Cooking a delicious dinner together, sharing a terrific bottle of wine with the one you love. What could be better?

We are happy to be offering special menus for Valentine’s Day. We’ll be working with Morgan & York, Ann Arbor’s premier wine merchants, to select wine pairings that will ensure a wonderful meal for you and your loved one. The following menus have been posted on our menu page and are available now for you to order in advance for your special Valentine’s Day meal. All meals will be delivered to Morgan & York by 4:30 pm on February 14th.

Champagne Cream Potato Leek Soup

Entree Choices:

PAN SEARED MAHI-MAHI served with lemon pepper oil, couscous and Meyers lemon marmalade

OR

WILD MUSHROOM NAPOLEON served with herb cream, sauteed swiss chard and fresh cranberry mostaza

SALAD OPTIONS:

Radicchio salad with sweet roasted beets, onions, fresh pears and Roquefort cheese

Petite caesar salad, the classic served with anchovies and homemade croutons

DESSERT OPTIONS:

Deda’s Bakery Chocolate Overload Cake

Vanilla Pear Clafoutis

Cheese and Fruit Plate

Hi all,

Our shopping cart and checkout are now working flawlessly again.  As some of you noted, it was not possible to use PayPal to checkout with our shopping cart for the last couple days.  Thank you to our web designer/developer, Dan Shields.  Dan tracked the problem down to a change made recently by PayPal.  Dan quickly made the adjustments needed on our site to accommodate the change and we are now back in business and happy to take your orders!  Thanks so much for your patience.  -ellen

I have never won a contest and I don’t plan on entering one anytime soon. But my friend Mary Bilyeu is one of those very talented folks who is not only a great cook and baker, but she also has a knack for winning those cooking contests that encourage you to be creative with a sponsor’s product. Mary has won (or been a finalist) in more cooking contests than I can count, she is such a winner! Last May, she was featured on the CBS New Early Show presenting her prize winning Cappuccino Cupcakes which took the top prize in the Taste of Home national recipe contest. Check it out at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/24/earlyshow/living/recipes/main2850080.shtml

Recently, she brought yet another honor to Ann Arbor as the first place winner of the Near East Recipe Contest with a dessert using plain couscous. I’ve reprinted it below, I’m sure you will enjoy it.

Toasted Almond Coconut Pudding

Submitted by Mary Bilyeu of Ann Arbor, MI

Bilyeu’s recipe won over the judges with its subtle flavors, unexpected texture and versatile taste when served either warm or chilled.

• 1 can (13.5 oz) lite coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cups water, divided
• 1 package (10 oz) Near East Original Plain Couscous
• 3/4 C packed brown sugar
• 1/4 C cornstarch
• 1 t salt
• 2 C half and half
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 t rum extract
• 1/2 t almond extract
• 1/2 C sliced almonds, toasted
• 1/2 C sweetened, shredded coconut, toasted

1. In 2-quart microwave-safe bowl, combine coconut milk and ½ cup water. Cook on HIGH 5 minutes until boiling. Stir in couscous. Cover bowl and let stand.
2. Meanwhile, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, salt and remaining 1 cup of the water in 2 ½-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. When mixture begins to thicken, reduce heat; whisk in half-and-half. Cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened.
3. Place eggs in small bowl and whisk in ½ cup of hot half-and-half mixture. Pour egg mixture into saucepan and continue to cook custard 1 to 2 minutes until very thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in extracts.
4. Fluff couscous; pour custard over and stir to combine, breaking up any lumps. Transfer to serving bowl.

8-10 Servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes

NUTRITION INFORMATION: 1/8 of recipe Calories 400, Calories From Fat 140, Total Fat 16g, Saturated Fat 8g, Cholesterol 75mg, Sodium 360mg, Total Carbohydrates 57g, Dietary Fiber 3g, Protein 10g.

©Copyright The Quaker Oats Company, 2008 All Rights Reserved.

I hope that you had a wonderful holiday. As you are aware, I took quite a bit of time off at the end of last year. During the last few weeks Treetown Vittles moved to a new kitchen and we successfully secured our retail food license. I am so excited to begin the new year with exciting plans for expansion and wonderful new menus that I’m sure you will enjoy. Please check out our new menus for January and February.

One of my resolutions for 2008 (there are many, but you know how that is . . . .) is to communicate more frequently with you via this blog and to offer more recipes and practical food tips that you might find useful.

To start off the year on the right foot, I’d like to call your attention to a terrific local food blog by Kim Bayer, thefarmersmarketer.com.

It is a very thoughtful site that is filled with useful information and discussion that will prompt you to more carefully consider your eating habits as well as your food purchasing choices. The more that I give consideration to the complex food issues that confront us, the more convinced I am that businesses like Treetown Vittles could provide busy people with the extra help that they need to eat healthy foods and to take a small step toward repairing our world. We aren’t there yet, but I believe it is a worthy goal, even for a small business like ours . . . and it’s so exciting to be a part of this change. I look forward to working together with you, our customers, to enliven our effort. As always, I welcome your suggestions and comments.

I wish you a peaceful, happy, healthy new year.

Ellen