BREW NEWS June 2009

Enjoy another edition of BREW NEWS!

1. Angry Minnow Sampling
2. New/Seasonal Beers
3. Wisconsin Brewers Guild
4. Pairing Tips
5. Single Beer Sales Changes

1. Angry Minnow Sampling - The beer sampling this month will feature Angry Minnow Brewery. Brewmaster Jason Rasmussen will be sampling River Pig Pale Ale, Honey Wheat, and other beers available at their Brew Pub in Hayward, WI. If you haven't tried this unpasteurized/unfiltered product yet, I suggest that you stop down and try a sample or two. We know you'll enjoy it.

SAMPLING
Thursday, June 18th
4PM-6PM

2. New/Seasonal Beers - In the last month, several new/seasonal beers have come through the door. Wheat beer season has hit full force.

Give these beers a shot:
Sand Creek Hard Lemonade 6pk
Sand Creek Special Reserve Scottish Ale 4pk
Northwoods Whitetail Wheat 6pk
Northwoods Floppin' Crappie Cans 6pk
New Glarus Totally Naked 6pk
Furthermore Knot Stock 6pk
Furthermore Fatty Boombalatty 6pk
Furthermore Oscura 6pk
Viking Weathertop Wheat 4pk
Summit Scandia Ale 6pk
Summit Summer Sampler 12pk
(feat. EPA, Scandia, Pilsener, & Hefe Weizen)

3. Wisconsin Brewers Guild - Several of the breweries we work with our part of the Wisconsin Brewers Guild. WBG Mission Statement: The Wisconsin Brewers Guild is dedicated to the revival of Wisconsin's brewing heritage through the production, marketing and sale of top quality craft beers while maintaining the integrity of individual brewers and their breweries. Sounds right up our alley. Check out their website for more info.

4. Pairing Tips - Gleaned from the WI Brewers Guild...

• The more hop bitterness the beer has, the heartier or livelier the meal needs to be to hold its own. Don’t overwhelm your palate or meal and ruin what the chef was trying to achieve.
• Another general rule is keep sweet with sweet, and tart with tart. Try to keep your beer sweeter or tarter than the sweet or tart food on the plate. There are exceptions, like pairing drier robust beers with sweet chocolates.
• Throw all of the rules out the window and experiment with contrasting and complimentary pairings. Match foods with complimentary flavors, or try contrasting them and create a slew of unique results.
• For those of you who are bound to the wine pairing school of thought, think of ale as red wine and lager as white wine. Hoppy beers can also be used in place of a pairing that calls for an acidic wine. Though it honestly doesn’t matter, these tips might help you to convert your taste buds over to beer—or those of a friend—over to beer.
• Taste is very subjective and what works for one person might not work for another. If it tastes good to you, then go for it. However, also be open to suggestions, as these tend to come with some knowledge and possible palate enlightenment.

5. Single Beer Sales Changes - We have changed our single beer sales a bit. We no longer offer a discount on 3, 4, or 5 pack mix and match. Look forward to a coupon for a discount on mix and match six packs in the near future. We unfortunately had to change this due to the fact that our individual beers range from $.99 to $2.89 now. Thanks for bearing with us.

"People who drink light 'beer' don't like the taste of beer; they just like to pee alot."
-Capital Brewery, Middleton, WI

Cheers! from the Beer Dudes (Drew & Jordan).

BBQ time!

Since many of our customers are still surprised at the variety of great meats we carry, we thought it would be a good time to give you some ideas for your grilling pleasure:

Brats & Sausages

Crescent Meats: Blue Cheese brats, Mushroom & Cheddar brats, Beer brats, Pork brats, smoked Polish kielbasa, Andoullie sausage, smoked Italian sausage with mozzarella & black olives

Beeler: jalapeno/jack brats, pork brats

Beaver Creek Ranch: turkey apple brats, beef hot dogs, Italian sausage (links & bulk), chorizo sausage (links & bulk)

Anderson Farms: uncured beef hot dogs & kielbasa

Golden Hills Buffalo: bison hot dogs & brats

Lambalot Acres: lamb brats (new recipe)

Coon Creek Family Farm: turkey sausage patties

Burgers

Wheatfield Hill Organics: ground beef – regular & lean

Little Spring Valley: ground beef, patties

Futility Farm: ground beef

Lambalot Acres: ground lamb, kabobs, steaks

Golden Hills Buffalo: ground bison & patties

Beaver Creek Ranch: ground turkey & ground chicken

Steaks, Chops, Chicken, Fish, Ribs

Coon Creek Family Farm: chicken (whole, cut-up, parts)

Romar: chicken (parts, smoked), Cornish game hens

Wild-caught Alaskan salmon fillets

Beaver Creek Ranch: whole turkey (on sale), boneless pork chops

Little Spring Valley: beef steaks

Lambalot Acres: lamb kabobs, steaks

Crescent Meats: bone-in pork chops, pork tenderloin, spare ribs, pork butt, lamb chops, shanks

Golden Hills Buffalo: bison steaks

thanks to Crescent Meats for the nice photos!

rhubarb

A good local spring meal is almost always topped off with Rhubarb, a perennial that has been cultivated for centuries (4500 years!) for both medicinal purposes and as plain ol' food.

Here are a variety of recipes from a site that has more information about Rhubarb than you ever thought possible.

Northwoods Sampling this Thursday! and Furthmore Restocked!

Just a reminder to all of you microbrew enthusiasts. Northwoods Brewpub will be down at the store this Thursday May 21st from 4-6PM sampling out some of their many great beers. Come join us for a Floppin' Crappie or Lil' Brown Bandit and bring a 6pack home for $7.69 ($1 off during the sampling only).

Also back in stock from the Furthermore folks...
Fatty Boombalatty - a dangerously drinkable Belgian
Knot Stock - a most particular pale
Oscura - a warm-fermented, cold-lagered cerveza oscura

Ready, Fire! Aim.

EGG SALE

We have an overstock of Matt Buvala's Eggs.

Stop in from now 'til Sunday (05/24) to receive 25% off,
for a grand total of $2.99.
(regular retail price - $3.99)

compost and soil UPDATE

Locally produced COWSMO compost will be back this weekend. Potting soil was just delivered by the Foodlums!

more shirts!

T-Shirts are back in! Support your favorite neighborhood store with "wearable art"!

Varieities available:

• Baby onesies, sizes 3-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months and 18-24 months. These styish onesies, made from certified organic cotton, are locally embroidered and sell for $19.99. The color is dijon.

• Organic cotton kid t-shirts sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. These locally screenprinted shirts sell for $15.99.

• Adult green ringer t-shirts for $15.99, made by American Apparel.
  

We still have our gray long sleeve shirts for $17.99 and our bright green hoodies for $29.99.

We also have a limited supply of "sun faded" hoodies in xs, s, m and l for $15.99.

Pictured above is the dijon colored kids shirt in size 10 (a little big for her), modeled by Olive. To the left is the new green adult ringer T.

fresh produce

Howdy. We wanted to post up a variety of fresh produce we received this week.

Morels! In and out as soon as we get them! (pictured at right are actual mushrooms from the store)

We're now carrying portobella mushrooms, big firm and fresh. Spaghetti squash all the way from California if you have a hankerin'. Kumquots are back for a limited time, their season is almost through. Red Bartlett pears from across the globe are here. Give one a try and you'll know why we have them, certified organic of course.

Some early snap peas are here for your pickin'.

And in addition to the ramps and asparagus, we've got local certified organic rhubarb from Otter Creek Valley Farm (on Hwy 53).

Try this simple idea for morels, asparagus and ramps.

Or Barbara Kingsolver's crazy bread pudding (substitute ramps for spring onions if you dare!).

And I'll ramble more variety in no particular order: local spring mix, shiitake, crimini and white mushrooms, celery, broccoli, red & green peppers, red & green cabbage, red & green lettuce, apples, blood & navel oranges, cilantro, chives, rosemary, cucumbers, lemons, ginger, local micro greens, spinach, kale, chard, bananas, avocados, red & yellow & white onions, red & yellow & white potatoes, shallots, yams, roma & cherry tomatoes... and more!

ramps aka wild leeks

Local produce of the week:

Ramps

Information straight from our grower, Harmony Valley:

Ramps grow wild in our part of the country, preferring deep forest soils and cool springs. We harvest them judiciously, selecting large bulbs with healthy leaves, leaving behind plenty to replenish the population for sustainable harvest for years to come. The flavor of ramps is inimitable, though they are reminiscent of leeks, hence their local name, wild leek. Their season is fleeting, three to four weeks in late April and early May, depending on the spring temperatures. Their supply is limited, so enjoy them in abundance while they are available.

asparagus! ASPARAGUS!

Ahhhh. Maple Season has passed (it was a good one, too!) The next major rite of spring is Asparagus. Fresh, firm, local asparagus. Deep green. Supremely healthy. ASPARAGUS!

We ask a mere $5.29 per pound for the good stuff coming up from the Kees family farm near Durand. Certified Organic and grown with care, love and attention. Handled carefully by our worker owners. It's good for you.

And its only for a short time each year!

Brew News - May 2009

Our second edition of Brew News!

1. New Breweries

2. New Beers

3. Drinkin’ in the Great Outdoors

4. Brewer’s Co-Op Update

5. This Month’s Sampling

6. Food Pairings/Cooking Ideas

1. New Breweries:

Rounding out our wonderful selection of local and regional beers, a couple more breweries are represented at our store:

-Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL

-Sprecher Brewing Company, Glendale, WI

2. New Beers:

We’ve got an ever-growing selection of beer at Just Local Food! Since beer is a highly seasonal item, particular beers go exceptionally well with each one. Spring is here and summer is just around the corner. We’ve got some great new brews to lead the way for warmer weather:

-Goose Island Honker’s Ale, India Pale Ale, 312 Wheat

-Sprecher Special Amber, Black Bavarian, Abbey Triple (16 oz. bottles)

-Central Waters Glacial India Pale Ale, Satin Solstice Imperial Stout

-Bell's Oberon

3. Drinkin’ in the Great Outdoors:

For your outdoor enjoyment, we offer some beers in “recreation-friendly” containers. This means aluminum cans! Sometimes glass bottles just aren’t a good idea when camping, at the park, or out on the water.

We’ll soon be stocking Northwood’s Floppin’ Crappie in 6pk cans! We also currently offer Leinenkugel’s Original and Light in 12pk and 24pk cans.

4. Brewer’s Co-Op Update:

With the addition of a few more breweries to our impressive line-up, we now offer selections from 7 of the 9 breweries involved in the Midwest Hops and Barley Cooperative. When we say “Just Local” in reference to our beer, we mean it! Here’s a list of the breweries:

Central Waters Brewing, Goose Island Brewery, Lake Front Brewery, Sand Creek Brewing, South Shore Brewery, Sprecher Brewing, Tyranena Brewing

(take a look at this article from the Leader-Telegram for the full story)

5. This Month’s Sampling:

On Thursday May 21^st, stop by our store to try out the most local beer we can find! From right here in Eau Claire, Northwoods Brew Pub will bring down a selection of their handcrafted ales. With award-winning beers in their line-up, you will surely find one that suits you. Time still-to-be-announced (sometime in the mid-late afternoon).

6. Food Pairings/Cooking Ideas:

A lot of us don’t drink beer alone. We’re often surrounded by family, friends, and more often than not, food. Beyond the old standbys of Pizza & Beer and the ceremonial Bratwurst Beer Bath before grilling, here are some other ideas of what to do with your favorite beverage:

-India Pale Ale with Dates. Yes, fruit and beer! One night, I just happened to be drinking a nice an’ hoppy IPA and saw some Medjool Dates in my fridge. Lo and behold, they tasted GREAT together! Try this duo for an interesting snack or dessert.

-Stout with Whiskey and Chocolate. I tested this out with New Glarus’ Coffee Stout topped off with some Irish whiskey. Pair it with Equal Exchange’s Dark Chocolate (the darker the better!) to pull out the rich undertones in the beer. Try it with Castle Rock’s Organic Vanilla Ice Cream for a more sophisticated take on the classic Root Beer Float.

-When matching beer with food, the general rule of thumb is to match light beers with light foods and dark beers with hearty foods. When making chili or stew infused with beer, keep in mind that dark beers like Stouts and Porters can become bitter when heated up. Try a nice “standard” Ale to give your favorite recipe the wonderful essence of beer that you’re looking for.

If you have some favorite recipes and/or methods of cooking with beer, please let us know so we can all benefit from your culinary knowledge!

-- The Beer Dudes (Drew and Jordan)

tortilla chips UPDATE!

REJOICE!

I spoke with Doug Hilgendorf at Whole Grain Milling on Monday. Their yellow and blue tortilla chips are tentatively back in production, and we expect a truckload of yellows to arrive this Friday... yes, yes, YES!

the old news:
We are very sorry to report that Whole Grain Milling Company has temporarily discontinued their amazingly delicious tortilla chips As many of you know, Doug and Lin Hilgendorf (and family!) have been growing organic blue and yellow corn on their farm and having tortilla chips freshly made from that corn every few weeks. They have informed us that the chip factory they were having their chips made at is not currently making chips for them. This news was abrupt and is unexplained. We are all devastated by the news. Doug and Lin are working hard to find a solution, and to bring the chips back as soon as possible. Sadly, there is no replacement for these incredibly delicious and addictive bags of awesomeness. The grocery department is ordering a variety of tortilla chips from other companies in the meantime, but looks forwardto the day when we can once again sell WGM tortilla chips.

One Sun Pizza Closeout

Stock up on your favorite One Sun Pizzas! We are closing them out at 25% off the retail price. They will sell at $9.59 each. While supplies last.

We are sad to not carry these fantastic products anymore. They are great pizzas made with local ingredients, a majority of which they grew themselves.

In the near future look for a local gluten free pizza and possibly some sweet potato fries!

Restore recognition

Amigas y Amigos,

Restore is being featured in the April/May issue of SmallBiz by BusinessWeek and has been nominated for America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneur.

Restore is a great product we are proud of and in the earth day tradition we are reminded of new ways to reduce our impact on our natural environment (we throw away 4 million plastic bottles an hour).

Please visit and/or vote for Restore Products by clicking on this pop-up or the original story here.

(Voting ends Sunday, April 26th)

Thanks and hopefully someday we can see the refill station at our store as well!

the Just Local Food Cooperative

&

Laurie Brown Founder and CEO Restore Products Company

Big big meat sale!! UPDATE

In anticipation of grilling season, we are putting all of our big comfort-food meats on sale, to make room for an expanded line of brats and steaks and other meats that go with warmer weather. Get it while you can, because it’s going to be a while before we stock these again. (and, we’ll probably have a few more cool days and nights before summer that would be perfect for a nice hearty meal…)

Whole turkeys from Coon Creek Family Farm and Beaver Creek Ranch (20% off)
We’ve got 2 left in stock. Have you ever grilled a turkey? It is the way to go! Quarter it, brine it, cook over indirect fire for about 45 minutes, add some smoking chips, and you’ve got the best turkey you ever tasted.

Turkey broth from Coon Creek Family Farm (20% off)
Created by Alchemy for Coon Creek, using their organic turkeys. Perfect for soup, gravy, anywhere you need a really good broth.

Black angus beef roasts from Wheatfield Hill Organics (20% off)
These are just really good and super easy in the oven or crockpot, and the leftovers make wonderful sandwiches. Buy and make now, or stock your freezer at this great price.

(SOLD OUT) All-natural corned beef from Anderson Farms (20% off)
Anyone who has tasted this corned beef knows how yummy it is – one of the only corned beefs we’ve ever seen that doesn’t include nitrites or other stuff we’d like to avoid. Again, makes a great meal and lots of tasty leftovers.

(SOLD OUT) Pork loin roast from Anderson Farms (20% off)
These are beautiful lean roasts, perfect with fresh rosemary and garlic.

(SOLD OUT) Bison roast from Golden Hills Buffalo (20% off)
A nice lean roast that would be perfect braised in wine or tomatoes, with lots of onions, etc.

(SOLD OUT) Organic Valley lunch meat - in the freezer, priced as marked (25% off original price) This is your chance to stock up on organic lunch meat, when you just need a good quick sandwich.

Madison's own RP's Pasta

Some of you may remember a time when Just Local Food had RP's Fresh and Frozen pasta from Madison WI. Well, it's back!

Here is a blurb from their website:

"RP's Pasta products are made with the finest all-natural ingredients, an appreciation for Old World culinary traditions, and most importantly, a love for food.

From our Fresh Egg Fettuccine to our Pumpkin Tortelloni to our Potato Gnocchi and Pasta Sauces, Master Pasta Maker, Peter Robertson, holds quality and flavor to the highest regard in every batch.

That's the secret behind gourmet fresh pasta from RP's Pasta Company. RP's is a unique pasta maker, using a meticulous hand-rolled process producing the highest quality pasta for restaurants and grocery stores. It is the labor intensive hand-rolled process that is the only way to produce pasta with true "al'Dente" texture. Only the hand can determine when the pasta has been kneaded long enough and only then do we turn this fine pasta dough into RP's Fresh Pasta. In addition to traditional flat noodles, RP's offers an array of ravioli and tortellini.

In the Cooler Just Local Food is Carrying: Fresh Egg Fettuccine, Fresh Egg Angel Hair Pasta, Roasted Garlic Alfredo Sauce and Tomato Basil Sauce.

In the Freezer you will find: Sweet Potato Ravioli, Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli, Pesto Tortelloni, and Tri Color Cheese Raviolini.

Nature's Bakery

Just Local Food is proud to carry Nature's Bakery Frozen Veggie Burgers, Calzones and 3 varieties of granola; Apple Cinnamon, Peanut Butter and Six Grain.

Here is a bit from their website:

"Nature’s Bakery Cooperative is a vegetarian bakery located in Madison WI committed to using organic whole grains. We have been a worker’s collective since its founding in 1970.

The Vegetarian Burger is our classic, made with Brazil nut meal, carrots, onions, celery, organic brown rice, organic brown rice flour, almonds, wheat-free tamari, non-GMO soy oil, fresh parsley, herbs and spices. Our bakers especially enjoy them with barbecue sauce!

The Amazing Grain Burger is low in fat and sodium, and makes a great, healthy snack. We make this burger with organic brown rice, organic millet, carrots, onions, celery, organic brown rice flour, apple cider vinegar, wheat-free tamari, almonds, non-GMO soy oil, herbs and spices.

The Tofu Walnut Burger is our newest flavor, made with locally produced organic tofu from Simple Soyman in Milwaukee, WI. We also use mushrooms, celery, walnuts, organic oats, non-GMO soy oil, parsley, agar, garlic and spices in this savory burger. "

Brew News April 2009

Enjoy our first installment of Brew News.

1. The JLF Beer Dudes
2. Angry Minnow Brewery
3. Brewer's Co-op
4. Samplings
5. Furthermore Pint Glass Deal
6. Breweries JLF Works With

1. The JLF Beer Dudes -- You've probably seen Drew and myself (Jordan) down at the store. Combined we are the Beer Department at Just Local Food. If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, let us know. We can be reached at drew@justlocalfood.com & jordan@justlocalfood.com.

2. Angry Minnow Brewery -- We are proud to start working with Jason Rasmussen, brewmaster, and the other folks at Angry Minnow Brewery in Hayward, WI. Our first shipment of River Pig Pale Ale and Honey Wheat this week. Enjoy them at 10% off for the month of April.

River Pig Pale Ale - This copper beer will deliver a blast of hops with every guzzle. We add hops at four stages during the brew including dry hopping, which leaves this pale with a floral aroma.
Honey Wheat - This golden brew is made with fresh pilsen malt, wheat, Gambrinnus honey malt, and 50 pounds of local honey.

3. Brewer's Co-op -- Midwestern farmers and craft beer brewers form a co-op. The objective of the co-op is to get brewers locally grown ingredients (hops, barley). We currently work with 5 of the 9 participating breweries: Central Waters, Lakefront, Sand Creek, South Shore, and Tyranena. Check out this leader telegram article for more info.

4. Samplings -- Drew and I are gearing up for monthly brewery samplings. Look forward to at least one sampling a month. Check the website frequently for updates.

5. Furthermore Pint Glass Deal -- If you buy a case (any 4 six packs) of Furthermore beer, we will give you a Furthermore Pint glass. That's the deal. On a separate but related note, Fatty Boombalatty should be ariving for the season soon.

6. Breweries JLF Works With -- We have stayed true to the local in Just Local Food with our beer selection. All of our beer is from Wisconsin with the exception of 3 breweries. Check out the list that follows.

Angry Minnow - Hayward, WI
Bell's - Galesburg, MI
Capital - Middleton, WI
Central Waters - Amherst, WI
Furthermore - Spring Green, WI
Grain Belt - New Ulm, MN
Lakefront - Milwaukee, WI
Leinenkugel's - Chippewa Falls & Milwaukee, WI
New Glarus - New Glarus, WI
Northwoods - Eau Claire, WI
Point - Stevens Point, WI
Rush River - River Falls, WI
Sand Creek - Black River Falls, WI
South Shore - Ashland, WI
Summit - St. Paul, MN
Tyranena - Lake Mills, WI
Viking - Dallas, WI

"Everybody has to believe in something.....I believe I'll have another drink."
- W.C. Fields

healthy girls demo

Demo this Saturday!

Have you heard of Healthy Girls products, and phluffing for breast health? These products are created for loving your "girls" with 7 therapeutic essential oils, some of which have clinical studies to show that monoterpenes found in essential oils regress cancer cells. Relaxing in a bath with Healthy Girls Bath Salts is a way to add more minerals into your body with Dead Sea Salt, Himalayan Sea salt and, thera-grade Epsom Salts with 30% magnesium to aid the adrenal glands and promote relaxation. Read more about this great local product here.

We'll have a Healthy Girls Breast Oil and Bath Salts Demonstration on Saturday, April 4th from 10:15 to 2:15.

Infinitea loose leaf teas now at Just Local Food!

Hi Food Lovers!

We just stocked 6 new varieties of fair trade, organic, teas from INFINITEA tea house down the street from us, you can find them in 1oz. packages (able to brew up to 20 pots!!!)

come 'sample' or view, smell, experience the teas before you pick which one suits you best...

this month's varieties include,

Organic Amber Dragon - Oolong
Organic China Golden Yunnan - Black
Fire Ginseng - Herbal Tisane
Organic Dragon Well - Green
Organic Fair Trade Peppermint Rooibos
Organic White Peony - White

just cashews

We are absolutely thrilled to offer you this new farm-direct, fair trade product.

Just Cashews is committed to alleviating poverty, malnutrition and exploitation by creating a fair trade market for organic, fair trade, cashews and working to develop standards for fair trade cashew production throughout the world. By purchasing Just Cashews, you have a direct impact on the quality of life for peasant farmers and their families in Central America.

Read the full story on the cooperative in Honduras that our cashews come from right here.

And on to the food part:
Cashew nuts are actually the kidney-shaped seeds that adhere to the bottom of the cashew apple, the fruit of the cashew tree, which is native to the coastal areas of northeastern Brazil. While cashew apples are not appreciated in the United States, they are regarded as delicacies in Brazil and the Caribbean. Cashews are always sold shelled because the interior of the shells contains a caustic resin, known as cashew balm, which must be carefully removed before the nuts are fit for consumption. This caustic resin is actually used in industry to make varnishes and insecticides. Interested? Read more about cashew nutrition right here.

art in April

No foolin! Even though our store walls are filled mostly with coolers, freezers, bulk bins and more, (aka the colorful products of the many food artisans we work with), we've still made room for art. And let us rejoice for the beauty art brings to our world. In the month of April we've got our annual tribute to the bicycle, known as the common wheel. This year we'll have works from Mark Aumann, Lori Chilefone, Nick Dewar, Joe Maurer and Amy Zagar. Grab a cup of coffee and admire the view. And you still have a week or so to enjoy the beautiful international photographs of Mark Aumann.

pictured: sister katy's advice to huella

eggs

Caretakers of our local layers, Matt Buvala and Mary Kummer, have been bringing in great quality eggs for us all to enjoy for a few years. Early this winter, you probably remember when the chickens took a vacation from laying for awhile. They are now well rested and have had a great winter. With spring upon us, the chickens are running wild and we've got plenty of eggs for you! If you've hardboiled these fresh eggs in the past, you probably noticed they are usually hard to peel.

In anticipation of your easter hardboiling endeavors, we have stocked up on eggs a little early. The advantage is, that by letting the eggs sit refrigerated for another week or two (still within their shelf life!), the shell has a chance to disengage and make for a much easier peeling experience. Last night I hardboiled a full dozen of Matt's Eggs and the peels practically fell off. I don't know if the Easter bunny snuck in last night or the kids slipped them in their school bags, but they're gone already! So consider this your formal invitation to stop down and stock up.

Hardboiled egg-related bonus: Have you heard of the scotch egg? Basically a hard boiled or pickled egg, wrapped in sausage, rolled in some sort of breading and deep fried (or baked for the faint of heart). I'm making these this week, just local style, I'll let you know how they turn out...

Pictured: scotch egg from chotda

Cowsmo Potting Soil and Compost

Brace yourselves green thumbs!

COWSMO is back! The Foodlums have bagged the Co-op some wonderful 50 Lbs. bags of Potting Soil from Waumandee, WI and are expecting to also have similar bags of wonderful composted cow manure in weeks to come!

These bags of potting soil consist of peat, Cowsmo Compost, sand, perlite, meat and bone meal, kelp, rock phosphate & lime and are great for general purpose, for starting plants, for soil blocks or use in small containers.

Last year we and the foodlums received rave reviews from folks from all over the gardening and farming spectrum and are excited to continue to offer this great product!

For veggies, fruits some flowers and other things for your gardens, check out out post on our Seed Savers seed selection!

Local Spring Mix has Sprung

Eau Claire, WI (Super Local) Spring Mix is in!

Pam Herdrich has just started bringing us wonderful spring mix and will continue to do so every Monday and Thursday throughout this season.

Here's the rundown on the new greens... "We grow our greens hydroponically, in a peat and perlite mix. The greenhouse looks like a forest of short "trees" growing alternately a lettuce and a mesclun mix. Unfortunately, for this year, we are using commercial fertilizer, but hope to find and organic alternative for next year. We are not using any pesticides.

Here's what's in the mix: Mesclun mix: Arugula, Red Giant mustard, Bianca Riccia endive, Kyona Mizuna, red lettuces (generic). Lettuce mix : Sulu, Barbados, Antago, Blackhawk, Defender, Garrison and Annapolis leaf lettuces. (You're getting a mix of approximately half Mesculun and half lettuce mixes.)

The greens will be cut fresh in a cold (50's F) greenhouse, refrigerated immediately and delivered to you within 24 hours... It won't be traveling for two weeks to get to you, or harvested in hot weather."

We sell the best local and/or organic produce we can get - while these greens are not organic, they are far from conventional. They are more fresh (when were the California greens picked?) and have a higher degree of food safety because of the known origin... we think you will love it.

We need paper bags!

Hey there! If you have any extra paper grocery bags, please bring them in to us. It helps us keep costs down and of course keeps more trees in the earth recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen that we breathe. Thanks!!

New Local Gluten Free Frozen Bread!

We now carry a local frozen gluten free bread. Our Daily Foods is located in Wisconsin Rapids and owned by a brother and sister team, Paul Dorn and Mary Beth Richardson. The company was started as a result of Paul being diagnosed with Celiac disease and his frustration with finding a bread he could make a sandwich with. After experimenting with many recipes they came up with Paul's White Sandwich Bread. This bread has received overwhelming support from many Celiac groups around Wisconsin.

Paul's White Sandwich Bread
"Gluten free bread you can make a sandwich with. Our bread is packaged as frozen bread dough in a foil pan ready to bake." It comes in a full loaf size and a half loaf size. Soon to come is Pumpernickel Bread and Rye-not Brown Bread (gluten and dairy free).

Delivery Service Coming to an End

After a near five year run, our delivery service is coming to an end. We at Just Local Food believe this to be a very positive move. It frees us up to perform even better service at our thriving corner store, at 1117 S Farwell St. This decision was delayed for many years and finally came to a head with the great success of our new location. Since the beginning we have been striving to become a full service grocery store and we inch closer every day.

We sincerely thank everyone that participated in our Delivery Service over the years. It helped us to grow into the store we are today.

Any questions can be directed to Jordan at jordan@justlocalfood.com or 552-3366.

New in Meat: Ham, Lamb, Andouille, Brisket, and Pork Roasts

For your Easter season feasting, we are offering a sign-up list for hams and legs-of-lamb. Please stop by soon and sign up to reserve your:

• Ham (signup by March 8) – Beeler bone-in hams, whole, half, or spiral-sliced.
• Leg of lamb (signup by April 3) – bone-in and boneless legs from Lambalot Acres.

Andouille – Crescent Meat, from Cadott, just brought us these deliciously big and spicy pork sausages. We’ve had many requests for Andouille, and this is as local as it gets. We hope you like it as much as we do!

We’ve also got beautiful pork loin roasts from Anderson Farms, along with their naturally cured brisket (corned beef), kielbasa, and hot dogs (the in-store samples were a big hit last week).

From Wheatfield Hill, we have a beef brisket and several nice roasts, any of which would be great for making your own corned beef (recipe in our store) or a delicious braised pot roast.

Seed Savers Exchange @ JLF

We've got seeds! below is a listing of what's on our shelves for this spring...

We're reconnecting with Cowsmo Compost and the Foodlums for their amazing (50 lbs. bags) of potting soil and composted cow manure. we'll also have worm tea from dragsmith farms and an assortment of recommendations from last year's home grown produce.

check back with us for a listing of and contacts for area community gardens!

Seed Savers Exchange @ JLF
3094 N Winn Rd - Decorah, IA 52101
Ph 563.382.5990 - Fax 563.382.6511
http://www.seedsavers.org/

Bean, Purple Pod Pole OG
Lettuce, SSE Lettuce Mixture
Pepper, Beaver Dam
Sunberry OG
Gourd Mixture
Lettuce, Forellenschuss
Gourd, Warted Mixture
Tomato, Wisconsin 55 OG
Tomato, Amish Paste
Cucumber, Bushy OG
Pea, Tom Thumb
Bean, Empress
Soybean, Shirofumi
Carrot, Dragon
Cucumber, Japanese Clmbng
Eggplant, Listada de Gandia
Melon, Charantais
Pepper, Fatali
Squash, Pattison Panache, Jaune Et Verte OG
Prickly Caterpillar
Tomato, Siberian OG
Herb, English/True Lavender
Sunflower, Mixture Spcs/Fms
Squash, Black Beauty Zucchini OG
Squash, Marina di Chioggia
Pepper, King of the North
Squash, Golden Zucchini
Arugula, Apollo
Corn, Mandan Bride OG
Eggplant, Lao Purple Stripe
Gourd, Chinese Mini OG
Bean, Calypso OG
Spinach, Monnopa OG
Tomato, Earliana OG
Onion, Long Red Florence
Sunflower, Mongolian Giant
Pepper, Bull Nose Bell
Soybean, Fiskeby OG
Tomato, Sheboygan OG
Bean, Pencil Pod Gldn Wax
Corn, Smoke Signals OG
Bean, Hidatsa Shield OG
Lettuce, Merveille Quartre
Squash, Amish Pie
Squash, Table Queen
Squash, Waltham Butternut OG
Herb, Genovese Basil OG
Herb, Mrs. Burn's Lemon
Herb, Lettuce Leaf Basil OG
Herb, Cilantro
Herb, Grandma Einck's Dill
Herb, Giant from Italy Parsley
Prairie, Purple Coneflower
Runner Bean, Painted Lady
Eggplant, Diamond
Beet, Chioggia
Beet, Cylindra
Broccoli, Calabrese
Broccoli, DeCicco
Broccoli, Romanesco
Cabbage, Copenhagen Mkt
Cabbage, Early Jersey Wkfld
Cabbage, Mammoth Red
Cabbage, Premium Late Flat
Carrot, Scarlet Nantes
Carrot, St. Valery
Cucumber, Early Fortune OG
Corn, Golden Bantam OG
Corn, Stowell's Evergreen OG
Lettuce, Rubin
Lettuce, Speckled OG
Onion, Australian Brown
Melon, Amish OG
Pea, Green Arrow
Squash, Golden Hubbard
Chard, Rhubarb OG
Radish, Early Scarlet Globe
Radish, French Breakfast
Tomato, Moonglow OG
Watermelon, Sweet Siberian
Chard, Five Color Silverbeet OG
Herb, Lemon Balm
Lima Bean, Henderson Bush
Lima Bean, Sieva
Beet, Bull's Blood
Cauliflower, Early Snowball
Cauliflower, Purple Cape
Cucumber, Double Yield OG
Eggplant, Pingtung Long
Huckleberry, Garden OG
Kale, Lacinato OG
Kale, Red Russian OG
Lettuce, Red Romaine OG
Lettuce, Slobolt OG
Lettuce, Yugoslavian Red
Spinach, America OG
Tomato, Beam's Yellow Pear
Tomato, Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Tomato, Stupice
Watermelon, Cream Saskatchewan
Herb, Bee Balm
Herb, Thyme
Herb, St. John's Wort
Corn, Tom Thumb Popcorn OG
Bean, Climbing French
Beet, Detroit Dark Red
Ground Cherry, Aunt Molly's OG
Brussel Sprout, Long Island
Corn, Mixed Colors Broom
Pea, Amish Snap
Prairie, Downy Sunflower
Melon, Oka
Pepper, Fish
Squash, Cornfield Pumpkin
Herb, Stevia

Soups, Sandwiches, and Salads...OH MY!

Just Local Food is proud to announce a new endeavor with Alchemy Family Farm!

Owner/Chef, Bradley 'Dean' Parent has done it again. Adding to his repertoire of ready to eat tapenades (aegean), spreads (hummus, mushroom herb, smoked salmon), and cold salads (apple-beet, curried yam & walnut); look forward to Soups, Sandwiches, and Green Salads.

The initial menu looks fantastic and will be delivered this afternoon. Lots of local and organic ingredients and compostable/biodegradable containers. The menu will rotate, so stop in often to see what's new.

Sandwiches
"Il Rustica"(dairy)-A vegetarian selection featuring roasted eggplant, roasted red bell pepper gorgonzola cheese, sliced red onion, pepperoncini, and kalamata olive. Served with a caramelized onion aioli on baguette bread.
$6.99

Greek Chicken (meat/dairy)-House roasted Coon Creek Family Farm organic chicken is served with feta cheese, sliced tomato, red onion, kalamata olive tapenade, and cucumber. Served on ciabatta bread.
$7.49

Salads
Tex-Mex Salad (meat/dairy) - A mix of black beans, tri color peppers, corn, pico de gallo salsa, ancho chili roasted Coon Creek Family Farm organic chicken, and pepper jack cheese. Served on a bed of organic romaine lettuce with a smoked tomato vinaigrette.
$7.49

Asian Noodle Salad (vegan)- A selection of organic lettuces topped with udon noodles, orange sections, toasted almonds, celery, snow peas, and scallions. Served with a hoisin vinaigrette.
$6.99

Soups
Tomato-Basil Bisque (dairy)
$7.99

North African Lentil (vegan)
$7.99

New Mexican style Posole (meat)
$8.99

produce

Here's the quick buzz in produce:

Citrus season is still on with great cara cara (red navel) oranges, plenty of firm kumquots, bright blood oranges and a variety of tangerines. Check out the honey tangerines later this weekend. Also from down south we've got some great looking zucchini and bright delicious rainbow chard. A variety of local Blackberry hills potatoes are still available in bulk. Still a good supply of pears and apples. Plenty of garnet and jewel yams, nice and firm. Special purchase of scallions and cilantro. Nice looking red and green bell peppers, prices way down from last month. A new box of lemons is in and our last two local Harmony Valley soup mixes of the season are on the shelf (other local roots still available - try!). All items listed are certified organic.

And Seed Savers Exchange just notified me that our heirloom seeds should be in next week. That's over 100 varieties of heirloom and organic seeds that will be in store soon! Local potting soil, compost and other early gardening supplies will come as well!

New Products

New in Packaged grocery:

Amish Naturals egg noodles
Erewhon Gluten Free Brown Rice Cereal
Organic India Tulsi Pomegranate tea
Garbanzo bean flour (dedicated to the "bean lady")
Strawberry Kefir, Vanilla Kefir, Plain Kefir
Environkidz crispy rice berry bars
Triple berry cereal bars
Cute little tins of baking powder
K-toos gluten free sandwich cookies (making a reappearance)
Lundberg organic cinnamon toast rice cakes (also making a reappearance)
Late July cheese sandwich crackers in a box  (we also carry the snack size bags)

In the freezer:
Palermo's "hearth italia" organic pizzas made in Wisconsin

From the Malt Beverage department:
Two varieties from Northwoods Brewpub from right here in Eau Claire:
-Lil' Bandit Brown Ale (silver metal winner at the Great American Beer Festival)
-Floppin' Crappie English Mild Ale

Will have more Furthermore beers in again by next week:
-Makeweight (only three cases!)
-Proper
-Three Feet Deep
(-possibly Fatty Boombalaty)

Three new ones from Viking:
-Mørketid (The Norwegian name for midwinter polar darkness), a German Schwartz beer
(black beer) - seasonal
-Invader Doppel Bock - seasonal
-Mjød, a Honey Brackett; the 1st brewed in the US. It is like a Mead - a honey wine
with malt.  available in 22oz. bottles

Try some Beer Thursday the 26th

Bummer!
Canceled due to inclement weather.
Will be rescheduled soon.

If you are under the age of 21, please disregard this message!

Jessie, the beer ambassador from Tyranena Brewery in Lake Mills Wisconsin will be at Just Local Food Thursday February 26 from 4 to 6pm. Have a taste, learn about the brewery and the varieties they offer, and take home some discounted bottles.

Bread and Coffee Reviews

Say,

Some amazing bread we sell was highlighted in last week's Leader Telegram.

Take a peek at Audrey Fessler's and Jeff Vahlbusch's Diners' Notebook!

And hey - the fresh coffee at Just Local was featured in the Spectator this week. Take a peek:

Coffee crawl - Showcase

nuts!

Can you believe how widespread this salmonella contaminated peanut butter recall is? CRAZY!

We've been staying on top of it at the store. As you can imagine, we've been mostly unaffected by the recall. Our peanut butters come from our fellow worker-owned cooperative, East Wind in Missouri (read their recall statement). Pictured right is an East Wind community member "tubbing" some nut butter. Their full line of peanut butter is totally safe and unaffected by the recall. We also have a few jars of Kettle peanut butter, also unaffected.

We have some peanut butter sandwich crackers from Late July, they source their peanuts here and have safe product.

In fact, the only product we've had to pull is the Nutz over Chooclate Luna Bar. Please contact Clif directly if you have one of these products dated 28OCT08 to 31DEC09 at home. See their recall webpage, read the company statement and letter from their owners.

Valentine’s Day is this weekend!

Valentine’s Day is coming up soon. Why go out when you can have a romantic dinner at home? We’ve got (almost) all the goods for a memorable evening. How about a couple of steaks, oven-roasted potatoes, and some beautiful broccoli or a micro-green salad with blue cheese, walnuts, and oranges? Add some tunes in the background, two candles and a nice bottle of red wine, and you’ve got a groovy evening started. Maybe a roast chicken or Cornish game hen, rice pilaf, squash and a white wine is more your style.

Or have some good friends over for a beer tasting, salad, tortellini with tomato sauce, and an assortment of Ben & Jerry’s, and just make fun of the whole V-day. We’ve got you covered…