Eat your vegetables please {& an iced mocha green monster smoothis recipe}

Today was a very productive day in the kitchen. I find that I am the happiest and most continent working in that spot. Hours pass without me noticing till I look up at the clock and realize I've been at it for some time. 
 
Good stuff.

The summer months at the farmers markets are crazy good. I have been scoring at the Wednesdays Leesburg Market. Beautiful produce, fruit and super nice vendors.

Pickle Me Lovely

Open from 3-6pm and is located at Va. Village Shopping Center, Catoctin Circle.

I have started purchasing my bread from Bonjour La Parisienne. I love it and love its artisan look and taste. Great addition to the Cowbell.

Westmoreland Berry Farm's fruits are so delicious. The strawberries last week melted in your mouth. This week I made a cherry almond coffee cake and black raspberry blueberry jam which I will use as a filling in homemade pop tarts.

Potomac Vegetable Farm offers wonderful organic veggies. This weekend I will be serving up sauteed kale, squash and oregano on the veggies melts, add some mac & cheese and it is a taste sensation.

Also made more tomato jam and pickled up some more veggies. If you know me, you know I love to pickle and make jam. I am going to get my Virginia certification so I sell jars at the trailer, will keep you posted.

Market Bounty

Found this while cruising food blogs, yummy!

Iced Mocha Green Monster Smoothie

This icy drink is a hybrid between an Iced Mocha Coffee and a Green Monster Smoothie.
 

Yield: 2 servings or 3 cups

Ingredients:

    1 cup coffee, room temperature
    1/4 cup almond milk
    1 small handful spinach
    2 tbsp cocoa powder
    3 large Medjool dates, pitted (or sweetener of choice)
    1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
    10 large ice cubes
 

Blend until smooth. Gulp. Cool down. Enjoy summer!

 

Twinkle Bell Secret Dining Fellowship

Don't forget about the July 27th. I have had fantastic response!

The Chef's Table is booked, woot woot!!! but still have seats available.
 

To get in touch with me,
cheryl.615@hotmail.com
call me,304-433-7665
or stop by the Cowbell at Lucketts, Friday, Saturday or Sunday 10am-5pm to sign up.
 

Waiting to hear from you!

XOXO  

Cher

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New online and in the shop this week

We have several new treasures and a few old favorites in our online shop that just arrived this week!

We also have some new treasures at the shop, including a neat Gothic architectural piece, a reclaimed wood farm table, and a HUGE two piece pine hutch!

Take a peek at what's new around here...

Bistro Shield

Vintage Planter Basket

Tool Hook Rack

Urban Chandelier

Vintage Style Mantel Clock

******************************

Here are a few of the new neat treasures we have at The Old Lucketts Store in Leesburg, VA!

Large Gothic architectural piece  $395   (dealer:  JDH)

Queen bed made from old doors in Mississippi   $895   (dealer:  MOMO)

Huge two piece pine hutch  $2650   (dealer:  PJM)

Stop by the shop this week or online and see what we have!

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Monthly outdoor dining series!

In collaboration with Lucketts, the Cowbell Kitchen will be hosting a monthly, outdoor, under the stars, unique dining series which will continue till the weather prevents us.

SAVE THIS DATE & MAKE A RESERVATION IMMEDIATELY: July 27th by calling Cheryl at 304-433-7665, or email her cheryl.615@hotmail.com

All the ingredients will be sourced from local farms, markets and artisans.The experience will be staged at various locations on the Lucketts property. The theme & menu, of course is top secret, and will be unveiled the night of. OK, maybe a tiny hint before!

Usually, the styled rustic dining experience will unfold at communal tables set to inspire. Creating a backdrop for the simple & delicious bounty to be presented that evening. 

The menu will always be exciting and innovative. It could range from 3 courses to 5, the night sky is the limit.

I will accommodate any food allergy, gluten free or vegetarian request via email before the night of.

This will be a BYOB event but we will provide glasses, ice etc.

Limited seating
Chef's Table seating available.
Some sort of live music or entertainment will be provided.
Dancing could happen!
Rain or moon glow

SAVE THIS DATE & MAKE A RESERVATION IMMEDIATELY: July 27th

6:45pm: cocktails and nibbles

What to bring: an appetite!!! BYOB, comfortable shoes, could be chilly, bug spray, an adventurous fun loving attitude

$60 per person + gratuity
Chef's Table $70 per person + gratuity

Hint: Red, White & Blue, all things American!!!!!

To make a reservation or inquire: call me. 304-433-7665, email me cheryl.615@hotmail.com or come visit me at Lucketts Friday, Saturday or Sundays at the Cowbell.
cards accepted
plenty of parking
remember mum's the word.........

Please, please, please come support this effort and make these events add to your rocking fun summer!!!!!

XOXO  

Cher

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Baby Grady's nursery reveal

How exciting!

Pawleys Island Posh featured Casey's nursery for baby Grady on their blog today!

Here are a few sneak peek pictures of the nursery decor - what a beautiful job, and so unique and timeless!

Photo:  Monkey Face Photography

Photo:  Monkey Face Photography

Photo:  Monkey Face Photography

Photo:  Monkey Face Photography

For the rest of the post and more adorable pics, visit the nursery tour on Pawleys Island Posh.

This nursery tour was originally featured on Casey's blog, Small Town Stripes, which you can follow here.

Great job Casey!

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Because farmer's markets and friends make everything better (and a boneless rib eye with chimichurri recipe)

1940 Farmer's Market

This week turned out to be exciting in many ways. 

First I was so lucky to have my two best friends in town for a few days. The days flew by fast but we lazily grilled, drank and spent hours chitchatting on the back porch. 

Our featured cocktail was Gin & Tonic, simple and refreshing! Of course we threw in some wine, Prosecco and beer, for a change of pace!

                                                    

Sunday evening the entire meal was prepared on the grill, boneless Rib Eye's with a chimichurri sauce featuring herbs from my garden, grilled romaine, asparagus with lemon aioli and spicy shrimp which we sauteed on the grill in a cast iron skillet. 

The meal was fantastic and somewhat easy to prepare. I did have very attentive prep cooks at my side, which helps.

Try this,
       

Potomac Vegetable Farm 2013

Boneless Rib Eye with Chimichurri

serves 2-4

1 tbsp. kosher salt
1 C finely chopped parsley
3/4 C finely chopped oregano
1 1/2 tsp. crushed red chili flakes
1/3 C olive oil
1/4 C red wine vinegar
8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
fresh ground pepper, to taste
2 lb. boneless rib eye

bring 1 tbsp. of salt and 1 cup of water to boil in a 1 quart sauce pan, let cool. whisk parsley, oregano, chili flakes, oil, vinegar, garlic and pepper in a bowl. stir in salt water mixture. let sit for at least 30 minutes.

Secondly I made it to Potomac Vegetable Farm on Wednesday at the Leesburg Farmers Market. I have been anticipating their produce and believe me I was not disappointed.

 

Here are my purchases for the Cowbell this week:

strawberry's from Westmoreland Berry Farm Oak Grove Va.

sourdough bread from Bonjour La Parisienne Manassas Va.

fennel & spring onions from Potomac Vegetable Farm Purcellville Va. 

 

this is what I made........

 

 

local spring onion mac & cheese featuring Trickling Springs cheddar, which will be the filling for the melt this weekend, yum

 

local fennel, jalapeno, peppers & red onion pickles for the ham & cheese melt

 

new local seeded sourdough bread for the melts

 

 

 

         also made tomato Vadalia onion jam to smear on the melts, go my gosh.....

 

 

Unfortunately the tomatoes are not local, they are from North Carolina. I decided to use them for the jam. I did support a local fruit stand, Wilt's on Route 340. They are a family owned  business that has been around since 1959. They are the nicest, helpful and are devoted to the quality of fruit and produce they sell!

 

 working on the strawberry hand pies, the strawberries are so sweet and delicious!

 

With all the extra love and support from my besties visit I am energized. It is amazing what simple food, laughs and good ole friendship can do!!!!

XOXO  

Cher

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A few online favorites are back in stock!

One of the challenges of having an online store is balancing order quantities with demand.  We love everything in our online store, but sometimes we're surprised how quickly some items sell out.  Then we're surprised again how difficult it can be to get them back in stock from distributors.

We're happy to report that a few favorites we've been waiting for the online store came in to the warehouse yesterday!

The first time we had our happy place sign online, it sold out within a few hours.  It's finally back!

Our vintage flamingo artwork on canvas is back in stock!

We've waited months for our aqua pocket watch clocks to come back in.  They're finally here!

Another favorite is our wood beaded chandelier which has been on back order for two months.  We just got a few in stock yesterday!

Our big red barn compass is made from metal and 41" across.

Aside from these back in stock items, we have a ton of items online, so be sure to visit our online store, Shop Lucketts.

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Save the date - Mario Nievera book signing and lecture Oct 2

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Manufacturing In the US

Something struck me today that I want to explain how manufacturing works for furniture in the US.  And how pricing works in general.  We feel so blessed to have the partnership we do with our Amish manufacturer but with that said, it's still just not cheap to manufacture here in the States.  It's why most of your favorite furniture stores produce outside of the US.  I also want to explain how pricing works when you buy an item from a retail store.  It's something I never understood before I started selling my own furniture. I hope it's helpful!

Here's a breakdown costs to produce one toy box:

US-made - range is $110-$150 per toy box
Outside of the US (China, etc)  = range is $30-$50 per toy box.

Now, when you manufacturer, you sell to retail stores.  Those retail stores are charged a wholesale price by the manufacturer.  So let's say a toy box costs us $120 to make plus shipping then we have to charge close to double that to make our profit on it.  So we sell the toy box to retail stores for around $220-$240.  Then the retail store does something called "keystoning" where they expect to make double what they paid so they have to charge $440 for a toy box to make $220 on it.  Margins for retail stores are typically 50% otherwise they won't sell your items.

Like I mentioned before, we ADORE our Amish manufacturers.  They do amazing heirloom work that is shipped to you completely assembled (except for screw on legs).  This is not common in our market.  Most toy boxes are manufactured RTA (Ready to Assemble) so you have some work to do when it hits your doorstep. 

While we believe wholeheartedly in our products and their "grow with your child/heirloom quality," we also understand that those price-points are unattainable for some. We are working on creating a new line of furniture that will be ready to assemble so it will ship flat-packed and therefore we can lower the pricing a bit.   This way, you have the mod mom look and style but have the option to purchase designs that are RTA at a lower cost. They will still be made in the USA using eco-friendly products but because you put them together and they ship in smaller boxes, we can offer more affordable options.

I hope this helps to make clear what I truly didn't understand until I went into business selling goods.  We're working our little tails off over here to expand our lines and provide several different pricepoint options. We are so thankful you have supported us since 2007 and are truly excited to share what else we have up our sleeve in the coming months!!

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