We are one of this week's "Smart Bets" (in the Mountain Xpress) which means we're expecting a big crowd.  I hope you've got this one on YOUR list!

 

Abigail has played with Uncle Earl and The Sparrow Quartet (with Bela Fleck) and is looking forward to coming here to try out some new material.  Sweet!

 

Bring your friends and join me 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! (By the way - we're getting very close to announcing a trip to our favorite Tuscan places - probably in November 2010. We might even have some more information on Friday!

 

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!”)

 

Call 252-1500 to save your spots.

 

Looking for a fun thing to do this coming Saturday?  Got a little kid in your life?  How about joining me to do some cooking (and eating?)

 

Class will start at 10 and will last until 12 or so.  The cost is 35, which will cover the cost of one big kid/little kid duo.

 

We're going to make a few things - including (but not limited to) these:

 

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 25

Salmon Cakes with Sautéed Leeks and Cabbage 12.25

 

Tuesday January 26

Balsamic-glazed Flank Steak with Mashed Potatoes 12.75

 

Wednesday January 27

Salvadorean Shrimp with “Pupusas” (filled tortillas) 11.95

 

Thursday January 28

Grilled Hickory Nut Gap Pork with Housemade Kraut 14.00

 

Friday January 29

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 27

 

Shrimp and Salmon Newberg with Mushrooms, Marsala and Rice

 

Full 75

Half 37.50

 

ALSO - we're now making lasagna every Friday. Just trying to make it easy for you. Give us a call to reserve yours.  This Friday's special lasagnas are: a Mexican-style one, with ground sirloin and roasted poblano chile peppers AND a Greek Vegetarian one, with tomatoes, feta, eggplant, and fresh herbs.  

 

Sweet Jenna Lindbo is coming back.  Her voice is lovely, her mood, gracious and open.  When she was last here I went home feeling full of light and THAT is a fine thing, I think.

 

Do come hear her this Thursday. 

Bring friends. 

Have dinner. 

Then go home happy.

We don't have room for ALL of the beer made in this town (there are more brewers here per capita than anywhere else in the US!) so we pick our favorites and keep 'em chilled and ready for you. 

 

January 23, 2010

 

Mornin’ to you,

 

It’s a grey day out there but inside here things are good, warm, buzzing. We have a bustling day, which is just fine with me.

 

I flew out to California this past week. I’m on the board of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs and we have quarterly meetings all over the place. (They’re all coming here in July – YIKES!!) One of our gang is the chef for ALL the restaurants at the Google headquarters so we met there.

 

What a trip! It would take pages and pages for me to relate all the little Google stories that caught our attention (bidets and showers in the staff restrooms!; A 24-hour stock of snacks, including EVERY kind of cereal you’d like; some of the best sushi I’ve ever eaten; a permanent chair-massage ROOM…!) We did a lot of work and got a lot done AND enjoyed great food at WCR member restaurants too. Be sure to try Orson if you’re in San Francisco. SPQR is fabulous too.

 

On the morning of my flying home day I woke up early and decided to just get up and go to the airport. I got there quite early, but was happy enough to browse around in the stores there. Turns out my flight was “delayed” because of the torrential rains they were experiencing, BUT, get this, they put me on an EARLIER flight. I had enough time to get coffee and a banana muffin and settled into the waiting area.

 

“WOW!” I chortled to myself, “This sort of thing NEVER happens these days!”  I'm usually delayed, never early.

 

My flight was going through Dallas and I sat down in the waiting area at Gate 60a, after glancing up and seeing the sign for Los Angeles and Dallas. I drifted off, reading a paper that another traveler had left and sipping away. There was no plane at the gate but there were a lot of people waiting. I figured the plane was late due to the weather. At a certain point, wanting to stretch a bit, I asked when I should be back and the gate agent said, “9:15.” This was for a 9:25 flight, which made me think, well, that things were delayed.  No big deal.

 

I saw the plane come in, saw travelers getting off, and then drifted back into my paper. People in the waiting area were starting to move around, to collect their things, and in the background of my awareness I heard the early boarding announcement, for the Los Angeles flight.

 

Wait a minute. 

 

A jolt went through me.

 

“Los ANGELES?”

 

I whipped out my boarding pass.

My flight was supposed to leave from…

 

Gate…

 

 

OHMYGOD!!!!!!

It was 9:16.  My flight was supposed to leave in 9 minutes.

 

I grabbed my things and FLEW down the terminal to Gate 65.

The FINAL passenger was loading and the agents were ABOUT to close the door.

 

I almost threw my boarding pass at the agent. She glared, sighed, let me go.

 

I was in the LAST row of the plane but, sweating, I tried to unobtrusively get to my seat, stow my bag and not cause too much of a fuss. There was no one else in my row and, after my pulse had slowed to a reasonable pace, I opened up my book, finished my coffee and muffin, and watched as the storms and clouds dropped away beneath the plane.

 

Fun, huh?