LAW Caesar Dressing

Years ago some restaurants would make a table side Caesar salad, it was an art. Crushed garlic, olive oil, eggs, lemon, anchovies (Yes anchovies) all combine to make the perfect compliment to crispy romaine, shredded parm and croutons. I had all but given up finding the REAL thing in today's world. Then I tried Lassen Ale Works. Oh. My. I call ahead an order for this delectable salad from the LAW Boardroom, dressing on the side and swing by on the way home. 

I cannot believe owners Margaret and Erik were so generous to share the recipe. I know they're super generous when it comes to community involvement. So much goodness is hosted at both locations; Symphony, art, upcoming trail work, Rotary, Rick and I even had a 90th birthday party for a friend at the Boardroom. Delicious food, great ambiance, LAW   at the Pioneer and the Boardroom have it all. But recipes? This is a whole other territory. When I shared Grandma Stewart's Persimmon Cookie recipe one woman said her family would disown you for such a thing! A lot of well kept secrets out there. 

Erik is currently serving Lassen Land Trails Trust as President. Wouldn't it be awesome to put this Caesar Salad in a wrap and head out on one of our trails? Thanks to the work of LLTT and so many others you have tons of options! I stopped by the Depot and picked up a couple of maps AND nuggets of info about proposed extensions through Fredonyer, Westwood and even Lake Almanor. Be sure to check out what they have to offer plus LLTT always needs your support. 

Here is the Best Darn Caesar Dressing on the Planet courtesy of Lassen Ale Works~
2 tbs kosher salt
8 cloves garlic, smashed
24 anchovy filets, rinsed
1 cup egg yolks (14)
1/4 cup water, or as needed
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Combine yolks, salt, garlic, anchovies in a food processor, pulse until eggs are airy. Continue adding ingredients and processing as you go. Add vinegar and lemon juice. Slowly drizzle oil. Add water as needed when mixture gets too thick. 

You're gonna need to cut it down just a bit since it's restaurant size or better yet, let them make it for you!

LAW, thanks for all you do to make Lassen County fun, festive and DEEEElicious!

Clean Sweep

A healthy body requires more than one serving of fruits and veggies. More than one day of fresh air and exercise. More than one night of rest. Good health takes commitment, this is true regarding the health of our community too. The really great news is there is a lot of us doing the work. On February 6th we saw about 200 locals meet for the Susan river clean up. Businesses, students, teams, retirees, Sheriff, and the City of Susanville showed up with darn near the entire staff, including Police and Fire Department, C&S Waste brought dumpsters, Kirack Construction had heavy equipment to load debris. It was a beautiful thing. Tables with donated food and water for the volunteers were set up at Axia Home Loans. All the equipment needed, gloves, pickers, bags etc was supplied by the City. 

The Susan River flows from Silver and Caribou Lakes in the pristine Caribou Wilderness right through Hog and McCoy Flat then meanders along in Susanville before heading out to Honey Lake. This is our river. Leave it to our hometown to make cleaning it up a fun community event. I got to visit with quite a few folks I hadn't seen for a while. We were put in small groups, assigned to an area, helping one another move things up the banks, the pleasant company made the work go quickly. One person was sharing how back in the 90s they would fish right in the area we were cleaning. Nice. 

If you missed this event fear not, clean ups are scheduled throughout the year! Of course everyone can't show up every time but unlike diet and exercise we can tag team this. Maybe commit to a few dates and talk to friends and family about the doing the same. At first the task seemed insurmountable but now... totally doable. 

I want to name everyone that helped clean the river that day or in the past but I know I'll miss so many. Let me just say it was my Hometown Proud friends and family, doing what they do to keep our community healthy.  

Thank you all so much. See ya out there~

Frank and Martha

My first job in the grocery business was at Frank and Martha's Warner Street Grocery in Chico. Just a tiny 'Mom and Pop' with wood floors, creaky swinging door and a buzzer under the counter that rang through to Frank and Martha's home behind the store. Warner street leads right down to Chico State so the joint would be jumping during lunch, popular for store's offering of fresh made to order sandwiches, the line would be out the door. Neighborhood folks would come in and visit while they shopped too, no one seemed to mind waiting in line while I made sandwiches and checked people out. Now some 35ish years later, that's kinda what I do today! Susanville Market is a Mom and Pop store, serving it's community, visiting with locals, welcoming visitors to our town and feeding the people. We love what we do. 

Part of being in the grocery industry is learning what our customer's ever changing needs are and how other grocers are serving their communities. The times they are a-changin. Always. This means we go on store tours, LOTS of store tours. We get to see how stores are being reshaped, larger fresh food offerings, pre-cut produce, grab and go healthy choices, order online all things we have found successful and necessary to keep up with your needs. Since this is the ONLY store I shop I am oh-so-grateful to have this in my favorite store :)

On a recent road trip to Central Cal we discovered something as simple as turning the label on those big fat breakfast burritos we make fresh every single day (they are delish) showed how rotund those babies really are. Plus we came home with a tried and true sour dough starter for the Bakery shared with us by our friends at Valley Fresh in Solvang, they make an amazing assortment of bread we will be replicating! Even kept on ice that starter began growing and had to be divided before we got it home. It. Is. Alive! Plus ideas like, removing the shelf in our Deli case so it has more light, turn the rotisserie so you can see those chickens roasting, bakery cookie sandwiches, pie by the slice, signage and display ideas for produce, craft sodas... all ideas found in other independent supermarkets. I'm really excited about a few other ideas in the works that I'll be sharing with you as we get started, stay tuned! 

While we are out there on store tours we make sure to take in some of the beauty California has to offer. Tip to tail this State is magnificent. Honestly I had no idea this would be the career for me but I can't imagine anything I'd rather do. Being at the center of our fine community makes me Hometown Proud every day.