December Events at Affairs

Welcome December! Time for all things chocolate, when our kitchens are full of that wonderful stuff, along with the usual fruits and nuts, peppermint candies, caramels, and whatever else we can think of to combine with chocolate. And that’s just the bakery! The ‘hot side’ of the kitchen is busy planning and cooking for private parties and lunches, while keeping the dining room happy with holiday specials like fresh pomegranate waffles and pumpkin pancakes. Hungry?

I’m here to tell you about two up-coming holiday events here at Affairs. These are festive gatherings, and you can reserve a spot for one or a table for eight, your choice. Either way, we hope you will enjoy our Affairs holiday hospitality.

Here they are! If you wish to join us, please call or email for reservations.

1

Holiday Chef’s Dinner

Enjoy a 5-course holiday dinner with some of Chef Gay Landry’s

favorite holiday traditions. Each course will be paired with

an appropriate wine from some of our best regions.

MENU:

Coquilles St. Jacques

scallops poached in crème sauce, dusted with white cheddar cheese, and roasted au gratin

Wine: Domenico De Bertiol Prosecco (NV)

Spinach Salad

with warm bacon vinaigrette, baked brie, and Gay's Cranberry Quince Chutney.

Wine: 2007 Bigi Est! Est! Est!

Ginger Fig Pork Tenderloin

pan seared and finished with ginger fig cream, a holiday favorite, by request.

Wine: 2007 Atalaya

Slow-roasted Beef Short Ribs

in pan gravy, with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and caramel pecan local butternut squash.

Wine: 2007 Windham 'Mr Higgins' Syrah

Gay’s Holiday Desserts

Wine: Samson Estates Hazelnut "Oro" Port (NV)

Bring a friend or two, settle in for one of Gay’s memorable dinners, drink some good wine, and have some holiday fun.

Reserved table seating, impeccable service, and a great time had by all.

Day: Friday, December 11

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Price: $75

Reserve Now!

Phone: 565-8604 or email: affairscafe@affairs-chocolate.com

2

Christmas Tea

Join us for a memorable holiday

afternoon with a friend, a mother or daughter, or all of the above.

Beautifully appointed tables are set for tea, with chef’s savories, pastries and desserts served on tea trays at table.

MENU

Cucumber Sandwiches

Bay Shrimp Salad Sandwiches

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Ham & Cheese filled Croissants

Miniature Beef Wellingtons

Mushroom and Mozzarella Puffs

Miniature Quiches

Miniature Monte Cristos

Fruit Picks

Affairs Dessert Hors d Ouevres

Chocolates and Spiced Nuts

Tea Service

Laughter and Friendship

By Reservation

Day: Sunday, December 13

Time: 11—2 pm

Price: $18

Reserve Now!

Phone: 565-8604 or email: affairscafe@affairs-chocolate.com

Hope to see you soon, and in the meantime, best wishes to you and yours.

Gay Landry

Affairs Café & Bakery

www.affairs-chocolate.com

affairscafe@affairs-chocolate.com

2811 Bridgeport Way W.

University Place, Wa. 98466

253-565-8604

Affairs emails are intended to keep you informed of weekly menus and special events. Access to this email list is restricted, and it will not be sold or shared. If you would like to discontinue your listing, please email back and I will make that adjustment. ….Gay

Same sauce, different decade.

No wonder it works. On a whim, I find on a Google search that my Squeezo Strainer is still being manufactured. It’s a (still!) all-metal, (still!) hand-crank device which takes whole tomatoes and pours beautiful fresh sauce out one end and skin and seeds out the other. Simple, and from that you can cook down the best tomato sauce you’ll ever eat which in turn makes the best pasta sauce and world’s best chili. The Bloody Marys are another story. Internet tells me that this thing was made first in America in 1907 by some kid from Italy hungry for sauce. Like I said, no wonder it works. No motivation like the savory garlic simmer of a pot of sauce.

I suspect that, like me, each generation is somewhat ego centric, convinced of living in not only the center of the universe but the peak of importance. Or perhaps it was just me, my generation being so sure of our revolution of thinking and social change. In the midst of it all, 1979, I cut the order form from Mother Earth News, mailed a check to Troy, N.Y., and awaited my Squeezo. I was immersed in the cutting edge of sustainable earth, self-sufficient gardening. I lined my 100 quart jars of perfectly canned tomato sauce up next to jars of apple sauce, pickles, chutneys, salsas, beans, and corn, alongside bins of dried plums, apples, strawberries, and tomato rings, fanned bunches of dried herbs overhead. Potatoes, beets, peas, and squash safe in the root cellar.

Decades later, two states to the north, I share the Squeezo each year with my neighbor. I pulled 120 lb of roma tomatoes off of 8 plants this year, a good number for me and my new climate. I’d get a better harvest if I moved the whole garden. That little seedling that came home with my 6-year-old on Arbor Day is now 50 feet high and casts a mean shade. But my 12 quarts of sauce is plenty, and the last of the green tomatoes are ripening in a basket in my kitchen. What I thought was the only way to live turned out to be just one way, but my style remains. The certainty of my 20’s turned out to be the shape of things to come. How naturally today I turn to Google to research my Squeezo, the internet being a concept unheard of in 1979 and irrelevent in 1907. And still, how naturally hungry we all are for a great tomato sauce.

I have one issue left of Mother Earth News, August 1983, the end of my attempted self-sufficient farming. Tonight, no great surprise to find the publication online, with some great tips on ripening green tomatoes. Nothing really changes, just the messenger.