Back at Union Hall Kitchen

Well, we are back at Union Hall Kitchen. Our suppliers are making stops again and we are gearing up for our new season. We feel a little more prepared than we did last year. Jay spent the day prepping all kinds of savory yums, including a chicken pepitoria (a traditional Spanish dish of chicken stewed in almond and saffron sauce) that we are rolling out this week in a sandwich with an apple and aioli slaw. There we are working as a team to get that aioli made. He made sofrito in preparation for another season of delicious paella. We'll be opening with our Catalan-style pulled pork. In our never ending effort to source as many ingredients locally as we can, we are now getting our Manchego from Graystone   Farm and Creamery in Chelsea. The Midwest truly meets Spain. We'll also be making shrimp fritters with lemon aioli. The shrimp, too, is sourced locally from The Shrimp Farm Market in Okemos, Michigan's first and only shrimp farm. I, of course, am back at baking our gluten free almond cookies.




We are anticipating a wonderful and fun grand re-opening event Friday, March 30. We love the atmosphere downtown and can't wait to be a part of that again on a full-time basis. Here is a photo of our card. We look forward to seeing you there.

An early start for us at Mark's Carts

When Chef Jay isn't cooking, he is checking the weather maps out. It's a Scott family obsession. So, he is constantly talking about the "blocking high." To those of us not hip to the weather lingo, that's apparently what is causing the unseasonably warm weather. It's brought all kinds of unseasonable pleasantries like daffodils and Debajo del Sol opening early at Mark's Carts. Yes, that's what I said. We have opened the cart. We've rolled out our new crispy whitefish sandwich with grapefruit, beet slaw and pistachio pesto. We'll be out there for lunch form 11:30 to 3:30 p.m. for lunch on weekdays until the Friday grand opening contingent upon whether. Be sure to check out our Facebook Page for updates and don't forget to hit the "like" button.

Just to recap the winter, we were at Wolverine Brewing Company for the winter serving up some Spanish-style street food during trivia nights. Chef Jay also served up breakfast at Selma Cafe in February. That's him working on French toast.

The rest of the winter was spent preparing for what we'll be doing this spring, summer and fall at Mark's Carts. We are excited to return for a second year and to meet the new cart owners. We are also eager to see our regular customers again and to meet new ones. We've already had a good start, and we appreciate all of those who have stopped by and expressed their excitement about season two at Mark's Carts. See you at the courtyard.

Debajo del Sol at Mix Market Ypsi today

Chef Jay will be at Mix Market in Ypsi with delicious spinach, raisin and pine nut empanadas, saffron and almond chicken sandwiches.
Mix Market is located in the J Neil's Mongolian Grille building on the corner of Michigan Ave. and Washington Street, across from Mix, the store. The owner of Mix, Bonnie Penet and Leslie Leland, came up with a wonderful use for the empty building across from their shop by creating an indoor market that features locally made arts, crafts and foods.
We are really excited to be a part of something so wonderful happening in Ypsilanti, our hometown.

Debajo del Sol still cooking up good stuff at Wolverine State Brewing

Happy New Year to all of our friends, new and old. We have enjoyed becoming part of the Ann Arbor/Ypsi food community. We are excited for the upcoming year all the wonderful things that await us. As we gear up for a busy summer season, we are doing anything but taking a break during winter.

Chef Jay is setting up shop regularly at Wolverine State Brewing at 2019 W. Stadium. He will be there Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays starting tonight. Tonight, he will feature his infamous lamb burger. He also is heating up the fryer for his crispy patatas with brava sauce and aioli. As is Chef Jay's way, he loves to experiment with merging Spanish flavors and classic Midwestern comfort foods. He has recently done just that with his Manchego-chorizo mac and cheese. Sound good to you? Then, drop on by Wolverine State Brewing tonight. Enjoy the great microbrewed beers Matt, Trevor, E.T., a.k.a. the Beer Wench, and crew are making and serving.

Production Day

Cristina's almond cookies (amaretti) packed and ready to go.









Jay hard at work.



One empanada, two empanada, three empanada, four...

Thank you, Ann Arbor! See what's in store for winter.

We had so much fun in our first season at Mark's Carts. We weathered some storms, literally. The September rain definitely put a damper on things, excuse the pun. Still, we loved the many regulars who stopped by and all of the people supported us this summer. It was an exciting time. We met so many great people who love food as much as we do.

We will hardly be stopping for winter. Jay will be around town with Debajo del Sol. Look for him. We know for sure we will be at KindleFest Market at Kerrytown on Friday, Dec. 2, from 6 to 10 p.m. and at Tiny Expo in Braun Court, across from Kerrytown, Saturday, Dec. 10, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Until then, have a great Thanksgiving!!!

Capturing a sunrise, a 9-11 meditation

Love this miraculous world that we did not make, that is a gift to us. --Wendell Berry

This is a photo of a sun rise I took a few weeks ago. It's not a fantastic photo by any means, but it represents a rare moment of peace in my life, a moment of watching something I have not really stopped to see in many years. After all, there are deadlines to meet, bills to pay, and all that jazz. Even now, I often wake up in a panic thinking about it all. But, today is a day of remembering, remembering that we are still here, remembering that day 10 years ago when we got the wind knocked out of us. We watched a door slam hard, shutting behind it our innocence and perhaps our naive "that could never happen here" thoughts out forever.

It's a different world, now. There is no going back. We hear talk of threat levels and wonder what that means for us. We see crazy ebbs and very few flows in the economy and wonder what that means for us. We hear chatterboxes on television trying to tell us to beware of this or beware of that and wonder what that means for us. In all of it, it can be hard to find a moment like the one above, a moment that brings clarity and makes me really see what truly matters.

We have all heard the stories of 9-11 survivors who were headed off to work, were on autopilot in their morning routines, as we all are so apt to be, when something, a sick child perhaps, made them stop and take a few minutes longer. In essence, we are all like those survivors. If nothing, the tragedy should not make us always fear the fact that this could happen again, but it should remind us of our fortunes, should make us stop more often and take in a breathtaking sunrise or take in, as I saw yesterday from the window of my food cart, a tender moment when two young parents are enraptured by the beauty of their sleeping infant. With the victims of 9-11 and their families in my heart, I choose to see more of these moments from here on out. I choose to capture more sunrises, to capture more smiles from my teenage children (yes, I am aware that means I have my work cut out for me), choose to worry less, to love more, to sing more, even if I can't carry a tune. Yes, our world has changed, but it can change again. Peace.