Keeping Food Cost Down 

By Ryan

Will the Playlist Continue?
By Ray

The other morning upon arriving to work I found a cocktail napkin on my desk with the following song inscribed on it...

    Ain't no music

This was from a patron that wanted to let me know his disappointment in me retiring from producing the shows at our monthly music venue. Over the last few months, this is something I have heard countless times. This is one of the reasons I have been giving it much thought as to how this could continue with out my full involvement. The other reason being the rapport we have built with the artists and their agents. This is a hard thing to give up. A few weeks ago while on vacation I think I might have found a way that the shows could continue and also a way they could become bigger and better.

After planning my vacation, I happened to notice my favorite artist, Greg Brown, was performing near where I was going to be, Nevada City, California. He was appearing at a place called the Miner's Foundry. It was a great show in a beautiful cavernous old building with tons of gold rush charm. In talking to several of their wonderful staff, they were all volunteers with a love of music. They had an impromptu, but well stocked bar. Upon leaving the show, we explored the narrow and winding streets of the 1850's gold mining town. There was block upon block of thriving restaurants and shops. There was enough to make a guy want to shop. It makes me wonder how does something so charming come together

The foundry is a non profit cultural center and community meeting place that was restored from an 1856 foundry. It is used by several cultural and community groups for concerts, art shows, trade shows, receptions and meetings. About half of their budget is covered by rentals and the other half from donations and grants. I can only imagine what an eyesore it was before renovation.

This evening with Greg Brown started to get me thinking of ways we could continue to do our shows and do them with maybe a bigger goal in mind. I thought about losing that the rapport that took us five years to build. 

Starting over would be tough. It seems to me that there are many people in our community that feel the same way about it as I do. Many people have asked me how it could continue.

So if some of you are really interested, here is how I envision this "community theater working". We would need a group of producers. I would share all of my contacts from agents or artists with these producers. They could pick one of these or go after someone on their own. The producer picks a show they would like to take on. It doesn't have to be "Ray Music". The producer would be responsible for booking the entertainment, ticket sales, monitoring the door and merchandise, providing an engineer/sound person, help with sound check, set up, tear down and general schmoozing (the fun part).

We would not charge any rent. We would do it only for the food and liquor sales on the show nights. We could set it up and tear down the room for a small fee. Once we reach a certain amount of sales we would wave that fee. We would provide the equipment we have or you could bring in your own. We would continue to help promote the shows via our newsletter and be a home base for selling tickets for the producers.

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I have talked with Bernie about this and any producer would have our support. We would do everything we can to help our producers get off to a smooth show.

Many of our patrons are musicians. Some are just aficionados. Some have house parties with some of the same great acts we had here. Some of these house parties could sell out our shows on their own.  

All of this would be with the hopes that one day the Playlist Theater would find a new home. One with more seats, better stage, better acoustics, no buzz and worthy of our area's rich musical heritage. There are plenty of buildings locally that have enough history to create our own Miners Foundry. We could be one of the users that could help to sustain a venture like this.  

Bridal Showers 

By Aly

With wedding season just around the corner it got me thinking.... why do we have Bridal Showers? I mean you already give the couple a gift at the wedding plus a shower gift too? (I guess if you are the bride it is double the presents so why complain?) As I thought more about it, I figured there must be more behind wedding showers than just giving gifts to newly engaged couples. With that said I did some homework on the topic and here's what I found.

The tradition of having a bridal shower emerged during the 1890's and is most commonly practiced in the United States and Canada. In the past, during the shower the bride's friends would place small gifts inside a parasol and then open it over the bride's head so that the presents would "shower" over her. The custom of gift giving is a fairly new concept where the bride and groom's family and friends give gifts to the bride-to-be. The shower usually occurs between 4-6 weeks prior to the wedding.

It is said that the bridal shower came about as an alternative to the dowry, which is a payment the brides family would give to the grooms family for taking their daughters hand in marriage (virtually taking their daughters out of their hands...one less mouth to feed). The legend of the bridal shower tells a tale about a young Dutch couple in love, but due to unfortunate circumstances, could not wed. The young mans financial situation was bleak, he had very little fortune and it was likely this wouldn't change. As a result the young lady's father would not give his blessing or dowry. Out of compassion for the two love birds, the people of the village came up with dowry among themselves so the young couple could marry. The village people 'showered' the young maiden with gifts for her new life and her father eventually came to terms with the wedding.

The basic formula for showers hasn't changed much for generations. For example in the 1950's, the shower had high emphasis on the role of women within the marriage. Women at the shower would play games and share stories about their own personal experiences of being a wife and homemaker. The bridal shower that we have all come to know and love is relatively similar. The purpose of a bridal shower is to strengthen friendships between the bride's family and her friends. The shower is a special occasion where the family and friends can share wisdom and stories with the bride-to-be to better help her prepare for her marriage. Our showers still maintain the core traditions and rituals on the values of family, femininity and the sanctity of marriage.

All and all, I feel that the bridal shower is a great way to celebrate the soon to be husband and wife and it should continue to bring families and friends together. Here at the Uptown, we have a wonderful banquet room that will meet all your shower needs. We will do our best to make your bridal shower extra extraordinary!

Click here for more information on our Banquet facility 

Gin

By Jim

Gin is another one of those spirits where you either love it or hate it. Anyone that has ever tried it can refer it to the smell of pine trees. Gin is a distilled spirit that has the predominant flavor from juniper berries. This is what gives it its distinct flavor. In fact, the word gin is derived from the French word genievre or the Dutch jenever, which both mean "juniper". Makes sense huh?

The origin of gin states that back in medieval times, juniper berries were used for its medicinal properties. Over time, the use of juniper berries has evolved into the spirit that gin is made today.  Dutch physician Francisco Sylvius is credited with being the inventor of gin in the 17th century. The redistilling of a spirit with juniper berries was sold in pharmacies all across Europe. It was his attempt to create a medicine that was said to cure kidney and stomach ailments, gallstones and gout. It was also known to have therapeutic properties including as an appetite stimulant, sedative and headache reducer. If you drink enough of any alcohol, I think it could be classified as one of these right? ..... until the next day. Over time, gin became more and more popular as a liquor that was consumed for recreation.  It is said the British soldiers were introduced to it from the Dutch Netherlands and brought it back to England. The English government encouraged the import of Dutch gin and creation of its own style. Drunkeness became so prevalent that just like our Prohibition, Parliament had to outlaw it in 1736.

Further along in the 19th century, gin had become the popular base spirit in many classic cocktails. Take the standard martini. It was considered to be the main ingredient up until the late 20th century when vodka had taken over. Other popular drinks made with a gin base include: gin and tonic, the negroni, the gimlet, tom collins and the singapore sling.  During the Prohibition here in the United States, gin was commonly produced secretively in homes. This is where you may have heard it called "bathtub" gin. Due to the relative ease of producing it at home, where it was made by placing a large quantity of a spirit in a bathtub and adding juniper oil and other flavoring and letting it sit for a few days.
   

Although several different styles of gin have existed since its origin, the most common style we see today is London dry gin. In addition to juniper berries, London dry usually has the presence of other citrus botanicals such as lemon, orange blended with a combination of spices such as anise, cinnamon, savory and saffron. In addition to London dry, you may have heard of sloe gin. This style has more fruit flavor, being made from infusing sloes, the fruit of the blackthorn, in gin. Other gin types include: Fleischman, an American made gin that has a lighter flavor, and Plymouth gin, a gin that is distinctively drier than London gin.  

Is there a prefered way of drinking gin? Not really. Everyone enjoys it a little differently and some do not enjoy it at all. Our selection includes some of the more popular brands such as Tanqueray, Tanqueray Ten, Tanqueray Rangpur, Bombay, Bombay Sapphire and Gordons. However, we also carry Hendricks. This gin is infused with hints of rose petal and cucumber.  Try this out with a cucumber slice instead of an olive.  

April Birthdays and Anniversaries 

Birthdays

Erik Swanson

Jake Krolak  

Sheila Powell  

Jennifer Higgins

Deborah Claudnic

Anniversaries

Josie Brady - 2 years

Geoff Heijl - 21 years

Jake Krolak - 2 years

Brooke Hannen - 1 year 

All lent specials are available all day for dine-in or carry-out! 

FISH TACOS.....3 FOR 7.75

FISH AND CHIPS.....9.75 

"Fish 'n' Chips." Harp battered and served with malt vinegar, coleslaw, tartar sauce, lemon and "chips". We offer one of the more authentic "Fish 'n' Chips" around.

 

TORTELLACCI.....14.75

Our tortellacci are very light because they are made from very thin hand rolled dough, unlike some of the store bought products that are very heavy and have very little filling. We prepare them with a white wine cream sauce and top the dish with fresh Reggianno parmesan.

SEAFOOD TRIO.....19.75

Every Friday, not just during lent either, we offer our version of a Seafood Trio. We serve a 4 oz. portion of broiled cod with a basil creme sauce, a 4 oz. portion of our whitefish parmesan with lemon caper butter and a 4 oz. lobster tail with drawn butter. All for under $20.

Click on the Picture to see a video of Robbie Fulks and Nora O'Connor

Robbie Fulks

Nora O'Connor

Click the picture to watch a Bill Kirchen video

Tickets SOLD OUT!

If anyone has any extra Bill Kirchen tickets, we would like to buy them back!