Thursday, December 3, 2015

A Holiday Party



Hey!

Don't blink because the holidays are just around the corner! People are already starting to make their plans for holiday parties and dinners. If you are one of them, you might want to spend a little time with me because I have some really good ideas for you.

A Holiday Dinner:

Like I mentioned in last week's email, I am doing a cooking demonstration and a sampling of holiday party items we carry at Kathleen's Catch. I'll be demonstrating how to prepare a fabulous seafood dinner perfect for a holiday dinner party, a Christmas Eve dinner or even for the main event itself on Christmas Day.

I am going to do two very different fish to show you how to prepare one on the stove top and one in the oven. Sable and striped bass are two of my favorite fish, but I am still tinkering in my kitchen as I write this (with sticky fingers) so I can't promise that these are going to make the final cut. But I can promise you that the fish we choose will be delicious!

Caviar and Other Party Treats:
I'll also show you how to put together a caviar presentation. We will taste a few varieties along with other party fare such as Oysters Rockefeller, smoked fish, and Clams Casino and a great variety of our signature party trays.

Wine Pairings:
Oh and did I mention that we are doing wine parings too? We have selected some reasonably priced wines for you to taste that we think are just right for the holidays.

Where and When:
Sunday, November 15 at 2:00 at Viande Rouge
Sunday, November 22 at 2:00 at Kathleen's Catch in Milton

How Much:
The cost for the event is $20 per person - to cover the expense of the wine and the caviar. Please register in advance by calling one of the stores.

Johns Creek: 678-957-9792

Milton: 678-691-3064

It's going to be a great time. I can't wait to see our old friends and meet some new ones!

Blessings,
Kathleen

Catch our Catch to Go and Cooking Classes



Dear Fish Friends,
Last week I told you all about how we freeze our fish and sell it at a discount if it doesn't sell from our fresh cases for longer than 2 days.   We offered our customers a buy one get one free deal and managed to make some room in our discount freezers.  Thanks!

Besides saving you money in our discount freezer,  Kathleen's Catch is committed to saving you time too!  Fall is the hardest time of the year to get families together at the dinner table; there are just too many other things going on that interfere with the dinner hour.  Imagine a mid-week afternoon as a parent of three busy kids.  You get off work at 4:00 to fight traffic home to pick up the kids.  Drop one at his tutoring session, one at her gymnastic class and the third at basketball.  You finish dropping them off just in time to get back to pick up the first and then make the cycle again.  By the time you reach home, it's time to get the homework started, answer a few work emails and try to throw in a few loads of laundry so the kids won't look homeless at school tomorrow.  Then make the lunches, check the homework, fold the clothes, chase the kids to the showers and it's off to bed. Wait.  Did you forget something?  What happened to dinner? 

Dinner could be the fast food you grabbed at a drive through in between kid's activities.  Or it could be sandwiches thrown together while checking homework.  Or it could be a beautiful piece of incredibly fresh fish, seasoned perfectly and accompanied by a delicious, healthy side dish.

 Catch to Go from Kathleen's Catch is based on two simple truths:
1. People just don't always have time to prepare a home cooked meal.
2. Take out fish is gross. 

We create our Catch to Go meals so that you simply take the meal home, follow the directions on the package which is often basically to pre-heat the oven.  Pop the meal in the oven.  Remove and eat. Some of our long-time Catch to Go customers don't even bother putting the meal on a plate.  They simply eat right out of our foil pans!  A healthy dinner could not be more delicious or any easier.

 This week's  offerings are:
Barramundi with Charmoula Seasoning and Green Beans 
(one of my favorites) 
and 
Parmesan Salmon with Asparagus 
(This sauce smelled heavenly while it was cooking in the store)

Do yourself a favor and try a meal this week.

I took advantage of the warm temperatures last Saturday and took a quick trip to Amicalola Falls to check out the hiking trails. I am planning a bigger hiking trip in the next few weeks and wanted to see if this was the place.  I've been coming to Amicolola Falls since I was a teenager and I have never seen it quite as beautiful as it was last Saturday. Here's a picture I took from the bridge across the top.  It was a perfect day.  And this photo makes me want to get out my jigsaw puzzles and put together the one with all the fall colors.  


 
 Consider, this week, having a dinner with your family.  Even if you don't do our Catch to Go, sit everyone at the table and eat a meal.  Ban electronics and   enjoy yourselves. 
And take a few minutes to appreciate what a wonderful area we live in with places like Amicolola Falls just a short drive away.  After all, Thanksgiving is just around the corner -it's time to get in the habit of being thankful.
And one more thing.  I am planning a cooking demonstration for both the Johns Creek and the Milton stores to show you how to prepare one of my favorite fish in a manner fit for holiday company.   I would also like to show you other ways to incorporate seafood into your holiday meals and parties.  The Johns Creek class will be at 2:00 on November 15th in the Viande Rouge dining room. And the Milton class will be November 22 at 2:00 in the Milton store.  Keep your eye out for a sign up sheet in the stores next week and reserve this spot on your calendars.  It will be fun and delicious!
Blessings,
Kathleen

Deals in the Discount Freezer



Hey Ya'll,

We are well underway now at our new store in Milton and we are so happy to have met many wonderful people!

When I first opened my store in Johns Creek I would send out a pretty lengthy email every week describing all the plans I had and giving recipes that I had actually tested.  I wrote and wrote and wrote some more about all the fish I sell and why you should buy it from me instead of my competition.  If I do say so myself, my emails became quite popular.  As I gained confidence, pictures of my grandchildren and my dog started appearing and I began telling stories about things I love or things I find particularly funny in addition to fish stuff.  The emails worked!  In fact, they worked so well that my business grew and grew and after a while I didn't have time to write them anymore! 

These days I am still busy but I think it is important that  all our new friends in Milton know about who we are and what we sell.  They need to learn about sustainability and aquaculture and new ways to cook fish.  And they probably would like to see a photo or two of my grandchildren.  (Who wouldn't? I have really cute grandkids).  Besides,  I still have a lot of stories I'd like to tell to anyone who will listen or read...

SO

I'm back.

I want to tell you about one part of our business that is very important to our success:  the discount freezer.  In Johns Creek it is that little white freezer across from the fish cases.  In Milton, it is the last door of the display freezer.  These freezers hold a treasure trove of fish!  If we don't sell the fish in our fresh cases in two days, we vacuum seal, freeze and mark it down 20%!  The fish in these freezers are still wayyy better than grocery store fish.  You can pick up fresh fish for dinner tonight and get some frozen for dinner tomorrow.  Buying this frozen fish helps us keep our prices down because we never have to throw fish away.  

To let our new Milton customers know about the discount freezer and to remind our Johns Creek customers about it, we are having a BOGO sale!  You pay for the more expensive package, we give you the cheaper one.  That, my friends, is a deal.   

Here's what's in the discount freezer this week:
Verlasso salmon 
Pompano 
Rainbow Trout 
Black Drum 
Steelhead Trout 
Mahi 
Swordfish 
Maki Shark 
Halibut 
Cod 
Catfish 
Flounder 
West Coast Dover Sole 
Barramundi 
Red Grouper 
Corvina 
Walleye 
Monkfish 
Haddock

 
Again, thanks to our new Milton friends for such a warm welcome and thanks to our Johns Creek friends for supporting us for 4 1/2 years.  We love all of you.
Blessings,
Kathleen