My friend Roz Savage completed her row across the Indian Ocean last week.  She was on the water from May 4th until October 4th.  Can you imagine? 

 

Last week was a big week for my friend Sally, who ran in her first marathon.  She said it rained and was cold but she ran every single mile, all 26.2 of them.  Not bad for a gal who, earlier this year, had never run a mile. 

 

Give us a call by noon and we'll have your dinners ready by 3. You can come until 7.

 

828-252-1500

 

Monday, October 10

Jerked Chicken with Black Beans and Yellow Rice 7.95

 

Tuesday, October 11

Marinated Tempeh with Garlicky Greens 8.00

 

Wednesday, October 12

Rosemary Flank Steak with Crispy Brussels Sprouts 9.50

 

Thursday, October 13

BBQ Spare ribs with Mashed Potatoes 8.25 (GF)

 

Friday, October 14

Here is this week's casserole:

 

Wednesday, October 12

Full: 60.95  Half: 30.50

 

And this week's Lasagna is:

Friday, October 14

Full: 59.95 Half: 30

Best Caterer - again!  Thanks so much to all of you.  Here's what Mackenzie Lunsford said in the Mountain Xpress:

 

“Next year is my 25th year,” Laurey Masterton says, right before mock-shrieking rather spiritedly. Honestly, we have to admit that's worth a holler. And so do you, faithful Xpress readers and Masterton fans, who have voted for the catering company again and again. Masterton credits her success to the same thing than many happy professionals can: taking the right path. Given her choice of occupations? “I would do food! Nothing else,” Masterton says.

 

But keep pressing her for information, and you'll realize she has other loves, beekeeping chief among them. Her hives are starting to produce honey, she says, and she's working on a new book about bees. “It's a cookbook using honey and other things that wouldn't exist without honeybees,” she says. The book, Every Third Bite, will be released in 2013.

Our friends at Firefly Farms are going to bring us some fall produce and some of their Devon Beef and Brendan is going to make a farm dinner for you.  We're still working on the date, but it'll be in early November, probably on Friday the 4th. I'll know details by next week.

 

Many of you have been asking if we are preparing Thanksgiving dinners again this year. You BET we are! As always, we take reservations until the Monday of Thanksgiving week and prepare dinners for you to pick up on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.

 

I KNOW we're still in October, but I wanted to remind those of you who like to have us cook for you, that we're standing by, ready for you. I'm not going to push this - I mean, it IS still just the beginning of October. if you'd like to see our menu, here you go. If not, well, you can skip this next part.

 

Thanks!

 

Here you go:

 

Fresh Herb and White Wine-roasted Turkey

(sliced breast or whole birds are both available)

 

Pan Gravy

 

Blueberry Hill Bread and Herb Stuffing

 

Mashed Red Skin Potatoes with Chives

 

Green Bean Casserole with Mushrooms and Crispy Onions

(the real deal)

 

Sorghum-glazed Carrots

 

Jubilee Cranberry and Citrus Chutney

 

Marty’s Soft Dinner Rolls with Whipped Butter

 

Choice of:

Pecan Pie or Pumpkin Pie or Apple Pie

 

The price for the whole meal is 25.95 per person.

 

October 8, 2011

 

Howdy to you all on this fine, crisp, bright October morning. I’m in fine fettle, having been to the farmer’s market, having had an apricot wood-fired pastry, having had a couple of “gosh you look great. No, you REALLY do!” comments there. Things are cranking along here at the shop, people are cooking and people are coming in to enjoy their cooking. All is good.

 

My sister and I had a very fun night last night. This is the time when the Chimney Swifts are in Asheville. Soon they will be on their way further south, ending up in Peru. COOL! They spend all day flying around, eating mosquitoes, never landing at all. But then, around dusk, they gather and, just as the darkness sets in, they settle in for the night in abandoned chimneys.

 

Last night, after the sun set, we started seeing one or two birds flying around near the chimney we had been told to visit – the one across the street from the Civic Center parking lot. Swift watchers had gathered on every level of the parking deck and we greeted each other, waving to folks above and below us. As darkness approached more and more birds collected. And when it was just about dark, but still light enough to see, the birds formed into a wide spiral, swirling around and around, nearing the chimney but then flying on into the spiral.

 

Finally one bird took the plunge, diving into the chimney. The crowd erupted with wild applause, worthy of a Met solo or an Academy Award announcement. And then, as we watched, the spiral got tighter and birds starting dropping into the chimney one and then ten and then hundreds at a time. The spiral kept collecting birds and so, even as the chimney was filling up, more birds came to join in. It was really amazing, a peak experience to be sure.

 

Ultimately, right at dark, the last bird left the sky and we gave them a raucous and extended ovation. Fun. Enormous fun. I love living here. It’s these sorts of things that make life so very thrilling.

 

I head back to treatment this week and the countdown is now on. 6 done. 6 to go. I hope to be done by Christmas with these infusions of the magic elixirs that are, I hope, clearing the unwanted cells from my body. I am grateful for these “weeks off” as they remind me that things can be normal for me, even though they really are NOT during the treatment weeks.

 

6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

 

Last Sunday, October 2, held special significance to me for a couple of reasons.  First of all, it was Jubilee's annual Blessing of the Animals.  Tye came along (she comes with me most weeks but this week there were a whole lot of other animals too) and had a fine time.  Me too.