Apple Spice Junction

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Here is a great recipe  that some Apple Spice Junction stores will be offering for the Fall/Winter season.  It is really yummey and easy to make.  It comes to us from the kitchen of Amy Clegg.  Enjoy!

Mediterranean Chicken Chili

 1 tsp olive oil

1 1/4 cups chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced, or 2 tsp bottled minced garlic

4 (4 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

2 (19 oz) cans cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups coarsely chopped zucchini

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried basil

1 (4 oz) package crumbled feta cheese

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, saute 3 minutes or just until tender. Add chicken; saute 5 minutes or until done. Add tomatoes and next 8 ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Sprinkle feta cheese on individual serving bowls.

(I use precooked chicken breasts that I chop up and add after I sauté the onion and garlic.)

The feta cheese is a must – it adds so much to the flavor of the chili.  You don’t need a lot, but you need it.

After reading Alison’s comments last week, it got me thinking about fall as well. For many years now, I’ve had the privilege of coaching little league football and more recently, the great sport of lacrosse. Not only have I always enjoyed the opportunity to spend the time with my sons and the many other young men that have played on our teams, I continue to realize the many life lessons that sports teaches. For example, we always are teaching the boys to never give up, no matter what the score is. We’re always teaching them to do their very best no matter what position they play, that they’re part of a team, etc.  I’ve also realized what a great place little league sports are for kids who want to be a part of something. Every year, there are kids who really don’t care what position they play, what team they’re on, or what number they wear. They’re simply glad to be part of the team……. I’ve also realized the tremendous responsibility that comes with coaching and it’s not so much about teaching kids how to block, tackle or pass the ball. It’s helping them find self worth. It’s making sure that each boy knows he’s important not only to the team but to the world. It’s amazing what a pat on the back of the helmet coupled with a “you did a great job today” will do…. I love to win and I can’t stand losing but that’s not how I judge the season anymore. Regardless of wins and losses, the measuring stick revolves around what the boys learned about life, feeling confident that the kids are better prepared to meet the world, and they know they’re important.

I’m sure you didn’t expect my personal outlook on coaching…. What got the whole thing going was the thought of the cool autumn air and how much I look forward to coming home to a hot bowl of my wife’s delicious chili after practice.  It goes hand in hand with this time of year.  I’m lucky because it’s not just any chili, it’s Amy’s special recipe….. That’s right; the one on our menu is my wife’s recipe.  If I can manage to grab a fresh baked sourdough bread bowl from the store and pile it high with the chili, melt some grated cheddar cheese on it, break a handful of saltines, push them in, add a drop or two of Tabasco, I’m in heaven…..

 When you talk about the fall weather, you can’t ignore the thought of great homemade soup and fresh baked bread to take the edge off the cold weather.  Somehow, it just seems to hit the spot. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and check out our Baja Tortilla, my personal favorite, or any of our other wonderful soups. If you’re feeling extra hungry, add a fresh baked sourdough bread bowl to it. They’re sure to warm you up. If you can’t make it by the store, just jump on www.applespice.com and use our great online ordering system, call, or fax, and have some delivered to your office. Make sure to include your co-workers though or you’re not likely to end up getting any of what you ordered…..

Randy

September is one of my favorite months.   The weather turns cooler with a crisp feeling in the mornings, the leaves are turning into their fall colors, the days are(daylight) getting shorter and there is a longing for the Thanksgiving turkey and all that we are thankful for.  It’s a great time of year.  I think I got my love for the Fall from my Grandmother.  She and my Grandfather were ranchers in Wyoming and used to say that she loved the Fall because they had made all the money they were going to make, they had lost all the money they were going to lose, and she could finally sit back and relax a little.

Every year in the fall, Wayne (one of the owners) and I have a little ceremony that we do with the first pumpkin pies to be sent out in catering.  We always make an extra pie for us so that we can have a slice, too.  Wayne always jokes around as he is cutting into it and tells me that there is not enough for both of us… deep down inside I think he is serious.  We pile it high with whip cream and then take the first bite together.  It’s pretty lame that we do that, but I look forward to it every year.  It always marks the end of the summer for me and transitions me from my Summer Sizzle Barbecue/hamburger/hotdog/chicken mode to my Turkey/Ham/Cranberry Chicken Holiday menu mode.   I move from a summer menu of baked beans, potato and pasta salad and fruit, to a winter menu of mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls and corn.  It’s a pretty smooth transition for me….as long as it goes down with pumpkin pie!

Alison Ainge

Being in the box lunch delivery & catering business provides a unique opportunity to develop strong relationships with our customers. It’s different than the drive thru window or even walking into a fast food joint where you have a brief interaction and then leave.

When a customer calls to order box lunches for an upcoming meeting, the first reason might be because they like the way we build our sandwiches on fresh baked bread or they can’t wait any longer to drizzle our homemade ranch dressing across the top of a chef salad…. We’re honored that so many people love our food. Last month alone, we delivered over 70,000 box lunches across our system.  Personally, I have been eating it for 21 years now and I still love it!

In addition to the great taste behind our menu items is the reliability our customers have come to depend on us for since 1988. We’ve had the great privilege of providing box lunches for many of the same customers for several years now all over the country. On what I would call a fairly regular basis, we’ve been trusted to supply some of our country’s finest corporations with box lunches exceeding 5,000 in a single sitting. Sure, they like our food, but more importantly they trust us to come through and deliver the box lunches on time. They trust that the order will be correct and that every box lunch will have the items in it that were ordered. They also trust that we have taken care of the food properly before hand, during preparation and in transit. These important factors coupled with great tasting food make for a truly enjoyable experience.

To all of our customers, we thank you for the many opportunities to deliver box lunches to your various organizations. We appreciate the trust and the confidence you have in the many Apple Spice Junction teams across the country and we pledge to continue delivering a fresh, delicious product, on time, every time!

Randy Clegg

People are like rubber bands…they perform best when they are stretched.  I heard this recently while talking with one of our franchisees about their staffing levels.  It made me think of a large onsite barbecue I attended with the staff of the Orem Apple Spice Junction store two weeks ago.  The barbecue was for 3500 people and everyone came at once.  We had set up 8 buffet lines to handle the crowd but it was still a little daunting to see that many people coming at you all at once.  It went so great, though.  Everyone on the staff worked so hard that night.  They had already put in a full day of catering and had been preparing food for the barbecue, also.  Nobody was complaining about how tired they were or how long they had worked that day.  The guys cooking the burgers and hot dogs on the grill had to keep all the grills loaded all the time.  It was hot outside…Utah in the summer…and it was so hot in the grill tent.  There was such an amazing spirit of teamwork going on, though.  People were watching out for each other, asking if they could get each other drinks and helping out with watching each other’s stations.  It was a great example of stretching people and people rising to the occasion.

Alison Ainge

Occasionally, I find myself reminiscing about the 21 years we’ve been in business. I think back to the first location in Salt Lake City, Utah that we opened in 1988. Fortunately, we had some real wisdom behind our fresh baked bread. Fritz the Rye King, a Salt Lake icon in the bakery business, tutored us on a daily basis. His wholesale bakery was just 50 feet away and he made it a point to come over every morning about 5:00 am just as we were arriving and just before he was getting ready to do his delivery to local restaurants in town. Thank goodness for Fritz! Both Fritz and his dear wife Anna (Momma to close friends) have passed on now and unbeknownst to him, he still touches the taste buds of thousands of people across our country every year when someone bites into one of our scrumptious sandwiches on fresh baked honey wheat, 13 grain, or sourdough bread. Or when someone orders a box lunch with one of our crisp garden salads served next to 2 slices of our fresh baked bread….. Just today, when I was walking through our dining room, 2 customers who were dining with us for their first time asked me if I would give them the recipe to our honey wheat bread…. They said it was the best they had ever tasted. I got a little choked up, and then I told them it wasn’t our recipe, it was Fritz’s…..

Randy Clegg

One of the steps to eating healthy is to enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  Surveys show that most Americans don’t eat enough of these foods.  One of the ways you can choose to put more of these foods into your diet is to serve them when you are planning business meetings. 

Apple Spice Junction offers a number of healthy meals on our catering menu for you to choose from.  One of those meals is our Grilled Teriyaki Kabobs.  They have grilled chicken, mushrooms, red and green peppers and yellow and green squash on them.  They are yummy and healthy and are served with rice pilaf and salad and bread.  Apple Spice always sends a Fat Free Raspberry Vinaigrette salad dressing with every catering order so that anyone who is trying to eat more healthy always has the option. 

Another healthy meal is our Salad Bar Extravaganza.  This comes with a salad and all the vegetable fixings, fruit, and bread.  Different toppings can be ordered with the most healthy one being the grilled chicken.  We also serve a meal that has Grilled Chicken as the main course.  This meal comes with steamed vegetables, rice pilaf, salad and bread.

Apple Spice Junction can help you maintain a healthy eating lifestyle even at work.  Give us a try!

What are some of the things you like to do to relax at lunch time?  Check your Facebook status?  Tweet?  Surf a little Youtube?  Well, you can do all these things while eating a delicious lunch at Apple Spice Junction.  Most of our deli’s are equipped with Wi Fi for your surfing pleasure so you can sit back, relax and enjoy your fabulous food all while entertaining yourself on the internet.  Come on in and visit with us!

More and more, daily tasks that used to require phone calls are being done over the internet.  One of the ways that Apple Spice Junction is using to make things easier on our customers and more efficient on your time is our online ordering for our Deli/Box Lunch Delivery.  From our website all you have to do is click on the location that you want to order from and then click on the order online link to get to where you place your order.  The system is very easy to use and guides you through the order process step by step.  When you’re all done you receive an email confirming that we have your order.  What could be easier?  Let us help you take the stress out of your day!

What is Cinco De Mayo and why is it celebrated?  Mostly, I think we use it as an excuse to have a party.  It actually has a very relevant reason why it is a treasured holiday in Mexico.  Here’s what really happened:

4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862.

The French had landed in Mexico (along with Spanish and English troops) five months earlier on the pretext of collecting Mexican debts from the newly elected government of democratic President (and Indian) Benito Juarez.  The English and Spanish quickly made deals and left.  The French, however, had different ideas.

Under Emperor Napoleon III, who detested the United States, the French came to stay.  They brought a Hapsburg prince with them to rule the new Mexican empire.  His name was Maximilian; his wife, Carolota.  Napoleon’s French Army had not been defeated in 50 years, and it invaded Mexico with the finest modern equipment and with a newly reconstituted Foreign Legion.  The French were not afraid of anyone, especially since the United States was embroiled in its own Civil War.

The French Army left the port of Vera Cruz to attack Mexico City to the west, as the French assumed that the Mexicans would give up should their capital fall to the enemy — as European countries traditionally did.

Under the command of Texas-born General Zaragosa, (and the cavalry under the command of Colonel Porfirio Diaz, later to be Mexico’s president and dictator), the Mexicans awaited.  Brightly dressed French Dragoons led the enemy columns.  The Mexican Army was less stylish.

General Zaragosa ordered Colonel Diaz to take his cavalry, the best in the world, out to the French flanks.  In response, the French did a most stupid thing; they sent their cavalry off to chase Diaz and his men, who proceeded to butcher them.  The remaining French infantrymen charged the Mexican defenders through sloppy mud from a thunderstorm and through hundreds of head of stampeding cattle stirred up by Indians armed only with machetes.

When the battle was over, many French were killed or wounded and their cavalry was being chased by Diaz’ superb horsemen miles away.  The Mexicans had won a great victory that kept Napoleon III from supplying the confederate rebels for another year, allowing the United States to build the greatest army the world had ever seen.  This grand army smashed the Confederates at Gettysburg just 14 months after the battle of Puebla, essentially ending the Civil War.

That’s why Cinco de Mayo is such a party — A party that celebrates freedom and liberty.  There are two ideals which Mexicans and Americans have fought shoulder to shoulder to protect, ever since the 5th of May, 1862.  VIVA! el CINCO DE MAYO!!

So now you know why you should book a catered meal from Apple Spice Junction on May 5th.  You have a great reason to celebrate!  Check out our catering menu for tasty south of the border selections that will make your Cinco De Mayo Party a hit.