Elmer’s Store – 396 Main Street – Ashfield, MA 01330
(413) 628-4003 Elmersstore.com
Breakfast and Lunch seven days a week, Dinner on Fridays
AnnaBread Delivered fresh Thursdays through Sundays
Send e-mail to Nan@Elmersstore.com
I know that most of you are on Facebook and so maybe you saw this, but I know that lots of you aren’t, too, so maybe you didn’t, but that’s where the following letter was floating after Hurricane Sandy. I do love it very much though, as everything it says is true. It’s just not something you know until you go through it. I would add another paragraph to it, which I will at the bottom.
Dear Northeast,
Wow, is your week about to suck. Potentially it will continue to suck for many months. But ultimately you’ll come out of it okay. People find a way. You will become very resourceful, you’ll bond with your friends and neighbors in ways you never expected, and you’ll have a lot of love and help from the rest of us from far away, too.
All that said, I hope you’re ready for a fight. There might be some who tell you that whatever happens was punishment from God, that you’re an idiot for living where you live, that your home should be abandoned. There will be people who tell you that it’s your own damn fault. They’ll say that you should have known, that you deserved this misery, that the rest of us shouldn’t be responsible for taking care of you, that you are not worth saving. So stop your whining already.
Well, to hell with them. Be safe. And if you need to, call us when you get to the other side. You can stay with us as long as you need to. Because when the shit flies, we are all responsible for each other. It’s the only way to survive.
Love,
New Orleans
PS. (This is from Nan) People will tell you that “it’s just stuff” when you lose everything you own. It will make you so mad because you, alone know it’s not just stuff. Those are the things you collected over the years that helped you define who you were. They were the things you saved for, that meant something to you. They were letters, your favorite clothes that gave you the most confidence. They were things your parents gave you, things that marked the turns in your path as you grew up. Seven years after Katrina I still wonder where certain things are and then, am sad when I remember what happened to them. Seven years later, I’m still pathologically attached to my Toyota Tundra, as it’s one of the very few things I still have from before The Storm. I want you to know that people mean well when they say it, and they mean that material possessions are not as important as people’s lives are. But you know that. And then you look around at all of your past, gone. All of the souvenirs of your time on this earth and it makes you really, really sad. Before the Storm was the time you knew where you were and life was still certain. Now it won’t be again. It wasn’t just stuff. Only those who still have their stuff can say it’s just stuff. Only they can say, “I’d be glad if a storm took away all this crap!” You, now stuff-less, you can mourn your lost remembrances. It’s truly okay.
______________________________
And now, we prepare for another storm of terror:
The Election Returns
Tomorrow Night
Come and watch among friends. We have a very large TV at Elmer’s and will be watching together. We’ll have food:
Son’s Beef Stew (like we had on Halloween Night – BOY was that good! It was so good we ran out early, but we won’t on Tuesday.)
Vegetable Stew
Red Beans and Rice with Sausage
Red Beans and Rice vegetarian
Gretchen’s desserts
And we’ll have a bar!
So come and hold hands and watch and eat and drink and we’ll see what happens all together! We’ll start about 6:00 pm and go until it’s time to go home, whatever time that is!
And this Friday is our
Local Harvest Dinner
where we give out the recipes and give you ideas for your own upcoming Thanksgiving dinner on the 22nd.
Call us for reservations – we’ll be seating every half hour between 5pm and 8:30 pm.
And here’s the first thing I should like to mention:
These turkeys are GMO-Free!
They were raised on certified non-GMO grain and later in their lives were let loose in the Steady Lane Farm Herb Garden where they feasted on mint and thyme and other great things to make them good. They were pre-seasoned.
First Course
Warm Red Cabbage Salad
Paddy Flat Farm red cabbage with curly Endive,
Main Course
Roast Local Turkey
raised by Sam in Ashfield, MA on pasture & organic feed, carved light and dark meat, Herb Stuffing made with 100% locally grown grain bread, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Kale, and Caramelized Onions, Mashed Potatoes, Pan Gravy, and Cranberry Sauce
or
Celeriac & Cauliflower Gratin
(vegetarian and gluten-free)
with Paddy Flat Farm cauliflower, celeriac, red potatoes, & leeks,
Wild Mushroom Stuffing with brown rice, onions, and herbs,
Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Kale, and Caramelized Onions,
Mashed Potatoes, Mushroom Gravy, and Cranberry Sauce
Either of the above $25
Small Plate Option for Kids
Roast Local Turkey Special or Vegetarian Special
(for kids under 12) $10
OUR INGREDIENTS &
THE LOCAL FARMS
Sam at Steady Lane Farm Ashfield, MA
Turkeys
Paddy Flat Farm Ashfield, MA
Red Cabbage
Leeks
Kale
Cauliflower
Red Fire Farm Montague, MA
Sweet Potatoes
Satina Potatoes
Yellow Onions
Celeriac
Atlas Farm Deerfield, MA
Red Potatoes
Old Friends Farm Amherst, MA
Young Ginger
Clark Brothers Orchard Ashfield, MA
Apples
Berry Guys Farm Stand Carver, MA
Cranberries
And then Gretchen will be making pumpkin pies out of Tom Poissant’s sugar-pumpkins, and apple pies from the Clark Brothers Orchard, for dessert
Call us for reservations for the Harvest Dinner at (413) 628-4003
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Yesterday morning at Elmer’s was so much freaking fun! The Sakhioba Georgian Choir from Georgia (not the state – the country) was there for breakfast and they sang, sang some more and danced. Great, great fun. Turns out they can’t really keep from singing – or, it turns out, playing their kazoos. They didn’t speak much English, but they did seem to like the food and the beer. (Yes, lots of beer for breakfast. I think it helps with being in the mood to sing and dance in the morning.)
They performed at Double Edge on Saturday night and were truly thrilling to watch. They’ll perform again tonight at Mt Holyoke college tonight – lecture on Georgian Music at 7:30 and concert at 8pm, at their main music hall. I’m sorry I don’t have any more information, but if you can find it out and go, you won’t be sorry!
We have more music coming up at Elmer’s –
Sunday, November 18th we have
Nedski and Mojo
Bluegrass Musicians
who are freaking hilarious and
fabulous musicians!
Stephen Mougin
is from here, but has made it big in the bluegrass world, playing with Sam Bush and other big guys. They played here once before and they were really, really fun! If you like good bluegrass or funny guys, do not miss them!
Dinner will start at 5:00, concert starts at 6:30. $12 in advance, $15 at the door, call us for reservations.
______________________________
Christmas Crafts for the Cure are handmade by women in Ashfield to support the prevention and cure of breast cancer. 100% of your donations will go to this important cause! Elmer’s own Gretchen Gerstner and Danielle Curtis helped to make these ornaments. Special thanks also to the women of Ashfield Needles and Threads, Kathryn Precourt and Jennie Markens.
Ornaments and gift tags will be on sale at Cranstons Christmas Tree Farm from November 23 to December 23, Wednesdays thru Fridays 12 noon to 5 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 9 am to 5 pm.
Okay! See you tomorrow night!
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