Wheatsville Co-op Austin, TX

[Dan Gillotte <gm AT wheatsville.coop>]

Hi folks!

We are way focused on the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, (including some suggestions for Thanksgiving recipes) so that's mostly what today's e-mail is about, but at the end there is some other stuff about the upcoming Artsfest, the election and survey, the cheddarvision.tv auction and more!


We can set you up for a great Thanksgiving without all the hassle and un-fun hubbub of the big guys. Really!

We are told that shopping for Thanksgiving at Wheatsville is actually comfortable and relaxing. So, if you usually go to the other guys for Thanksgiving shopping, consider making the switch this year!

The Deli is baking up sides and pies for Thanksgiving!
We'll have Festive Yams, Roasted Root Veggies, Cranberry Relish, Rosemary Biscuits, Green Beans with mushrooms, 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.

We'll be sampling some of the delicious deli Thanksgiving fixin's on Saturday from 12-4.

Talking Turkey
We are taking special orders for Turkeys now. To reserve a turkey we need the order to be placed by November 17th! (That's this Saturday! Order forms are available on the front end cap and in the deli.) We’ll have some turkeys available on a first come first serve basis, but if people need a particular size, they will need to order them in advance.
We will be featuring Mary's free range organic and natural turkeys. These have been very popular for the last few years as people have enjoyed them each holiday!
We'll have: Mary's Organic Turkeys for $3.49/lb
Mary's Natural Turkeys for $2.19/lb

Here is a special late-breaking note from Bryan:
Hi folks, not feeling like turkey this thanksgiving? I have a rare treat coming in next week. We have on order a case of USDA graded PRIME bone-in rib roast. The price will be the same as the USDA choice rib eyes we always carry $14.99lb. This is a special and rare item to be found in a grocery store, normally PRIME meat is reserved for the highest end restaurants. Typically I'll cut down the roast to the size ordered and then remove the ribs, and then tie them back on. Please place your order now, I doubt these will last at $14.99lb. Bryan.

We have some really amazing deals for a natural Thanksgiving in our November Co-op Advantage Flyer with lots of great Thanksgiving-y items to help customers save some dough while they celebrate!
Here are just a few of the items...
Tofurky Vegetarian Feasts for the amazing low price of $14.99!!! The Tofurky Roast for $7.99. I've never seen them this inexpensively priced anywhere! 
Organic Pumpkin for $1.69
Imagine Foods Organic Soups for $2.49 (These make great stocks and bases for quick and hearty soups and stews)
Organic Valley Organic Butter for $4.49
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!

This is just a small sample of the available items. See the CAP flyers for more as well as some really cool holiday recipes including a recipe for chocolate truffles

Recipe and menu ideas including accommodating vegetarians and helping kids appreciate nature!
Mary's web-site will give you the info you need for roasting their turkeys: http://www.marysturkeys.com/roastingtimes.htm
This web-site has a ton of Thanksgiving-y information on it. (Forgive the McDonalds banner ad!) http://www.fabulousfoods.com/holidays/thanksgiving/turkeygravy.html

From a somewhat dubious web-site ( http://hotmomsclub.com/index.php?page=issue )comes this excerpt from a pretty good article about helping kids to appreciate nature on Thanksgiving:


1) Take walks with your children and talk about the sights and sounds of nature.
2) Go out with your children to collect flowers, twigs, nuts, fruits, vegetables, grass, and seeds. 
3) Collect colorful leaves together and place them on a piece of wax paper once they are dry. Then press them between the pages of a big book.
4) Paint or draw with your children the things you've discovered in nature or take pictures and form a collage.
5) Let your children cook with you and talk about the source of the food as you cook.

Sometimes, it can be a bummer to be vegetarian (or vegan) around Thanksgiving. If you are having a vegetarian come to your omnivorous spread, here are some suggestions for making it a nice one for them, too:
Vegetarians will appreciate it a lot if you use some of these ideas:

* Bake some stuffing outside of the turkey
* Make a small portion of vegetarian gravy
* Keep cooking utensils separate to prevent "cross-contamination" between meat foods and vegetarian foods
* When recipes are adaptable, use substitutions like vegetarian broth, soy margarine (the formulations without whey are suitable for vegans), soy milk, and "EnerG" brand egg replacer (again for vegans). Most kosher marshmallows are not vegan, you'll need to specifically look for vegan marshmallows (don't expect these at the supermarket).
* Use vegetable oils instead of animal fats for frying, and vegetable shortening like Crisco for pie crust
* Read ingredients lists carefully on pre-packaged foods, being aware of terms like gelatin, whey, sodium caseinate, and "natural flavors" that can be animal-derived
* Go crazy with the side dishes, but leave them plain
* Offer plenty of breads, beverages, fresh fruits, and non-gelatin desserts, which are suitable without modification for most vegetarians
* Ask your guest if a product like the "Tofurky" brand vegetarian dinner would be welcome, or if the guest would like to prepare and bring one 

Some of my favorite holidays have been vegan Thanksgiving, so if you are vegan, don't despair! Thanksgiving can be awesome! You can certainly go with a Tofurky. They're simple to make and pretty tasty. You can add quartered potatoes, onions, carrots (and other veggies) to the roasting pan when you cook it to have a simple one-dish Thanksgiving spread! Just add cranberry sauce! 

But, even if you don't do the Tofurky, it can still be pretty simple to do a vegan holiday. This looks like a cool and relatively simple vegan Thanksgiving spread.  http://www.tazarat.com/thanksgiving.html The sky is the limit on menu possibilities, but honestly, one of my nicest meals ever was a simple stir fry with cashews and wild rice blend stuffed in a baked squash!

Artsfest
A quick heads-up to save the dates! Our annual Wheatsville Artfest extravaganza takes place on Saturday and Sunday Dec. 1st and 2nd! 

Have you heard of the Buy Handmade pledge? http://www.buyhandmade.org/  If possible, but handmade this year. The Artsfest can help you out with this! There's more info about the Artsfest at our web-site and in the Breeze.

Election and Survey
Our annual Board/ Community Action Wednesday and Boycott election is in full swing. If you haven't voted yet, please do on-line at http://wheatsville.coop/election/index.html
We are also conducting an extensive Owner survey. We want to know what you think. If you fill out the survey, we'll enter you into a drawing for one of four $250 Wheatsville GIft cards!
Go to our web-site and click on the big red button.

Now Some Local Dairy News
Wateroak Farms Goat Milk will be in short supply for a little while after Dusty, the farm’s buck, broke out of his pen a couple of times this summer, and more does are nannies than Mark Burow had planned for. Mark predicts milk production will go up later this year.
Alexander Family Farms and H&J Ranch eggs will likely be in shorter supply because of our shorter days. (Chickens lay less when there is less light!)
Goodflow Honey & Juice Company has gone to all Texas fruits for their juices!

World famous Internet cheese up for auction
11/12/2007
The 44 pound cheese that has attracted 1.65 million viewer hits on www.cheddarvision.tv since it first went on the web late last year has nearly completed its 12-month maturation and will be ready to eat by Christmas.

Wedginald, the English cheddar cheese that has become a star of the Internet as it matures live on screen, is up for auction with the proceeds going to charity.
The 44 pound cheese that has attracted 1.65 million viewer hits on www.cheddarvision.tv since it first went on the web late last year has nearly completed its 12-month maturation and will be ready to eat by Christmas, the  owners said.
"As a fitting end to the first year of Cheddarvision we at West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers are going to auction Wedginald to the highest bidder and donate all the proceeds to BBC Children in Need," they wrote on the website.
Cheese lovers can get not just a slice of the action but the whole lot by placing their bids on ebay before Nov. 19.


I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and that we can play a part in your holiday planning!
We're open all day on Wed., closed on Thanksgiving Day and then opened back up for normal business on Friday. I'll see you soon!


Dan
Wheatsville GM and e-mail guy and Thanksgiving enthusiast!