxes the other day and was happy to learn that they, too, are made from compostable plastic. 

 

January 16, 2010

 

Hiya hiya,

 

I usually write this note after I have written the rest of the newsletter.  This week there is SO much going on!  Hard to believe.  Fun to report.  Makes me want to hang here all the time.  Wait a minute!  I already do!

 

At this moment I feel quite happy.  The kitchen is in full swing.  We have a fun, fancy party here tonight, a special double birthday party.  And we’re also cooking for TWO parties that got cancelled back in December when we had that big snowstorm.  Tomorrow we’re having our staff Christmas party at my house (we always wait until January to have it) and so that’s a fun thing too.  We always play that silly, mad, present-trading game.  Always fun.

 

I’m also excited because there are some fun things coming up in the future and I know they’ll be fun.  Next month our special Dinner and Conversation is going to be a Virtual Safari.  A new friend of mine leads Safaris in Africa and so we’re going to have special South African food and wines and he’s going to tell you all about his trips.  Mark February 24^th on your calendar.

 

We have a new wine connection and we will be featuring some lovely wines of Tuscany at our Tuscan dinner on the 29^th of January.  And I think we’re going to do a special Provencal dinner in April, featuring wine and foods from THAT beautiful place. Stay tuned.

 

In May, my mentor, Nora Poullion, owner of Restaurant Nora in Washington, DC, is going to be here.  We’ll have a very special local food dinner that night and you’ll get to hear her talk about being the very first 100% certified Organic restaurant in the entire United States.  She’s a fascinating woman and I’m thrilled that she’ll be here.  May 13 is that date.

 

In other news:  well, it’s January, customarily a slower time.  I’m happy to be in the midst of so much energy and activity.  It picks ME up in a time that can be depressing.  I like being in the middle of bustle.  I like it very much.

 

I’m also happy to have read a good report for little Henry, the son of Adam and Emily, who both work here.  Henry’s immune system is not what it needs to be and they’ve all been gone since September, trying to fix it.  The recent good news is that they have found a live donor and they are exploring redoing the bone marrow transplant that will fix him.  I feel so full of hope for him.  I miss them all terribly and hope that they’ll do this and it will work and they’ll all be home.  Soon.  If you want to be in the inner loop, you can visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/henrythome.  

 

And also, a little girl who is a sweet friend just got the good word that there is no cancer in her body.  She’s 4 and has been through a hellish year.  This news is tremendous.  Tremendous. 

 

Oh, and one more thing: I don’t know if I can actually manage to do this, because it will happen in our “High Season” but I have registered for another big bike ride: across the TOP of the United States in the summer of 2011.  I really need a big project and lots of you have been saying, “NOW what?” and so, um, here you go!  Also I just found out that I am going to be in a special video about ovarian cancer survivorship.  And I get to talk about all of this in Las Vegas in March and Indianapolis in April.  Nice, eh?

 

Thank you for being a part of this all.  Thank you very, very much.  See you soon, I hope.

 

Cheers,

Laurey