w/e May 11 Staying Alive!

As each day passes we often wonder what the future holds for us. We've seen the years pass by so quickly. We were astonished to realize that our two grandsons are now 14 and 10 respectively. The elder even has a girlfriend. As they live in Florida we have missed whopping chapters in their lives over the last 13 years we have lived here. Decisions were made to be near my parents as they aged and though I don't regret that decision, it has left us missing out on some great kids. We have missed as much from our granddaughters' lives, as well. I hope over the next few years we are able to spend more time with our own kids as well as theirs. In the meantime, we live vicarious lives enjoying the positive efforts of those physically closest to us. Ashley Romans has been our primary waitperson on Friday nights for over a year. She is astounding in her ability to conquer new tasks and always have a terrific attitude. Somehow, while juggling being the mother of 4 kids under 10 she has managed to go back to school and is getting her RN next week. We are so proud of her and hope these new skills find her doing something that satisfies her and feeds her soul. The medical field is going to be a lucky one. Ashley will be with us off and on over the summer but by fall she'll be working full-time in her new career. We hope you have a chance to give her your warmest wishes for a bright future. Ashley, you will be very missed.

I am thinking this may be the week we have all been waiting for. The weather forecast looks promising for a more moderate range of temperatures and it may finally be safe to risk putting out those warm weather plants. With the soil barely warm, it may be awhile until we see those seeds sprouting and plants in the ground thriving. It would be nice if this meant we'd have a cooler than normal summer. But we know better than to expect that. No doubt in the next  two weeks we'll be experiencing warmer than normal temps to bookend the cooler than normal temps. Aaah. The Ozarks.

We have music twice this week. Thursday night the After Hours Big Band will play in our Annex. The band loves to play in that room because the acoustics are really good for their sound. If you love big band you'll enjoy the full immersion experience. If that is a bit much for you, you may still enjoy the sound from the next room in our main dining room. Friday night brings The Renée Woods Trio with jazz guitar, saxophone and drums. It is helpful to us if you call in a reservation.

Garden update: We finally have a few tires set up in back and this week I'll get some dirt in them. I had hoped to get a rain barrel set up to help us water out back...but it hasn't happened yet. I am grateful that I wasn't terribly ready to plant things as the weather has proven less than cooperative. Finally, procrastination pays.  The first things to go in will be the fast growers—lettuces, if not too late, radishes and peas. I am harvesting some spring onions from my home garden—or what is left of it. Mary has begun bringing in the new late spring crops of arugula, pak soy, and some other greens I am quickly becoming familiar with. I love being able to change up the stir-fry as the seasons move along. We'll be adding in some sugar snap peas over the next few weeks along with fresh local garlic and garlic scapes. Scapes are those long skinny things sticking out of the tops of soft garlic. They are somewhere between a flower, a stem and a seed pod.  We got in some ginormous carrots that we are slicing micro-thin and adding to the stir-fry and the sweet red peppers have been outstanding lately.

This week's special sandwich has been a while in arriving. I finally found some decent quality tuna steaks that we are wood-firing and then making into a tuna salad. I'll chop the meat up, add a bit of wasabi oil, mayonnaise, pickled relish, spicy mustard, sriracha and serve it  with sprouts, slivered cabbage, and tomato slices on ciabatta rolls.  $7.79 with side.

I am bringing back the beef rendang this week as the Flavor journey. When I made it the other two times customers were quite vocal in how much they enjoyed it. It is Malaysian dish that is pretty darn kicky in its spiciness. Just as chicken mole takes lots of steps and uses lots of fresh and dried spices and herbs, this dish is quite involved. It begins with a flavor base of dried chiles, fresh shallots, garlic and ginger and even some  galangal which is a root, like ginger, but spicier. Then it gets a whole spice blend of cloves, cardamom, anise and cinnamon. THEN it gets a ground spice blend of coriander, cumin, fennel and turmeric. The beef I am using for the rendang is flank steak. The rendang itself is cooked in coconut milk, a tamarind concentrate, limes, lemongrass, brown sugar, cilantro and even fresh coconut. The outcome is a stew-like, very flavorful but tender beef dish that will transport you to another world. It is served over jasmine rice and paired with our seasonal stir-fry. $15.99 includes a side salad

The seafood is a lovely mixture of shrimp, scallops, sugar snap peas, shitake mushrooms, and shallots and sherry. Six S's. I'll serve it over a bed of lemony pasta made with lemon zest and lemon juice. It should be a really nice celebration of spring. $14.99.

Now for the lunches~
Monday~grilled portabella panini with artichoke tapenade $6.99
Tuesday~ all week actually~ wood-fired tuna sandwich on ciabatta $7.79 with side
Wednesday~Ceviche~Rockfish, shrimp and scallops marinated with lemon and lime, cilantro, fresh peppers, cucumber, garlic and scallions. Served on a bed of chopped romaine and sprouts with tortilla chips. $7.99
Thursday~Smoked sausage with garlic potatoes and steamed cabbage $7.59
Friday~ Pasta with fresh asparagus, ham, mushrooms, kalamata olives and parmesan with side salad $7.99

I hope this week finds you with a moment of time on your hands to get out and enjoy the weather we have been hoping for. Extroverting with a walk around the block can do more for your frame of mind than most anything else. Get out of your head and into the environment. Most of all—enjoy just being alive.

~~Susan

Much ado about catfish

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to notify you that we will be closed Friday NIGHT. We will be open Friday lunch. We wanted our staff to have time to spend time with their families and last year proved quite quiet. We hope to see you during our other regular hours this week. Our hours next week will return to normal.

I try to keep politics entirely away from our establishment. But the food chain is inextricably tied to political and financial decisions worldwide. Last week it was time to order more catfish for our smoked catfish dip. When I was given current pricing I nearly fell over. What had happened since the last time I had ordered 15 pounds of catfish? First of all, the price was nearly double. Why? Well, it seems that catfish farmers in the South are plowing their ponds under because the corn market for biofuels is higher and more profitable. Add to that, many fish farmers in Asia are buying their fingerlings (small hatched catfish) from the US, shipping them to Asia and raising them and selling them back to us—again shipping. However, the conditions of the fish farms in Asia are considerably different than they are here. I've heard several times (but have yet to see it in print) that often poultry farms are set ABOVE fish farms so the droppings feed the fish. Ugh. The water conditions are not monitored the same way either. So I made a firm stand and opted to pay higher for all US raised catfish. Ours are hatched and raised in Mississippi. Each choice we make regarding our food chain has a lasting effect on our local economy. I also learned that with the higher prices, many, many places serving catfish are opting for the less expensive imported options. Just thought you should know. If you eat a lot of catfish, I suggest you ask for proof that they are being raised in the US. Here's an image of the outside of our box.

I have wood-fired tuna salad sandwiches for as long as they last this week. You may have read in the news that in April there was a voluntary recall of most frozen tuna. This has affected our source of both sashimi grade and yellow-fin tuna. I still have a few of the sashimi grade tuna steaks which we use in our tuna-topped spinach salad and tuna Roman. But we have wood-fired all the yellowfin and I have chopped the remainder for the tuna salad sandwiches. There is no word on when tuna will be available again. I am expecting it within the month, but... get it now before we run out! The smokey flavor does stand out and is a noticeable difference from the usual canned tuna with which most prepare their tuna salad sandwiches.

We are bringing back the Pork Bahn Mi sandwich. My plan is to have them on our menu each week from Wednesday through Friday. I have not yet figured out how to have the fresh baguettes ready for Tuesday mornings. When that happens we'll have them daily. Let me remind you of how they are created. The Bahn Mi is a fusion dish of French and Vietnamese. I'll take thinly sliced pork loin and marinate it in various Vietnamese spices including 5-spice powder, Thai fish sauce, honey, toasted sesame oil, fresh garlic, cilantro, jalapeno and cayenne. Then we'll grill it and slice it. It goes on a grilled French baguette (which we make in-house) that has a Sriracha mayonnaise dressing. This is topped with freshly pickled cucumber slices, freshly pickled carrot shavings and finished with sprouts and cilantro. It can be a bit messy to eat...but yummy! Plenty of people have reminded me of how much they enjoyed them the first week we served them.

Thursday at lunch I am bringing out the grouper cheeks. They made a pretty tasty sandwich when we debuted them a few weeks ago. Grouper cheeks are literally the cheek of a grouper fish. There is no waste, no bones and no skin to deal with— just tenderness and flavor. I'll serve it on the French baguettes with our Sea Sauce, lettuce and tomato. At $9.95 I know they are pricey, but what a treat. Normally, the cheeks never make it out of Florida as the locals grab them for themselves.

As we grow we are looking for ways to consolidate our gains. I have several small packages of frozen seafood I'll combine to make a luxurious ceviche (pronounced say-vee'-chay) on Friday for lunch. We'll have bits of red snapper, black sea bass, coho salmon, scallops and shrimp all combined with fresh lemon and lime juice, cilantro, garlic, cayenne and Vidalia onions to make this fresh tasting dish. What a perfect way to start the summer!

And speaking of things that run out— it seems our local supply of elk is about to end. This saddens me no end. Last time we served it I made an Asian meatloaf that was exceedingly well received. I'll do it again this week as our nightly "Flavor Journey." Again, the need for profitability raises it ugly head. It seems that the only way one can be profitable in these parts is to sell all parts of the elk—from the meat to the antlers to the hide. Unlike cattle, where one can be profitable just selling the meat, elk is a tougher sell. Our source has decided to go out of the business rather than chase down the profits. We'll miss them but understand.

My seafood this week is Jon's absolute favorite way to eat shrimp. I'll do shrimp pasta. Lots of decent-sized shrimp, garlic, green onions, parsley, parmesan and cream make up the sauce, which is piled over linguine. When you see that smile on Jon's face this week, it just might be because he got to eat his favorite! We became addicted to this dish while living in Florida, and I am delighted to bring it to you.

The line up~
Tuesday~ Wood-fired tuna salad sandwich plus side $6.99
Wednesday~Pork Bahn Mi sandwiches with side $6.99
Thursday~Grouper cheek sandwiches with side $9.99
Friday~Ceviche with side $7.50

Dinners~
Seafood~Shrimp pasta with side salad $10.99
Flavor Journey~ Elk meatloaf done in an Asian style with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans plus side salad. $10.99

Thank you for being a part of our adventure. Each week we are delighted to meet your friends and family. We hope you get to spend precious time with them this weekend.

My warmest wishes~
Susan