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—

Happy Holidays

 First of all--specials this week will evolve as the week progresses. My starting soup will be one I have been developing "Caldo con queso y pollo". I'll start with russet potatoes, add mild Hatch chilis, fresh chicken breasts (shredded), Cheddar cheese, and a bit of cream. While it is a creamy soup, it is not a dense cheesy one. The chicken and potatoes will add enough substance to stick to your ribs. The Hatch chilis will add a glowing warmth without being "hot". I have ordered portabellas for the soup for week between Christmas and New Years.

I will have Antipasto Salad on Monday and Tuesday. Later we will have a spinach salad as Mary Badiny's spinach is finally ready.

I'll have some cranberry nut muffins and a lemon bread as the breakfast breads.

We will be closed on Friday the 24th as well as the 31st. It looks like those may be the last 3-day weekends we get for a while.

We have once again re-instituted the "cameback treat." This little tidbit of a treat is for those who make it in more than once in the week. It is a dessert only available as a freebie to those who qualify as a "thank you." If we somehow didn't notice, on our own, that your visit is a repeat that week-- feel free to remind us. The treat changes by my whim and is seldom the same from week to week. This week--white chocolate tamales.

We are finally getting settled in our new space and we LOVE it! We are getting the lines grooved in. Those who call in orders seldom have to wait more than a minute or two for their orders. We've discovered that parking is fairly easy on the back side of the block--between us and the Quill.

We now have gift certificates available. They make terrifc employee incentive or thank you gifts. You can pay via any method-- cash, check, debit or credit card.

Did you know we have free WI-FI? Check your email, update your facebook status or download an ebook- while enjoying a cup of Starbucks French Roast coffee.

Summer Vegetable Soup with shrimp and Lemon

I wish I could have shown you the 10 cups of veggies that went into 4 cups of homemade chicken broth to make this luscious soup. But, alas, my hands got ahead of my brain and I erased them off my card reader before I got them downloaded. Suffice it to say, this is a VERY veggie laden soup.

It has fresh tomatoes, red pepper, onion, garlic, corn, zucchini, red skinned potato, parsley, basil and cilantro as well as shrimp and lemon juice.

This recipe is from Fine Cooking's Fresh- 350 recipes that celebrate the seasons. I was astounded by the ratio of veggies to broth. I mean there was a mountain of them.

As usual, I made my own chicken broth, so it is msg free and quite simple. However, the first night I thought the soup lacked punch. The flavors were too separated and nothing had a strong influence. Day 2, though, wow! The flavors had married and the herbs were more prominent, too. I don't think the shrimp(and I love shrimp) added much and next time would probably use wood-fire grilled chicken in its place.

I expect this will be a regular on the summer soup rotation with a veggie only version, as well. I'll serve it with my whole wheat cornbread. Get ready!!!!