This week….we are celebrating spring!

Soups:

Tomato

Tuscan Bean

Bisque of Three Mushrooms

Thai chicken coconut curry soup

Penne Pasta salad with shrimp and spring vegies

To The Last Drop Chicken Salad

Curried Chicken Salad

To The Last Drop Coleslaw

Red Skin Potato Salad

Shredded B’que chicken and buns

To The Last Drop Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brownies with dried cherries and almonds

I just had the joy of seeing all three of my kids go off to Prom. It was a rite of passage for them as well as for me as a parent. The preparation, the anticipation, the corsage and boutinere exchange and ALL the pictures. After all of that, there was the dinner, the actual Prom, and then the “after-Prom”. That is such a new concept but a good one from my perspective. One of the best parts of the Prom for me this year, other than seeing all three of my kids dressed up and happy, was to join in the dinner beforehand. My son’s group of friends chose to have a dinner at one of the kid’s homes. The parents graciously opened their home to both the kids and all the parents. We all donated food and served the kids which saved them a lot of money but more inportantly, gave us a chance to be a small part of the night and share some time together as parents.

I love it when friends and family get together and share time- especially when it involves food. It was not necessary to have a “gourmet” meal, just something homemade that was made with care and then shared.

Perfect.

I also saw there one of my players from the softball team I am sponsoring this year- The PURPLE COMETS! It is really nice when lives overlap and intertwine. It is a blessing when we can all find the time to allow ourselves to be a part of something other than what we “have to do” and feel we “should” do- and then do it.

I loved Prom this year…..even better than when I went a long long long long time ago!

In the past two weeks, I have read several articles about the effects of our economy on both business and personal levels. One of the reoccurring themes was the food industry. I may in some ways be “cutting off my nose to spite my face” so to speak but I do believe it is worth mentioning. Since I have a multi-faceted business, for me, it is all related.

Grocery sales, especially fresh produce and grains, have risen while restaurants are recording drops in sales. The necessary frugality of our time for most people does not include the luxury of eating out. However, more people are finding that cooking at home saves money and also increases the time that they are home to be with their families. There is a need to prepare food that is healthy but also economical.

More families are experiencing longer work hours and perhaps the return to work for otherwise stay at home parents. That, as well, presents a challenge in the aspect of time. There is not excess time to go to the store several times a week nor time to manage complex meals.

The answer to the needs of families and their ability to make ends meet as well as provide healthy meals and family time lies in a return to the kitchen. We have as a society become dependent on hurried lifestyles filled with quick fixes and immediate gratification. I truly believe those days are on their way out and perhaps happily so. There may be a road to discovery ahead- a path of families, couples, singles all returning to their own homes and spending more time and less money on their own nourishment.

At To The Last Drop, we have several offerings that can help with this change in routine. There are classes that focus on all types of culinary subjects from specific cooking techniques and cuisines to basics that focus on getting back in your kitchen and getting organized. Check out the classes available as well as the newest schedule which will be available on May 15th. There will be classes focusing on “cooking for one”, stocking your pantry to save grocery runs and basic cooking lessons. I hope you will visit us online or come into the shop and see the difference we can help you make in your life.

In addition, we have available all week long, fresh meals to go. Made from fresh ingredients, delicious produce and choice meats we cook meals that are ready to warm at home and serve. From soups, pastas, entrees, and sides we fill our coolers for you. Stop in and see what is available or check out our weekly menu online that is blogged in” What’s Cooking” .

We have all begun to re-evaluate ways that we live and what is necessary and not. Some changes may be temporary as we ride out the economic recession we are in and some will be permanent. Healthy eating and a return to our homes and kitchens would be a great choice to implement permanently- hope you will do so and I truly hope you will allow us to share in the journey!

Claudia

Soups:

Tuscan Bean

Tomato

Chicken Wild Rice Mushroom

Cream of Asparagus

Butternut squash

Caprese Salad

Chicken pesto Pasta Salad

To The Last Drop Signature Chicken Salad

Shrimp Pasta Salad

Fresh Linguini with Primavera Sauce

Chicken kabaobs with couscous

Grilled Salmon over salad of mixed greens, snap peas, asparagus, red peppers

To The Last Drop Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bananna Muffins

Carrot muffins

Fresh baguettes

Soups:

chicken noodle

tuscan bean

tomato

cream of asparagus

italian tortellini

Chicken salad

Pasta Salad with Shrimp

Lemon Chicken

Pork tenderloin with Three pepper relish

Pulled Bbque Pork

Baked and Baked Again Potatoes

Roasted summer vegetables

Mediterranean Chicken Kabobs with Couscous

Italian Parmesan Breadsticks

Fresh Baguettes

Carrot Bread (after Wednesday)

Bananna Bread (after Wednesday)

To The Last Drop Chocolate Chip Cookies

It is one of the greatest joys in life to have comfort with another person. Not just feeling “comfortable” but having a comfort. There is a difference. “Comfortable” comes to the surface, remains for a while and then passes until the next encounter. “Comfort” goes deeper, stays much longer and can last forever.

Sometimes that comfort can come over many years of experiences and years of friendship. My friend Julie and I have known each other since pre-school. We have a comfort with one another that never alters or changes. We went a few years at one time without contact other than a yearly Christmas card and then have had a year when we spoke every day helping one another through loss, divorce, sickness. Whether there is an every day contact or not, she is with me and we have comfort with one another.

I have a comfort with my kids- my greatest joy. I feel very blessed to be able to talk with them and them to me about anything and also to be silent in one anothers company. We are transparent to one another- and that is a comfort beyond words.

There is also a comfort that can come with someone almost instantaneously. It is unexplainable but very real. For me, it is when you meet someone and immediately have a feeling that you have known them for many many years. The door opens and there is a person that you have not seen before with whom you have a comfort and peace. Amazing.

I have been so fortunate to have had new people cross my path in these first six months of business that have given me great comfort. I am generally very comfortable with people. I love meeting new people and having those brief and nice conversations as they come in and out of my shop. I also see that some of those people will stay an bit longer, come back again and again, and share their life’s moments with me. It is “comforting” to me to hear my door open and see someone who immediately gives me a sense of peace, familiarity, and comfort. I love hearing the door open for reasons other than business- it is personal. This shop and the people I meet are personal for me. I feel at ease with those who come in the door and after six months, I have grown to have great comfort with some that have entered. I have been in their homes, been a part of a gathering that has meaning for them or welcomed them into my world through the cooking classes or the private dinners here. Whatever the situation, there are people new in my life that have roots and I am happy about that and grateful for that.

I have mentioned “comfort food” before in another blog. I said there is a reason for that in our lives as it stirs happy memories and takes us to a place of peace. Once again, comfort is a good thing. With all the variables in life and the challenges to let in and keep out of our lives so many things, comfort with another person is needed. I hope you find it and if you are fortunate to do so- share it with others.

Claudia

Soups:

Chicken Noodle

Tuscan Tomato

Black Bean

Potato Leek

Pasta Salad- cheese tortellini, artichokes, sundried tomatoes, red, yellow and red peppers and asparagus

Signature Chicken Salad

Couscous Salad with chicken, tomato, zucchini,sweet onion, fresh parsley

Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken, snap peas, cilantro

Signature Meatloaf

Lemon Chicken

Pork Tenderloin with Black Cherry Barbeque Sauce

Baked and Baked Again Potatoes

Roasted Vegetables with garlic, shallots and fresh herbs- zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, fingerling potatoes

Brushetta

Italian Breadsticks

Daily baked baguettes

Later in week:

Assorted Quiches

Shrimp Spread

Sundried Tomato Spread

Carrot Bread and Bananna Bread

For some reason, the phrase “in the spring of life” has been in my mind for a week now. I just returned from Spring Break with two of my three children and of course spring has been on my mind. However, the “spring of life” is much more than the season of weather, it is a season of life.

I was able to see my parents for a day over the break and seeing them always places in perspective the seasons of life. I saw one of my siblings and the sharing of stories and connection with childhood brings to light the seasons we are all in as well. In the last month I have spent time with loved ones that have challenges in their lives with health, spoken to friends who have been through unbelievable challenges with their bodies and healing and faced some of my own personal changes and paths that have really caused me to pause and think about the phrase “she/he is in the spring of life”. I guess what that really seems to mean is that at some point, we are in the fullest part of our lives that is filled with the newness and growing of ourselves. A time in life that we have nothing but hope and forward thinking, nothing but positive outlook for all that is ahead and a chance to embrace life and all its wonder to the fullest.

I have to ask, am I past the “spring of my life”? Am I nearing it? My answer is that I sure hope not. I choose to believe that rather than allowing age or circumstance to dictate our outlook or zest for life we must always have that “spring” in our life. My parents wake every day with that eternal spring, my brother facing cancer has never lost his spring and I also think about the many people I have met and had the honor to know that have never lost it amidst adversity and challenges. What a wonderful gift to themselves as well as all those who cross their path.

With all the events this spring that are filled with newness and hope- weddings, graduations, family reunions- I wish for you that they are not just planned on the calendar in the spring but also planned in your heart with “spring”. I hope that the moments are filled with joy, happiness and a full abundance of being in that “spring of your life” no matter your age or load you carry.

Looking out the window and hearing the prospect of snow flurries….that calendar spring does sound great as well!

Have a happy week-