The Wild Fern & Me on Hours of Business =)

Most people have now asked me the Ultimate Question. "What are your Hours?" 

Well, the hours thus far, have remained the same, consistent & open to everyone having an opportunity to stop in & see what's happening, listen to me share what The Wild Fern is all about & also understand that it's just ME working most of the time, trying to create & offer something new for Stockbridge & surrounding neighbors & friends. 

What is clearly written at the moment, but surely subject to change if needed;) is that I am Closed on Mondays & Tuesdays~ so that I can regain the essential balance within myself that it takes to make all of this happen!  

As I unveil both what our People would like to see & what I can humanly manage with time, I have not posted my Hours for a specific reason though they've been consistent. 

& while to some, the Hours may be confusing or hard to remember, Please Keep in Mind, that this is new to All of Us & The Wild Fern is not by any means what you've traditionally seen in a Restaurant, Cafe or even Bakery with a Full Staff of people Working.

It's basically Just Me, until I/We/You can afford for me to hire other friends to 

Help Spread Some Luv in Stockbridge & Beyond!!

& So, it will take Time for You to come to know what I have to Offer YOU on the various Days of Business. 

 I try my hardest to keep YOU informed with this Blog & with Facebook. I am trying to take pictures so that you can see the Food I am Baking with, Preparing & even Buying & even what Our Music is All About. 

I'm trying something new in this tiny little place that has traditionally been known to be a Diner. I love Diners, by the way! However, I have a strong & thriving passion for Baking! So I am trying to offer our community something we don't

 have with FOOD ranging from Fresh Bread, Croissants, Bagels, Pizza, Italian, Mexican, Cookies, Cupcakes, Pies etc, etc, that Our People have in the past had to drive to farther places than just down the road from their homes to BUY & also feed a big corporation that doesn't have their Best Interests At Heart, but also costs them MUCH MONEY in Fuel to even get there. 

It also presents a new aspect of "buying local" 

We have so many wonderful growers in our Community that need a lil'love themselves to make their Growing Experience produce them an HONEST Living. 

Stony Brook Road itself, has atleast three Grower Families trying to offer Everyone some Homegrown Goodness ranging from Garlic to Eggs! 

Wouldn't it be Wonderful to also be able to buy much of our needed produce from these Friends? Where we knew how the food was grown? How it was lovingly taken care of? & Also, how we could help Support them Making a Living doing something Worthwhile for both themselves & for us? 

What if by next Summer, Stockbridge had its Very Own Farmer's Market? 

Think of the gas you'd save. Think of how great you would feel by eating something so Local to your own home. 

Think of how you'd be helping out a Neighbor or Friend.

So My Hours of Business Through Foliage:

Wednesday: Breakfast 8am-11:30am & Pizza Night- 4pm-8pm Good for Take Out Too!

Thursday: Breakfast: 8am-11:30am Thru Foliage: Open till 1pm for Light Lunch

Friday: Dinner & Pizza 5pm-9pm, Pizza Slices & Music with Rick Redington ala Luv till 10pm

Saturday: Breakfast & Light Lunch 9am-2pm

Sunday: Cigar Box Brunch thru Foliage 11am-2pm Music noon-2pm 

Hope to see you on One Of These Days! =) 

Becoming "Thee Owner"

Something I didn't think about.
Clogged toilets. Water overflowing. Won't stop. Seeping. Creeping. Flowing beyond. Frustration, Fear, & Forgotten.
Yes, I forgot about these details of being your own Boss. You are the Boss, You are funnyily enough, the only person who knows how to clean up this mess. No one else will. In my case, no one else could!
Having rocked the second full week with so many gracious & kind folks,  Sunday Brunch came & my visitors tripled from the First Sunday & my girls of Zoe, Erin & Laura Shands & I took on the late morning patrons. & if I may add, these 3 Ladies for being inexperienced & more than cooperative, really & truly did one hell of a fine job of assisting me WHEN NONE of US could possibly KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT!!
I couldn't have done it without them. Indeed, I would've been in the Weeds! & My Gratitude is Endless for These Little Luvs. I love them all so much!

Over the two weeks I've listened to many things.
Requests, suggestions, advice, ideas, praise, harrassment, laughter, encouragement, rumors, reprimands, opinions...& so forth.
I try to take as much of it in & use what I need & leave the rest behind, as I make decisions, paint signs, plan the menu, sweep the floor, cook food, wash the dishes, unclog toilets, & STICK TO MY OWN GUNS!!! 
Really, if you want to know, I don't even have any guns ;) I'm just doing it. Going along & making it up as I go with what feels right. I don't have some master plan other than, cooking good food, spreading good vibes, playing good music, making the place cozy & being as hospitable as one should be when nice folks walk through my door.
That's really it.
Its like you are coming over. To my House.
For Dinner. For Music. For Conversation. For Fun. When you leave, I want you to feel good, & I want you to come back!
Whether you're coming on the mornings of Breakfast or on the Day of Bagels, or Lunch on one of the Afternoons, or Pizza Night or World Cafe Dinner Night, I will be preparing & cooking your Food!
I am Your Hostess, Your Baketress (my newest made up word;), Your Cheftress(my old made up word;), & Your Part Time Waitress! 
I didn't do this so someone else could take over my kitchen! And as I see how this is going to go, I hope that everyone is patient & kind.
I'm operating this as a mostly One Woman Show People! with an occasionaly back up of my family & friends, inexperienced at times;) & connecting with you means a lot to me. I can't cook you good food if I can't connect with you! So let me humanly connect! That means, if you've arrived & you see we're quite busy, Practice Patience & know that I will make it worth your while of wait! We're not about Fast Take Out here! (saving that for the Take Out Window!)

We're about doing what's Humanly Possible in this Particular Setting That We Are All Creating! 

As I prepare the Plans for Week #3, I cannot believe how excited I am to just do it! Not to mention The New Oven Brush & how thrilled Chef Rico will be!
I find it very rewarding being on my own, & deeply gratifying. Its a great feeling that many times in the quiet solitude of the kitchen, I find myself reflecting in wonderment sprinkled with satisfying exhaustion ;)

Now speaking of exhaustion. I have Yet Another Saab Story. 
For those that know me, you know about ALL of my Saab Stories. Just this year alone, The Saab Story escualated to a grand total of?? Well, let;s not mention it least I throw a tantrum...or something ;)
So the latest Saab Saga had me carless the night before Opening. Yes, tears, tears, Oh, more tears streamed down my cheeks as I once again, questioned my Sane or Not Sane Decisions of Opening? wha?? A Restaurant? With not even a few pennies to do so as I've spent the income tax return on The Veins & Arteries Of Said Saab 9-5.  

So as I approached week # 2 of borrowing yet another friend's car for an abnormal amount of time & headed to Rutland to detail the borrowed car, I arrived to Rick's only to hear the tale of The Burning Flames Splaying From Said Saab.
No? Are you Kidding? really? Not that SAAB. Well, combusting with Smoke as it would be, The Saab sat at Adirondack awaiting? What? I'm not really sure anymore. So, in come the 16 year old Honda Accord.
From my earliest days of driving, well, I didn't really have a license, but I was convincing(or controlling-you decide;) enough to persuade one of my Very Bestest Friends of My Youth, Matt Badertscher to let me drive his Honda Accord. It was sleek. It was fast. It was his. And he was after-all, my Best Friend, so DUH! of Course he would let me drive it! I mean, if i could handle driving his Dad's Brown Buick, by all means, this was no Biggie!! Ha!!  & No License?? Ah! the good ol'days!


So today, I got into the Accord which smells of cat poop. Yes, one sweet 25# Bag of cat poop was left in the trunk by the previous owner. He said it was garbage. Yeah, Garbage.
Now I don't have one tiny little part of me that shares any love for Cats with The Cat People of The World. I've tried, & it just isn't in me, no offense. I am also allergic & thus my lack of affection is worthy.

Surprisingly, or not, I put between 15-25 lbs of Air in ALL THE TIRES & I was on my way to being a Honda Owner, again, reflecting upon memories of my ol'pal Matt & to my very first brand new car ever, a Honda Civic, bought only because The Badertscher Honda Influence ;)  

With some luck, perhaps I can go atleast a month without visiting the nearest Mechanic & paying them my Life's Earnings.

Tomorrow begins Week #3

I can't wait! Its Breakfast & Pizza Night!!!   
On the Menu for the Morning Rush: Bagels, Croissants, A Sweet Apple Pastry, Timeless Wisdom Fresh Eggs, Bacon, Fresh FarmStyle Loaves of Bread & Stony Brook Grown Breakfast Potatoes. 
Pizza? 
Needs no Introduction! 

This week, I will also have Apple Pie & Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes & Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Available for The Sweet in All of You. 

See You There! 

Here We Go!

& so the first week happlily concluded with Sunday Brunch!
For your, or maybe it was indeed my own, Belly's pleasure, I made Baked Stuffed French Toast with Cream Cheese & Carmelized Apples with Lemon Zest & Cinnamon to finish!

Our second couple of the day coming from Grafton Vermont, sat at the table with the Cleveland Ohio salt & pepper shakers & luckily enough, were the type who sprinkled their salt into their hand before dotting the food. Well, Good thing, as the Salt came pouring forth & I can imagine their experience may not have proved pleasant had I had to re-bake!

Luckily what the Gentleman could convey to me was his delight, & how wonderful he thought the French Toast was! He wondered where I ever got the idea, & that in all his years, he's never eaten Cream Cheese with French Toast & neither had it been baked.

And though I served all but the two I brought home for Monday's dinner;) his compliment highlighted the whole day. Oh, well, plus, the fact that a Teen Ager, Miss Payton, really liked my Zucchini Parm Sandwich. 











I always love the Kid Approvel Stamp!
                                                                             And so I'm feeling very grateful.

Grateful for the Beautiful Wonderful Food that has been Bartered, Bought, Given & Traded.   





Grateful for the Support of Everyone! From Practice The Dough Weeked, The Opening Morning, The Music, The Special Bagel Order, The Bagel Buyers, Everything!

Enjoy Our First Glimpse of 

Music 

At 

The Wild Fern!!

                                                                                                                                                            Thank you Everyone for Coming Out This Week! Your Support Means More Than Than I Can Say!!

  

Your Patience Means Everything!

& Day One Arrived & was a Wild Success!

The Thank You's to so Many Friends & Family have made the entire experience possible, from Vermont to California(that means you John;)

What can I do but Feed YOU Good Food, offer you some Good Music & just simply Share some of the Luv that I feel for much in this Life?

I did say a few words on facebook, but here, I can say a few more! Why? Because I can!!
  I could'nt have dreamed of a better opening day. 
With 4 good hours of sleep ;), a 5am yoga practice(there was no way I was running in the dark regardless of how much I love Stony Brook Road) & packing the borrowed car(oh the saab broke down again? no, really you say?) I drove quietly through the still dark refridgerator flats, waited at the stop light(not again) on 107 & arrived exactly at 6am to officially begin this new adventure.

I turned on the Mixer, smiled, took a photo(sorry!! but the cord isn't near my bed to upload any photos right now!!)  & nervously hoped everything would turn out ok. I plan on hoping for some time to follow =)

& Its now, 730am.
Susie. My wonderful friend of many years now who's shared the good the bad & the occasionally ugly & my partner in all things Wine;) arrived & the Wild Fern came alive & business began! 
I wasn't really sure of anything. How long to stay open, how much to make, who will come? 
It went better than imagined! & before I knew it, it was time to pick Zoe up!
In that short one hour break I headed up our road to Suzanne's to buy garlic! So if you are looking for some nice bulky homegrown & in my neighborhood Garlic, talk to me. I'll send you to Suzanne ;) 

Pizza Pizza Pizza. If you don't love Pizza? I just don't understand why! But if you do, then having Rick Redington slinging your dough will be one of your best choices ever made in the Land of Pizza. Think I'm kidding? =) I ain't. 
Following the days' example the evening proved to be wild & wonderful with the first ever band coming to play! Our friends Justine, Jake & Tom, an ol'timey acoustic threesome trilled, sawed & slapped unto the night & they even let me join in for a few of my own songs, one a Flood song & not the bitch one ;) & a song I wrote sitting on my stoop watching sheep. The day ended & it was 10pm. 

Day Two~
A Wild Thank You to every single person who bought croissants today & sold me out!! And One gentleman returned twice! =) & to the other Friends who stopped by & also bought croissants, it was truly awesome to see you & visit with you! (Anna & Heather!!!)

As we ease on into this endeavor, our hours aren't posted as we work on getting a groove with kitchen detail, timing & serving, & what works best for you & me!!!  But We are open Wed-Sun!
Please bear with us, the only advertising thus far comes from Word of Mouth, This Blog, Facebook & the Opening Sign outside!!  Your continued support & spreading the word means alot to me on many levels & I can't thank you enough.

We have a great weekend planned & hope you can make it at some point!
Announcing tomorrow's hours:
FRIDAY September 14 we WILL BE OPEN in the Evening for PIZZA & Italian Fare using Local Produce & Basil from Friends on Stony Brook & Rochester VT! Grassfed Beef from another Local Friend in Rutland Town!!! 

So if you're hungry for Good Food & Good Music, Stop BY!!!!!!!  
5pm-9pm! & slices until 11pm unless the Dough runs out! 

At 8pm Local Music begins with Rick Redington! & The Luv Waitstaff will Sit In when the Time is Right! =) We're shaking things up here at The Wild Fern! 

Please keep in mind, our tiny little space can only hold 30 people, so plan accordingly!!! =) 

Until further notice, IT is BYOB!!! 
& Now, after just having made our first Black River order(I was nervous as I pressed the send button as its the first $$'s being reinvested to move forward!!), we will also have Cold Hollow Apple Cider to sell & ring in what's going to be a Fine Fall!!

AGAIN, MANY MANY THANKS! 
Love,
Heather 

Research & Development Night!

We cooked up a storm of 

Stone Baked Pizza's 

last night testing out the Mixer & Oven!

Since getting the mixer on Tuesday I've been very anxious to try it out, nervous actually, not knowing how it will work & so far so good! I was pretty happy watching it mix & not stall once! 

The Oven proved to be as wonderful as Nick said it would be & I can't wait to bake the first batch of Stone Baked Bagels! 

                       

We think its a great idea to Give Thanks To The Pizza Gods!

Rick's Philosophy IS Pizza.

Grilled Eggplant & Fresh Garlic from my friend Suzanne on Stony Brook Road. Need I say more? 

 Special Sauce!

Ohhh la la, is your mouth watering yet? 

Our Handsome Young Friend Conor came over to lend a helping hand, share our love of pizza, play some bass & offer his artistic impressions on a few projects & ideas we have!

   

 A Gift from Scrap Metel Artist Conor Margison, from one bassist to another =) 

                                                                                                       

Come back for Opening Announcement! =) 

e