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IN THIS ISSUE
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As we celebrate our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, it is hard to remeber a time when Marcels was not cooking, creating and celebrating! But as we fondly reflect on the wonderful year behind us, we are even more excited to kick off the year ahead! Come celebrate with us as September gets underway. And watch your email for our birthday celebration specials!
 September 8th - Come on down to the Fourth Annual Glen Ellyn Backyard BBQ Cook Off to benefit Bridge Communities from 10am- 9pm. Jill and Chef Kelly will be judging the BEST DISH at the event. Enjoy live music, great food and a bags tournament - along with lots of smoke. Details at www.glenellynbackyardbbq.com.  September 15th - SHINE ON! Who wouldn't want to start off a new season with a lovely Shine Handmade table linen perking up your room? Our Shine Handmade Trunk Show Event will take place from 10am - 4pm. All Shine table squares, runners, table for two sets and giftbags will be featured at 20% off! Come early to get your favorite as most pieces are one of a kind! September 16th - OH BABY! Tune into ABC7 at 6:50 am to hear our own Chef Katie Wojciechowski talk about making your own baby food. Katie will also teach Oh Baby - Moving to Solid Foods on October 14th at 1:00 pm. Check our class calendar for details.
September 22nd - Kid's Cookie Baking Contest - If you are between the ages of 8 and 12, have a favorite homemade cookie recipe you would like to share and are available both September 22nd for Round One and October 20th for the Finals, call Marcel's at 630-790-8500 to reserve your spot in the contest and you may be crowned Marcel's Cookie Champion.
September 26th - BON ANNIVERSAIRE marks Marcel's First Year Anniversary! We want to celebrate this Marcel's milestone with you, our valued friends and customers! Stop in to help us mark the day.
 It’s Marcel’s birthday, but all the presents go to you! School’s in session, evenings are getting cooler, and the class line up at Marcel’s is better than ever.
Lynn Dugan kicks off the post Labor Day week with Better than Drive Thru Lunches (9/5), followed by Kid’s Smart Fuel 101 (9/10), and Quick and Healthy Back to School Meals (9/18). Chef Coleen is canning and preserving from Chef Paul Virant’s book, Preservation Kitchen (9/6), and begins a Cheese Around the World Series, first stop France (9/20).
Chef Paul hosts the South American Table (9/7), and makes the most of what Mother Nature has to offer in Sustainable Kitchen (9/27). Chef Katie is back with two sweet Midday offerings, Cobblers, Crisps, and Crumbles (9/19), and An Apple a Day (9/26), and the dynamic duo, Allison and Annie Johnson spend Sunday at the Speakeasy (9/16).
Chef Jamie is rolling out Advanced Sushi (9/8) followed by Dinner in Paris for teens (9/9), treats us to a Late Summer Lunch (9/12) and his restaurant favorites with Dinner in the City (9/28). Chef Robin is hitting the orchard in A Bushel and a Peck (9/11), and taking us on a culinary trip to share The Best of Pacific Northwest (9/21). Chef Kelly takes us back to the culinary classroom in Prep School (9/13), is tailgating (9/14) and hosting Friend’s Night Out, International (9/29).
Marcel’s has rolled out the red carpet to two guests chefs, Ali Graeme, owner of Sweet Ali’s in Hinsdale for those seeking gluten free alternatives (9/25) and Chef Michael Ponzio, Executive Chef of Rosebud on Rush and author of "Cibo.” (9/12).
Wrapped up and delivered to you, unwrap the class of your choice and celebrate Marcel’s first birthday. Register for classes online at www.marcelsculinaryexperience, call us at 630-790-8500 or stop by the store and register in person. |
Like a lot of you, I am sure, whenever I have a momentous occasion or life event, I find myself thinking about what I was doing on this day a year ago or 5 years ago or whenever that occasion might be. As we head towards the one year anniversary of our opening, I find myself every day remembering in detail what I was doing at this time last year. If I ever thought I had worked "24/7" before, in September of 2011 it was happening for real.In "The Dish" column last month, Dana mentioned our work going on in one of the apartments upstairs. Every room was literally filled to the ceiling with boxes and our brand new and wonderful staff were all unpacking and organizing and ticketing and helping me think of the millions of things that still needed to be done -- big and small. Down below, it was construction mayhem. We had the entire project on an extremely tight schedule and of course things were not falling into place exactly as I had hoped. I was pushing the entire team very hard -- you know the saying: "The beatings will continue until morale improves." Or maybe I just learned that in the healthcare business.
Anyway, the day I remember the most was Thursday, September 15th. I was hell bent on being open on 9/26 and I felt like everything wasn't moving quickly enough on the construction front so I decided it was time to move all of the merchandise downstairs. We enlisted the help of several of our strong backed spouses, I gave the contractors a week's notice that we were bringing everything down and for about 6 hours that day everyone marched up and down the stairs carrying the hundreds of boxes of merchandise.
At this point, the electricians are still hanging light fixtures, there is some significant drywall work to be finished and then painting to be done, the carpenter is in high gear, the back kitchen was mid-installation and we were underfoot in a big way. The boys were not happy. My team thought I had lost my mind, bringing all of our beautiful new merchandise into this chaos but I just knew that unless we were visible and in the way, there wasn't going to be the right sense of urgency. So we cohabited with the workers and sure enough, they got done and got out and we got open. It was crazy in a way I won't soon forget.
I have never felt more professionally satisfied and proud than I did on September 26, 2011. Heartfelt thanks to you, all of our wonderful customers for making this first year so fantastic. And thanks to everyone who makes Marcel's warmly beating heart tick -- Dana, Kelly, all the staff, chefs, culinary assistants, dishwashers, delivery people and most of all to my darling husband Bob who has trusted and believed in me and keeps us going every single day. Time to stop counting in months. Now we're counting in years. | |
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 CHEF TALK WITH LYNN DUGAN
Celebrate! Birthdays are one of my favorite things to celebrate. Whether it’s for someone in my family or a friend, it’s a chance to celebrate that person in my life. In fact, this month we have two birthdays in my family, including my own (I do have the reputation of celebrating all month)! It’s a tradition at our house to have the dinner of your choice served on a special birthday plate that says “Happy Birthday, It’s Your Special Day!” Of course, our birthdays center around food. Everyone can choose their birthday dinner and it varies: Linguine with Clams for Courtney, Stuffed Green Peppers for Johnny, Chicken Cacciatore for my husband Jack, Beef Stroganoff for Matt, and Grilled Asian Flank Steak for Becca. As for me, I just choose to go out for dinner! Since we recently celebrated Becca’s 18th birthday, I am sharing her favorite recipe with you (below).
Sign up for my September 18th class, "Quick and Healthy Back to School Meals", and learn how to prepare Jack's Birthday dinner choice, Chicken Cacciatore. It is sure to become a fast favorite on your family's dinner list!
September is also a special month for all of us because we are celebrating Marcel’s first birthday on the 26th. We hope you can join us. Enjoy!!
Grilled Asian Flank Steak (serves 6)
¾ cup soy sauce
¼ cup sesame oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons sugar
2-3 green onions, sliced thin
2 pounds flank steak, lightly scored against the grain in crisscross pattern on both sides
Mix marinade ingredients together in a large measuring cup. Place flank steak in a glass container and pour marinade over meat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1-6 hours.
Heat grill on high. Place steak on a hot grill and cover for 4-6 minutes, per side, turning at the mid-point. Cook to medium rare. When finished, remove the steak from the grill and place on a cutting board. Tent foil over meat and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Thinly slice meat by cutting across the grain. Serve immediately. |
 THE DISH with DANA WILLIAMSHappy September to all! After this scorcher of a summer, I know most of you are as ready for a beautiful fall as I am. It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since Marcel's opened its doors. What an incredible year it's been for me, personally. Not many a day has gone by without running into a former customer (now a Marcel's customer!) and most days also bring the joy of seeing new friends that I've gotten to know since last September. I appreciate each and every one of you!
 OK! Let's move on to my product pick for this month. I made my first foray into canning last month using our Weck canning jars. I've always been intimidated by canning and preserving. In July I took the first in our series of canning classes with our chef, Coleen Graham. I went home totally intrigued and inspired! I started with hot and spicy pickles. I made my own version of "stackers". Slicing the pickles, packing them tightly into the jars, adding the fresh dill, mustard seeds, peppers and then filling the jars with the brine was extremely satisfying. Next it was tomato jam and then stone fruit preserves, all recipes from the class I took! Next week I'm making a tomatillo sauce from the book "Well-Preserved", available here at the store. If you haven't taken one of Coleen's canning classes, don't miss your last chance for this year on Thursday, September 6th at 6:30 pm when she teaches from Paul Virant's "Preservation Kitchen". You will want to go home and make something delicious and beautiful just like I did!Stop in and we'll show you our great selection of Weck jars! | |
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FEATURED AT MARCEL'S
Marcel's, Juliska, and Inspiration Corporation
On Saturday, August 11, Marcel's hosted La Fête des Jardins in the spectacular private gardens of Ball Horticultural.
The outreach event created a unique opportunity for us to say thank you to our most loyal customers, highlight and uniquely display our gorgeous line of tableware by Juliska, and benefit Inspiration Corporation. The event brought together a passionate group of food enthusiasts, gardeners and socially conscious folks who enjoy making a difference. Inspired by the mission of the organization - operating social enterprise restaurants and helping those affected by homelessness and poverty by training them for careers in the hospitality industry - attendees enjoyed an affair to remember.
Flights of hors d’oeuvres created by Marcel’s Executive Chef Kelly Sears, represented the countries in Juliska's Jardin du Monde pattern and a guided tour of the gardens, rarely open to the public, revealed cascading flowers overhead, rare plant specimens and exquisite tablescapes as guests arrived back in the pavillion.
Raising close to $3,000 for Inspiration Corporation, the event can be summed up in a thank-you from a guest: “I’ve been to a lot of events and this was one of the nicest ever: stunning and exclusive location, creative and memorably delicious food displayed beautifully, a warmth among the crowd that can only be earned.”
We sipped. We savored. We celebrated helping others.
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Favorites from Marcel's Staff | |
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Jenny Lorish: Culinary Assistant
One of my favorite things at Marcel’s is Couleur Nature’s table linens. They are fun and festive with beautiful, vibrant colors. These table cloths are 100% cotton, hand block printed and machine washable. Snatch it right out of the dryer, give it a shake and it can go right back on your table. The Fruit Collection is my “go to” for all my entertaining. It adds the zest of color my tablescape needs. Happy Birthday, Marcel's! |
Judy Hoewischer: Culinary Assistant Fashion up your tablescape with Rae Dunn ceramics. From serving pieces to table accessories, these whimsical works of art are perfect for so many occasions. One of my favorites are the napkin rings - classic white ceramic, on which a simple word is stamped, such as "Joy", "Savor" and "Share". Tie 2 together with some raffia as a housewarming or hostess gift. These rings give a smart appearance on any colored, or printed napkin.
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Kris Thompson: Culinary Assistant Each time I use the Charles Viancin Lily Pad, I exclaim “VOILA!” This silicone lid creates an airtight, watertight seal on all smooth rims by simply laying it down on the container - no snapping or burping needed. Charles Viancinʼs beautiful nature inspired designs are reusable and can go from the freezer to the microwave and oven! “VOILA!” (Editor's note: The Charles Viancin lids are so popular that they're trying to keep up with production! We should have them back in any day.)
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ALSO AT MARCEL'S:
- Professional on-site knife sharpening
- Exquisite complimentary gift wrapping
- Beautiful "gifts to go" all pre-wrapped and perfect for every gift giving occasion!
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