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The Weekly Newsletter for September 8, 2014
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Laurey's cabin in Weaverville has been under ongoing renovation this summer, and this Saturday we took a step (no pun intended) toward replacing an old rickety set of wooden stairs. They are charming and Laurey-like, with a steep rise and an odd rickety unpeeled stick for a banister. Very cute. Very horrifying. Her visitors have clambered up them for the decades of her ownership, and it has been in our sights from the beginning.
We planned a curving stair up the steep hillside, midway between the old stairs and the drive. Fred took instruction from his dad, an enthusiastic stone-scaper, who has transformed a zoysia-laden desert at his home in Aiken, South Carolina into a lush oasis. Much of the transformation is defined by stone.
I advertised the change to Lucinda over the phone: "We will figure it out, it will sort of curve around, and be a gentle slope. Fred and I have talked about it and sort of paced it off - but mostly it will start at the bottom and just build. You'll see. It will be fine. Fred's done this before." Lucinda has been charitably skeptical about how this will get done. 
Another fine fellow in Fairview helped us select the candidate pieces at his stoneyard, mysteriously a fraction of the price of rocks in Lexington, Kentucky. (I guess we just have more stones here? Don't they have limestone and everything in Kentucky? I dunno.)
Now, not only do Lito and Rolando turn out masses of wonderful food every day at Laurey's cafe, they are creative and hard-driving landscapers. Along with brother-in-law Will, they appeared Saturday morning to be the strong backs and strong brains.
Lito's English is terrific. My Spanish is appalling. Rolando's English is serviceable, but when he is thinking, or thinking aloud, it is in Spanish. As the process evolved, it became clear that Rolando was the idea guy, understanding the concepts Fred was promoting, turning this piece here or there, correcting Lito's placements, driving ahead, muttering to himself and the team in Spanish, basically non-stop. It was swell.
 As it happened, each step had to be dug in to the bank, lowering the slope as we went, making the steps even gentler than I had imagined. I mostly left them to it, working on re-cleaning the last of Laurey's blown glass pieces for return to her display shelves in the hall. I emerged to feed and water the team, and perform inspection, after each step or so.
Stair-building is hard work, hard mental work as well, and I learned the new word: what is "puzzle?"
Will smiled: "rompecabezas"! I considered this... Ahhh! "break heads!" (brain teaser!)
Here we are, the work still in progress, but sweet and broad and worthy. The top step was already on the property, a rough stone bench where Laurey sat to contemplate her bees.
The bench was sort of Stonehenge-y - imposing, perhaps not entirely trustworthy. I prefer it on the ground, and it is right about where her hives were, a fitting monument on the spot.
And that's why I didn't get to write this newsletter on Saturday.
- from Heather Masterton
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Dinners to go for the week
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Here are dinners to go for this week. This, if you do not know, is a fabulous way to have dinner. It's easy - just call us by noon and your dinner will be ready for you to pick up by 3 that very day.
You can stop by to pick yours up until we close at 8.
Add salad (3.25) or bread (1.25) if you like.
 Monday, September 8 Lemon Chicken
with Capers and Artichokes $8.95
Tuesday, September 9
Portabella Steaks
with Herb Grits $8.95
Wednesday, September 10
Blackened Flank Steak
with Blue Cheese Slaw $10.95*GF*
Thursday, September 11
Apple Sage Stuffed Pork Tenderloin $9.95
Friday, September 12
New Orleans BBQ Shrimp
with Dirty Rice $10.95
....and here are all of the
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Casserole and Lasagnas to go!
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Casserole of the Week
whole serves (9) ~ half serves (4)
Wednesday, Sept 10
Ham and Cheddar Spoonbread
Whole $35/Half $17.50
Lasagna of the Week
whole serves (9) ~ half serves (4)
Friday, Sept 12
Local Beef and Kalamata
Whole $52.95/Half $26.50
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We'd like you to know - the "we" that operate and love Laurey's Cafe and Catering Gourmet Comfort Food ...who the heck are we?
The principals of this company, this Laurey's Cafe and Catering, are Adam and Emily Thome. These two amazing humans lead a team of, as Laurey always said, "Talented and Interesting Individuals".
Laurey herself had increasingly stepped back from the daily work of the cafe over the past few years of travel and writing, and, in between, batches of medical treatments. As Laurey became more and more unavailable for daily tasks, Adam and Emily built a team -- in the office and the kitchen and the shop -- to fill in around her. At Laurey's passing in February, we committed together to support each other, and to thrive, and to grow her enterprise. We knew that the exact structure and nature of that collaboration would have to reveal itself over time.
As Laurey's sisters, Lucinda and I "stand behind" this team: we provide marketing support, in the form of this newsletter, and moral and fiduciary support. (Gosh, that sounds worthy, doesn't it?)
- Lito and Kale Salad!
I attend the weekly staff meetings at Laurey's, and try to stop in each day to pick up or drop off and check in on my way to my "day job", my fascinating work with the team at the wonderful Brunk Auctions. I have been with Bob Brunk's organization off and on since I came to Asheville in 2007, and they are my daily delight -- the company now headed by the terrific Andrew Brunk (star of Antiques Roadshow!).
I do my best to "show up where Laurey showed up", personally supporting the organizations she loved and supported. That alone is a more-than-full-time task, but it is not in fact the business of Laurey's shop.
Though I cast but a pale shadow, I most sincerely wish to personally represent Laurey in her devotion to those she stood by, over the decades of her occupation of Asheville.
- Rebecca and Chicken Marabella!
But the shop, the weddings, the dinners large and small, the school lunches, the
deliveries, the world of catered and dropped-off and picked-up Dinners-To-Go, that is all all all Emily and Adam.
Adam and Emily leading and cajoling and listening to and coaching the organizational fiends in the office and the energizer bunnies in the kitchen and the smilers in the shop. That whole crew pulls together, and they do marvelous work.
The cafe is thriving, the diners are dining, the wed-ders are wedding, the school lunch-ers are lunching. The food is terrific, and I often dine in or carry-out. I make a cake for Emily, smile here and there, teach a class when coerced, and write these notes to you weekly.
- Marty and about a million pies!
This all to give you to understand that the "us", as I say it in my newsletters, is them, plus me, plus Lucinda. We all miss and adore the dear Laurey, and we know she would be thrilled to see us carry on so heartily.
Thank you for your ever-loving support and the blessed fact, simply put, that you all still come visit us and that you love what we do and what we represent!!
See you in the shop!
- Heather Masterton
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Laurey's notes (from a lifetime of writing)
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[So much has been written about Laurey and her life projects, but of course the best spokesman is Laurey herself. In this column we present archival reprints of her messages. This is an early newsletter from her online records.]
September 27, 2004
Fall is in the air. We've had quite a month here (September, that is) - two hurricanes, major floods, lots of weather. We're used to being quiet up here in this little mountain place, but all these tempests have really put things in perspective.
I think of Don't Postpone Joy when things like this happen. You really just never know. (I guess "You Really Just Never Know" might have been a good bumper sticker, but it sort of takes on a negative spin. "Don't Postpone Joy" is the positive way of looking at things.)
Did I tell you about this motto? I used to live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. There was a tiny little toy store called "The Last Woundup," which sold every little wind-up toy you could imagine: clacking teeth, back-flipping kangaroos, hopping frogs, bucking cowboys. They had carousels, cars, banks, and all sorts of other things too.
Best of all, though, they had these wonderful bumper stickers with the heartening, comforting message: Don't Postpone Joy. At the time I was in recovery from a very scary cancer encounter. I bought one of the bumper stickers and stuck it on my car. I bought another and gave it to a friend with a car. And then another. And another. A few years later I moved here. I brought a supply of the stickers with me to give away.
At one point, The Last Wound Up closed, which, ultimately (I'm condensing here) provided the stimulus for me to print my own, which, as you see, we now sell here in the shop.
There are a lot of stories about these words. They have changed a lot of lives, have had quite an impact on a lot of people. I have heard about people who decided to take a job because a book, with the bumper sticker as a bookmark, fell off a shelf when they had just finished asking, "What should I do?" I've heard of a person who decided to sell her house and take off around the country in a camper: her sentiment? "It's not too late - Don't Postpone Joy."
We applied for, and recently received, the US trademark for this motto. It's ours now.
Which means it is time to celebrate. I've hinted at this celebration before but it is time to get specific. We will have this celebration in early November, which gives you a whole month to prepare. We're looking for works of art, poems, performances, sculptures, stories, photographs. We know you're creative so we're keeping the parameters very wide. Work on these creations and plan to bring them in for a big party. There'll be a contest (but everyone will win) and it will be a time to share these creations of yours. We'll display them for a while and then you can have them back (unless you REALLY want to give them to us.)
We can't wait to see what you bring.
[source: Laurey's Cafe and Catering newsletter, September 27, 2004]
[**That year's winning entries in our next newsletter! - Heather**]
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ASAP Farm Tour! September 20 and 21!
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Just a few more weeks to get your passes for the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Projects Fall Farm Tour!
Support your local farmer!! Their information is below:
Just what is the Farm Tour? On September 20-21, 2014, the gates and barns of WNC farms open to the public—even those farms that don’t normally allow visitors. Our self-guided driving tour is a chance to learn how food grows, taste farm-fresh treats, hang out with farm animals, and meet the community’s food producers. The tour features 37 farms in 7 counties of Western North Carolina.
BUY YOUR 2014 FARM TOUR PASS HERE!
Every year over 2,000 visitors participate in ASAP’s Farm Tour Weekend connecting people firsthand with the producers who grow their food. Connecting farmers and consumers is a key goal of ASAP’s mission and helps us build a stronger local food system.
Who: Click here to meet the 37 farms on the tour, with 11 new farm stops.
When: Saturday and Sunday, September 20-21, 2014 (1-6 pm).
Where: Appalachian Grown certified farms in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Rutherford, and Yancey Counties of Western North Carolina.
How does it work?
Purchase your Farm Tour pass online or from a participating vendor. One pass admits everyone in your car, so bring your friends and family with you! What do you need to prepare? Check out our tips for the tour to make the most out of your Farm Tour Weekend!
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