Hello Craftyland!

It's been so long since we spoke. How are you? I hope you have been well. I've been busy!

As many of you know, I work
full time at Cuisine en Locale. We're an all-local catering and meal delivery service. Recently, we opened up a full-service event hall which is awesome! We took over the old Anthony's Function Hall at 156 Highland Ave in Somerville. We are now officially fully open, and we're cooking up some really exciting new projects that I think you might be interested in!

First, the Vegetarian Share is back! If you have thought you might be interested in our ONCE a Week meal delivery service, but you don't eat meat, this might be just the ticket. We do all the cooking and bring you a nice big bag of awesome food, any Tuesday you like! I am so excited to share that we've revived the Vegetarian version! It now sits in a place of honor, right next to the Omnivore version. It is not entirely gluten free, nor entirely vegan, but we are careful about cross-contact and there will be some items that fit each bill. If there are some folks in your household who are vegan and some who are ovo-lacto or omni, this could work. If there are some folks who eat gluten free and others who don't, this could also be a great choice. If even being cooked in a kitchen where gluten is present gives you difficulty, then unfortunately it might not be the right fit. It's not like the old days when I had a fully gluten free environment to work with, but it is amazing and wonderful food, different every week, and always made from scratch using all local ingredients. If you're interested, email luc@enlocale.com We actually still may have a share left for delivery tomorrow, but please move quickly before it sells out!

Second, we're offering weekly Saturday brunch! We use gorgeous, farm-fresh, local ingredients to make all kinds of brunch favorites. Most items are or can easily be vegetarian, and there are a few great vegan items too. Many menu items are free of gluten ingredients too, or can be made so easily. Again, we do use gluten in some dishes in our kitchen here, but we are careful about cross-contact. My favorite vegetarian and gluten free dishes include the P.O.P. (Pile o' Potatoes) - roasted potatoes, sauteed spinach, cheddar or bleu cheese, and poached eggs (great with a dash of Alex's Ugly Sauce), the Fratine (crustless quiche) of the Week; and the Mess in a Cup - flourless Taza chocolate cake with vanilla marscapone whip and chocolate ganache drizzle. (Just ask to skip the oat biscuit that often garnishes it if you're GF - the cookie isn't GF but the rest of the dessert is.) Vegan sides which can make a great meal all together include roasted potatoes, spinach, kale salad, and most of the tasty beverages. There is definitely a whole lot for omnivores too! If you do eat gluten and dairy, the reviews on our sticky buns have been off the charts. Did I mention we have a full bar? We actually have two full bars. We serve brunch every Saturday from 10 - 3, and there's live music from 11 - 2.

Third, we have some great events coming up, including a monthly comedy show, regular movie nights, and a lot of GREAT rock shows and other concerts. If you want to stay posted about these sorts of events, please email me back and I can add you to our weekly newsletter mailing list. You can also check our newsletters and blog posts at our website.

Finally, I'm teaching a bunch of classes! I've been teaching at the Boston Center for Adult Education and at Brookline Adult and Community Education. I'm teaching a basic vegetarian cooking skills class next Tuesday evening, 3/25. I have a few more baking classes coming up too, both gluten and GF. In Brookline, I'm planning a GF cooking and baking series over the summer. This spring and summer, you'll find me hosting locavore events at Anthony's, teaching classes in Boston and Brookline, and also at lots of farmers markets, both selling and shopping.

Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic afternoon!

Much love,
Mary

Party Viking Style!

ONCE in Valhalla last night was AMAZING!

We cooked and baked and pickled for days. The food was incredible. The actors and musicians performed amazingly. The sound, lights, direction, production, and everything else sure looked flawless from where I stood. The beer and mead flowed like, well, beer and mead.

If you were a guest, you never would have guessed the level of technical difficulties we experienced in the kitchen that morning! If a major piece of equipment is going to go on the fritz, of course it will be the day of the biggest event of the year! But we are professionals, and we kept our collective calm, carried on, and pulled off possibly the best Valhalla yet!

Smorgasbord

We served ten courses, starting with freshly shucked oysters, pulled fresh from the water the same morning. Then guests enjoyed a smorgasbord of air-cured beef, cheeses, whipped butter, fresh watermelon radishes, pickled fish, the best liverwurst, and lots of different pickled veggies including ramps, fiddleheads, beets, turnips, and cauliflower; all served with my famous rye hardtack. We moved on through a parsnip soup, lamb with roasted beets, ryeberry pilaf, oven braised turkey, cheesy oats with ham, pear gastrique, beef marinated and stewed in porter served with my legendary oat cakes, and finally a dollop of yogurt drizzled with the blood of the gods (local berry puree) and golden honey.

Myself and Brian slicing and serving the most tender and juicy lamb. You can also just barely see fellow gnome Sean in the background.

In between courses, there was singing, dancing, and there were even lessons in the history and mythology of the Vikings.

Party Viking Style! A completely historically accurate song and dance number

A great time was had by all, and I look forward to next year's! Today is a pajama day, though. I'm beat!

The photos above are all from boston.com (YES I am named in the caption of that photo! Now I'm famous.) The poster below is by Miri Rooney of Short Army, who also designed both the viking and valkyrie helmets.

Stay tuned - there is talk of a Downton Abbey themed dinner coming in the foreseeable future!

O.N.C.E. in Valhalla!

Hey peeps!

This week, I've been working hard on a very exciting project at Cuisine en Locale: O.N.C.E. in Valhalla!

O.N.C.E. stands for One Night Culinary Event, the brainchild of our head mad genius, JJ Gonson. I'm a member of the team of chefs at CeL, and O.N.C.E.s are one of our core event-styles. They're ticketed events, open to the public. They usually have themes. This time, it's an all you can eat, ten course Viking feast! There will be singing, dancing, gods, monsters, valkyries, and amazing all-local food.

I've been baking for days. We've been marinating, braising, roasting, and otherwise making stuff amazing. The cast of the floor show has been rehearsing and working with folks from American Repertory Theatre to create an amazing night. It's going to be awesome.

Notes for the sensitive: It is not vegetarian, and it is not gluten free. It is 100% locally grown real food, and it is going to be 100% amazing. We're actually close to selling out on tickets. If we do sell out, this may be the first time we don't have a few more at the door! We can hardly wait!