The Weekly Newsletter for October 7-11, 2013 # 1 at Malaprops! Whee!  Malaprops, our wonderful, local, independent bookstore posts their top ten bestsellers each week.  The Fresh Honey Cookbook was # 1 last week.  Sweet!  My bees are thrilled (oh, and so am I.)    By the way, I will be at Accent on Books this coming Saturday the 12th at 11am.  I'll also be speaking at the French Broad Garden club that Friday (the 11th) at 10:30 and at the WNC Aids Project Raise Your Hand Auction on the 12th in the evening.  Hope to see you at one or all of these events.   We have plenty of signable books for you here at my shop.  I am happy to personalize yours for everyone on your list.  Malaprops has signed copies (though they're not personalized,) and I'm guessing that Accent on Books will too.  I saw the books at Mast General Store and I think they are at the Biltmore Williams Sonoma too.  (I will be there on October 26th, by the way.)   I'm coming to Cook's Warehouse in Atlanta on October 22nd - details will be in next week's newsletter. Malaprops Bookstore We have an air date!!!   I got a note from the folks at Cooking Channel saying that the network has scheduled our Chuck's Eat the Street show for broadcast. It's going to be on tv (on Cooking Channel) at 10 pm on Halloween night, October 31.  If you are like me and go to bed early, this might just be too late for you.  No worries, tape it and watch it while you are eating breakfast on Friday. I hope this is enough warning for you.  I KNOW you like to go out Trick or Treating and you might not be home in time SO here's your opportunity to schedule it on your Tivo or DVR or whatever kind of taping mechanism you have.    It will be fun to see our segment.    Fun! Dinners to go for the week Here are dinners to go for this week. This, if you do not know, is a fabulous way to have dinner. It's easy - just call us by noon and your dinner will be ready for you to pick up by 3 that very day. You can stop by to pick yours up until we close at 8. Add Salad (3.25) or bread (1.25) if you like.   Monday, October 7 - Fig and Blue Cheese-stuffed Chicken with Succotash 8.95             Tuesday, October 8 - Spinach, Mushroom + Corn Enchiladas w/ Kale Salad (gf) 7.95         Wednesday, October 9 - Grilled Pork Chops and Fall Greens 8.95                                          Thursday, October 10 - Meatloaf and Cheddar Smashed Potatoes 8.95               Friday, October 11 - Crispy Calamari with Butternut Squash and Kale Salad 9.95                                                   Laurey's Casserole and Lasagnas to go The Casserole of the week:  October 9 Swedish Meatballs with Cauliflower Cheese Bake whole; 55 Half: 27.50              The Lasagna of the week: October 11 Traditional Beef Lasagna whole: 60 Half: 20 Mornings at Laurey's Have you had breakast with us?  It's an increasingly popular thing to do.  The other day there were three groups meeting here and a few smaller conglomerations too.  No one had to wait in line for a table, for a waitress, for their food, or for a check.  Nice, right?    I am a creature of habit and so, when my doctor told me I needed to eat more protein, it was a pleasureable assignment: come to work, order what, by the end of the week, was "Laurey's Standard" and get my day off on the right foot.  If my sister is here we usually split an order of French Toast and, if I'm not very hungry, I just have a bowl of fruit with yogurt and our own Granola.    Do think of us the next time you're in the area and feel peckish.  We do a fine breakfast, if I do say so myself. The inspiration Say, have your tried Deb's massaged Kale Salad?  If not, I give you fair warning: most people who have, find that they end up coming here every day for more.  I'm not sure what the record is, but I think it is two or three weeks of every day Kale Salad eating.  I asked Deb today and found out that she now is making an entire case of Kale into Salad each day.  (That's a LOT of Kale, my friends!)   Give it a try the next time you're here.  But don't make lunch plans anywhere else for at least a few days after your initial serving of this deceptively simple salad.  It's habit-forming. Martha's Gallettes And then, later in the day, stop by and see if Martha has made Gallettes.  She makes them later in the day so you can have something different for a late-afternoon snack or, if you wish, for dinner.  They are lighter than pizza and are made with fresh vegetables and our own tomato sauce and crust.  Two will suit regular appetites, one would be good for a smaller need, three for a larger one.   We're also making more simple supper food that is not usually available until mid afternoon.  Just sayin. Did you hear? We've been selected as Best Caterer again.  I think this is four years in a row, though I'm not certain.    Thanks to all of you who voted.  Thanks a bunch. A word or two from Laurey Saturday, October 5, 2013 Hi, remember me?   I’m really sorry that I have been “out of pocket” for the past few weeks.  Frankly, I have been trying to get back on my feet following more surgeries.  I had some high intensity radiation on September 4th and then some bigger surgery on September 9th. Then I had to recover from those two events and that was a tricky thing.  Now, I realize, just one month after these surgeries, it is kind of amazing that I am feeling as good as I do.  Can’t say much for the time I’ve missed in the interim, but the important part is that I DO feel good now.  People who are watching say I act and look better and better on a daily basis.  Whew!   I’m calling the time “away” as “the fog."  I was functioning on a different level during that time and so, the time of recovery I now think of as “emerging from the fog.”  When you are a functioning person, finding yourself fogged in is a disconcerting thing. It sure was for me.  But instead of dwelling there, I can now say that I am so relieved to have emerged.  I am relieved to be driving again, to behappy to read again, to be taking walks again, to be remembering thingsagain.  Not doing those things was frustrating, frightening, annoying and concerning to me.   Whew, I say again.   This coming week I have a bookstore visit, two talks, and some planning time for setting up future events.  The following week I will go to Austin to be a part of the Livestrong “Ride for the Roses” weekend.  I’ve decided not to ride this time but I will be a speaker and that is exciting.  And when I come home I have a few more local and regional events to do.  Each event is for something that matters tome and so I am excited.   Anyway – I am very happy to be on this side of this particular experience.  I now get a break before the next conversations about next steps takes place. Breaks are good and I have some adventures to experience before these conversations happen.   Whew!   Oh, and if you have an animal at home say a prayer for them tomorrow.  These wonderful beings will not be with us forever so celebrate them now.  Okay?    I’ll try to be a bit more regular about being in touch.  But if something happens, please forgive me, okay? okay!.  I hope to be in touch with you next week. Me and my girl Tye Masterton is the sweetest girl a girl could wish for.  She has been very protective of me lately and has been content to have me home more.  She is ever vigilant, hopping up from her cozy bed the moment she is aware of me moving in the morning.  She is ecstatic when it is time for a walk and is the best tv companion ever.    Her one "weakness" is any squirrel or bird or racoon or, yes, bear that dares come onto our property.  This morning, surveying the world from the foot of my bed, she spied a squirrel and almost went through the window trying to get it.  No wonder I've had to repair that screen.  She's almost ripped it to shreds trying to reach bait on the deck.  Ah me.   Tomorrow is The Blessing of the Animals at Jubilee.  I wonder if I can get away without giving her a bath tonight.  All this chasing of things, jumping in and out of the lake, and rolling in curious piles of who knows what has made her fragrant.  Yes, perhaps a bath is a good idea before we watch tv tonight.