Solstice Approaches, Holidays Abound

This Friday night will be our last time being open this year. We'll re-open on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013. Friday night will mark the solstice—the longest night of the year. There is something reassuring about knowing that the nights will once again be getting shorter and the days longer.  As the Mayan calendar draws to a close, many say new eras of cooperation and inspiration are ahead. As an eternal optimist (you HAVE to be one to be an entrepeneur) I like the idea of us all working together to create a future that is mutually beneficial. I hope the fiscal cliff is averted and everyone can take a deep breath, perhaps sigh a bit and cleanse the lungs and soul of the heaviness of the last few weeks. I can't help but think that 2013 will offer new opportunities to bloom as an individual and I look forward to them. I've already started my resolutions, which will include setting enough money aside early to get to Florida to visit my kids and grandkids next winter. This  winter still holds promise of a visit, but next year FOR SURE! In the meantime, I am resolving to really establish relationships with my grandkids, even by long distance. With Skype, kids with their own cell phones, and instant messaging, there is no excuse not too.

The last few weeks have had their challenges. We were repeatedly caught short-handed by unpredicted hospital visits/stays by 2 staff members as well as having close family members hospitalized. Tunnel-vision and a knowledge that "this, too shall pass" kept us on-track and focused. But Jon and I are both physically and mentally exhausted. As much as I enjoy this game we are playing, I have never been in such need for some time off. Sadly, much of that time off will be spent doing the things that were bypassed in the last year. But a few days with blessed naps will heal many an ailment and a weary heart.

My personal favorite week of the year is that week between Chirstmas and New Years. I try to find an extended period of quiet to look over my last year's actions and to plan out the new year. As a company we will be working harder to develop consistant lunch-time business. As much of our existing customer base comes from local businesses in the area, we'll work to strengthen those connections. Our dinner-time business has continued to build— primarily through word of mouth. While I am personally quite proud of growing that way, we may need to find ways to make it even stronger. The addition of beer and wine sales has certainly helped our overall volume. Hopefully we'll be able to identify a few more upscale wines that our customers appreciate and add them into our inventory. Knowledge of beers and wines has been a big learning curve for myself. I am gradually learning but still at the point of having to rely on others' opinions. Our first beer tasting was a lovely success and we hope to provide more of them as well as wine tastings. So much to learn!

The major catering events are now behind us (whew!) and this week will nicely wind down. I am tickled to say that we'll close out with a bang by having Vinnie Ray and Thom Hoglen join us for music Friday night. I have St. Louis style pork ribs with the Japanese spices as our flavor Journey.

The turkey and black vultures have still not arrived in Thayer. I can only guess that the warmer temps have reduced their urgency to leave their usual summer haunts. I miss seeing them stacked up hundreds of feet in the sky before they settle in for the night. They are nearly a month late. One of my father's greatest joys was watching them and even mimicking them by dancing with his arms stretched out. I come from a long line of bird watchers. My grandmother would take me on audubon hikes as a kid, teaching me the calls and exhibiting real joy when adding another lifer to her list. Since we lived in Texas and she in Ontario, the new lifers were common on our treks, though our time together was very limited.

I'll start the week out with a new soup. I am calling it "red velvet veggie" because it is made from roasted root vegetables including a couple of beets. They don't add a huge amount of flavor but they sure give it color. It also has the remains of corn pudding. So it is both quite smooth and creamy. The root veggie part is simply the roasted root veggies oven roasted then blended in the food processor. The corn pudding part contains lots of egg protein, smoothly blended corn, cream and even jack cheese. Mixed together they create a lovely rich pink soup. I'll dilute it with chicken stock. I love it when using up leftovers makes something better than the original. That will work for the first half of the week. We'll do a fresh broccoli and cheese soup after that.

Here are this week's lunches—

Tuesday~ Trout burgers on ciabatta with lemon dill mayo and side $6.75
Wednesday~Creamy chicken enchiladas $6.99
Thursday~Turkey/Swiss cheese panini with side. Usual dressing is our cranberry horseradish sauce. $6.99
Friday~Soup and grilled cheese and onion sandwich $7.25

There are actaully 2 Flavor Journeys this week. The first are the St. Louis pork ribs. They have been slow cooked in a braise and are topped with the Japanese spice blend shichimi togarashi. This blend contains peppers, sesame seeds, chilis, tangerine peel, seaweed and poppy seeds. We make it from scratch. Available Tuesday - Friday or until gone. 5 ribs (they are meaty) is $13.99 with soup/salad, rice pilaf and stir-fry veggies.

The second is crepes l'orange. I have some duck I am using up and it will be the base for this yummy dish. I'll be slow cooking the ingredients to get the full flavor. They will fill the crepes and then be topped with the orange sauce.  So as not to not overwhelm my prep while we are still short-handed I will have them available beginning Wednesday evening. $14.99 with soup/salad, rice pilaf and stir-fried veggies.

I'll have the wood-fired salmon pasta for $14.99. The sauce base is a roasted red pepper sauce. You can add stir-fried veggies for an additional $1. With soup/salad.

I hope you have a glorious week filled with friends, family and laughter. We'll see you again next year!

~~Susan