October Kitchen - November 2021

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THE NOURISH LETTER

Meet the Team Behind Your Meals NOVEMBER 2021

OctoberKitchen.com | 860-533-0588 | 309 Green Rd., Manchester, CT 06042

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The Closest We Get to ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ An Inside Look at October Kitchen on Thanksgiving

we receive all our orders and we ensure we have everything we need before the weekend before Thanksgiving when things get really crazy. There’s a good reason we don’t offer our regular full menu on the week of Thanksgiving; there’s just no room in the kitchen to cook anything else besides turkey! In fact, we are in the kitchen nearly 24 hours every day that weekend simply to push turkeys through our ovens. With our amount of meals, plus our recent popular addition of “Thanksgiving for One,” we have no time to waste to keep our turkeys as fresh as possible with the quantity we need to provide. But we don’t stop at cooking the turkey — we also professionally carve every single one. I learned an amazing, showstopping way to do it in culinary school and have done it for my clients ever since, even as a private chef. Chef Kevin keeps threatening

I’m sure a lot of readers here enjoy watching competitive cooking shows, whether it’s “Chopped,” “Iron Chef” or “Hell’s Kitchen.” Maybe you’ve even wondered if a professional kitchen, like ours, is anywhere nearly as intense as those TV shows. I’m proud to say that’s not the case at all in our kitchen. It’s a great, supportive place to be and all of us enjoy each other’s company as a bonus. However, there is one holiday where the clock starts ticking, the pressure builds to extraordinary heights and the stakes have never been higher: Thanksgiving.

We always make it to pickup day, the day before Thanksgiving. By Thanksgiving Day, I get to watch the Manchester Road Race with my family and enjoy

Although we don’t cater, Thanksgiving is the one exception.

It starts as early as September. Because of how stressed the supply chain can become during Thanksgiving (not to mention how meticulous our prep can be), we have to finalize our menus and game plan way in advance. Then, by October,

the kitchen’s Thanksgiving leftovers.”

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Gus and Janice Eifrig used to enjoy cooking, but as they became older, it became more of an interruption. Many delivery services were expensive and still required you to cook the meal yourself. Luckily, when they were recommended October Kitchen about five years ago, it didn’t take long for them to fall in love with the food! AVOIDING TOMATOES Our 5-Year Fans, Gus and Janice! WITH OCTOBER KITCHEN, YOU CAN EAT ANYTHING — ALL WHILE

The delivery service isn’t just convenient, either — it’s also consistently on time. “They always arrive on time on the same day and we never have to say, ‘Oh, they’re late again,’” Gus says. The packaging ensures the food contents are safe, even if Gus and Janice are out of the house. If the couple is home, the delivery people will often carry it inside the house so they don’t have to haul the heavy box themselves. “We don’t consider [October Kitchen] a restaurant. We consider them like a family,” the couple enthused. Every week, they’re very pleased to call and make their order and have

become familiarized with the staff and vice versa. Our staff will even call if the couple forgets to make their usual order, which is a huge relief since it prevents their weekly food from running out!

Some of their favorite dishes include Grandma’s Stuffed Peppers, Not Your Mom’s Tuna Casserole, Shrimp Scampi, Beef Stroganoff, fresh baked muffins and many more! In fact, the couple is amazed by the menu variety and complimented it

“Prior to the pandemic, [full-service meal] door-to-door delivery was not that common,” Gus said. “The October Kitchen menu was very convenient and the people were so friendly and helpful.”

frequently throughout the interview. But if they could add any dish to the menu? “Gravy,” Gus says. “Gravy is good on everything — except tomatoes.”

As time went on, they bought more and more October Kitchen meals. In many ways, the couple says, October Kitchen has become “a steady friend.” They have great control over the salt content and it’s easy to adjust thanks to the dish variety, especially with their dietary restrictions. “We can always count on October Kitchen,” Janice added brightly, “There’s always something in the fridge.”

We can’t argue there! A brilliant idea, as expected of a retired aerospace engineer. Thanks so much for your tremendous support, Gus and Janice, and we can’t wait to see you again very soon!

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going to make it?” It’s so stressful that it takes just about everything out of my staff and me to pull it off.

me over it, saying, “Chef Paul, this is my last year carving turkeys.” (But I’m sure you can guess what he does the following year.) At the same time, we’re not only baking more than a hundred turkeys, but we’re also preparing crusts, baking pies, skinning and mashing crates of potatoes for mashed potatoes, chopping and prepping for stuffing, jamming fresh cranberries, combining my specialty apple butter, baking dinner rolls, sautéing stuffing and much more. Even our office staff helps pitch in, running around and making sure every box has all its dishes and fixings. It’s organized chaos, but at any point of the week, it’d still be easy to pause and feel overwhelmed, and think, “How in the world are we

But, every year, our careful planning pays off. We always make it to pickup day, the day before Thanksgiving. By Thanksgiving Day, I get to watch the Manchester Road Race with my family and enjoy the kitchen’s Thanksgiving leftovers. Then, suddenly, it’ll finally hit me: We helped make a Thanksgiving dinner for hundreds of people. Even though it’s a Herculean task that requires all our strength as a team and as professionals, I’m always filled with deep gratitude that we get to do it for you. From our whole team at October Kitchen, thank you so much for supporting our crazy Thanksgiving ambitions. It’s truly an honor to have your trust in providing one of the biggest meals of the year.

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A Bittersweet COVID-19 Story When 4-year-old Brigitte Xie started playing piano a year ago during lockdowns, nobody could’ve predicted her instant talent for music. Not only can the preschooler read music, but she can also play a note-perfect rendition of Beethoven’s “Sonatina in F Major,” despite her feet dangling far above the pedals. Last December, Brigitte won the Elite National Music Competition, and in March this year, she won first place in one of the most prestigious music competitions of all time: the American Protégé International Competition. It won her an invitation to perform at the world-renowned music venue Carnegie Hall in New York City this November. There’s only one problem: All performers are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and Brigitte is too young to be vaccinated. Despite the disheartening news, she will be given another chance to perform at a future concert in Carnegie Hall in 2022. In sweeter news, Brigitte herself doesn’t find much of a difference where she plays for now. Her mother Nichole Sun from Ridgefield, Connecticut, told Good News Network, “She doesn’t know much to be honest; I tell her, ‘Yeah, baby, you won the prize’ and she was like ‘Okay, can we go to the Disney store now?’” For now, the only thing that appeals to the 4-year-old is simply performing. “I tell her, ‘You’re going to perform in front of many people,’ and she seemed excited because she likes performing.” Nicole was thrilled that her daughter showed such prodigious talent, especially as a pianist herself, but she plans to never push the musician’s path onto Brigitte. “As a parent, I’m still open to everything. I don’t tell her that she must be a pianist. Whatever she wants to be is fine.” Free of any pressure or influence, Brigitte’s pure love for music is admirable, although she makes plenty of time for being a kid. She chooses to practice 45 minutes per day, with a half-hour lesson every week. She aspires to perform Mozart when she takes the stage once more, and had she been able to play this year, she could have potentially been the youngest ever to play on Carnegie Hall’s famed stage. YOUNGEST WINNER OF INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COMPETITION CAN’T CLAIM HER PRIZE

_____________________________ Write your name here and fax the completed puzzle to 860-533-0585, send it via empty delivery box or bring it to the shop and receive 10% off your next order . Limit one per customer. Expires Nov. 30, 2021.

STUFFING THANKFUL TRADITION VETERANS

GATHERING PIES

CIDER CORNUCOPIA

PILGRIMS SCORPIO

FEAST GALES

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309 Green Rd. Manchester, CT 06042

INSIDE October Kitchen Is Hell’s Kitchen on Thanksgiving

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Meet Gus and Janice, Our 5-Year Fans

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Word Search

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Inspiring, Bittersweet Story of 4-Year-Old Music Prodigy

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Do Customizable Vitamins Work?

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Can Vitamins Be Customized?

Everyone knows it’s important to get their vitamins. But do people need the same amount of certain vitamins, or does it vary? Some researchers say it varies, so vitamin supplement companies, like monthly vitamin subscription service Care/of, customize their pill offers based on your personal health and/ or goals. But do these services actually work? Since supplements aren’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, how do we know whether their packages contain the vitamins and minerals promised? Vitamins may not help as much as you think. Johns Hopkins researchers found that for many illnesses (especially heart-related), taking supplements didn’t make a big difference. One study involving 450,000 people found that multivitamins did not reduce risk for heart disease or cancer. Another study tracking the mental functioning and multivitamin use of 5,947 men for 12 years found that multivitamins didn’t reduce risk for mental decline such as memory loss or slowed-down thinking, either.

and Clinical Research, says that supplemental folic acid for women of reproductive age may be helpful. “Folic acid prevents neural tube defects in babies when women take it before and during early pregnancy. That’s why multivitamins are recommended for young women.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends women of reproductive age to intake 400 micrograms of folic acid daily and the amount of iron in a multivitamin may be also beneficial. But can customized vitamins make a difference? If you’re a young woman, or you have a doctor’s orders to get a multivitamin for certain conditions or treatments, the bad news is that right now, hardly any customizable vitamins have a third-party certification for quality and accuracy. If the vitamin or brand doesn’t have ConsumerLab.com, NSF International or U.S. Pharmacopeia certification, you simply can’t know what you’re getting. So, the best multivitamin is the one designed for your age group with third-party certification. Even if it’s a $10 bottle from Target, it’s likely more effective than what’s trending online.

The only exception? Young women. Larry Appel, M.D., director of Johns Hopkins Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology

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