Wheatsville Co-op Austin, TX

[Dan Gillotte <gm AT wheatsville.coop>]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope that you have a nice day planned for yourself. 

We have been working hard to provide all of your Thanksgiving needs! Come on by and let us help you out. We are not nearly as hectic as the other stores in town , so shopping for Thanksgiving can be a much more enjoyable activity...

I do want to let you know about a couple of unfortunate things, though... Our distributor screwed up major-ly this year and is unable to provide us with any Tofurkys. We had been told that there would be plenty and they were at a great price, but on Friday, we were informed of the news that they were out of stock for the holiday. This is is disappointing to a lot of folks, and we're really bummed out about it, too. Daniel our frozen guy has substituted a couple of other options that may work for you. Look for Celebration Roasts and Quorn Roasts in our freezer. They are both vegetarian, but the Celebration Roasts are completely vegan. 

There are a lot of recipes out there for vegetarian Thanksgiving, and here is just one option:
http://vegweb.com/thanksgiving/

You may also consider making a Tofu or Seitan Pot Pie for Thanksgiving with a whole wheat pie shell from our freezer.
Look for a recipe at the end of this e-mail as well as a recipe for a "Tofu Not-A-Turkey"

For folks looking for turkeys: We have your pre-ordered turkeys ready for pick-up. If you did not pre-order a turkey, we will have some natural turkeys available through Wednesday on a first come first served basis. Most of these will be in the 12-16 pound range. Unfortunately, our distributor has also failed to deliver all the organic turkeys that we ordered. We are trying to fill as many as we can, but you may hear from Bryan, our meat guy, to make other arrangements. If you wouldn't mind switching to a natural and it's convenient for you t o call, please call Bryan at 478-2667 and he will set you up with your natural turkey.  We do have a Chef Breast, bone-in natural whole turkey breast available if that would be more convenient.

A note on turkey roasting... The roasting recipe in the Breeze is from Mary's Turkeys web-site. They suggest using 2-4 cups of water or broth in the pan to retain moistness. A member suggested that this is not the best idea and can cause challenges when cooking. There are lots of web-sites with suggestions on cooking turkeys. Here is one for you to look out if you need to: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/turkey/techniques.html


We apologize if any of these shortages inconveniences you at all. We do a lot to make sure we have all the Thanksgiving things you are looking for, and it's always disappointing when our distributors make mistakes like these. But, I wanted you to know as far in advance as possible. 

We do have lots of pie shells, organic produce, organic frozen vegetables, and more! I believe that you will find that we do have much of what you are probably looking for! Give us a try!

Our deli is in full swing cooking and baking up sides and pies for Thanksgiving so you don't have to!
We'll have Festive Yams, Roasted Root Veggies, Cranberry Relish, Rosemary Biscuits, Vegan Cornbread Stuffing and Gravy, too!
On the sweet side, look for Traditional and Vegan Pumpkin Pie at the special price of $9.99! We will also have favorites like our Traditional Pecan Pie, and delicious Vegan Coconut Cream Pie and Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie.

Cascadian Farms Organic Frozen Vegetables, 10 oz for $1.69
Organic Pumpkin Puree for $1.69
Imagine Foods Organic Soups for $2.29 (These make great stocks and bases for quick and hearty soups and stews)
Spectrum Organic Canola Oil for $6.49
Silk Soymilk for $2.89
Soya Too Soy Whip Topping for the great price of $2.99 (Have I told you how much I like this Vegan whipped topping in a can? It's great!!!)
Organic Valley Organic Butter for $4.99
Arrowhead Mills Cookie Pie Crust for $1.69. These crusts make a delicious base for chocolate pies! Just make pudding (or mousse) and add it to the shell, chill and eat!
We are happy to have ORGANIC Cranberry sauce this year! Grown Right Organic Cranberry Sauce is $1.99
Rumford Baking Powder $1.99
Santini Evaporated Milk 99¢

Click here for a pdf of all the Co-op Advantage Specials! http://www.wheatsville.coop/CAP%20flyers/SW1106final.pdf

Don't forget to join us on Saturday and Sunday December 2nd and 3rd for the Wheatsville Artsfest from 10 am to 5:30pm each day!

75 Artists and craftspeople will be on hand displaying and selling their incredible handiwork! We'll also have great live music, too!

Saturday December 2nd
10:00-11:00 PM The Telephone Company
11:30-12:30 PM Jeremy Goodking
1:00-2:00 PM Adam Ahrens
2:30-3:30 PM Ain't Misbehavin'
4:00-5:30 PM The Band Next Door

Sunday December 3rd
10:00-11:00 PM Marionette Demonstration
11:30-12:30 PM Greg Klyma, Melissa Greener, and Johann Wagner
1:00-2:00 PM Jango's Mustache
2:30-3:30 PM The Studebakers
4:00-5:30 PM Diana Cantu Band 

Have a great Thanksgiving!
Dan
Wheatsville GM and e-mail guy

Here are those two recipes:
Tofu Not-A-Turkey
6 lbs. firm tofu
Cornbread Stuffing:
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups cubed whole wheat bread
2 cups cubed corn bread
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)
Basting Liquid:
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
One hour before cooking, mash the tofu and pack it into a colander
lined with cheesecloth or a clean towel. Place the colander over a
large bowl to catch the liquid from the tofu. Weigh it down with a
heavy object such as a can or jar on top of a bowl or small plate.

To make the stuffing, sauté the onion and celery in the sesame oil. Mix
the seasonings into the cubed bread. Combine everything, adding enough
vegetable broth to moisten. Add nuts if desired.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Press the tofu with your hands to form a hollow center, fill with the
stuffing mixture, and press down. Flip the tofu onto an oiled baking
sheet. Remove the towel or cheesecloth. Baste the tofu with 3/4 of the
sesame oil and soy sauce mixture, cover with foil, and bake for 1 hour.
Remove the foil, baste again with the remaining basting mixture, return
to the hot oven, and bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until golden.
Transfer to a serving platter and serve with gravy.




BRYANNA'S TOFU POT PIE
Serves 6

This recipe, adapted from The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook, has remained a steady favorite over the years. It is still the centerpiece of our vegetarian Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, even when I serve a more elegant main dish as well.

For holiday meals, I double the recipe and make it in a 14" cast iron skillet. We serve it with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and a variety of vegetable dishes.

If you would like to make it more "gourmet", you can use chanterelle mushrooms and add some chopped fresh herbs, such as savory, but we prefer it this way.

It may seem a bit of a production, but you could make the crust the day before, cook the tofu cubes whwen you have something else in oven, and/or make the filling a day or two before cooking-- then assemble the pie just before baking.

One 9-10" Pastry crust (see my low-fat crust in dessert section, below)
1 lb. medium-firm tofu, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/2 c. wholewheat flour
2 T. nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic granules
1 recipe Yeast Gravy (see below) made with ONLY 1 T. soy sauce
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
4 oz. fresh white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 c. celery, diced
1/4 c. water
1 and 1/2 c. frozen petit pois (baby peas)
2 T. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. garlic granules
soymilk for brushing

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Mix the flour, nutirional yeast, salt and garlic granules in a paper bag. Shake the tofu cubes in the bag until they are well-coated. Place the cubes on lightly-oiled dark cookie sheets and bake for 7-10 minutes, or until golden on the bottom. Turn them over and bake 7-10 minutes more, until golden all over. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Heat a large lightly-oil or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and steam-fry until they soften, adding a little water as necessary to keep from sticking. Add the carrots, mushrooms, celery and water. Cover and cook 10 minutes.

Add the peas, soy sauce, garlic granules, and the tofu cubes. If you are not baking the pie in the skillet, pur the mixture into a deep-dish 10" casserole or pie pan and stir in the Yeast Gravy.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out the pie crust to fit the pan and cover the tofu mixture with it. Cut decorative slits in the top, crimp the edges and brush the whole thing with soymilk. Place the pan on a 14" round pizza pan or a cookie sheet to catch any drips. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot.