We're closed on Labor Day (Sept. 1)

Just a reminder that Just Local will be closed this Monday for Labor Day. So be sure to come in over the weekend to stock up for your end-of-the-summer cookouts.

We’ve got all kinds of good stuff for the grill. Salmon filets, brats (lamb, pork, turkey apple, bison), sausages (Italian, chorizo), and hot dogs (natural beef, chicken, and bison), ground beef and bison, steaks, pork chops, chicken (parts and whole), lamb chops, racks, ground.

Add some ears of corn, red peppers, eggplant, squash, make a big batch of guacamole or salsa with chips, a potato salad with some yummy little fingerlings or reds, and enjoy it all with some nice cold Wisconsin beer.

Oh yeah...

SALMON has returned to our freezer

We just restocked our freezer with wild-caught Chinook salmon. These salmon are caught off of the Alaskan coast, and processed and frozen at sea, for the ultimate in frozen freshness.

We get these salmon through Beaver Creek Ranch. Doug from Beaver Creek explained to me why the labels occasionally have “Chile” on them. The salmon are NOT from Chile, but some of the processing boats are in international waters (off the Alaskan coast), and are from different countries, including Chile. These boats label the fish they package and freeze with the boat’s country of origin. Mystery solved. Eat salmon.

Here's a nice video to show How to Grill Salmon:
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/How-to-Grill-Salmon-Video/Detail.aspx

Bison Steak Sale!

We've got a few nice thick bison steaks left, and they're yours for 20% off regular price. If you're already a buffalo fan, or have wanted an excuse to try it, stop down and pick one up for the grill.

Here are some tips on grilling bison:
http://www.bisonbasics.com/recipes/rib_loin/fvrt_stk.html

Grassfed bison steaks are similar to 'select' grade beef steaks in that there is little or no inter-muscular fat, or what is known as 'marbling'. That's why it is very important to get to know your barbecue's cooking temperament. Little or no marbling means that the steak can be cooked very quickly and end up being easily over done if left on the grill just a minute or two too long.

For best results, tender bison steaks should first be seared over high heat for about a minute on each side. Then to avoid over cooking, the steak should be finished over medium/medium-low heat with the barbecue cover closed. For a 3/4 inch thick steak, usually only another 3 to 4 minutes of cooking per side is all that's required for a rare steak. Medium rare will only take a minute or so longer.

Produce 8-21-2008

This week in produce we received four kinds of local garlic: Chesnock Red, Romanian Red, Georgian Crystal and Georgian Fire. Georgian Fire has a good flavor with a moderate to hot spiciness and it is listed as endangered and hard to find according to the Seeds of Diversity Catalogue. Georgian Crystal has a smooth and zesty taste and is also listed as endangered. Chesnock Red is great for cooking or roasting and has purple stripes. Romanian Red has a strong flavor with red and brown cloves. Locally we have also received: blueberries, raspberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, cherries, blackberries, cauliflower, zucchini, patty pans, eggplant, cucumbers, broccoli, sweet corn, cabbage, purple peppers, green peppers, russet potatoes, yellow onion, beets, arugula, heirloom tomatoes, white cherry tomatoes and roma cherry tomatoes. We also have many other delicious fruits and vegetables in produce so come down to the store anf check things out.

delivery vehicles

Hey there. Just a reminder to y'all that our weekly delivery service is still going strong. Those of you that have been with us since the beginning will remember the old postal service step van we powered with biodiesel. Or maybe you saw the Ford Escort powered by vegetable oil. Now we're delivering food around town in a couple of late model Volkswagens that get great mileage. Why VWs?? They are small, efficient, and capable of the task. We know they won't last forever, though, so we're looking to the future to see what we might replace them with. This morning a few nice folks from the NEV car store in LaCrosse brought a Wisconsin-made electric vehicle to our store for a public demonstration. Without a doubt, it is unique, in looks and in how it gets around. We've got a lot of homework to do before we know whether it will work for our delivery service. The purchase price is fairly steep, especially compared to used VW's, but the operating costs per mile are just a few pennies. A crowd of interested locals were there to greet it, along with a few TV crews. You might have seen the story on WQOW, which is one reason why I'm posting this info here. Their headline reported that we've added the van to our route - we haven't - we just hosted the NEV guys from LaCrosse, and will again September 20 if you're interested in seeing it for yourself. Feel free to comment on this post if you have an opinion or ideas on the NEV or our delivery service! And thanks to WQOW for the coverage, the LT for printing an announcement of the visit, and the fellas from LaCrosse who took time out of their day to share this innovative new vehicle with us.

important local food survey

I received this from long-time supporter and UWEC economics professor Eric Jamelske, who kindly asked me to post this to our website. I heartily endorse your participation!

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Economics Department and University of Wisconsin-Extension are asking you to participate in a short 10 minute survey on household food purchasing.

There's even a carrot on a stick for you donkeys out there! Upon completing the survey you can enter a drawing to win one of six prizes totaling $350. (1 - $100 Prize and 5 - $50 Prizes) The survey and more information can be found at this web address.

Click on the link that says take the survey now. Thank you for your participation!

More Details:

In Wisconsin there is a strong push to develop a more robust local/regional food system, for economic development as well as for environmental and health reasons. Recently there has been a great deal of attention surrounding where the food we eat actually comes from, how far it travels and how healthy and nutritious it really is.

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Economics Department and Chippewa Valley Center for Economic Research and Development (CVCERD) have partnered with UW-Extension Barron/Chippewa Counties on a very timely research project. Our goal is to characterize the landscape of local food production and consumption (Supply & Demand) in West Central Wisconsin.

You are being asked to participate in a survey of households to aid the UWEC-CVCERD and UW-EX in quantifying the purchase of locally raised food by households in the region. Completing this survey will take about 10 minutes of your time and your participation is entirely voluntary.

new in bulk

In our ongoing quest to serve you better and work more directly with family farmers for a wide variety of foods, we have recently found a new source for some of our beans, grains and dried fruit. Ferris Organic Farm in Michigan is both certified organic and Kosher. Read for yourself, a quote pulled directly from their website.

"Our 200 acre farm consists of about 150 tillable acres and has been certified organic since certification began. We have just changed to the Global Organic Alliance organic certifier. All grains, beans,and flour produced here are Kosher and Parve (Congregation Bais Chabad). We have an ‘on farm’ certified organic dry bean and grain cleaning facility, the first one certified organic in the mid-west. We have a modest warehouse building that contains an office, cold room and re-bagging room."

Please note that only some of these beans and grains are grown directly on their farm, such as pintos and raw wheat germ. We have been searching hard for a bulk supplier that can cover many of our needs and bring it all to us in one shipment versus sourcing out many suppliers that would require multiple shipments, thus using more fuel (and increasing delivery costs) to get it to us! Please do let us know however if you can source a more local or regional product for some of the items listed so that we can constantly be aware and proactive. Send requests or suggestions to Jen. I am happy to receive any word on more regional suppliers of any of these items.

New items to the shelves at JLF:

• Pinto beans (Michigan)
  
• Wheat Germ, raw (Michigan)
  
• Red Lentils (Turkey)
  
• Green Lentils (Canada)
  
• French Du Puy Lentils (Canada)
  
• Quinoa (Peru)
  
• Bulghar (Turkey)
  
• Dried Mango slices (Thailand)
  

Sorry folks, they only have the sweetened, unsulphured available to us, we used to carry the unsweetened through a different supplier. Let us know what you think.
Stop in and bulk up!

Produce 8/13/08

This week in produce at Just Local Food we received: apricots, avocados, bananas, green top carrots, cauliflower, celery, black mission figs, ginger, black grapes, red grapes, green grapes, grapefruit, kiwi, lemons, limes, mango, portabella mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, white nectarines, yellow nectarines, red onions, yellow onions, white onions, valencia oranges, white peaches, yellow peaches, red sensation pears, green peppers, plums, pluots, purple potatoes, red potatoes, yellow fingerling potatoes, russet potatoes, yukon potatoes, strawberries and yams. Local this week we have: zucchini, red watermelon, yellow watermelon, cantaloupe, sweet corn, heirloom tomatoes, cherry roma tomatoes, shallots, garlic, Walla Walla onions, crimini mushrooms, white mushrooms, leeks, cucumbers, Mississippi greens, cherries, cabbage, broccoli, beets, basil and beans. This week we are unable to get any salad greens or spinach, the truck that delivers to our main produce distributor tipped over so they don't have any and Dragsmith is sold out of them this week. We should get them back in next week.

Moving Update

We are well on our way to securing a new location for our grocery store in Downtown Eau Claire, and we should be able to announce the spot in the beginning of September. Thanks to our many customers and new investors, we've raised over $60,000 in equity in just the past few months which is enough to leverage the $250,000 needed for our new project. So many thanks to our great farmers that produce the food we sell, and you, our customers for your continued support. We can still use more community investors, just let us know if you are interested!

regional and local products new to the shelves

We have a few new additions to our now twice a week Co-op Partners produce order. Each new item has a story, and since they all come via Co-op (aka the Wedge) they have something special about them...

Mrs. Clarks, a company that was actually Mrs. Clark, is now an Ag Cooperative in Iowa. We have their plain Mayonnaise.

French Nuggets are tasty, good for you and made in the Cities. We have almond and peanut. These are hearty, delicious chocolates that aren't too sweet - I call them vitamins, they do your body good!

SunButter - an alternative to peanut butter, and produced in a truly peanut-free facility. We carry their certified organic variety, made from delicious organic sunflower seeds.

Produce 08/06/08

This week in produce we have; apricots, avocado, bananas, burgundy beans, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Rainier cherries, eggplant, Kadota figs, garlic, ginger, black grapes, red grapes, green grapes, champagne grapes, kiwi, Meyer lemons, limes, mangoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, Portabella mushrooms, Shiitake mushrooms, nectarines, Valencia oranges, peaches, pears, green peppers, Simka plums, Red Raven plums, Dapple Dandy pluots, Flavor Grenade pluots, purple potatoes, red potatoes, yellow Fingerling potatoes, russet potatoes, Yukon potatoes, spinach, Acorn squash, Kabocha squash, Spaghetti squash, strawberries, purple tomatillo, tomatoes and yams. Local this week we have Dragon Langerie beans, Flat Roma beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, dark sweet cherries, Emperor Francis cherries, sweet corn, basil, cucumbers, garlic, leeks, Wissota greens, Mississippi greens, Crimini mushrooms, White Button mushrooms, scapes, shallots, tomatoes and zucchini. The stone fruits have been fantastic this year so far and I am looking forward to getting more local choices on them as well. The local cherries we just started to get are fantastic. We got a new variety this morning called Emperor Francis, they look and taste similar to the Rainier cherries that we have been getting but are better because they are local. So come down and pick out some produce that you don't have in your garden or at the farmers market.