Food Safety Website

One of our guests alerted me to a great food website that I thought i should pass along. The site, http://www.stilltasty.com , describes itself as the ultimate shelf life guide. It offers some great insights into how to keep your food freshest the longest. In the restaurant, we utilize a system called day-dotting which tracks the date & time of production and person who prepared the item. For home, this site could be a very useful tool. Hope it helps!

Valentine's Brunch Sticky Buns

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Not that I need an excuse, but I took the opportunity this weekend to experiment with an easy sticky bun recipe (adapted from one of Ina Garten's old cook books). The prospect of a traditional yeast based dough always intimidated me so much that I stayed away from even attempting these sweets. The new recipe is a pastry based dough made even easier by using frozen puff pastry sheets! After many attempts and countless ingredient combinations, the staff and I settled on walnuts, cinnamon, orange zest and nutella (hazelnut chocolate spread)! I am a big fan of the nutella, but if you arent a chocolate lover, you can substitute any of your favorite ingredients for the filling.

We will be serving these for V-Day brunch in all locations. I am anxious to hear everyone's input!

February Specials are up!

Well, even though I have decided to update the store menus twice a year (once every 6 months for the season), I have added a few new items for February. I will be watching the local produce very closely this Spring in all locations. Even our catering & event menus have been constructed around what is freshest and most readily available this Spring. Special requests? Great ideas? Please send them to me directly. All help is appreciated!