Chef Laurey Masterton

Biography

Laurey Masterton is the youngest of the three daughters of Elsie and John Masterton, founders of the original Blueberry Hill Inn, in Goshen, Vermont and authors of the three Blueberry Hill Cookbooks.

Laurey studied theatrical lighting design at The University of New Hampshire and worked backstage in New York City in this field: off, off-off, and on Broadway. She was an Outward Bound Instructor, co-creating and instructing the first Outward Bound courses for Cancer Survivors at The North Carolina Outward Bound School before starting her catering company, Laurey’s (yum!) in Asheville, North Carolina in 1987.

In 1999, Laurey was awarded the Small Business Leader of the Year for both Asheville and for the state of North Carolina. In 2001, she was the recipient of The Athena Award, which promotes women’s leadership and honors outstanding leaders.

A long-time ovarian cancer survivor, in 2009 Laurey rode her bicycle across the United States for Ovarian Cancer awareness.

Laurey is a beekeeper and is also a chef/spokesperson for The National Honey Board. She is a hobby glass-blower, speaks Italian (pretty well), and collects sea urchins, antique chafing dishes, and old Clementine boxes.

Laurey’s is a bustling 50-seat café in downtown Asheville, a vibrant, walkable community in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Coming to Asheville? Come to Laurey’s!

Recipes by Chef Laurey Masterton

Laurey’s Rosemary Lemonade

Ingredients:

12 Lemons (to make about 2 cups of juice)

½ cup Sage honey – or a local varietal

Fresh rosemary

1 cup + 8 cups water

Here’s what you do

Make a simple syrup:

Combine the honey with 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan.

Bring to a boil.

Turn off heat.

While the syrup is still hot, add whole rosemary sprigs and leave in the syrup.

Squeeze 12 lemons

Combine the lemon juice with the rosemary syrup.

Add water to syrup/juice mixture.

Add more water if needed, remembering that once you add the juice to ice in a glass, the ice will melt and dilute the mixture to some degree.

Serve with a sprig of fresh rosemary in each glass.

Serves 12

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