We are now in the process of moving all our potted plants back outside for the season. The peppers need to be replaced but most of the herbs have survived (though they look a bit homely.) We've just ordered a bunch of seeds from Baker Creek via Willow Mountain Mushrooms. Our garden will be primarily herbs and edible flowers with several oddball heirlooms thrown in. I can't ask our primary produce source, Maranatha Farm, to grow very small quantities of the strange stuff as they have to satisfy many more people in order to thrive. So we'll plant small quantities of things like golden beets and radishes with stripes, and tomatoes with stripes. All will be heirloom varieties—no GMOs!!!!. We still need to acquire cinder blocks and old tires to make this work. So I am repeating my plea for both—any quantity.
Last weekend I was reminded that some of you may not be aware of easy parking available around the back and side of the cafe. We know parking on the Square can be a challenge. Most of our regulars know about the parking behind the County Annex building (used to be Bank of America) but we also have some space immediately behind the cafe. Those "in the know" often come in through our back door at the top of the wooden staircase. We welcome you whichever door you come in. We have even added some solar lights at the base of the stairs as the county's parking lot lights are not dependable. When the county lights are on, they are bright. But they have a tendency to blink off just as I approach the last step. I have talked to the county commissioner assigned to it and hopefully a rectification is in store.
Renée Wood Trio with Renée Wood, Tom Rowley and David Moore will be our music for Friday night. They perform instrumental jazz on saxophone, guitar and drums. If you wish for us to save you any of the dinner entrées or sit in the main dining room you need to make a reservation...and yes, we usually DO run out of the dinner specials.
The Monday crew is having a ball trying out new dishes for the vegetarians amongst us. This Monday, Drew is presenting a polenta filled portabella mushroom topped with our in-house marinara. It is fun to watch the excitement ooze from Drew as he presents his new creations. That young man has more energy than can be believed and he approaches everything with gusto. He'll be a strong part of our new garden and he is also now our primary dessert guy. His skills are expanding weekly as he embraces each new challenge presented to him. Did you try out his recent carrot cake? Wowza!With his taking on the desserts along with the daily preparations, my load is lightened. How nice.
The decision to have the sandwiches rotate as weekly specials seems to be a good one thus far. This week we have crab claw and shrimp salad poboys on french bread. I'll mix crab claw meat with a small amount of the ultra high quality mayonnaise we get, plus a bit of celery, green bell pepper, minced green onion and a tiny bit of mustard, salt and freshly ground pepper to make the salad portion. Then we'll stack it on a toasted French roll with fresh tomato, alfalfa sprouts and sliced avocado. It'll be served with a side for $7.99. It'll be available from Tuesday - Friday for lunch. Try it with our new tabouli or farro side.
Wednesday I'll try something REALLY new. Caramel apple, grilled cheese and bacon sandwich on sourdough or whole wheat. We'll treat it like a panini. The cheese is a sharp cheddar, the apples lightly grilled in butter, with caramel sauce, and our applewood smoked bacon. Holy Moly! It is goo-ey and good! Served with a side for $7.99
On Thursday we'll bring back the peanut chicken lettuce wraps. The chicken will be slathered in a Thai peanut sauce, we'll add pineapple confetti rice and wrap it all in a fresh lettuce leaf and topped with a filigree of alfalfa sprouts. You'll get 2. $7.99
Friday lunch will showcase a South American treat... Beef Empanada with a side salad. We've done this a couple of times and each time more fans were made. Instead of deep frying these, we'll bake them after painting with rendered duck fat. You'll be hearing more about the duck fat in the next few weeks. Suffice it to say it is considered one of the most elegant and tasty fats out there while being healthier for you than butter.With side salad $7.99. Perfect for eating al fresco.
Flavor Journeys~~For the dinners we are going quite Thai. Both the seafood and the meat entrées will feature Thai sweet chili sauce, buckwheat noodles or jasmine rice(your choice) and a stir-fry featuring bok choy and tatsoi. The seafood version will contain large shrimp and the meat version will contain chicken breasts. They will be marinated separately to prevent allergen contamination but contain similar ingredients. We'll round out the dishes with peanuts, cilantro, sprouts, red bell peppers, jalapeno slices and a dollop or two of the sweet chili sauce made in-house from fresh ingredients.
So here's the short version of the specials~~
Monday~ Stuffed portabellas with marinara and side salad $6.99
Tuesday~Shrimp and crab salad poboys with side $7.99
Wednesday~Caramel apple grilled cheddar sandwiches with bacon plus side $7.99
Thursday~Thai peanut chicken lettuce wraps with side $7.99
Friday~ Beef Empanadas plus side salad $7.99
Seafood entrée~ shrimp with Thai Sweet chili sauce, buckwheat noodles and stir-fry of bok-choy and tatsoi $13.99
Flavor journey~Chicken breast with Thai Sweet chili sauce, buckwheat noodles and stir-fry of bok-choy and tatsoi $12.99
I hope you take some time for a nice walk to re-acquaint with the world we live in and help step you away from being in your head all the time. Spring is happening and you might miss it otherwise. Have a glorious week. We plan to. See you soon.
~~Susan
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