Hi Everyone,
I do believe I have lost my mind; it’s gone, yep, completely. …But,
then again most of you reading these newsletters know that
probably isn’t far for me to go anyway (ha ha). Lately, it
seems, as I find myself rubbing spices into our meats for
roasting, I picture instead suntan oil being rubbed onto
sun-warmed skin. And squeezing limes makes my mouth start to
water for Margaritas. My eyes glaze over with visions of this
delectable concoction in sparkling ice melting, snowy, salt-rimmed
glasses with little rain drops of condensation lazily dripping
down them. (mmmm, Yes, I am picturing one right now and I’m
betting you are too, ha. Look out Liquor store, there is going
to be a run on Tequila!) Luckily, I don’t think it’s a
state of mind that will stick; I mean, hopefully I won’t just
start gazing off into the distance while serving you your food and
accidentally miss the table and drop it onto your lap….well, not
any more than my klutzy self already does. The good news is I’m
pretty sure it’s just a serious case of Summer Fever. It is that
time of year where we are on the cusp of our off season here at
the cafe - preparing to close for the month of July for our annual
summer month off. (FYI, this will be noted by the sign on the
door “Closed for refurbish/new recipe planning/renovations”, but
it is really our time to travel, sit back and be waited on
ourselves for a change! whoop whoop.) I am so excited, I can't wait. I guess since the café has added the new extra hours during the week and taken on more tasks with the added cooking classes all year long, vacation time is really gnawing a hole in my subconscious. As my visions have suggested, it’s the tropics for me. A month of Island living, yep! This means days of nothing but shorts and bathing suit tops, flip flops, sunglasses, and the ever present scent of coconut sun tan lotion as my perfume. This year it’s the Keys first and then off to the island paradise of St. John’s. I have already planned endless days of sitting under swaying palms sipping frozen drinks with little umbrella’s that are full of rum or other alcoholic libations. Even the staff is excited for some time off as they already have travel plans to places such as Colorado and the Florida Panhandle. (Anyone finding themselves in Panama City in July, by the way, might come across our server Kevin serving them a drink at a beach side bar.) So get in here quick to get your Fat Tuscan fix before we close for the month of July. Our last day will be Saturday, June 29th and then we won’t be open again until August 6th. Incidentally, we won’t be having a candlelight dinner this month on the last Sunday since we are closing and we are skipping August as well as we will just be trying to get back into the groove of things after our vacation. So, the next one will be the last Sunday of September. Sign Up! Hopefully, it will be filled since it will have been a 3 months hiatus at that point and you will be ready for a real Fat Tuscan meal! No Theme yet for that dinner, but currently I'm thinking of using some rum and other tropical ingredients except with an Italian Style twist of course.
Although the last couple months of Cooking Classes have been full of flour EVERYWHERE, (I am referring mostly to myself here, most students seem to have an easier time keeping it contained, ha), we have been cooking up a storm while having lots of fun. Students have happily chopped fresh veggies learning how to make Homemade Soups and learned the recipe for easy Egg Pasta Dough for making hand stuffed Ravioli’s & Tortellini’s, (the tortellini’s may have looked a little like blob creatures at first, but by the end of class everyone had the shape down perfectly and happily they all taste the same which is Delicious!!) And, just to tempt you further into signing up for a class, this Thursday we will be teaching one of my favorites and which I like to refer to as little pillows of Heaven; Homemade Gnocchi. Most people would agree that these babies tossed with the perfect sauce uncontrollably make little sighs of pleasure escape one’s closed lips whilst consuming them….just saying. For those of you who are interested, the next cooking classes for August are posted below. They will be starting in early August and we still have room in both series, so feel free to sign up. (For a list of the rest of the year's classes, please check out the website at www.fattuscan.com.)
- Italian style Vegetarian Recipes - Full of flavor and robust dishes for any palate. 6pm to 8pm (Monday, August 5th, Monday, August 19th, Monday, September 9th, Monday, September 23rd)
- Italian Style Cooking with a hitch; PASTA FREE (FYI - This Class will have recipes & Cooking tips for our Gluten Free friends.) 6pm to 8pm (Tuesday, August 6th, Tuesday, August 20th, Tuesday, September 10th, Tuesday, September 24th)
Regardless, come by soon to see us. And, oh yeah, don’t worry if you have heard some crazy rumors; no, we are not closing for good or selling the business, that is just the Gainesville gossip mill running with the misinterpreted information of our month summer closing. We will be back in August with bright smiles, bright eyes and well, most likely somewhat tanned skin and maybe a little zigzag to our walk from perhaps the over consumption of rum, but I am positive that goes away after a while once you arrive back on the mainland. Ha ha.
Have a great summer everyone,
Michelle.
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