The Weekly Newsletter
Menus and Stories for June 13 - 18, 2005

A new sign


We realized we needed to change the sign out front when we got a call one day from someone who was driving up and down the street looking for us. The previous sign was pretty big (I thought) but the biggest word on it was "yum!" In smaller letters it was easy (I thought) to see "Laurey's Catering and Gourmet to Go," but people kept saying they couldn't find us!

(And then there were the people who would ask if they should make the check out to "Yum.")

The final straw was when I found out that Yum brands owns Pepsi and Kentucky Fried Chicken and, well, I figured it was time to get a little more specific about who WE are (not that we won't continue to say Laurey's (yum!) [That is a trademarked name, by the way.]

Anyway, I finally gave in.

I hope you like this new sign. I do, though just the other day I heard someone say, "Now, didn't you used to do catering?")

!!!!!

(Yes - of course we still do catering, by the way.)


"The server was down."
Sorry about getting this out to you late this week. I tried all day yesterday and kept getting a message saying that there were technical problems and I would not be able to write or send this week's newsletter. Finally, this morning (Sunday) it got fixed.

Frankly, it continues to be a mystery to me, all the "server" lingo. What the heck IS a server, anyway? I mean, WE have servers here in our catering division, but, um, I don't think that is what they are talking about, you know what I mean?

Monroe, who used to work with me, had a great way of describing how a computer worked.

"When you save and file something," he'd say, "it's the same as if you were to bring a real manilla folder to a little man at a desk. He takes your file filled with your papers and runs into the back where he stashes it on a shelf. When you need it, he runs and finds it for you."

Oh!

When the note came in about the server I imagined a little fellow with a small tray, running in and out of a shed somewhere, madly scampering around looking for the plug to some gigantic computer, getting more and more exhausted until he finally just gave out.

I guess the technicians have figured it all out now.

Sorry for the delay.


The nightly dinners for the week (Call 252-1500 to order)
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.
Please order by phone (252-1500), by FAX (252-02002)
or stop in to speak to one of us in person.

Dinners are ready at 4:30 and can be picked up until we close at 6:00 pm.

Monday June 13 Elsie�s Chicken Baked in Wine 9.75
Tuesday June 14 Shrimp and Pasta, Primavera 12.25
Wednesday June 15 Thyme Roasted Beef and Carrot Stew 10.50
Thursday June 16 Chicken and Swiss Chard Enchiladas 9.75
Friday June 17 Grilled Tuna with New Potatoes 12.25

Our website


Dinner and Conversations returns - June 30
"Coming to the Mountains. The Many Faces of Asheville."

(Did you see this note last week? It really will be fun.)

Here's how it goes:

A bunch of people who like food and conversation come here for a shared meal. There will be some folks here to prompt a conversation, to perhaps tell about the heritage of our area from the perspective of all the people who have come here from other places.

We will make foods that were not here before those people showed up. It will be different, delicious, and, I'm sure, quite interesting.

The Center for Diversity Education at UNC-A is leading the talking portion of the event. Do come and bring friends. I'm sure you'll all have fun. (At the last one no one wanted to leave!)


Casserole for the week
Casseroles are made each Wednesday.
Call to order on Tuesday if you can.
Orders will be ready on Wednesday between 4:30 and 6:00.


Wednesday, June 15
Chicken Pot Pie with Fried Green Tomato Crust- full pan 33.00/half pan 16.50


Teaching the teachers
Here are the hands of some teachers making a Fresh Asian Carrot Salad. These gals were spending their summer vacation learning about how to incorporate more fresh food into the classrooms. We did a whirlwind demonstration of three salads using three kinds of herbs and let them go: three groups, three salads, ten minutes. Just like that!

We picked the garnishes and part of each salad from the garden right at the school's front entrance, displayed everything on just-picked Rainbow Chard, and gave the teachers a thing to add to their repertoire when school starts up again in the fall.

Gardening and real food in the schools. Isn't that great?


Making the signs for the cukes


A Note from Laurey
June 12, 2005

Hi there,

I�m WET! It was "mulch day" in the garden at the YWCA this morning and when we got there the skies were grey but not really doing much of anything more than threatening. We spread thick layers of newsprint out and then piled on heaps of mulch. I hauled wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow full of it onto the covered paths. It looks MUCH nicer now, the weeds being relegated to the darkness. Hopefully they�ll give up and migrate to the other side of the fence. Just as I was carting the last load up the hill to the garden, the rain started. I never carry a raincoat, so I got a good drenching. Somehow it is okay being wet, knowing that the garden is getting a good soak too. The progress from last week is stunning. (I forgot my camera but will scoot over there this week to snap a couple of shots for you to see. One cucumber vine grew about 4 feet this past week. REALLY!)

At home things are wild too. The first round of flowers that pop in my yard (after the brilliant show of dark blue Siberian Iris that appear for my birthday, that is) are all red or pink. Then, gradually, a few purple things peek in, with maybe a blue bud here or there. Oranges are next and then yellows. Right now things are very lush in my yard, very multi-hued. Each day more colors pop, more green fills in, the jungle grows and grows.

When I first came here I spent a lot of time up in the mountains at the Outward Bound school. Everything there was always covered in a thin layer of damp. They had a LOT of rain the first year I was here. That area is known for its wetness. I was so happy to be out of New York City that the damp seemed to wrap me up, folding me in softness and quiet. I forgot about all of that until this week when it started to rain. I am surrounded, at home, by trees and birds and thick vegetation and it feels good, safe, like when I first left New York and the hectic, hot, loud, smelly life I led there. These days the rain wakes me up as it filters through the pines and black walnut and dogwood and red bud and maple trees. It is good.

Yesterday I gave a talk to the folks celebrating the work of Lewis Rathbun, the gentleman who founded Pathways � Life After Cancer. It has been 26 years since I found out I had the first of two rounds of cancer. Dr. Rathbun created one of the first survivor groups in the United States right here in Asheville � quite some time ago. His forward thinking and unusual belief system about survival has changed a lot of lives, mine included. I woke up yesterday to a steady rain in my trees and thought that my talk would be given to, at best, 5 or 10 people who HAD to attend the event for some reason or other. But as the morning unfolded, the rain stopped and, by the time I got to John Cram�s beautiful garden, the sun was pushing out and the place was filled with strolling guests. As I started speaking it became a fully sunny day, and that lasted for the next few hours (no, I did not talk that long.) I don�t often talk about being a cancer survivor, so I don�t know how I did, but it felt okay to be there, saying some things about living and surviving and creating and going on. I had to leave to go back to work after my portion of the event, so I�m not even sure if my words meant anything to anyone else, but I guess, for me, it was good to be saying the things I said, if only for myself.

I tell this to others, but I occasionally forget to take my own advice. �Don�t Postpone Joy.� Okay?


Enjoy the rain, my friends.


A much better handle!


Contact Info:
Laurey's (yum!) Catering
Gourmet-to-Go (and to stay!)
67 Biltmore Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801

828-252-1500

Hours:
Monday - Friday 10:00 - 6:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 - 4:00 pm

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