Thursday, September 27, 2012

'Chili' to the bone

View from the baking table wednesday, 9/26/12
The winds have been blowing mightily all month bringing with them torrential rains and flooding all over the peninsula. Seward, Talkeetna and the Kenai River Basin have all been declared emergency areas. Homer has been somewhat spared the high water, but we have had our share of the wind and rain. It's made it a little difficult to enjoy what we love most about fall, the colors and the crisp air have been replaced with gray days and not being able to get to your car without being drenched. Definitely makes us a little jealous of our friends who have closed up shop for the season and flown south. The Homer Spit, while a thriving, bustling place in the summer, all but shuts down in the winter. One of our favorite places to enjoy the spit on those long days is Finn's Pizza. Finn's makes one of the best neapolitan style wood fired pizza's in the state and perhaps even the west coast. Honestly, if you are lucky enough to be sitting in their solarium on a lovely summer evening you might say it was the best pizza in the world! The lovely, hardworking family that owns Finn's lives near the bakery in the summer in a yurt close to the beach. In the winter they head for jobs in the lower 48. Lucky for us they had a little of their fine Nyman Ranch chorizo left over...we were happy to take it off their hands. Yesterday, I used it to spice up a hearty sausage chili.




With the smokey flavors of the chorizo and richly spiced with cumin and coriander, this chili is the perfect antidote to the winds of September. We'll be serving it today (while it lasts!).
You can find the recipe for this soup and other bakery delights over at the recipe blog.


If that doesn't do it, perhaps a german chocolate cupcake will!

photo courtesy of NOAA
This a photo of the latest storm via the National Weather Service...looks like one of our cinnamon rolls!





Monday, September 3, 2012

Laboring on Labor Day




Being in the restaurant business almost my whole life I've always thought of Labor Day as an ironical joke. Quite a few of the people who really labor for a living are rarely off that day. In fact, for us, it's one of the busiest days of the year. Once again we are reminded that to be in this business is to be working when everyone else is playing.

Thankfully we have an awesome group of people who crank right through it all with smiles on their faces.





We are so grateful to our crew who make it all look so easy...and delicious!