February 20111 Rants and Raves

Hi All you Lunatics;

Here we are in the Lovers Month of February. We are looking at what kind of recipes or foods to feed to the significant others in our lives, and we take more time for this than usual.
Because the benefits of a well planned out evening reap great rewards (what? they don't reap great rewards???? go read your manual on how to keep the spice in your love-life....and read the chapter on chocolate and white chocolate. And turkey......).

I start thinking early in the month: what will work better this year than last...a smoother chocolate dessert? no nuts? more nuts? candles all over the room OR the whole house? flowers: red, white or pink? roses or carnations? which ones will smell best after two days in my window? do I really need to get the dog groomed for the day? Romantic card or just simple? do I need to shave? Shower? Change my socks?

oh my gawd: the dilemmas we put ourselves through.....

but it should be worth it....

This will be year 38 in the Happy Valentines Day celebrations we have shared. I remember the first one: yes, the dozen red roses, the box of Godiva chocolates (the best at the time), the mushy card....and my starched and pressed shirt when presenting my gifts.....
I was a stunner....
and did I ever rack up the points that day!!!

Which makes the other years harder and harder to keep up with.

Lately, a grand holiday like this is being able to go to sleep early with just a slight good-wine or sparkling wine buzz that will not end up in my seeing the walls spinning around and around....(but that's just me....) and being able to find my socks at the end of the day. That is the accomplishment....

And I also remember that one year it was a single flower, a single truffle and a simple card: racked up allot of points that day also. (who am I kidding? we take the time, we reap the rewards!!!!)

So this months recipe for you to check out is for a Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake. This one is very simple to make, looks beautiful, and holds really well for a couple of days, covered up tightly. and the best thing? When it is sitting in your refrigerator all wrapped up, your other half remembers the time and effort and the reason it's there: always think ahead my dears: always think ahead!!!!

My mom has been collecting Valentines Day cards for about 50 years now. The paper kind that we used to give out to all the kids in our classrooms.
And remember we signed each and every one of them? and they had the great little envelopes that were sometimes the same shape as the cards themselves, or a really cool color that was not white??? And sometimes you were afraid to give to a certain person because they either (#1) might get the wrong impression, or (#2) they might find out you were secretly harboring a crush on them, but you were not ready for them to find out about....just yet......

but I digress....

so, she has been collecting these cards for over 50 years. she shows me the many boxes of these cards. I realize that she has many of them over 100 years old, and that they have their original envelopes, and some have the best sayings in them with such succinct poetry that it just makes you swoon with the romantic feelings they convey, or you get pissed off and wonder why your jerk of a spouse never gives you anything like that....after all you have done for that person: slaving over a hot stove, cooking meals, raking up bushels and bushels of leaves, shoveling snow in the dead of winter when you would rather be watching "TOP CHEF" reruns, cracking walnuts outside IN THE COLD so you won't make a mess in the house; cleaning the house, washing the car, cleaning out the gutters, making ice sculptures using a hand-saw of a unicorn floating through the clouds....cutting the grass, trimming all the hedges, pulling the weeds, and the list goes on and on and on....taking care of the kids and the friends of the kids, and making their meals and sewing their clothes, and saving for their college funds, and trudging through miles and miles of winter snow to get to school...

but wait: we don't have kids, and it doesn't snow here, and we have a great guy who does our yard-work, and I have never made an ice sculpture in my life, and we have no gutters.....
what the hell?? I'm just lucky to have someone who puts up with me and my insanity s***!!!!

and for that I count my lucky stars.....

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The Menu::::

Risotto Rules: So since we have introduced a monthly Risotto preparation to our menu, this rice dish has quickly become our second biggest seller on our on the menu. Who-da-thunk???

This month we are offering a fresh Asparagus and Spinach Risotto finished with Mascarpone cheese and Parmesan. Here is this wonderful gluten-free dish that fills us up with creamy/cheesy wonderfulness and just warms up your soul.....Try this if you love risotto. We can add chicken or prawns to this dish if you are so inclined also.

Short Ribs of Beef: If there is one thing to know about Café Luna and myself, you need to know of our love of braised foods: this wonderful long and slow and low cooking the results in such flavorful and tender meats that it falls apart with just your fork. and the sauce that this type of cooking gives us is exceptional!!! So we are preparing our short-ribs using caramelized onions as the base, slow cooking until the vegetables almost melt, and then making this amazing sauce to serve them in. You will be happy. I am going to have two options for serving: garlic mashed potatoes or a creamy polenta (yummm...). You are the master here....


Duck, Mushroom and Delta Corn Pasta: I love duck. It is something that I cannot believe that so many people have not experienced, or have experienced this really terrible version of that has soured them for life. Not here: we are braising this meat (again: long, low and slow...) until it almost falls apart, pan-sauteing it with wild and domestic mushrooms, fresh corn kernels, sun-dried tomatoes and finishing it with a bit of Mascarpone cheese, white wine and tossing all of this with Gemilli pasta ("little Twins"). This is a great way to get your pasta and your duck fix!!!

Check out down below for a full copy of this months menu if you want to download the whole sheet.

And don't forget: Gluten Free in Placerville?? About 75% of our menu is GLUTEN FREE!!! And more than half of our desserts are gluten free, so you can eat the way you want to!!!
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And one more thing: I have been doing this monthly letter for several years now, and love it. The notes and letters we get back from you are funny, insightful and full of information that I save. But I would love to get something more from you: I am looking to do a whole March 2011 menu based on customer favorites: ours and yours. If you have some family recipes that you think would work here at the restaurant, or would like to share some of your food memories, I would love to hear about them. Your name will be here on the menu if we can get to them all. Think about it, and pass them along if you would like to. This should be great!!!


Thank you for your business all of you. Thank you for your interest in our news letters, and thank you for your feed back. It is a fun way to get things going....


Take care.

David at Cafe Luna