September 19, 2009

Hum. Hum. Hum. That’s how things feel here right now. After two weeks of working without Emily and Adam, and also without Martha, one of our cooks who has been on vacation, I see a light, shining very brightly right around the corner.

Adam and Emily (and Henry) are coping, finally starting the treatment that their little boy is undergoing. See the next little story for more information.

We got a card from Martha and she, it seems, has had a good time in Maine and will be filled with stories and fresh energy when she gets back to work on Monday.

Noel, here in the office, has shifted into Emily’s seat, ably covering her work duties in Emily’s absence. Kris, who is our fill-in baker, has joined us in the office, helping fill Noel’s seat. Kris will be taking over for Jaime, our catering chief, once Jaime leaves in December to go traveling so she’s spending some time sitting over in Jaime’s seat too.

Brendan is catching on in the kitchen, making more and more evening food for you. Deb has become the almost-every-day early girl. I’ve been filling in, when needed, for Martha and am the Tuesday morning early girl now. It’s fun to keep my knife sharp and my cooking “chops” up. I have a closet full of cooking clothes that have been gathering dust. No longer!

I’ve been having fun teaching my current series of cooking classes. We’re going to have a new series in October and you can sign up for them by giving us a call (252-1500.) Each class is 35.00 and includes a glass of wine and generous tastes of everything I will demonstrate and make for you.

Here’s the schedule:
Wednesday, October 7: Blueberry Hill Favorites.
Wednesday, October 14: Appetizers
THURSDAY, October 22: Harvest foods
Wednesday, October 28: Soups.

In other news, responding to a request, I have become ordained! I will be conducting my very first wedding tomorrow morning. I’m not sure who’s more nervous, me or the bride and groom! Actually, I’m honored that they want me to perform this ceremony and have been crafting my thoughts and words for them for the past week. (I’ll tell you stories next week, of course.)

And our Farmer’s Dinners are taking off. My goal is to have sold-out dinners each month and we’re getting to that point. Whee! It is SO much fun to cook right here, putting wonderful food into our ovens, cooking it, serving it to these lovely farmers and guests. I do so many events under tents or on mountain tops that it is an amazing treat to have functioning ovens, running water, and a solid roof over our heads. I’m going to try to do these dinners every month all year long. It might be a bit challenging in January, but that’ll make it all the more interesting, won’t it?

Okay – I need to go be delivery babe now. Then I’ll come back here, write some menus, do some planning and, later, go serve a big meal to a few hundred people. On it goes. Fortunately.

Thanks for your enthusiasm. It keeps me going. It really does.

I’ll be in touch soon.