w/e August 10 Starting year number FOUR!

It is hard to believe that this time three years ago it was the hottest week of the year. Jon and I were scared and we had a massive learning curve ahead. We were working out of 4 coolers and 2 under-counter fridges. The spot I cooked in, in the trailer, was about 2 foot square and I stood there for 8 hours a day—prepping, cooking and doing dishes all from the same spot. Jon ran around setting up tables, umbrellas, buying groceries and watering plants. Ahh. Times have changed.

All this rain and cooler weather have been such a treat. Has anyone started planning their "Okay, we've had enough rain for a while dance?" I'm just glad we have intrepid diners who are not stopped because of a bit of wet stuff. All Hail the umbrella!

Terry Hamptom, with the Quill, has been given wider leeway in her feature writing and has now written an article on our cafe, our role in the community and our stance on sustainability and good food. It's due to come out on Tuesday. I am hopeful that it will help raise our visibility within the community and awareness on good food options. Included in the section will be an excerpt from my blog on our ingredient choices. If folks will just read that, we may gain a strong new audience.

We've already started the process on many of the plans we discussed last week. I am researching the liquor laws and finding out what we need in order to expand to the outside sidewalk serving. I have located the planters we need that will support the "fencing" needed to corral the outside seating. The sign on the wall that acknowledges the occasional need to lick the plate is nearly ready to be sealed down—after I move it 6" inches to the right. We've been saving wine bottles to create the down spot lights that will hang over the new bar and the seated banquette. We're putting numbers to all the items on the wish list. We'll soon be recruiting  labor in exchange for food/beverages to create the physical changes. We are still in need of a trailer that is long enough to haul 2 10-foot-long church pews. They are located near Cape Girardeau.

Fortunately, our traffic has begun to pick back up and we had a spectacular anniversary week. We know things will dip again as school gets back in swing. But hopefully, this will be a strong fall. If you have any dates planned for your holiday parties, it is not too early to put us on the calendar. Popular dates fill up fast. Remember, we can cater your party here or on-site. If you want your party to be easy on your part, knowing your guests will enjoy the delicious food, we're the guys to call.

It was nice to get all the feedback about our plans. Thank you for speaking up. Please keep those comments and ideas coming. You DO have a vested interest in what comes next.

The music this week is a new artist for us. His name is Josh Tyler and he is a singer/songwriter. Jon and I heard some of his tunes via a friend of his. We really enjoyed his music and think you will as well. His music is somewhat of a contemporary folk genre. Please join us Friday night to hear him perform.

For the dinner specials we visit both France and Mexico. France brings us boneless duck breasts with a honey lacquer or glaze. We'll pair it with a fresh tomato gratin which takes fresh tomatoes and seasonings plus a topping of bread crumbs and browns them for a crusty texture. I'll complete the dish with our super fresh summer stir-fry. This week we have all sorts of local veggies in the stir-fry including eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, sweet red peppers, and cabbage—plus extras as they come along.

The seafood entrée comes from Mexico's coastline—shrimp chilaquiles. (pronounced chee-leh-kee-lez) This is nearly a casserole as it combines lots of shrimp with fresh peppers, garlic, Mexican cheeses like Crema Mexicana and Queso Fresco and corn tortillas that have been crisped and then baked in the sauce. I'll serve it with the customer favorite of Mexican corn pudding plus a bit of cilantro lime slaw. It will be a bit kicky without being too hot. ¡Que buena suerte! (what good luck!)

Lunches~
Monday~ Spicy cilantro, pepita pesto stuffed peppers $7.59
Tuesday~ Roasted veggie sandwich with eggplant, red bell pepper, mushrooms and onions on ciabatta with side $7.59
Wednesday~ Pizza with red sauce, spinach, tomatoes, salami and fresh mozzarella with side salad $7.99
Thursday~ Pasta All' Amatriciana—pasta with pancetta, Pecorino cheese, parsley, oven roasted tomatoes plus side salad $7.99
Friday~ Tortellini Antipasto Salad $7.59

Seafood entrée~ (Mexico) Shrimp chilaquiles plus corn pudding and cilantro lime slaw $14.99
Flavor Journey~ (France) Duck breasts with honey glaze, tomato gratin, summer stir-fry $16.99

We are having a huge amount of fun and hope you are able to join us regularly. If you see anything you think we are missing, please feel free to speak up. We are looking forward to traveling this journey with you on our team. You make what we do a joyful experience. Thank you. Have a lovely, rare cool August week. We'll be here for you.

~~Susan

Directions and options

From the very beginning we have made an effort to keep you, our customer, aware of decisions that face us and have invited your input. It was after listening we learned that being able to serve beer and wine would increase the pleasure factor of eating with us. We heard loud and clear that while "made fresh" was important, so too, was speed of service. It is in that spirit that we seek your input regarding adding gluten-free foods to our regular menu.

We are seeing more and more folks looking that direction for long-term lifestyle changes. Removal of gluten from the diet frees up one's intestines from trying to digest ingredients for which many bodies are ill-equiped. Quite often we are seeing people whose medical professionals are prescribing that they eliminate gluten from their diets. In our own family, our elder son's whole family has gone gluten-free. For many families the search for solutions to too much mucous, ADHD and autism have sent them down this road. My recent research is showing that many restaurants nationally are adopting some of these practices as an option for that portion of their customer bases. Gluten-free means no wheat or barley. In the American diet, gluten is most often seen in breads and doughs. It can turn up in salad dressings and all sorts of places one isn't looking for it. It is what makes bread have that soft texture and holds the lightness together. It isn't necessarily harder to make gluten-free options but some of the ingredients are more expensive and some of the techniques are more cumbersome. Using alternative flours, such as rice flour, potato flour and similar flours replace the wheat.  For this cafe, many of those techniques are already incorporated into our style—like making things from scratch. We already offer many gluten-free options but perhaps a bread or crepes made this way would open the doors to serve more folks. Have you been advised to reduce your gluten consumption? We invite your input.

I am using this blog today for a bit of shameless self-promotion. The three of us that make this place survive are also artists in our own right. Jon is a wonderful songwriter and has his CD available. If you haven't heard it, Jon has a listening station set up near the register. While awaiting your order sit down and listen for a few moments. His laid back swing style is easy on the ears and will have you humming in no time. Bruce's photgraphic talents are available as prints of his floral portraits. I have silk scarves, flower pins and, of course, my quilts and quiltlets.

If you have a staff or family that need a holiday gift of sorts, our gift certificates are proving to be VERY popular. We can do them in any amount you choose. Twenty-five has proven the most popular but ten dollars is just as nice. If you need to buy in quantity, tell us. We can make you a deal.

It is not too late to order dishes to take to your office party. Last week we did a bunch and we'd like to do more in the next 2 weeks. Keep life simple for yourself—order a platter of something you can bring—like bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos, Tuscan chicken salad on brushetta, or perhaps a dessert such a  a cheesecake or tiramisu. 

This week the menu will work around the wait for a replacement part for our bread machine. It should arrive by Monday afternoon. Until then I'll be making the dough by hand and my time to make other parts of our menu shortened. Therefore, on Monday I'll be making a spicy pork empanada. This "meat pie" is out of Argentina and is stuffed with pulled pork, chopped olives, chipotle chilis and cheese. The crust is a puff pastry. I'll serve it with a side salad for a balanced diet. $6.50

Tuesday Bruce will tantalize us again with the Cashew chicken tamales and fried rice. This take on the classic cashew chicken has all the elements and flavors you expect in a cashew chicken but in a tamale. $6.50

Wednesday I'll bring my pizzas back with a pizza featuring mushrooms, artichokes, grilled onions and sliced Roma tomatoes over a sun-dried tomato zesto. Served with a side salad. $7.00

Thursday I'll do crepes with ham and asparagus with a swiss cheese alfredo sauce served over a bed of freshly sautéed baby spinach. Served with a side salad. $7.00

Friday brings us chicken Marsala over egg noodles with a side salad. $7.00

We are still working on the paperwork for the "Tarvern Permit" and will bring back Friday evenings after we re-open following our 2 week vacation. We'll re-open January 9th, hopefully with the permit in place.  Thanks for joining us.

~~Susan