Summer's Gone!

Whereever did the summer go? We are now at Labor Day which makes us weeks from the ugly cold and damp. The tourist drop off after this weekend - I'm glad that we have a core die hards of locals to sustain us through the winter months. Actually, it was Henri who reminded me that I had not blogged in several weeks.

New things at the cafe are a stew made of Italian (mild) sausage, mixed beans and ,tomatoes. It is served with slices of rustic bread and fresh creamery butter. I tried it this week and it was wonderful.
He also has introduced a sandwich on an everything bagel of turkey pastrami, cream cheese, dijon mustard and dill gherkin pickle, They sold very well last week . One visitor said she wished she were hungry enough to have ordered it too as it smelled delicious.

We did not participate in the Sothwold bbq cookoff two weeks ago. Neither of us do very well in all that sun, we don't do a lot of bbq any way, and we thought it insulting that the price was $15.00 just to get in the gate. They were charging $60.00 for all you can eat on Saturday , if you stayed long enough , you got to see Marshall Tucker Band perform. Yes, the $60.00 included the gate fee. I don't think that the three of us , including Jean Paul would eat $60.00 work of bbq between us. Henri said at that price , there had better be alot of gold leaf in the food. It was an outside company running it, and I feel that they would have done better if they had just charged $10.00 a head .

Henri is debating if we will particpate in the Bourbon, beer and bbq show at the the Playhouse in November. Its from noon on but is indoors, he is considering starters and desserts ,letting others do the actual bbq. Katie and I can handle the early day with he and his father doing the evening. Its a Sunday so we are usually closed anyway. Its locally run and the profit goes to charities in the area.

For the small amount of time that we've been together , I am surprised at the amount of stuff we have accumulated. I have been going through our books and found there are sixty two that are duplicates. I've put them up for sale on Amazon. Both of our families have a long history of  frequent moves and I don't feel like hauling all of it with us.

I hate seeing Summer pass. I like Fall and Spring. We've had a great summer, lots of time to catch a bite up near the Braintree Mall or over by what used to be Baker's Chocolate Mills in Milton. The condos there even still smell of chocolate in the revamped factory on the warm evening air.

This reminds me . Never tell your husband that you don't know what something is . I admitted last week that I didm't know what a MOF was in France. So,yesterday,we watched a documentary called "Kings of Pastry" which explained the competition. But the creations ! Wow! you should have seen the sugar, chocolate and blown sugar work. It was heartbreaking when one of the best that had made it from the States to Lyons , France without breaking , broke the day before the final judging . The chef recovered, reinvented and did win his MOF . Out of 16 candidates only about 8 won the MOF which declares them to be a master craftsman in pastry. I loved the blown sugarwork- similiar in process to blown glass. The flowers that they made!

Here's wishing you a Happy Labor Day !

Bon soir et bon apetit,

Arina Copain,
Office Manager