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The Weekly Newsletter for October 27, 2014
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We're Making Shepherd's Pie!
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Dear friends,
We're making all the wonderful fall foods you love - thank you for stopping on in.
We think it's time for Hot Lunch soon, don't you?
Martha, longtime veteran of Laurey's Cafe, preps our fall favorite: Shepherd's Pie!!
- 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, October 27 Balsamic Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken $8.95
Tuesday, October 28
Chive Risotto Cakes with Braised Greens $8.25
Wednesday, October 29
Spinach & Mushroom Stuffed
Flank Steak $10.95*GF*
Thursday, October 30
Smothered Pork Chops with
Applesauce & Mashed Sweet Potatoes $9.95
Friday, October 31
New Orleans BBQ Shrimp
with Dirty Rice $10.95
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Casserole and Lasagnas to go!
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Casserole of the Week
whole serves (9) ~ half serves (4)
Wednesday, October 29
Moravia Chicken Pie
Whole $40/Half $20
Lasagna of the Week
whole serves (9) ~ half serves (4)
Friday, October 31
Rosemary Roasted Autumn Veggies
Whole $39/Half $19.50
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Thanksgiving Menu - A Preview
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Our very special and wonderful traditional Laurey's Thanksgiving Dinner Menu is in the final planning stages.
Oh, YES!!
One my personal favorites is part of this year's menu: Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts.
They melt in your mouth, crisp and sweet and just darn righteous!
Here's our Rebecca working out the details - my dears, these babies are gorgeous and DELICIOUS little bites!!
Next week (I think!) we'll remind you of all your options, and how it works - isn't it a treat to add treasures from Laurey's Cafe to your own celebration?
We're glad to be here for you.
Always local, always terrific.
YUM!
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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.
September 2005
I write this on Saturday. Yesterday was one of the best days at work. To start with, we were very busy, with a dinner for 120 going out in the late afternoon. We had lunch deliveries all over the place, a popular dinner to go, and the hopes of full tables for lunch.
We also had one cook out attending an out of town wedding and one cook out helping some friends with their own party. This left us with two cooks which is really not enough on a day like yesterday. I decided to come in early and help. I also had to get ready for Susan Shillcock's class from Isaac Dickson Elementary School. 24 children were showing up at 9:00 for hands-on cooking and I had a bit of preparation to do for them.
I woke up early, excited about the day and just came in to work, figuring that an extra hour wouldn't hurt anything. Richard was already here, his day well underway. Kris showed up a short time later and the three of us worked quickly and quietly in the dark of the morning. I took charge of the deli case, Kris worked on cookies and apple pies and cornbread and who know what else, while Richard dug in to the heartier requirements on the day's list.
At 7:30 I switched over to class prep, set up The Garden Room, organized a low-to-the-ground hand-washing station, and small-group portions of the ingredients needed for the pies and tarts. The kids were going to make apple pies and then pizzas. And then I was going to let them taste some okra, pickled and fried.
The day before I had joined them at Flying Cloud Farm and had been with them when they first encountered okra. Jordan a tiny little child who is blind, was the most excited, running her fingers over the fat little fellow she had just picked.
"It's VERY soft!" she exclaimed. "May I eat it?"
"Sure!" I said, watching as she peeled it open as if it was a tiny banana. Her enthusiasm was contagious and in another minute everyone had their own fresh-picked okra. Everyone was munching, happy. They could have been eating popsicles.
Yesterday, as the pizzas baked, and after the little apple pies had been devoured, I pulled out a crate of okra.
"Remember these?" I asked.
I reminded them that I had promised to let them taste pickled okra and fried okra. I gave a pickle to one adult and then to another, oohing and ahhing all the time. When I finally gave in to the hoped-for pleadings, the kids chomped them right down, enjoying them before they even had a chance to be squeamish. Likewise, they snapped up the fried okra, even though it had gotten cold by the time I offered it to them.
"In some places," I had said, "people LIKE to eat okra this way. You might go to a restaurant sometime and eat it hot, but EVERYONE gets to have it that way. THIS way is a bit more unusual."
That was the end of the okra, with many of the kids asking for seconds.
After the class left I turned into a cook, helping finish the salads for the evening's party. That dinner featured local ingredients: peppers from Full Sun Farms, cheese from our friends at Spinning Spider, mint from our garden right here and lettuce from Flying Cloud Farm (which had been washed by Miss Susan's kids in a sweet completion of a day's cycle.)
After Deb pulled the stuffed peppers from the oven and Richard garnished the butternut squash, I went with Jon and helped set everything up at the party.
 Noticing, all of a sudden, that I was tired (!) I scooted on home where I sat with my dog and watched the leaves start to fall in the yard. My pets ate their supper and then I did too: Vermont Cheddar on Raisin Crisps, the last of the treats from the seminar.
Hot shower. Crossword puzzle. Sleep. Perfect.
[source: Laurey's monthly newsletter, September 2005]
- Heather Masterton
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I always mean to cook Quinoa at my house.
I even have a package of it, somewhere in a cabinet.
It is perfect Superfood, a 5,000-year-old food from the Andes, full of protein and essential amino acids. It is not a grain, contains no gluten, and is distantly related to spinach. And just last year, they allowed as how Quinoa can be a kosher food for Passover. (Now, aren't you glad you know all THAT!?)
Perfect, like I said.
It tastes great, and yet, and yet... have you been eating it at all lately?
A lovely warm Salad of Quinoa, rubbing shoulders with Sage and Roasted Mushrooms, appeared on the counter at Laurey's cafe.
Now, I don't know about you, but if they put it up on the counter at Laurey's, I'm gonna try some.
Hannah the Suggester popped a spoon of Quinoa Salad into a little dish, and I ate it standing up, right there at the counter.
Yee-up.
Please keep an eye out for fun new foods - we do love 'em. New combinations show up in the case all the time.
Good for YOU!!!
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Recipe: Mama's Sponge Cake - from the Blueberry Hill Cookbook
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I have a mission, still unfolding, to introduce to you all the background and family that gave us the lovely and wonderful girl who was my sister, Laurey Masterton.
 A huge part of Laurey's childhood was our mother, Elsie Masterton, a formidable self-taught chef, cook, author, painter, designer, and lady. Elsie and John Masterton were the glory behind the Inn where we grew up in Vermont. Elsie's Blueberry Hill Cookbook, first of a set of five books she wrote, was published in 1959.
The other night, I made this famous, famous cake, a nightly staple at the Inn. The recipe was handed down to us from Elsie's beloved Mama, Annie (Hannah) Lurie, wife of our grandfather, Abraham Lipstein. Anna Lurie came to the US from Russia at about the age of 3. I will find you photographs of her - a tiny, stern, powerhouse, who was a fine, predictable cook.
This cake is delightful, gossamer, and unbreakable. Just do exactly as Elsie says.
"Serve with the following sour cream sauce, and top with hot blueberry sauce. Both sauces keep well in the refrigerator and freeze perfectly."
Heather's confession: I made this cake without planning ahead the other night, and had no berries for the sauce. I opened a tiny jar of Imladris Farm Blackberry Jam, popped it into the microwave for 12 seconds (or till it bubbled), and it was marvelous.
Elsie's note: This cake will not rise to the top of a regular angel food pan. If you want it that large - if you're making a cake for a big party - use 6 eggs and multiply everything else by 1 and 1/2.
Here's what you need:
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Here's what you do:
Separate the eggs, and set aside the whites.
Beat the eggs until light and lemon-colored. Add sugar and beat until granular consistency disappears (about 3 minutes at medium speed in the electric mixer)
Add orange juice, beating until well mixed, then continuing for 2 minutes more.
Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add to egg mixture and beat until thoroughly assimilated, then another 2 minutes.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold whites into rest of batter, carefully, until no specks of white are seen.
Turn batter into an [ungreased] angel food tin. Bake in a moderate (325*) oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake pops back into shape when you touch it firmly with your finger.
Immediately after baking, invert the cake pan to cool as high off your counter as possible - slipping it upside down over the neck of a [slender, empty] wine bottle will do perfectly. You are trying to avoid condensation as it cools.
Sour Cream Sauce
1 pint sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
With a fork, mix all ingredients until well blended. That's all there is to it. This is better than whipped cream and can often be used instead.
Serve cake with sour cream sauce and hot berry sauce. Put the sour cream on the cake first, so the hot blueberries do not soak too much into the sponge cake.
Hot Blueberry Sauce
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
In a saucepan, heat blueberries with sugar, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup of water. Bring it to a boil and let boil 2 minutes. If it is too watery, let it cook another 4 to 5 minutes. Taste for sugar and lemon; this will depend on tartness of the berries. Dissolve cornstarch in 1/2 cup cold water; add to berries and let boil another minute.
Hugs,
Heather
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