My bees' honey just won first place in an international honey contest.  Best Local honey!!!!  Here's their Blue Ribbon!!

 

Go bees!

Go Stoney Knob Gold!  They are very proud, as well they should be.

 

(I wish I had enough to sell, but what I managed to collect needs to be saved for the bees in case they need it for overwintering.)

 

As I mentioned last week, I have been invited to do a honey dinner with Brendan Reusing (who was our chef here before he left to open his own spot) at his restaurant, All Soul's Pizza.  He and his partner Dave (from Farm and Sparrow Bakery) are are going to have a honey dinner on Monday, December 16.  Almost all of the recipes will be from my Fresh Honey Cookbook AND most of the honey will be from Stoney Knob (now an official Certified Appalachian Grown establishment!!!)

 

Don't you think it is time to have a Holiday party?  It seems to be the thing again this year - FINALLY!  After a few years of hiding, people are beginning to emerge and that, I think, is a fine thing indeed.

 

We're ready to help you in a number of ways:

You can call us and we'll cook, deliver, serve, and clean up.

or

We can make platters for you to come and pick up.  We can deliver too. 

or

You can come, feast your eyes on the contents of our deli case and our cheese display and our sweets, select as much as you'd like, and then take it home and transfer our food to your platters.

or

You can come here on December 13th to sing Christmas Carols (led by my sister).  We'll have a lovely dinner for you and your friends and family. 

or, um

I can't think of anything else.

 

 

 

Monday, November 25           Fried, Bone-in Chicken with Tricolored Coleslaw 8.95        

 

Tuesday, November 26           Potato Fritters with Roasted Fall Vegetables 7.95

 

Wednesday, November 27     All Turkey all the time!!!

 

Thursday, November 28         Today is Thanksgiving – enjoy the day with friends and family

 

Friday, November 29              We’ll be closed today. See you on Monday.

 

 

 

The Casserole of the week:

TUESDAY, (This week only)

November 26 Beef Bourguignon w/ Local Beef Whole 62 Half: 31

 

The Lasagna of the week:

We'll be closed today.  See you next week.

 

 Also check out our deli case for unplanned guests. This is where we present casseroles for unplanned occasions.  And, all our caseroles freeze nicely so do stock up if you'd like to.  Don't you have guests coming for the holidays? 

We started this dinner a few years ago, when things were dark and glum.  A tradition began and this will be our 5th.  We'd love to include you this year and have you share this lovely dinner and conversation with friends.

 

Here is the menu:

 

Slow-roasted Roma Tomato Bruschetta

Gulf Shrimp skewers with Lemon Butter

Local Sausage and Cheddar Bites

 

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Wilted Winter Greens with Pecorino

 

Beef Bourguignon

 

Crusty Hearth-baked Bread

 

Molten Chocolate Cake

Creme Anglaise

 

Dinner begins at 6:30.  The cost is $49.95 per person (+tax)

Call us at 828-252-1500 to make your reservations.

(This dinner sells out, so don't delay!!)

 

Wines will be available by the bottle

Reds

Honora Vera Monastrell $18.00

Entrada Cabernet Sauvignon $18.00

Whites

Cielo Pinot Grigio $18.00

If it's Fall it MUST be time for Chutney.

 

We're getting ready for Thanksgiving around here and this is going to help you get ready too.  Stop by the shop to pick up a few jars for your friends and family. On my list is making Blackberry Jam - but this will not happen immediately.  Until then, stock up with this wonderful condiment.  Not only is it great with Thanksgiving dinner, but it is terrific with leftovers, with a pork tenderloin, with roast chicken...

 

Of course we have my honey book here for you.  I'll be in residence on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgivnig, to sign your books.  If you miss me, feel free to leave your copies with one of our highly capable staffers.  I'll sign your books and we'll call to tell you they are ready to be picked up.

 

The publisher intentionally made this a very "affordable" book (just $14.95), so do fill your gift list with a copy for everyone. 

 

I'll also be at:

Malaprops Bookstore on December 14 from 10-2 as a Guest Bookseller

Mast General Store on December 21st from 11-1

And don't forget to pick up a copy of People Magazine this week.  One of my recipes is going to be featured.

 

November 23, 2013

 

Hi all,

 

As I start writing this note the Asheville Holiday Parade is about to start. It’s a fun time around here with simple floats, bands, dance academies, and assorted funsters getting ready to march up the hill and right past our front door. You cannot get any closer, my friends. Andrew and the shopsters have hot chocolate ready and there will be soup and sandwiches for people needing a rest. It’s a bit chilly outside so I’m thinking that the hot drinks will be very popular today.

 

I lived in New York City before I moved to Asheville. We who were lucky enough to be on the Upper West Side made it a tradition not only to watch the parade on Thursday, but to go to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons get inflated on Wednesday night. These giants were held down with huge nets and heavy blocks, keeping them low enough to get filled with helium until the morning, when their handlers would complete the filling and let them rise slowly to start the long walk to Herald Square.

 

Volunteers hold the many guide ropes for Underdog and Snoopy and all the balloons, so being at the early part of the parade promised high drama. Steering around the many streetlight poles and building corners is not for the faint of heart. Until the crew gets the hang of it, a balloon or two could sometimes be seen crashing into the edge of a building or taking out a signpost. Parade watchers scattered, screaming as the official Balloon Captain barked into a megaphone, trying frantically to regain control of the soaring behemoth. Windy days made for particularly exciting times.

 

One year my sister’s boyfriend’s father was the on-the-street announcer for the parade. We got to stand on one of the Macy’s marquees, watching the parade pass by. That year it poured icy rain for the entire parade. Majorettes marched in tight formation, stomping right through puddles of semi-frozen slush in their short, white tasseled parade boots. We shivered at our posts, but even then I felt sorrier for the parade marchers than I did for my 13 year-old self.

 

This year it is back to family again for me. My sisters, nieces and nephew, brothers-in-law and neighbors will gather, cook, sing, share stories, and celebrate the season with each other. This is the time of being thankful. And as I get ready to go into another week of doctor visits, I continue to be thankful for their very presence. It continues to be a long haul for me, but I am blessed with their expertise and, more than anything, with the support of my family and my friends. I don’t like being in treatment, but it sure beats being out of options.

 

One of the big discoveries I made on my Camino walk last spring was that detours almost always resulted in very meaningful encounters. So it is with this health journey; these detours keep coming up but they keep leading me to important encounters and personal discoveries. And I hope that, if I am going to keep finding myself on detours, that I keep also having these very important life experiences with the people I meet, including my team of gifted and caring doctors.

 

This picture gives you a glimpse into the serious atmosphere here in the kitchen not to mention our work ethic.  Martha here is literally bending over backwards to make food.  This, my friends, is her way of going above and beyond. Rebecca, meanwhile, tends the stove.