We survived! Celebrating Normalcy

I have a new appreciation for my last major piece of art. It is entitled "Celebrating Normalcy." It addresses the return to a normal life after a crisis. We didn't have a crisis, but we did have a week of crazy schedules, new challenges and several accomplishments. Whew! Glad that is behind us. The group we were providing meals to was the National Audio Theater Festivals. We served dinner Sunday night and breakfasts Monday through Friday. They were absolutely delightful to work with and seemed to appreciate what we offered.
But now we can once again focus on providing good food to you—our main customer base. Thank you for your patience while we lept tall buildings.

I am so excited. The garlic is in and it is time to celebrate! If you have only had the garlic made available from the grocery stores, you have missed one of the all-time greatest flavor journeys. Really fresh garlic has an impact that can only be described as luscious—at least to me. I'll be using lots in the coming couple of weeks plus I'll be making and have available for purchase fresh garlic jelly. As a finish for meats, it is one of my favorites. I am particularily fond of mixing sweet and savory with meats—applesauce with pork, cranberry with turkey or ham, strawberry chipotle jam with pork chops, etc. You should see some dishes featuring the garlic in the next couple of weeks.

Also, Mary and Skip Badiny are supplying bountious amounts of fresh basil. You may already know that we make our own pesto for the Chicken Pesto Sandwich. Well, I'll also be making extra amounts and packaging them for sale. They will be available as long as we have a ready weekly supply. If you enjoy pasta with fresh pesto or using pesto as a sandwich spread, I invite you to stock up. It freezes well and can be used a tablespoon at a time.

The line-up for the next few weeks for Friday night entertainment should be fabulous! This week we have open mic and already have Mark Johnson, CD Scott, Eli Johnson and Gordon Johnston playing a set plus Matt Meacham will play a set of traditional old-time music plus a few tunes of his own creation. He let us listen to his CD and it was really good. We may also have a few surprise players. The following week (the  8th) will feature Sean McCormick. You heard him play guitar and mandolin with Swiftkick a few weeks ago. This time he'll be playing solo. The 15th, Jon returns playing the fabulous tunes of the Great American Songbook. Laid-back and easy, he's a soft finish to a long week. The 22nd brings Tom and Renee back with their jazz duo of saxophone and guitar. They already have a nice following and we always look forward to their return. Back in West Plains for the first time in several years, Singer/songwriter Emily Higgins takes the stage on the 29th. She had garnered a strong following when she played the Yellow House Community Arts Center. From Springfield, Emily hosts a Sunday night show on the NPR affiliate in Springfield KSMU. Do not miss this performance! You will kick yourself if you do! We need to show a strong support for out-of-town talent if we want to attract more. Hear her sound at www.emilyhiggins.com. Then call for reservations! 505-0302

Who else would you like to hear? Let us know!

This week's food celebrates the current harvest of garlic, basil, tomatoes, snow peas, cabbage, eggplant, zucchini and peppers.
Monday~Summer Rolls with Nuoc Cham dipping sauce plus an Asian slaw. Very light, very summery. these are the Thai/Vietnamese rolls wrapped in rice paper. $6.25
Tuesday~ Chicken Cordon Bleu Tamales~ Bruce has done it again, stuffing the tamales with chicken and ham and covering them with a swiss cheese sauce. Zowie! $6.25
Wednesday~ Celebrating the tomatoes and fresh basil, Bruce is doing a Panzanella Salad. this traditional Italian salad uses our bread to soak up the juices from the tomatoes and  dressing. Major flavor in a dinner-sized salad. $6.25
Thursday~ Pesto Pizza with smoked portabellas, fresh onions, basil and tomatoes plus mozzarella. Comes with a Caprese salad—the tradtional Italian salad that celebrates fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and fresh basil. $6.75
Friday~Elk Burgers! They are back. We woodfire them for a smokey flavor and serve on our Roman bun with a carmelized onion/chipotle cream sauce, lettuce and tomato. Served with chips. $7.50

Friday night~ A) Chicken Kiev-chicken breast stuffed with an herbed butter sauce, garlic/parsley potatoes, Caprese Salad $12 B) Asian Shrimp Pasta with Summer rolls and fire cracker bean curd $12
C) Roasted Zucchini and Eggplant Lasagna with Caprese Salad $10

Thanks for being the inspiration that got us through a happy but grueling week. We are so grateful for your patronage and look forward to exploring new flavors with you.

Plate juggling!

I've got a feeling the next 2 weeks are going to be C-R-A-Z-Y! First of all, we hit a new level of delivery with last Friday being our busiest lunch ever. Then, this weekend I put together our first major food order with a distributor. In order to store all this huge order, we have added a new refrigerator, too. Well, new to us. We were so grateful. The local individuals we bought it from even helped deliver it!!! What a blessing!

I'll be switching out some of my quilts over the next week. With National Audio Theater Festival attendees visiting with us daily for breakfast, I figured I may as well use this opportunity to expose my work to a new non-regional audience.The room next door will house some of my more scantilly clad quilts. Naked Quilting— yikes!

Food-wise I am thrilled to see red peppers, tomatoes and various herbs in greater abundance. I've even harvested a few from the pots out front. Now if we can just get some berries to make it to the market.

I have made and now have available some fresh Strawberry Chipotle Jam. The sweetness of strawberries with the warm finish of the chipotle. Great and unexpected on toast or biscuit, but wonderful on pork or chicken. It'll be featured this week on the Friday night menu. $4 for 4oz. $7 for 8oz.

Jon has been working on some new material and is looking forward to playing for you Friday night. If you like your dinner entertainment a bit laid back, Jon is the guy for you. His mellow rich voice and sweet guitar are so easy on the ears. He plays his own material as well as covers the Great American Songbook. We have a busy lineup for the next several weeks. This may be the last chance Jon gets to play before late summer. Don't miss him. Call for reservations 505-0302.

A change of plans: Last week we mentioned that we'd planned on being open Saturday during the Old Time Music Festival.  Since the last time I attended the festival, the venue has been moved to down near or in the Civic Center. We had anticipated the festival being around the Square as in previous years and wanted to introduce our food to a new audience.  The long walk in the hot sun is not likely to lure diners this far. So we are NOT going to be open that day. Sorry 'bout that!

A note regarding the quantities of  specials~ I usually get to make about 8 of any specially prepared menu item. Bruce usually has 10-11 servings of tamales available. That is based pretty much entirely by how much a recipe can make. When I make quiches I make 2 and each serves 6. If you see a special or "flavor journey" that you really want, it is a good idea to call early in the day...or even the day before, to reserve an order for you. We really do want you to get to eat what you want and are happy to set one aside.

We are excited to have been able to provide the food for several staff meetings lately. It is our easiest area for expansion and we hope it continues. If you have a lunch-time staff meeting coming up, call us and discuss your options. We'll make it really easy for you—and you get a healthy, real-food meal.

I am keeping this edition pretty short. So much to get done.
Monday~Crab and chipotle onion quesadillas with chips and salsa $6.25
Tuesday~Vietnamese Tamales~Wood-fired chicken and fresh mint stuffed tamales with a red curry sauce and pineapple salsa; served with Vietnamese fried rice $6.25
Wednesday~Pesto pizza with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil; served with side of fruit or Italian potato salad $6.25
Thursday~Spinach salad~ fifty cents off $4.49
Friday~Lunch:Chicken Roman sandwich; served with chips~fifty cents off $6.49
Dinner:A) Grilled pork chops with strawberry/chipotle sauce with fresh squash casserole and garlic parsley potatoes $10.B) Pasta Verde—Penne pasta with spring veggies in a light cream sauce with small vegetarian antipasto salad $10 C) Pan-seared Pacific wild-caught salmon, small anitpasto salad and garlic/parsley red potatoes $12.

As always—we are most grateful for your continued support. Thanks for being here. Have a terrific week! We'll be spinning those plates!

Time for a bit of focus and anticipa-ay-tion

What a difference a week can make. Last week I felt like I was going off in six different directions, at once. Now I feel a bit more centered. Part of that relief has come from my mother moving into assisted living. Although I visit her daily, Monday through Friday, I no longer feel like a part of my attention is focused on wondering how she is faring alone at home. Her comfort and safety are now pretty well assured. Whew!

An area of greater focus comes as we prepare to host the National Audio Theater Festival attendees for their welcoming banquet and morning breakfasts.  This is a real feather in our caps and is causing us to do some stretching and growing. I am already preparing quiches and sweet breads that can be made ahead and frozen. There are a huge number of details that must be planned for and kept track of. Bruce's experience is proving most valuable.

By the way— that image is of my Blood Lily. It bloomed again for the first time in three years. That's our full-sized cat Blossom sitting about 2 feet behind the bloom. It is about 8" across and usually times it's burst with the 4th of July.I've had this lily for 15 years. The same length of time I have had the spider lily you see out in front of the cafe.

Will you be attending the Old-Time Music festival? We will be open that Saturday (the 16th) with a very limited, though, we hope, appropriate menu. Among those items being offered will be Pintos with ham and cornbread, pulled chicken BBQ sandwiches, our version of slaw and potato salad and cold watermelon. The A/C will be on and we'll provide a refuge from the heat. Renee' Wood will be playing penny whistle through the lunch slot. Come join us and bring along your friends who usually don't get to visit us.

My all time favorite flavoring component is garlic—especially, freshly harvested, very juicy garlic. Judging by the little hats my garlic flowers are wearing, it is neary time to dig them out. As is often the case at this time of year, the ground is pretty dry in my bed and will need a thorough watering before I can safely try to pull them. I love how they leave little baby garlics behind as they leave the ground—thus assuring next year's crop. I also enjoy drying the flowers by inverting them from a high point. I am quite sure you will see evidence of garlic gathering in the cafe soon and maybe even smell it.

We are bringing the smoked catfish dip back this week. We do a long smoke of brined catfish then add tasty ingredients that begin with cream cheese and end with onion, jalapeno, and citrus juices. No—I didn't just give you our secret recipe. There are lots more flavor elements. But the reviews have consistently been good. I invite you to try it next time you are experimenting with appetizers.

It is already scorching hot outside and we are in full summer mode learning our A/C system. We're bringing in some fans to help keep the air moving and cooler. We'll try to confine our oven work to the earliest hours to help manage things. Another dang learning curve!

Did you hear Swift Kick's preview Friday night? This local, highly talented bluegrass band features musicians Junior Bunch (mandolin, fiddle, lead and harmony vocals), Sean McCormick (guitar, mandolin, lead  and harmony vocals), and Steve Markley (banjo, lead and harmony vocals). Junior and Steve have been playing together for the last 30 years, and four years ago, when Sean moved back into the area, they formed Swift Kick. They play mainly bluegrass, but also do country and rock covers—and original material. Join us Friday night for this foot stomping treat.

I've so far been disappointed in the produce offerings at the farmers' market. Isn't anyone growing the early ripening varieties? How come no one had fresh peas? Asparagus?  I am sure hoping to see some new offerings soon. If your garden is of generous proportion, perhaps you can sell me some of your chemical-free produce. We don't go through large quantities of any one veggie. I just like enough variety to make it interesting. Anyone growing fennel bulb? What berries do you have? Call me and let me know—505-0302.

Now onto this week's flavor journeys—
All week~ new Chicken Gyro~50cents off = $5.49 Our wood-fired chicken, red onion, cucumber, feta, black olives plus tzatziki sauce on 2 flour tortillas. Served with fresh fruit or Italian potato salad.

Monday~Organic spinach and mushroom lasagna and side salad $6.25
Tuesday~Pork tamales with a white cheese sauce and salsa verde. Served with black beans. $6.25
Wednesday~Mexicali quiche served with jicama and fruit salad $6.25
Thursday~Island shrimp salad with tiny blueberry muffins $6.25
Friday lunch~Elk burgers with carmelized chipotle onions and orange/radish salad $7.00
Dinner~A: Seasoned chicken skewers with a Tunisian mixed salad  and baked potato $10
B: Salmon Oscar is a seared salmon topped with crab, two asparagus spears and béarnaise sauce (hollandaise with our own tarragon vinegar) plus side salad $12
C: Marinated and grilled eggplant and zucchini; tabbouleh and gazpacho $10

Looking forward to a great week. Come see us! and thanks for being there. We are proud to be feeding you. You give me room to stretch.

Susan—