5 Things- Volume 12

We are nearing the end of the year, we are dusting off our ugly Christmas sweaters and we are making spare room for all of the seconds, thirds and fourths we will be having at our family gatherings. But before we reach that magical time of the year, we're keeping our dancing shoes on and we will continue to party and enjoy the amazing camaraderie that exists and the Smokehaus.

So with that said, let's cue the Adventure Time theme song (it's okay if you don't know it you can sing along).

"Adventure Time,
C'mon grab your friends,
We're going to very distant lands.
With Jake [the smoker] and
Finn [the sandwich],
The fun will never end,
It's Adventure Time!" 

This week was full of adventure:
1- THE FLOOD

At 6:30AM on Friday our basement started flooding. Water was flowing in from every crack it could find but our wonderful crew hiked up there pants, changed their plans and grabbed a squeegee. Friday felt like the scene in Hercules where he cuts the dragon's head off and three heads grow back. Shouts to our wonderful team for stepping in and helping us stay afloat! 

This week was also full of spoooooky tiiiimess:

2-Rocky Horror Red Mountain ft Chelsy from Vikre!

Our friend Steve Sola is letting us use this video that he took of a local favorite band in Duluth, Red Mountain. Our delivery-daredevil and basement-badass Jeremy Ehlert SLAYS guitar in this band. You can't see him but you can hear him shred. (We love you, Jeremy!)

Not pictured but also important to mention: Ned's band Alamode & Jacob's band the Social Disaster also played on Halloween night at the Rex Bar. Did we mention they were all born on October 11st!? 

Have you hugged a carnivore this week?

3- Halloween in the shop 

Harrison Cross is the man of many costumes. He's known for killer dance moves, exceptional puns, and going all out on Holiday extravaganza. This year he really raised the bar on his costume game and expressed his carnivore lifestyle more visually and larger than life. We also had a visitor from the New Yorker giving us advice on what kind of beans to purchase for our Chemex (Thanks, Cam)!

This week was full of cute liver caskets!

4- Are you a be-liver? 

Extra! Extra! Find these in the Grab-n-Go in our Deli soon! We will be packaging these cuties up and selling them 1/3 lb for your party convenience. Country Paté lovers unite!

And every week we're all about Awesome Burgers

5- Can you say onion rings? 

The Restaurant does burger Mondays and this weeks special burger looked like a dang good time. Stop in next Monday to see what chef James cooked up for ya!

5 Things - Vol. 10

What a week! Only 5 things? JUST 5 things? Ok. Have it your way. Here we go:

1 / Local Food Fare

 Stephen and I went to The College of Saint Scholastica last Friday for their first ever Local Food Day representing Northern Waters Restaurant. It was THE BEST time!   We hit 'em with some S.W.A.G. (Stuff We All Get), served maple sambal ribs with kimchi and an assortment of sandwich samples while those ravenous collegians lost their damn minds! We made sure to collect some email addresses to offer them further deals in the future before they went completely bonkers. Thanks to our pal Jordon Moses for setting the event up!

 2 / Meat & Greet

Smokehausers Flo and TK are the principals at Prove Gallery in Duluth; a fantastic and inclusive pillar of the arts community here, and 10/18 brought their annual Meat Raffle Fundraiser! Not familiar with the Meat Raffle concept? Buy one of 12 chances for a cut of meat and wait for the wheel to land on your number. If it does, you get meated handsomely! Prove managed to get Pete and Sam from NW Restaurant to emcee and sell tickets respectively, while Ned from the Smokehaus DJ'd. Plenty of our coworkers from both the restaurant and the Smokehaus got in on the gamble for meat as well as a pretty great silent auction. The whole event was a huge success and also just a lot of fun.

3 / Photo Frenzy

 Stephen and Flo continue to work on photographing our many products in preparation for mail order season, and the composition of these photos has really been coming together beautifully. So beautifully, in fact, that it drives our thoughts towards doing a cookbook. Seriously, wouldn't that be fantastic?

4 / Pop Up Restaurant at Hoops!

At Northern Waters Restaurant, we always try to keep it poppin'; the beautiful plates we send out, our chic decor, actual delicious soda pop... It's a thing for us, ok? So how excited are we that our pals at Hoops Brewing have invited us to come and do a pop up restaurant at their place? Pretty dang excited to say the least. We haven't firmed up a date yet, but look for that coming soon. Pop in and say hi! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

5 / Listen Up!

 Jams! Not the kind you eat with your mouth, but the kind you eat with your ears! It's called 'listening'! Up at the restaurant, we begin our days by sweeping, mopping and kicking out the sweetest jams possible. Afrobeat, DJ Earl and Steely Dan have been in heavy rotation recently, but it's really anyone's guess as to what will get heavy play next. We think that this whole 'eareating' thing is going to catch on big-time.

5 things - volume 8

5 Things: Volume 8

Hi people of the internet. Here’s 5 things that happened at the Smokehaus and our beloved Restaurant this week.

#1. Specials!
We perfected the new Wednesday special up on Woodland Ave (Northern Waters Restaurant). Our new fried chicken sammy is to die for! Things that may or may not be featured on this special: buttermilk brined, hays-tenderized chicken breast, Franks hot sauce, cracker breading, local brioche buns from Lake Superior Bakehouse, Smokehaus bacon, avocado, top secret spice blend and/or a rotating mix of toppings for new and delicious creations every week. Every Wednesday!

#2. Fall Decor
Our shop is pretty cute, but there’s always room for more cuteness! Hannah brought in a few gourds to decorate the shop and help us feel ok about summer being over. Hopefully she brings in a snowman when winter hits… (did you know the record low for December in Duluth is -27 degrees?)

#3. Is anyone missing a pair of hockey skates?
A random box showed up the other day. Its labeling was pretty unclear, it was addressed to us, but it had multiple labels and we were a little hesitant to open it. But our curiosity always gets the better of us. Turns out it was hockey skates, belonging to someone who has really small feet and no connection to the Smokehaus. Weeeeiiiird. Needless to say, we had to discuss this event and all its infinite possibilities for several minutes that day….

#4. Holiday Season looms over us like a wall of boxes (literally).
October means we’re gearing up for Mail Order’s peak Holiday Season which happens every December. For three glorious and also insane weeks our Mail Order elves work nearly round the clock to make food, package food, and ship food to thousands of customers around the country. Fun fact: after Minnesota, California is where we sent the most boxes to last year. Hello West Coast! So… this week a new seasonal employee started in our Mail Order dept – welcome Zac! He’s the first of many elves who will be joining the team to pack, pack, pack their little hearts out. During peak time, it’s one person’s job just to make boxes – not kidding.

#5. The perks of being an employee of the Smokehaus.
When there’s leftover food, employee’s enjoy. This week folks in the shop spread layers and layers of Mary’s dreamy gooseberry jam on our Hausmade rye. Mary’s recipe uses five-spice. You know how she does.

Post was co-created by Stephen Pestalozzi.

5 Things - Volume 7

Keeping the fire alive - Volume 7!

1 / A Really Fishy Photo! We took this photo of our traditional smoked salmon and we think it’s pretty neat! Mmmmm…Hold up while we break for a snack…

2 / Catering Extravaganzas 1: Sue is the owner of the Hemlock Preserve in Esko and we catered her daughters wedding last Saturday. It was crazy humid in the barn but we managed to work fast and pull through for a feast of epic proportions. Photo recap!

2: On Sunday we went to the Oldenberg House in Carlton for a wedding showcase. Food was served, food was eaten and we all had a blast! This historic building is right on the edge of Jay Cooke State Park and is lined with an abundance of rock formations, greenery and other natural goodies to take your breath away. Check them out for bed and breakfast services, special events, jazz dinners, live music, and much more. Thanks for having us!

3 / Restaurant Bits & Bites 

1. We are running an Heirloom tomato and chèvre salad special with fruits from the tomato growing experts over at Hammarlund. I overheard them talking to Eric (The Owner) about the different varieties of tomatoes and the flavor differences. The green striped ones are the all around favorite, the yellow ones are fruitier + sweeter and the dark red ones are kind of like a roma, but with more flavor. We running this with honey-dressed Boucheron chèvre, a balsamic reduction, and Maldon salt flake. Stop in and try one before it’s gone!

2. We have a new side! This couscous salad is delicious and beautiful.

4 / Basement Anthems The delivery and prep department needs music to stay sane. The work they do is incredibly fast paced, super detailed, and downright chaotic. They add to this insanity by BLASTING their music at full volume with no remorse for any nearby ears. In fact, they recently upgraded their stereo system by pooling tips because the old one wasn’t loud enough. Kudos on the teamwork y’all! This week it just so happened that Propagandhi’s new album dropped and it has been on repeat ever since. I asked Jeremy for a few words about it and his response was “Can I say it’s f***ing rippin’?”

5 / Insider Tip! There were three employee wedding anniversaries this week! On the 27th, Stephen and Robin celebrated their 3 year and Woody and Kiah celebrated their 1 year. On the 28th Mary and Greg celebrated their 7 year! Many more to come, but don’t worry, we won’t post about them next year….. <3