The Weekly Newsletter
Menus and Stories for August 23-27, 2010

Bees make Honey (August 25th right here)
Our August Dinner and Conversation is all about bees and honey.
 
This dinner will feature local foods, cooked with honey from all over the United States. Avocado. Eucalyptus. Tupelo. Raspberry. And more.
 
Here's the menu. (And yes, there's still time to join in.)
At the Start:
Locust Grove Pecorino with Locust Honey and Fresh Pears
 
Polenta Rounds with Yellow Branch Farmstead Cheese
and Caramelized Onions
 
Mini Gallettes with Fresh Avocado Salsa
 
***
 
The First Course:
Squash Chowder
 
***
 
The Salad:
Apple and Celery Salad with Shaved Parmesan
 
The Dinner:
Hickory Nut Gap Pork Chops with Plum Chutney
Braised Fennel
Kale with Lemon and Coarse Mustard
Avocado Honey-glazed Turnips
 
Elsie’s Biscuits
With Blueberry Jam
 
***
 
The Sweet Finish:
 Blueberry and Peach Crisp with Toasted Almonds
 
Wednesday, August 25. 7pm. $50* per person + tax (+ $12 if you'd like wine.)
 
252-1500
 
(a portion of this dinner's proceeds will go to The Gulf Restoration Project to help restaurant colleagues in that region cope with the oil disaster. This fundraiser is under the auspices of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs' "Unite for a Bite" program.)


Speaking at TEDxAsheville on August 29th
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and is an evening of interesting talks and performances, "ideas worth sharing."
 
I have been invited to share some ideas this year and I'd love it if you would come be a part of the audience.  I'll be talking about bees and life and such things (surprising, eh!?)
 
The talks happen on August 29th at The Orange Peel, right down the street from here.  Take a look at the website to find out more and to get tickets. 
 
Oh, this picture is of my new necklace.  Come to the talk and you'll know why it has spun me completely off my feet.

TEDxAsheville


And, coming right up - my hero visits
Roz Savage is an ocean rower.  She is the first woman to row, solo, across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  And she's getting ready to row across the Indian Ocean. (How about THAT?!)
 
Best of all, she's coming to Asheville!
 
On Wednesday, September 8 she will be speaking and reading at Malaprops (7 pm). And on Thursday, September 9th, she'll be here.  We're making a special dinner in her honor and are getting the projectors ready to show the film of her Atlantic Crossing.  
 
This is an amazing opportunity to meet a real true adventurer.  SHE delivered a TED talk in the Galapagos recently - all about global warming and ocean pollution.  She's working to make big changes in our world and I'm thrilled she's coming to share her ideas with us.  Please plan to come join us and help her raise the funds she'll need to accomplish this next row.   

Roz Savage


Dinners to go (or to stay!)
Here are our dinners for this coming week.
 
Order by noon and we'll have your dinner ready to pick up by 3. We are open until 8 now which makes it easy for you to dawdle if you like. Feel free to stay right here with us if you like. We'll reheat your meal and stay out of your way.
 
Monday August 23
Blackened Chicken Alfredo 11.25
 
Tuesday August 24
Texas Chicken-fried Steak with Gravy 11.50
 
Wednesday August 25
Seared Pork Tenderloin with Potato Cakes 11.75
 
Thursday August 26
* Baked Trout with New Potatoes and Corn 13.50
 
Friday August 27
Shrimp and Poblano Pepper Quesadilla 12.50
 
 * these are gluten free
 
(though it is important to know that
 we do not have a wheat free kitchen.)

Our website


Special Casseroles and Lasagna of the week
We make a special casserole 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 8:00. (Or bring a gang and enjoy your dinner right here. We do have beer and wine by the glass, you know.)
 
Please order by phone (252-1500) or stop in to speak to one of us in person.
 
The casserole for the next week is:
 
Wednesday, August 25
Squash and Three Cheese “Bake”
Full:36 Half: 18
 
We make Lasagna every Friday. Here is the next offering.
 
Friday, August 27
Beef Florentine
Full: 42 Half: 21
 
 
Call 252-1500 to order yours.

Casseroles for the month


New from Sunburst Trout
Those folks over at the at the base of Mt. Pisgah are always coming up with new products.  This one is particularly delicious - Trout Jerky.  It is the PERFECT snack for a car ride or a picnic or a hike.  And I've been adding it to pre-dinner offerings.
 
It doesn't look like much, but the taste is superb.  Trust me.


Also from Sunburst
Charles Hudson is the chef in residence at Sunburst Trout.  I brought a gaggle of chefs there a couple of weeks ago to tour the ponds and production facility.  That evening they all came to my house, including the chef.  He brought caviar and trout jerky and this delicious concoction - Smoked Tomato Relish.
 
It is my new favorite.  Smear some on an omelet or spoon it over grilled fish or add it to a BLT.  You'll be so glad you did.


Jamming in the Garden Room 6-8pm
Now that summer is coming to a close musicians are coming back to town and our nights are once again filling up with their tones, dulcet for the most part.
 
Let me remind you about our Tuesday night jam sessions.  Come and play if you like or simply invite a friend to come listen and share a simple supper with you.  We have old-time music the first and third Tuesdays, and ukulele jams the second and fourth.
 
And Thursdays are once again the evenings when we feature local and not-so-local musicians for "gourmet comfort tunes."  This Thursday we'll have Alex Krug and friends.  She call it Americana.  I just call it good!  Come see what I mean.

Alex Krug


A note from Laurey
 
Saturday, August 21
 
Good morning to you. After a flurry of activity, things are quiet here right now. We had big parties last night, last week and a few small parties today. I like the contrast, the mass of action and the slowness that can follow. I love being wildly busy, and I like doing nothing. Today is a day of catch up for me and that’s a good thing.
 
I’ve been gearing up for this TED talk. If you aren’t familiar with them, I can say that TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. TED talks are short, 15-18 minutes long, and are meant to be “ideas worth spreading.” Last year I was invited to submit a proposal but simply telling about riding a bicycle across the United States was not compelling enough for the committee. Reporting about something is not necessarily an idea worth spreading.
 
So this year I was invited again and have been selected to be one of 8 or 9 speakers (or performers) to present my thoughts at TEDxAsheville. I’m excited and a bit nervous. There are parameters: No written speech. 15 minutes long. It will be my first time using a remote clicker to change the slides. A big audience will listen live at the Orange Peel and a larger audience will be involved via live streaming video. There will be other speakers and there will also be musicians and a couple of taped presentations from other places. Eustace Conway, the “Last American Man” from Turtle Island Preserve will be here. Billy Jonas will be performing a new “opera.”
 
This is high-flying stuff.
 
My message is about bees, tiny little creatures that do so much. As I’ve immersed myself in learning about them this year I have found parallels to my work and my life. To me, these revelations are huge. They have spun me off my feet. But they are MY revelations. And I wonder if that, my own revelations about something that has affect ME is a valid thing to share. IS this an “idea worth spreading?”
 
I hope so.
 
I find myself going to sleep running through bits and pieces of my presentation. I wake up with sentences on my mind. I sit here at work, musing, thinking, wondering.
 
The other day we had our first rehearsal. I come from a theatre background. I used to stage manage. I am accustomed to telling people what to do, where to go, what is next on the schedule. This rehearsal had none of those familiar elements about it. People wandered around. The musicians set up on the stage and the rest of us, the speakers who were there, sat, watched, reviewed our lines. The snack area was a popular place, with lots of folks visiting and nibbling. There was not much attention to a schedule, at least as far as I could tell. There was certainly no sense of urgency.
 
But as the time passed, I tried to understand the process of this particular rehearsal. No one was clearly in charge, though things did continue to happen. The musicians did do a sound check, did run through their pieces. Photographers did capture the activities. Notes were taken. Lights came on. Video feeds were set up. It came together, steadily and in its own way.
 
This was not what I was used to but sitting and watching made me see that that old way was certainly not the only way. Things were happening. We speakers did get to stand on the stage and run through our positioning. We did get to see that the slides worked. We tested the microphones, ran through the program. Steady, steady, steady.
 
It will, I see, be fine.
 
“This,” said the director, “is exactly the way it always is.”
 
She’s right. Rehearsals are often chaotic. TED evolved organically. A group of people connected via Twitter and created what was a hugely successful event. It was not the way I’ve ever done anything, but it worked.
 
I’m excited about being a part of this huge movement. I’m excited about sharing my ideas, spreading them. What I have to say might resonate with the folks who listen. We’ll see. I can only do my best. I have one more week to muse, ponder, develop and review. Then it’ll be showtime.
 
I hope you can come.


Moving with the First Lady
I got a letter from our First Lady the other day.  Suh-WEET!
 
She wrote me (and the 699 other chefs) thanking me for visiting her at The White House in July, and for participating in Chefs Move to Schools. We're busy here trying to pair chefs with all of the primary schools in the Asheville and Buncombe County area. 
 
School is back in session and we're working on it.  Stay tuned for details as they happen.  And, if you'd like to be a part, let me know.  We have room for you - even if you're not a chef.

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