We're working so hard to be here to help make your Thanksgiving as stress-free and tasty as possible, that I really feel like Thanksgiving COULD be our middle name. (Actually, I guess "Food" is our middle name and Thanksgiving is surely a lot about that!)
Before we start all the Thanksgiving stuff, I want to remind you that our excellent annual event, The Wheatsville Artsfest, is coming right around the corner (Dec. 6 and 7!) And, there's a new location this year, also around the corner in Adams Park! There is more info at our web-site and in the December Breeze coming out on Dec. 1st! Artsfest is always a great fun time to listen to awesome music and buy locally handmade specialties from local artists and artisans. Consider taking the But Handmade Pledge this year: http://buyhandmade.org/
Wheatsville Hoodies- Preorder only!
I am very excited to offer an exciting opportunity to our Owners. We'll be taking Pre-orders untill Monday Nov. 24 for Wheatstsville's first ever Hooded Sweatshirts! These great zip up hoodies will ONLY be avalible on a pre-order basis, they WILL NOT be for sale in the store. If you are interested in ordering one, ask your friendly cashier when you are checking out and they will give you the order form. These are kind of like those "Members only" jackets from the 80s, but less cheesy.
Color Choices: Irish Green or Black
SIZES: S-2XL, 3XL black only
COST: S-2XL $35.00
3XL $36.95
Remember this is a very limited time offer. The deadline to order is next Monday Nov. 24th!!!
Please do remember to vote in our annual election! We need about 100 more votes to close the election. If you haven't voted, please do: http://wheatsville.coop/
Now back to THANKSGIVING!
Scroll down for:
The deli's delicious offerings! (Don't forget the pie!)
Cheesy delights
Turkey and more including hot to roast a turkey!
Tofurky at the best price in town (by FAR!)
Real Ale i real beer and it's really on sale!
FOOD DRIVE!!!
It's definitely holiday time in the Wheatsville Deli and we will begin our holiday production this weekend with all sorts of homemade Thanksgiving fare for your table!
By Monday, the full and self-serve Deli cases will be overflowing with holiday dishes for you to take home: Roasted Fall Root Vegetables, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Vegan Cornbread Stuffing, Festive Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans with Mushrooms, Leek-Roasted Carrots and Tempeh, Cranberry-Orange Relish, and Vegan Mushroom Gravy. We will also have appetizer spreads like Walnut Pecan Pate and Garlic Chive Cheddar Cheese Balls on hand Рjust add crackers or crudit̩s!
Plus, our bakery will be making homemade Vegan Rosemary Biscuits for your holiday table, as well as five kinds of pie: Vegan Pumpkin, Classic Pumpkin, Pecan, Vegan Coconut Cream and Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter. Be sure to come by before the holiday and pick up all of your favorites! ALl of our pies are very delicious and even the vegan ones are rich and sweet. They may not convert anyone, but they will delight them!
I wanted to say a big Thank You to all of the people that came by and raved about our yummy Thanksgiving side dishes at the holiday. The positive feedback was amazing and it is always my pleasure to share my love of our food with you. I really enjoyed talking to everybody and had a great time.
Smoothie of the month alert:
Only 2 more weeks left of our famous Pumpkin Pie smoothie! Come by and try this out before the end of the month.
Deli platters
Cold cuts and Cheese, and Meditterranean Trays are available for pre-Thanksgiving get togethers, just give us 48 hrs notice. Look for our yummy grab and go sandwiches in our self serve case, along with all of our salad selections. These are great for holiday shopping times. You don't even have to think about dinner, let us take that pressure off of you so that you can focus on more exciting things….like making your perfect holiday dinner. Also, keep these in mind for any of your December holiday gatherings!
Holiday Platter tips from the land of cheese
Wondering what to do for your next Holiday dinner or party? Why not impress your friends and family with a cheese plate. It is simple to present and can be served as an appetizer course, the main course or as a desert. Yes, desert. You should serve 3 to seven cheeses with a variety of textures (soft, semi soft, firm or hard) milks and (cow, goat, ewe) and tastes (mild to strong). The amount of cheese to buy is dependent on where in the meal the cheese plate is being served. If the cheese plate is being served as an appetizer, desert or as an hour dourve 3 - 4 ounces of each cheese per person and 6 ounces if the cheese plate is the main course. You should allow you cheeses to sit out an hour before being served. The flavors become stronger as the cheese warms. The cheese should be presented from mildest flavor to the strongest flavor, moving clockwise.
Don't know which cheese is the strongest in flavor? Then use your nose. The stinkiest cheeses are usually the strongest in flavor. That means that blues are generally the last on the plate. Use a different knife for each cheese so that the next person isn't left with a Drunken Goat Cheese that tastes like English Stilton. You can garnish the plate with grape or fig leaves, sliced apples or pears, maybe some edible flowers for bling. Crackers or crusty bread are generally served along with the cheese plate. Use plain crackers. Crackers with pepper or herbs will compete with the flavor of the cheese. Remember it is all about the cheese. You want to compliment not compete. To accompany the cheese and bread you could sever a fig spread, quince paste, olives, apples, pears and roasted nuts. Sliced onions go well with blues. Wines go great with cheese and for every good cheese, there is a good wine. Sweeter wines go better with the stronger, saltier cheeses. A good Port or Muscat would compliment a good blue. You could give your plate a theme. Serve French cheeses from different regions and serve a wine that is from each region. Remember, its all up to you and your cheese plate can be anything you want. There are no rules. Happy pairing!!!
From Bryan in the Meat department:
Wheatsville will offer Grateful Harvest Natural or organic turkeys and bone-in chef's breast. Grateful Harvest turkeys are raised on small farms, cage free without the use of hormones or antibiotics and are free of additives and gluten-free. When choosing a size of turkey the rule of thumb is 1 pound of turkey per person, 1/2–3/4 of a pound for kids, plus whatever you want for leftovers.
We will also have the following"
Local grass-fed boneless legs of lamb ($11.99lb) from Loncito's Lamb.
Boneless rib roast from Niman Ranch at $17.99lb.
The "Right Way" Roasted Turkey
one 16 pound turkey
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
For brine:
2 cups kosher salt
8 quarts water
If brining, dissolve salt in water in a large stock pot. Add turkey and refrigerate overnight. Remove from brine, rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Proceed as below.
For stock:
neck, gizzard and heart from turkey, rinsed and dried
canola oil
1 medium onion cut in half
1 medium carrot
1 stalk celery
1 bay leaf
1 tsp peppercorns
3 cups chicken stock
3 cups water
Place a small volume of oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add neck, gizzard and heart and cook, turning until browned. Add the remaining stock ingredients and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours, skimming foam from time to time. Strain and set aside. This can be done well ahead of the rest of the meal.
Roasting turkey:
Rinse inside and out, dry with paper towels and bring turkey to room temperature, keeping skin covered with a moist towel to prevent drying. Preheat oven to 500° degrees (450° works nearly as well, cooking times will be slightly longer). Sprinkle turkey with ground pepper and salt and place directly into a roasting pan (a rack can be used if you wish but it's not necessary). Cook 1 hour then rotate the pan 180 degrees. Add 1-2 cups water or chicken stock to pan if drippings appear to be turning too dark.
Check temperature in the thickest part of the thigh at 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven when temperature is 170°, about 2 hour's total cooking time for unstuffed turkey. Add approximately 30 minutes to cooking time if you have stuffed the turkey. Let turkey sit for 30 minutes, during which the temperature in the thigh should reach 180°.
Gravy:
While turkey is resting, pour fat from roasting pan and place pan over medium-high heat. Pour stock into pan; boil, scraping up the browned fond from the pan. Boil until reduced nearly by half, check and add salt and pepper to taste. Keep hot and serve with turkey.
This high heat method reliably yields moist flavorful turkey and is remarkable for its simplicity. Brining is not essential, and plain chicken broth can be used for making the pan gravy instead of the giblet stock. Cooking times are short: 3 hours for a 20 pound unstuffed turkey, and an amazing 1 hour and 20 minutes for a12 pound turkey.
Become familiar with high temperature roasting and you will enjoy predictable results, simplify holiday cooking, and have more time to enjoy this special time of the year with your family.
We still have great discounts on great breakfast starters:
Pederson's Breakfast Sausage regular $5.49ea now 30 cents off with member coupon
Pederson's Applewood smoked uncured bacon regular $7.99 now get 30 cents off with member coupon.
This month the meat counter is offering a great discount on all sustainable seafood. Since sustainable seafood is the only seafood we support that means everything is 50 cents off total sticker price with member coupon. Enjoy this and thank you for supporting sustainable seafood at your local Co-op.
In the Beer Aisle
For a limited time only: REAL ALE SALE
For a short time, we are offering all Real Ale six-packs for $6.49, a dollar off of our usual low price! The time is now to stock up on your favorites like Fireman's #4, Full Moon Pale Rye, Rio Blanco Pale Ale and Brewhouse Brown. These are great to bring to Thanksgiving dinner.
Thanksgiving Treats Beyond the Norm from Johnny in Produce
As I mentioned in my last Breeze article, Thanksgiving doesn't have to be all about candied yams, and pumpkin pies. Traditional Thanksgiving sides appear year after year, just like A Christmas Story, and we all know how they taste. Sometimes, breaking the monotony of Holiday pastes and spreads can be as simple as adding a few, new, seasonal ingredients to the mix, or bringing something completely new to the table. If you like making pumpkin pie, try grating a little fresh ginger into it rather than using the powdered variety, or for apple pies, add fresh ginger, crystallized ginger, and some fresh raspberries of a new twist on an old favorite. One really nice treat for the Holidays, that stays within the theme of seasonal produce, are Poached Pears. Pears are so great, yet people often just don't know what to do with them. Here is a great recipe from the New York Times Bitten Blog, that tastes great and is easy to make. http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.
For other recipes that help rethink the norm for Thanksgiving, please refer to my last Breeze article.
Get Your Must Haves and Side Staples From Your Produce Department
There are plenty of things that you just need to have to pull off a successful Thanksgiving meal, and we'll have plenty of them available in Produce. Celery, carrots, onions and garlic are must haves for the Holidays, so make sure you come by and stock up. We also have a nice selection of organic fresh herbs available, such as sage, thyme, and rosemary. Don't forget your greens! We always have a great selection of organic greens, like lacinato kale, curly kale, several types of chard, mustard, and turnip greens, and even collards. Greens make easy sides when lightly steamed or sauteed and will help balance out your meal of starchy pastes, meats, or tofurkys. We have quite a nice variety of sweet potatoes right now, so you have your choice from Jersey Sweets, Japanese, Garnet and Jewel Yams. We also have fresh, organic cranberries, if you like making your cranberry sauce from scratch or enjoy getting creative with your side. Come on in, we'll have extra staff on hand to make your pre-holiday shopping experience as easy and friendly as possible. Happy Thanksgiving!
Give thanks and give back
As we give thanks for all that we have, I hope that a spirit of generosity will encourage you to fill up our food drive bin for the kind folks at the Capital Area Food Bank.
People often wonder what they should donate:
Healthy non-perishable food
Items with intact, un-opened, consumer or commercial packaging
Items with non-breakable packaging (no glass please)
Food within the expiration date on the packaging
What are the most-requested items?
Canned meats like tuna, stew and chili (pop-tops preferred)
Canned vegetables
Pasta & pasta sauce
Beans
Rice
Healthy cereals
Peanut butter
Baby food & baby formula
IN years past, we have filled the bin several times over. Can you help us do it again this year?
Thanks in advance for your generosity!
I hope that you have a great weekend, a wonderful week and the finest Thanksgiving ever!
