Local Art and Crafts

We are pleased to offer items and art for sale in our gift shop from local craftspeople.

Sarah Mutrux has her unique, hand-crafted toys of gnomes, knitted animals, and fairy wands which are joined by her beautiful printed notecards of some of her original illustrations and paintings. A handful of her original etchings are also on display and for sale.

Annie Gannon of Two Muddy Kids has her lovely and unique goat's milk and bath products on display. Gorgeous soaps scented with essential oils and natural exfolliants along with her aromatic bath salts.

Handmade baskets, knitted items, stain glass lollipops, jewelry, and children's items continue to fill our display shelves. Come by and see what it is all about!

Porch Seating in October!

Practically unheard of, but Sunday was a beautiful day with clear skies and a warm breeze. We went back and forth about setting up the porch and finally did it when two ladies determined to get some fresh air, made the decision for us. Monday promises to be even nicer!

On the Menu:
-Eggs Florentine is made with two farm fresh, poached eggs on homemade english muffins, heirloom tomatoes and local spinach with a creamy mornay sauce. Complimented by roasted root veggies.
-Orange Cream filled Croissant French Toast served with fresh fruit and maple syrup
-Cauliflower Cheddar Cheese Pie in a crispy grated potato crust. Complimented by a side salad of Pete's Greens mesclun and veggies.
-Homemade flatbread with slow roasted garlicky tomato sauce, Maplebrook Mozzarella and fresh basil. Complimented by a side salad of Pete's Greens.
-Bonnieview Coomersdale, Apple and Sweet Sour Onion Panini served hot on honey oat bread and complimented by Pete's Greens.

Thanks to the following local producers:
Pete's Greens, Bonnieview Farms, Mountain Hill Bakery, Champlain Orchards and Echo Hill Farm

Music, Dinner and Friends

Whoo wee! Saturday night was awesome!

We had a wonderful turnout for Eric Socha, Ben Matthews and their fiddler, Lee (who apparently does not have a last name?). The music started at 7pm, after we scrounged up some proper chairs, and our little cafe filled to the brim with local folk who came to support the talented trio. Half way through their set, Ned Houston joined them for a handful of songs, my favorite being the hymnals sung in harmony and from the gut.

At one point, i stepped outside to take a breather and looked back into the cafe from the garden. The dining room was lit up with twinkling lights, oil lamps and candles, and the windows were filled with the faces of friends, neighbors and strangers who were smiling, clapping and singing along with the boys. Beautiful stuff.

Our trio has agreed to return for another night sometime soon and Cheyanne and I decided we need to do this more often!

On the menu:
-Homemade Carmelized Onion Dip with fresh vegetables and root chips
-Warm Brie en Croute served with fresh fruit and bread
-Sweet Potato Coconut Lime Soup

-Eggplant Stacks-Pete's Greens eggplant with goat cheese, Maplebrook mozzarella, fennel, roasted peppers and garlicky tomato sauce
-Butternut Squash Ravioli with brown butter sage sauce and toasted pecans
-Cauliflower Cheddar Cheese Pie in a crusty grated potato crust
-Faux Chicken Salad with grapes, walnuts, celery and red onions on a bed of Pete's Greens mesclun
-Root Vegetable Latkes made with apples, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, Bonnieview Coomersdale Cheese and served with spiced maple syrup or roasted garlic cream
-Crusty Marinated Portabella Baguette served warm with melted Maplebrook Mozzarella, roasted bell peppers and garlic-basil mayonnaise
-Homemade Flatbread topped with Bonnieview Mossend Blue Cheese and sherry soaked mushrooms, drizzled with a balsamic reduction
-Seitan Cheesesteak with sauteed local peppers and onions, cheddar cheese and served on an Elmore Mt Baguette

-Pumpkin Pie drizzled with homemade caramel sauce
-Warm Apple Pie a la mode
-Cream Puffs with chocolate drizzles
-Old Fashioned Sundaes with homemade hot fudge, caramel or maple syrup
-Lemon Raspberry Napoleans
-Root Beer Floats

-Hot Chai Tea, Hot Spiced Chocolate, Mulled Cider
-Fair Trade Organic Coffee and tea
-House Made Sodas-Raspberry, Peach, Mango, Vanilla, Maple Cream or Citrus
-Assorted Juices

Thanks to the following local producers:
Robert Linck of Bub's Best, Neil & Kristen Urie of Bonnieview Farm, Pete Johnson of Pete's Greens and Fielda Calderwood of Echo Hill Farm, Elmore Mt Bread and the Buffalo Mountain Coop

Evenings at Beyond the Garden

Had our first weekend of dinners and it was a great turnout! Our guests ranged from locals to a few who were passing through town. It was a good weekend to try things out, flex our creative muscles and take stock of things we are doing well and things that still need to be fixed. Take a gander below for our semi-permanent menu with revolving specials.

Nibbles:
-Homemade Caramelized Onion Dip with colorful veggie chips
-Warm Goat Cheese Rounds served with mixed greens
-Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup with Fennel and Creme Fraiche (can be made vegan upon request)

Entrees:
-Butternut Squash Ravioli with a brown butter sage sauce and toasted pecans
-Eggplant Stacks layered with goat cheese, fresh herbs, roasted fennel, and tomato sauce
-Cheddar Cauliflower Pie with grated potato crust
-Our own Flatbread with caramelized onions and mossend blue cheese or slow roasted tomato sauce, maplebrook mozzarella and fresh basil
-Crusty Baguette Sandwich of marinated portabella mushrooms, roasted red peppers, maplebrook mozzarella and garlic basil mayonnaise
-Root Vegetable Latkes with a twist! Served with spiced local honey or roasted garlic parmesan cream
-Seitan Cheesesteak with sauteed bell peppers, onions, and mayonnaise on a baguette

Sweet Treats:
-Vanilla Raspberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
-Warm Apple Pie ala mode
-Coconut Crusted Chocolate Truffle Pie
-Mini Chocolate Cakes filled with Peanut Butter Cream and topped with Chocolate Ganache
-Raspberry Almond Shortbread Bars with Vanilla Icecream and homemade hot fudge
-Old Fashioned Hot Fudge Sundae with homemade hot fudge, whipped cream and walnuts
-VT Maple Sundae with local maple syrup and maple glazed walnuts and whipped cream

Music on October 20th with Eric and Ben

Eric Socha and Ben Matthews will grace us with their guitars and voices on Saturday, October 20th beginning at 7pm and playing until they are good and done!

We'll start serving dinner at 5pm and stop at 830pm, so come join us for food, music and good company.

Preview of the night's menu:
(subject to change on a whim!)
Comes with a choice of soup or salad.
-Our own Flatbread with Slow Roasted Tomatoes, Maplebrook Mozzarella and Fresh Basil
-Our own Flatbread with Autumn Vegetables, Maplebrook Mozzarella and finished with fruity olive oil, sea salt and black pepper
-Mushroom Rueben on local bread
-Crusty Baguette with marinated portabellas, roasted bell peppers, mozzarella cheese and garlic-basil mayonnaise
-Cauliflower Cheddar Cheese Pie
-Eggplant Stack with fresh goat cheese, roasted peppers, fennel, fresh tomatoes and herbs
-Twice Baked Potatoes stuffed with vegetables and cheddar cheese

We've made up some yummy homemade chai tea, Mexican hot chocolate and hot mulled cider to join our teas and organic fair trade coffee. We are also filling our dessert case with cakes and pies, brownies and cookies.

Success!

The cooking demonstration (Cook with the Chef) this last Saturday at the Common Market was a ton of fun. It was exhilarating to improvise on the spot and cook everything while folks stopped to chat, ask questions and eat. We moved like lightening for 3 hours, but only stopped because we ran out of food. We had a cutting board, two good knives, a plug in griddle, various bowls and a couple of forks. Amazing what you can do with the most basic of tools and some good fresh food. With a little help from NOFA-VT (Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont), we bought Mossend blue cheese and Coomersdale from Bonnieview Farms, bread from Mountain Hill Bakery, vegetables from Bub's Best and Wild Branch Farm, fresh goat cheese from Fun Yum Farm, and maple syrup from Echo Hill Farm. I grabbed a couple of hard to get items like globe eggplant from Pete's Greens farmstand and some fresh herbs from my garden before we got there, but otherwise, everything else was from the market that very morning.

Here's what we had on our table:
-Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta finished with olive oil, fresh cracked pepper and sea salt
-Tiny Eggplant Turnovers with chevre, fresh herbs and roasted garlic
-Carrot Apple Pancake Fritters with Coomersdale Cheese and maple syrup
-Mossend Blue Cheese, Roasted Bell Peppers and Garlic grilled brushetta with fresh cracked pepper and sea salt
-Crispy Cornucopias filled with Parsnips and Sweetened Cinnamon Cream Cheese
-Sweet Beet Rounds topped with Mossend Blue Cheese and Parsley
-Grown Up Grilled Cheese with Coomersdale Cheese, tomatoes and fresh herbs

Cook with the Chef

Come join Cheyanne and I tomorrow morning at the Craftsbury Common market to celebrate harvest, good food and farmers. It's the last market of the season and we'll be schlepping over our good knives, a griddle, a bowl and a cutting board to shop, chop and cook a bit for the market folk who come up.

This last market also marks the end of our old summer schedule. Beginning next week, on October 11th, Beyond the Garden Cafe will be open from Thursday through Sunday. We are excited about the changes and hope you'll come by and see what we've been working on.

Cheers!

elena

Share the Harvest

Thanks to everyone who came out to eat at the cafe yesterday, October 4th, in support of the Share the Harvest Program. Having managed Pete's Greens Good Eats CSA from it's inception, this program is a special one to me. We will donate 10% of our proceeds to help Vermonters buy fresh food from their local farmers.

Here's to good eating!
Elena

Local or Organic?

Here's something we struggle with fairly regularly around here in Vermont...at least if you are the type that wants to eat both locally and organic. Although the author's perspective is based in New Mexico, a vastly different climate, it's a question we struggle with here where short seasons send consumers to buy limp, tasteless organic greens from a huge California company in January, or import large, watery strawberries in March.

In Craftsbury, we are lucky to have several excellent vegetable farms and farmers that are organic and within 10 miles of us. Robert Linck who has Bub's Best, Kris Coville who has Wild Branch Farm and Pete Johnson of Pete's Greens are three that are within 5 miles! I worked for Pete for a couple of years (still do here and there) and have had a front row seat of watching him plan, figure, plant, grow and harvest in a climate that is unpredictable and challenging. Robert and Kris, who have smaller farms rely mostly on the short season farmers' markets in Central Vermont and farm stands to produce income for themselves and their families. The small farm is a way of life, no matter the scale and a summer like we've had this year with heavy rain and tornado-like wind (took down part of Pete's 1/2 acre greenhouse) can damage a crop and cause far reaching financial consequences.

So, now that i've stepped off the soap box, read the following excellent article by cookbook author and local food advocate Deborah Madison.

Cheers!
Elena

Local and organic for me

By Deborah Madison

June 8, 2007

Local might be the new organic, but I find the question “local or organic?” an odd one. I know local, and I want organic, but why not choose both local and organic? That’s the headline I want to see on the cover of Time.

If I have to choose — I mean, if I really am forced to choose — I’ll go for local over organic, and I’ve been saying that for years. But I don’t choose that lightly or without consideration for my locale: northern New Mexico, where farmland and farmers are scarce and water even more so. If I still lived in northern California, I might be singing a different tune.

Read rest of article here

Beyond the Garden Dinner and Art

Contact Information:
Elena Gustavson
esungus@hotmail.com
beyondthegarden.blogspot.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 4, 2007

“Beyond the Garden Café Expands Hours to Include Dinner and Art”

CRAFTSBURY, VT– Beyond the Garden Cafe, with its emphasis on local, organic, creative fare, is expanding its hours to include dinner twice a week and is arranging to have local artisans display their work throughout the restaurant. Beginning October 11^th, the café will open its doors Thursday through Saturday for lunch, brunch on Sundays and dinner on Fridays and Saturdays. Local crafts and gift items will be for sale in the gift shop alongside revolving showcases of paintings, ceramic art and photographs from local artists.

As summer comes to an end and fall foliage is at its peak, Beyond the Garden Café is looking to expand its horizons during the colder months, even as other places begin the process of shutting down. With the idea that the local community would enjoy a place to congregate in the evenings, where good food and familiar faces would be welcome in the cold, dark months of winter, the Café decided to be open for dinners, starting with two nights a week. “Our goal is to be open most of the week by the time summer comes back around”, says Cheyanne Thompson, “and along with the expanded hours, offer music, community events and showcase local art.” Elena Gustavson, who recently joined Cheyanne as a partner in the cafe says, “We want to create a place where local talent has a home. Whereas some are seasoned and established and some are up-and-coming, there are many waiting to be discovered too! We want to give them a space that is comfortable and accessible, where our guests who come to enjoy our food can also come to find and learn about incredible art in their own backyard.”

Beyond the Garden Café is hoping to realize the dreams of good, local food in a close-knit community while keeping its doors open in the winter months. With art, food and events to foster, the future is wide open.

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This Week, in "Land of Beautiful Weather"

Another impossibly gorgeous day today! Cheyanne and I have been busy working on the cafe this week. Between moving coolers, painting walls, sewing chair covers, setting up work stations, etc., we decided to keep the menu light this week in anticipation of our new hours creeping up.

Thursday, October 4th, we will be donating 10% of our proceeds to NOFA-VT's Farm To Table program that helps Vermonters buy local, fresh produce from Vermont farmers. Then, on Saturday, October 6th, we are doing a Cook with the Chef at the Craftsbury Common Market, the last one of the season. We will cook food from ingredients provided by the local farmers (generously paid for by NOFA-VT) and give out samples. Yum! Then on Thursday, October 11th, our new hours kick in and we will be open Thursday through Sunday for lunch and Friday and Saturday for dinners.

We'd Like to Thank the Following Local Producers: Pete's Greens of Craftsbury Village Farm, Bonnieview Farm of South Albany, Bohemian Bread, Champlain Orchards of Shoreham, Robert Linck of Bub's Best in Craftsbury, Wildbranch Farm of Craftsbury

On The Menu:
-Marinated Portabella Mushrooms, Melted Maplebrook Mozzarella and Roasted Bell Peppers with Garlic-Basil Mayonnaise on Bohemian Bread's Sourdough Country French
-Warm Apple Brie Croissant with Sweet and Sour Onions
-Flatbread with Carmelized Onions and Bonnieview Ewe's Feta
-Flatbread with Mushrooms, Red Onions, Bell Peppers, Maplebrook Mozzarella and Olive Oil
-Beyond the Garden Salad with Pete's Greens Mountain Mesclun, dried cranberries, walnuts, Bonnieview Farm's Mossend Blue Cheese, late summer vegetables and dressed with our own Maple Balsamic Vinegar

Sweet Treats:
-Lemon Tart in Cream Cheese Crust
-Homemade Hot Fudge Sundae with Walnuts and Ben & Jerry's Vanilla
-Coconut Crusted Chocolate Truffle Pie
-VT Maple Sundae with Maple Glazed Walnuts and Ben & Jerry's Vanilla

Our new Winter Hours beginning October 11th:

Thursday: 11am to 2pm Lunch

Friday: 11am to 2pm Lunch
5pm to 9pm Dinner

Saturday: 11am to 2pm Lunch
5pm to 9pm Dinner

Sunday: 10am to 3pm Brunch