Jackie Victor, co-owner of Avalon International Breads, holding a plate of Challah Praline French toast.

Melanie Adams, with Jolly Pumpkin’s Maggie Long.

Avalon staff Curtis Wooter, Elizabeth Jahl, Jackie Vector, Lesley O’Connel, Emma O’Connel, Lauren Trendler

Lauren, Jackie, Maggie & Danielle Le Fevre

Lisa, Maggie & Jackie

(can you tell we just got the news that it was a record breaking day?)

Sometimes the breakfast blog starts with the food, and sometimes with the people. This week, both volunteers and food were fabulous.  And, as awesome as the food was, the chefs and their helpers took Selma Cafe to a new record breaking morning, with 188 breakfasts.

Avalon was rocking the sweet special.  This praline and caramel topped challah French toast, served with a side of veggie hash, hoop greens and a side of bacon was perfect for the sweet toothers this week. Rich with butter, cream and eggs, sweet with caramelized sugar, and flavorful with vanilla and toasted nuts, this dish was really va va voom good.

Thanks to Maggie and the Jolly Pumpkin crew, the second special was the savory option. Starting with a buttery thyme maple biscuit, topped with a perfectly poached egg, and served with a either a slice of roasted pork shoulder or a side of bacon, this special also had a side of the veggie hash and greens. The textures and flavors of this breakfast special were just right for a cold and rainy morning, and it really delivered the wow factor.

Along with the sweet and savory specials, Avalon provided an amazing assortment of baked goods for each table, including cranberry and blueberry muffins, blueberry coffee cake, savory cheese scones, and toasted slices of fruit and nut bread. Even though Avalon is a Detroit bakery, you can find their bread and other baked goods at Arbor Farms, Plum Market, People’s Food Co-op, Morgan & York and The Produce Station.

Thankfully, we had lots of volunteers to help out this week. In addition to the Jolly Pumpkin and Avalon crews, big accolades go out to Susie Baity Stearns for facilitating prep, Andrew Bozio, Melanie Adams and Salomon Jost for expediting and over all kitchen support, Michelle Fortin for leading the clean up crew, and Jennifer Jensen, Jen DeMoss, Erica Bloom, Gary Mazio, Aaron Van Dyke, Annie Dugan, A. Popkey, Jules Cooch, Ruth McAdams, Lexi McMillian Uribe, Rich Kato, Kat Curtis, Kris Kaul, Alicia Spitznagel, Kit, and Robbie Moore. What a great team!

Friday next we have Mill Pond Bread back in the kitchen, and it will be another week of wonderfully delicious bakery goods, plus a couple of tasty specials all for you.

‘Til then, stay cozy, watch those slippery patches on the sidewalk and roads, and find joy in your daily journey.

See you in the kitchen soon,
~Lisa

Peter Veach, executive chef for the U-M catering services, and John Merucci, chef for U-M catering services-off site, came into our kitchen and whipped us up some amazing breakfast specials for our 100th Selma Cafe breakfast. What a way to celebrate!

Everything they did was fabulous, but let’s start with the bacon. Peter and John took our usual delicious bacon, and cranked up the wow factor even more by glazing it with brown sugar, and voila, candied bacon became the new Selma Cafe mouth-joy.

Here is the bacon served with their first special: chicken liver confit, topping a slice of Zingerman’s farm bread toast with a poached egg, served with root vegetable hash, and some hoop house greens. This dish packed in the flavors and textures, and it was wonderful.

The second special was whole wheat crepes stuffed with roasted apples, beets, onions and ricotta cheese, topped with a candied walnut garnish and served with wilted greens, and a side of hoop house salad mix. This dish was a perfect blend of sweet and savory, and a great vegetarian option. Of course, that candied bacon was also available with this dish too.

Just to assure you that even though we do love bacon, we don’t play food favorites around here. Take a look at this massive bowl of winter spinach from our Tessmer Farm hoop house. Thanks to Jeff for picking these amazingly sweet and tender spinach leaves for our breakfast this week.

Finally, here’s a last shot of this weeks produce from the Sunseed Farm Winter CSA pick up at Selma Cafe. Stunning to have such terrific stuff available in the winter time in our area.  The wonder of hoop house growing continues to delight and gratify.

And now, most importantly, it’s time to thank all our volunteers this week. What a great crew! Thank you Michelle Fortin for facilitating prep and running clean up. Thank you Andrew Bozio for expediting, and Salomon Jost for your prep support and hosting Friday morning. Thanks also to Ruth McAdams, Codi Sharp, Mary Rock, Adam Mazel, Jennifer Jensen, Sarah Alexander, Jeannie Ballew, Erica Mooney, Andrea Ridgard, Erica Bloom, Rich Kato, Candice Faircloth, Sowjanya Venugopal, Arthur and Courtney Peterson, Noah Miller, Morgan Mihok and Greg Austic. One more shout out of thanks to writer Corinna Borden for her sweet article in annarbor.com about Selma Cafe’s recent 2 year anniversary.

This week we have Maggie Long from Jolly Pumpkin and Jackie Victor from Detroit’s Avalon International Breads taking care of breakfast, and let me tell you right now–you are all in for a real treat. Baked goods galore, plus challah praline french toast, eggs and biscuits, plus roast pork are all on the menu, just to give you an idea of what deliciousness awaits.

Until then, stay cozy, and find a little happiness and beauty in each day. I’m looking forward to seeing you in our kitchen again soon.

~Lisa

Instead of starting  with photos of our chefs, as I usually do, I’m starting with photos of the food, and here’s why. By now, many of you know that the Bona Sera chefs like to travel under the radar. So, no photo ops for them. And, I’ve got the most beautiful photos of breakfast this week thanks to the skills of new Selma Cafe guest Anne Savage, who took the photos and graciously is allowing us to use them. Anne is a professional photographer who has just started her own blog. Check out her latest post here.

It was a day of celebration with delicious food and lots of joy.  We had 180 guests come out on a cold and snowy day to enjoy duck confit with hashbrowns, a fried egg, and hoop house greens, a vegetarian Italian tart made with onions, kale and a cheese filled crust, served with bacon and hashbrowns, as well as blueberry bread pudding and whole grain waffles with warm gingered apple compote. Nothing like a fabulous breakfast to start the weekend off just right.

We had a lot of help on Thursday evening and Friday morning. Thank you to Claire Maitre for stepping in at the last minute to facilitate prep, and to all the volunteers, including Salomon Jost, Gretchen Gehrke, Lizzie Olenzek, Andrea and Chris Ridgard, Danielle Butbul, Judy and Dick Fry, Erica Mooney, Sam Cheslak, Michale Schmid, Mel Adams, Lou Glorie, Adam Mazel, Mary Rock , Carrie Burgess, Roberta Knox, Alyssa Ackerman, Nate Lada, Jill Sweetman, Katie Battistoni and Brent Beam.

Thanks to everyone for supporting Selma Cafe these last two years, volunteers and guest alike. It’s been a pleasure being on this continuing adventure with you. 

See you in our kitchen soon, Lisa

Put two social workers who love to cook in the kitchen together, and what do you get? A delicious breakfast, that’s what, with both a sweet and savory option. Plus empathy and lots of talk about feelings.

Joe offered his very own blueberry pancakes. Made with fat juicy blueberries, corn meal, oat and whole wheat flours, and made extra rich with the addition of buttermilk and melted butter, these were amazing. He topped off the stack of three with more melted butter, real Michigan maple syrup, and whipped cream. And, a side of bacon for those who wanted it. The combination of flavors was outta this world.  How did it make me feel eating such an amazing plate of hotcakes, you might ask in true social worker parlance? Well, if you really want to know, I felt truly happy, and deeply satisfied. And so did everyone else who ordered Joe’s dish. Look for the recipe on the website soon.

Even though it’s difficult for those who have a sweet tooth to understand, some folks are more interested in a savory breakfast than a sweet one. I know, I know, how can anyone not like maple syrup and whipped cream first thing in the morning? Remember, different strokes for different folks! There’s room for disagreement, and a variety of feelings!  On that note, take a look at the winter breakfast quiche with a side of bacon and some hoop house greens. Well, maybe don’t look too close.  In the photo above the quiche, which was encased in a perfectly beautiful and flaky crust looks a little more like a casserole than a pie.  Hey, no worries! Looks aren’t everything! We are way more interested in the beauty of how we all are on the inside, not just the outside, and that includes quiche! Because, you know, we’re all about inclusion too! Oh! Hey! Shout out and thanks to my sweetie Jeff  for whipping up 8 batches of the most luscious pie dough ever for the quiche, just to help a teapot out with all her tasks. The quiche was served two ways, either meat or veggie. The meat was ham from Steinhauser Farm, and the veggie was with acorn squash from Tantre Farm. They were both rich with cheddar cheese, eggs and cream, and gently flavored with a little hint of nutmeg.

Thanks to the many volunteers who came out in the cold to help get breakfast on the table this week! Susie Baity Stearns for running prep, Andrew Bozio for expediting, Mel Adams for stepping in as sous chef, Michelle Fortin for all the beautiful cleaning, plus Solomon Jost, Lizzie Olenzik, Roberta Knox, Chris Wick, Bing Ma, Laura Tillman, Aaron Van Dyke, Heidi Kumao, Janet Max, Dorran Dihle, Michael Schmidt, Anna Faqua Smith, Katherine Battistoni, Jennifer Jensen, Brett Beam, Aneka Kaul, Rich Kato, and Lexi MacMillan. Thank you one and all!

Our hens have been laying lots of eggs these days, and we used them for both the pancakes and the quiche this week. Such pretty colors, and wonderful flavor! Kind of reminds me of spring time, which right about now is a nice thing to keep in mind. 

We also had live music this week with wonderful soulful guitarist Jas back again. Such sweet, warm tunes on such a chilly day. Thanks Jas!

This Friday we have Nick Roumel and Phillis Engelbert in the kitchen, bringing us some deeply warming foods inspired by cooking from India. There will be something for everyone to enjoy, so be sure to join us.

Until then, stay cozy and warm, take extra good and loving care of yourself, and do things that make you happy every single day (even though social workers aren’t really meant to tell people what to do, you can take the above advice as only an invitation, and remember it comes directly from Li’l Teapot, who doesn’t have any problem telling people what to do).

See you around the kitchen soon, ~Lisa

Thank you Helen and Blake of  EAT Catering. Everytime you chef for us, you surprise and delight us.   This time was more of the same deliciousness, but new and fabulous breakfast treats. Those two cuties offered us two very different specials this time around.

A Korean inspired BBQ pulled pork sandwich, topped with The Brinery’s kimchi, served on an Avalon Bakery bun, topped with a fried egg and a side of carrot slaw was just about the best thing ever.

For those wanting a little sweetness for breakfast, the second special were a couple of lusciously comforting acorn squash pancakes topped with a cardamom spiced apple compote and a cider reduction sauce that warmed us all down to our very toes. Thanks also go out to Phillis Engelbert, our vegan chef and regular Selma Cafe volunteer for this weeks savory vegan special, which included a tasty roasted potato medley with a side of marinated tofu and greens.

In addition to the good food, we also had some good music. Appleseed Collective came by and played a few sets of their sweet tunes. Check them out on the facebook here.

We had an awesome crew of volunteer helpers this week. Thank you Susie Baity Stearns for facilitating prep, Michelle Fortin for running the Friday morning clean up crew, and everyone else who does their part with enthusiasm and fun.  THank you Gary Mazzeo, Gabriel Anderson, Annie Dugan, Lizzie Olenzek, Brittany Brown, Noah Miller, Mike Green, Valerie Benka, Olivia Gramprie, Mirac Boga,  Scooter Merrins, Melanie Adams, Alyssa Ackerman, Kate Harris, Solomon Jost, Michael Schmid, Jen Kullgren, Phillis Engelbert, Kat Curtis, Rachael Zuppke, Joel Panozzo, Katherine Battisoni, Kate Heflick and Jennifer Jensen.

We had a great turn out at the Grange Kitchen and Bar for our Four Season Farmer Development Program. You can read about the program, and check out the farmer application form HERE. More than 70 people turned out to share ideas, ask questions, and show there support for increasing opportunities for more farms and farmers in our community.

Come on by Friday morning for a taste of the Upper Peninsula! We’ve got Mea Pasties with homemade ketchup,  and Finnish Pancakes with Raspberry Jam for ya in da Selma Cafe, eh!

Stay cozy, and see you soon in our kitchen,

~Lisa