The Weekly Newsletter
Menus and Stories for June 22 - 26, 2009

Shop and cook with me - next Saturday

Come join me for a morning of shopping and cooking. 
Saturday, June 27th.

We'll start at my shop at 9:00 and will walk to the City Market together.  We'll browse around, say hello to some of my friends, see what's available, and then we'll  buy things to come back and cook. 

Back at the shop I'll have a cooking demonstration area set up in our Garden Room and I'll put our market finds together to make a nice Market Lunch - which you then get to sample.

This is a fun way for you to see what to do with the things that catch our eye.  If they catch our eyes, we'll buy 'em and then we'll cook 'em!

The price is $25.00 per person.  We still have a few spots open but they may go quickly, so do call soon.

252-1500.


Lobster dinner!!! Friday, July 10
I grew up in the mountains of Vermont, far from the ocean, far from sand or, for that matter, rocky beaches.  A big treat for us was going to The Lobster Pot, a funny restaurant in Montpelier.  Lobster in the middle of Vermont.  Later, in college, on the coast of New Hampshire (all 12 miles of it), I ate many lobsters.  And more still in Maine and Massachusetts. 

Summertime just feels like lobster time to me.  How about you?

We thought it'd be fun to have a mid-summer Lobster fest right here.  Baked stuffed Clams, Corn on the Cob, Steamed Local Potatoes, LOBSTER (it'd be hard to have a lobster dinner without lobsters, right?) and shortcakes.

This one is going to be really casual.  Bibs. Newspaper.  Beer.  Summertime music.

The exact price will depend on the price of the lobster.  I'll keep you posted.  The most important part is to come, have fun, and (best of all) be able to keep the sand out of your plate!  Want to join us?  252-1500.  (Unless things go crazy with prices, it looks like the price will be 37.00 + tax.  Add 10.00 if you'd like beer or wine.)


Berry time!
Okay, true confessions, these are boysenberries and these berries are in Oregon.  I'm IN Oregon right now, browsing, visiting, breathing different air, seeing different things.  It's berry time here in a big way.  The markets are filled with them and I've been eating LOTS of all kinds.

Ours in Asheville are coming along.  The blackberries are about to pop out and so are the blueberries.  I've reserved a couple of dates for "Jam Babes" production of our not-too-sweet jams.  As the season goes along, I'll add peach chutney to the mix.  And I think I'll make some with raspberries this year too.  Why not?

YUM!!!


Dinners to go (**with Gluten Free options)
Dinners come with a freshly-made green salad, salad dressing of the day, and made-right here bread (or rice cakes) of the day. We take reservations until noon or so. Please order by phone (252-1500), by fax (252-0200) or stop in to speak to one of us in person.

New pickup hours!!! Dinners are now ready to pick up between 3:00 and 6:00

Monday, June 22    Pecan Chicken with Lemon Basil Compound Butter 9.95 *
Tuesday, June 23    Smothered Shrimp and Chevre Crepes 12.25
Wednesday, June 24    Citrus and Chutney Glazed Local Pork Chops 11.75 *
Thursday, June 25    Grilled Chicken and Italian Sausage Skewers 10.75 *
Friday, June 26    Crab Cakes with Dill and Chive Remoulade 13.25

* Gluten Free!!


Our website


Special casserole of the week
We make a special casserole each Wednesday.
Order by noon or so.

Order a half if you have around 4 folks. If you have a bigger group,
or just like leftovers, order a full sized one.

Then come pick up between 3:00 and 6:00.

Wednesday, June 24
Beef, Corn, and Zucchini Tamale Pie
Full: 39.50
Half: 19.75


Thyme
My gardens at home are teeming with herbs.  Ours at work are too.  I love cooking, bringing steaming, just-grilled foods to a platter lined with herbs.  The aroma fills me, fills the guests.

The other day, at a party, I simply opened the bag filled with just-cut chocolate mint from our garden.  Guests, standing in the hallway, poked into the kitchen, exclaiming.

"Wow! that food smells great!"

(I hadn't even opened the containers yet, but the herbs snuck out, caught their noses, filled them.)

Come see what's new today in the deli case.  Grilled flank steak, perhaps, or kebobs, or salads or all of these things.  Fresh herbs tuck in here and there.  Filling us.  And you.

By the way - we're almost ready to announce extended summer hours.  We'll be open until 8 most nights, unless there is a private event.  Come see us on the way to the Orange Peel or The Fine Arts Theatre or a Gallery Crawl or, heck, on your way home.  We're going to have music sometimes, poetry sometimes, quiet sometimes.  Stay tuned.


Something blue for the 4th
Can you believe it is almost the 4th of July?

Me neither.

We're going to make our special dinner to go 4th of July picnic again.
ON THE 3RD.

(We like to be different.)

Crispy Fried Chicken
Baby Back Ribs
Old fashioned Potato Salad
Snazzy Creamy Maple-sweetened Cole Slaw
Crackling Jalapeno Corn Bread

And Red, White, and Blue Berry Shortcakes.
We'd like it if you'd call by Wednesday to place your order.

The price will be $17.76. (plus tax)
We're hosting a wedding that night so dinners will be ready to pick up at 3.  You can get yours until 5, which is when we will close that day.

252-1500


Ride with me in DC
I'm coming to Washington to be the closing speaker at the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance's annual conference on July 8th. And I'm going to come up early enough to do a special, fun bike ride on the 5th. Join me, won't you?

We'll start at 10:00 (so come a bit early to get yourself ready). Meet at Temple Ohr Kodesh at 8300 Meadowbrook Lane in Chevy Chase, MD. It is one block from the intersection of East-West highway and Rock Creek Park.

We'll ride out along bike paths and scenic roads, about 14 miles. We'll stop, have lunch, chat about my Across-the-United-States ride, and then we'll get back on our bikes for the return trip. bring yourself, water, a snack, and the appropriate spare tire stuff. We will not have SAG support, but we promise not to take off and leave anyone either. (And I'm a top notch flat tire changer now so I'll be glad to help if need be.)

If you'd like to come, jot me a note so we'll be sure to have enough sandwiches. (laurey@laureysyum.com)

This is a FUN ride, but I'd like it to be a FUNdraiser too. We're suggesting a donation of $25.00 - $50.00 if you like. Less is fine. More is too.

Ovarian Cancer National Alliance


A Note from Laurey
Hello to you from Bend, Oregon.

Have computer, will travel.  I'm visiting here.  Seeing a different place.  Meeting different people.  I'll be home on Tuesday in a whoosh.  Go to the airport.  Get in a new zone.  Get on a plane.  Land in a new place.  Look around.  Meet.  Think.  Wonder.  Repeat.

I've wondered about Bend and now, just like that, here I am, visiting the special person in my life.  It's a beautiful place.  Mountains, huge mountains, surround wide, flat, open meadows.  The rivers are crystal clear and brisk and full.  The forests smell like, well, forests.  And the air is clear. 

Having just ridden across this entire country on my bicycle it is funny to hop on a plane and be here so quickly.  I feel like I didn't earn this place in the same way I felt like I earned eastern Texas or Florida.  But though I worked hard to get to those places, skipping to a place on a plane is a fine thing too.

Everyone here has heard of Asheville.  No surprise.  Asheville is a lovely spot too.  Word it out, as we all know, that Asheville is a fine place.  But I think it's good to go to other places too, to look around, see new things.  People here say, "Oh ASHEVILLE!  I've heard so much about it!"  Much the same as people in Asheville, when I told them I was coming here said, "Oh BEND!  You'll love it!"

They're right.  It's a beautiful place. 

I wish I could smush the two together.  I mean, my sisters and my business and my friends are all in or near Asheville.  Asheville is filled with energy and music and my dog and theatre and poetry and life.  But the lakes here are spectacular.  The air here is crisp and nice today.  Asheville, I see, is hot. 

I'm re-reading A Wrinkle in Time.  Reading it out loud, actually.  It was one of my favorite books as a child and it still, it turns out, is.  The wrinkle is the folding of time, the bringing together of far away places.  I wish we could really do this, the wrinkle thing.  For now we will rely on planes and phones and such to bring these distant places together. 

I'll be home on Tuesday.  No wrinkle.  Just a plane.  Pretty conventional I guess.  See you next week.

Laurey Bikes (the blog)


Equipoise - a haiku
Breathing in the woods.
Still.  Take a deep breath and then
Breathe again. Clear thought.

Laurey's Catering and gourmet to go • 67 Biltmore Avenue • Asheville • NC • 28801