Wheatsville Co-op Austin, TX

["Dan gillotte" <dangillotte AT gmail.com>]

Hey Wheatsville friends and fans!

Sorry for the subject line
fib, but with all of our work to be here to help make your Thanksgiving
as stress-free and tasty as possible, 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 Buy 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/election/index.html

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!) and other vegetarian Thanksgiving greatness!

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 – just add crackers or crudités!
 
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.

Taking care of vegans 
We're proud of the Turkey that we sell at the co-op, but we're also very proud of the way that Wheatsville helps to take care of the vegans and vegetarians among us! This year is no different.
In addition to all the amazing deli offerings, we also have a few other key items that can help make your veg Thanksgiving more than a few cobbled together sides.

Look for Tofurkys again this year at the lowest price in town. We believe that we have plenty of these in stock and more coming, but to be sure, you may want to not wait until the last minute to pick them up. Unlike their turkey counterparts, Tofurkys aren't huge and they can be stored in your fridge for several days before cooking. (Important note: Whatever you do, don't forget to thaw them in your fridge at least 24 hours prior to cooking them.) 
Our Tofurkys Roasts are just $7.99 (2 BUCKS cheaper than the big guys down on Lamar!)
Our Tofurky Feasts are only $16.99 (3 BUCKS cheaper than than our competitors!)
Don't get ripped off by the big guys and tell your beg friends to go co-op for their Tofurky again this year!

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.com/2008/09/22/recipe-of-the-day-poached-pears-with-asian-spices/?scp=1-b&sq=poached+pears&st=nyt

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!

Dan Gillotte
Wheatsville GM, head tofurky, and e-mail guy