We're making Crawfish Etouffee and Dirty Rice, a simple yet delicious Dinner to Go.  We'll also have King Cupcakes.  If YOU get the one with the baby in it, you get your next dinner to go for free. (I know this is an odd photo...but if you're the type to stick a baby in a cake, well....)

 

March is St. Patrick's Day time too, the 17th.  Brendan makes his own Corned Beef, smoking it right here.  We'll add Cabbage and Steamed Potatoes and Irish Soda Bread. 

 

This is a big deal to me.  Reading Under the Tuscan Sun inspired me to go to Italy, to spend time in Tuscany, to bring others with me.  My travel partner, Monroe, and I brought our first groups to the places mentioned in Mayes' book and I feel a connection with her (along with thousands of others, not doubt.)

 

She's coming to Asheville on March 16th.  We get to make some Tuscan hors d'oeuvres and I get to introduce her!!

 

You may not know that we have a special sandwich every day here at Laurey's. Well, we do. Here's our daily list. Bread is from Annie's. Insides and inspirations are from the team. Try them all, why don't you?

 

Monday

 

with house-roasted turkey, applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, Lusty Monk Chipotle Mustard and Mayonnaise

 

Tuesday

 

served hot on a ciabatta roll with provolone cheese, garlic basil mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar

 

Wednesday

 

Crispy buttermilk fried chicken served hot on a ciabatta roll with jalapeno-lime cole slaw and a touch of mayonnaise

 

Thursday

 

with mashed potatoes and homemade gravy served hot on sourdough bread served with cranberry chutney

 

Friday

 

served hot on ciabatta bread with house-made marinara sauce

Here are our dinners for this coming week.

 

Monday, March 7

Chicken Marsala with Herbed Fettuccine 7.95

 

Tuesday, March 8

It’s Mardi Gras!!! Crawfish Etouffé with Dirty Rice 9.75

 

Wednesday, March 9

Roast Pork with Sweet Potatoes 8.25

 

Thursday, March 10

Chicken Croquettes with Fresh Applesauce 7.95

 

Friday, March 11

Wild Salmon with Leek, Carrot, and Spinach Sauté 10.95

 

Order by noon and we'll have your dinner ready to pick up by 3. Our new winter hours are in effect so we're now closing at 7.

 

Salad and bread are now a la carte (not included.) Let us know if you'd like to add them. Salad is 3.25 and bread is 1.25 per person.

 

We make a special casserole and a special lasagna 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 7:00.

 

The casserole this week is for March 9:

 

Mac and Cheese with Roasted Vegetables

Full: 32 Half: 16

 

The lasagna, for Friday, March 11 is:

 

Local Beef and Roasted Onion Lasagna

Full: 58 Half: 29

 

Have you had the opportunity to have some of Martha's pizza?  Well, let me say that if that's the case, you are in store for a VERY pleasurable experience. 

 

Marty's new knee is holding up well enough that he is back here on a part-time basis, baking cookies and cakes, sweets and treats of all kinds.  Tara is still here too.  The timing is perfect.  In the high season she bakes with Dave at Farm and Sparrow, but the winter is his off-season so she's been with us during Marty's recuperation period. 

 

My friend Lisa has some kind of giant job with Roland Foods so when I see their products on our grocery shelf I smile in the same way I would if her children were working for me.  She doesn't have any children, other than a couple of little dogs (I think) so this is the best I can do.

 

March 5, 2011

 

Did you know that the dates of the days of the week in February are the same as March? They are. At least this year they are.

 

Birds are coming back around here in a big way. This morning I sat in my hot tub listening and watching a Robin flitting, singing, collecting nesting materials. Robins did not usually come to Vermont until after March 21 when I was little. (Or maybe it was that I didn’t notice them or want to see them before then. I’m not sure.) I like to think about the Robins that I am seeing here flying further North, maybe being the ones that some little girl will see in a couple of weeks in Vermont.

 

I’ve been cleaning out more gardens at home, getting ready, getting ready, getting ready for Spring. Yesterday I spent the morning at home and decided to just follow my instincts. Without being at all intentional I vacuumed the entire house, scrubbed the entire kitchen (removing everything from the counters before getting my elbow grease going.) I dusted and swept and flushed and washed and organized, removing layers of accumulated dust. I got underneath the couch and the bed and the chairs. I mopped and cleaned and sprayed and rinsed. My!

 

I have a couple more garden beds to rake before I am completely ready for Spring at home. One, along the edge of my driveway, is not waiting for me. The greenery is poking up through the leaves. By the time I clean that bed, sometime next week, it will probably be full of buds. Another bed, nearer my house, waits. After that, one more and, oh yes, one more. And then I’ll be ready. But wait, flower pots on my deck and next to my front door need me too. And pretty soon it’ll be time to introduce my new bees to their homes which means that I still have a bit of cleaning to do in the waiting hives.

 

What is it that makes us clean in the spring? Are we so different from our animal friends? I think not. What difference does it make if my house is scrubbed? The animal instinct of it all fascinates me. I give in, roll up my sleeves, scrub and clean and rake or organize something else. And feel very good.

 

And, just to fill you in on the progress of the book proposal, it moves along. I have an agent who is a very precise and thorough examiner and reader (and friend too.) She knows what a good proposal needs to be and she is guiding me through the process with great care. I am on the third draft right now – of the proposal, not the book. I understand, more and more, her incredible talent and skill and feel graced to be in her fold. On we go. On.

 

Austin and Kathleen are the Saturday morning kids who open up, get the coffee brewed, the salads arranged, the sandwich station prepped and all the other tasks that are needed to get ready for you.