Sept 20-24 Roasted Butternut Soup & Ginger Chicken Lettuce Wraps

This week marks the last days of summer and the first of autumn. Hopefully, we will have more glorious weather like last week. It was sheer joy to look out on the courtyard and see virtually every table filled. It also made me realize some things about myself.

welcome to the courtyard!

We have begun our search for possible indoor locations. As I have told you previously, I have never been a restaurant cook. My cooking has always involved friends and family being nearby, usually chatting with me and often participating. My joy in looking out and seeing happy diners made me realize that I have zero desire to be stuck in a back kitchen, out of sight of my customers. Well that changes things, doesn't it? So our search for space now includes being able to create a kitchen/work space that is right out in the middle of things. Instead of being tucked away and hidden, I want to be able to speak with my customers, share with them what is happening and most of all, let them enjoy the many fragrances released while cooking. Just as I want you to be able to enjoy the sensory overload of eating outdoors, I want your nose to tell you "this is gonna be GOOD!" We figure we can create a galley kitchen along one side of a retail-type location. We are not in a fat hurry to move indoors but at least have begun a gentle search.



Plenty of shade to keep you comfortable

This week's specials selection began with an email from Mary Badiny telling me she has some butternut squash ready to harvest. Well, I'm ready to roast them and make a lovely fall soup. Roasted Butternut Squash Soup is the soup special this week.There will be sauteed onions and garlic and a chicken broth base.This will all be pureed with roasted potatoes to make it fairly smooth.  I'll top it with crema mexicana (similar to sour cream or a creme fraiche) and pepitas (toasted seasoned  pumpkin seeds). I'll serve it with a whole-wheat cornbread muffin. Yumm-o!!! My mouth is watering already. Usual soup pricing will prevail- $3.49/ cup(8 oz)  and $4.99. bowl(12 oz)

My other special will fill the niche of BOTH salad and sandwich-- Ginger Chicken Lettuce Wraps. We are marinating the chicken and grilling it over a wood fire. Then I am adding rice, shitaki mushrooms, onion, red pepper, cilantro and Asian seasonings. These are served with three lettuce leaves so you can roll them up and munch them down. I'll add a side of peanut sauce for dipping.  Hungry yet? This is one of my absolute favorite flavor combinations. Forks are optional, though suggested. Napkins...required. $6.25

I want you to know I am having a great deal of fun cooking for you. Making food that isn't the same ol', same ol' is important to me. I love being connected to the seasons by working with the freshest, just-harvested ingredients. As the seasons evolve, so do the herbs, the peppers, the starches. They will change along with their availablilty. Do YOU have something growing at home? Wanna share? Wanna trade?

I almost forgot! We are now making the Fish Tacos a regular item on the menu. So you can get it every day. Not so the Egg Salad Sandwich. We are taking it off the menu as it doesn't have a following. If I get a demand for it, I may being it back occasionally as the sandwich of the week.

Jon and I are very attuned to your input and comments. While cooking what I love strokes my ego and feeds my own sense of joy, being viable and creating what you really want is also very high on the priority list. So your input is not just welcome, it is vital to keeping this gig rolling.

Occasionally, I would love to do a Friday night dinner that is a fixed menu (I choose the menu) of seasonal ingredients served spectacularly. We would dress things up a bit and have fancier ingredients. I have to find out about the laws on bringing your own bottle of wine. Does this sound like something you would enjoy? If the weather is nice, do you enjoy dining al fresco at night? Torches, live acoustic music, perhaps a firepit. Hmmm? Talk to me!!!!!

I am making a yummy chocolate cookie as dessert for you who are making it by more than once this week. These are not available for purchase. They are my special "thank you" to let you know I really appreciate you making the choice to join us more than once in a week. We know you have several choices available and appreciate you choosing us a one of your regular lunch options. Thank you. We look forward to seeing you and hearing about your week.