Wheatsville Co-op Austin, TX

[Dan gillotte <dangillotte AT gmail.com>]

Hi Wheatsville friends and fans!

If you are way not into Valentine's, then this post may not be for you. Fair warning! But, remember! You don't need a sweetheart or significant other to enjoy Valentine's Day. You can use it as a chance to celebrate the friends and family that you love as well! Or, just treat yourself to some of the fun! Don't forget to make a Valentine (or 2 or 5) at our Valentine's making station. Put them in the box when you're done and we'll hang them up for the world and your loved one(s) to see!

This e-mail is jam-packed with action (like we hope your Valentine's will be) so buckle up!

Scroll down for:
Bake up your own Valentine treats!
Bake up a DIY Valentine's fancy, gourmet-ish baking projects for you and your sweetie frmo the LA Times http://tinyurl.com/akyyqq
Quiches, Heart Shaped Cake and more from the deli
Cheesy Valentine's plus meat for your sweet!
Have we told you how much we love chocolate lately?
Citrus love
Bubbly and brew of the week
Health team specials
Recipes!!!

Wheatsville deli loves you!

Our Wheatsville Deli has been busy cooking up homemade treats for our owners! New in the Bakery case are Ultimate Lemon Squares, featuring a deliciously sweet-tart lemon curd filling spread over a shortbread base and dusted with powdered sugar! Yum!

Persian Rice Salad, our new Fresh in the Deli special for February, has been a big hit with staff and owners alike! The simplicity of this brown rice salad belies its tastiness! The wholesome nuttiness of the rice is complemented with sweet, chewy dates, crunchy toasted cashews, sliced green onions and tossed with a delicate lemon-dill vinaigrette – so simple yet so appealing!

But the most important thing going on in the Deli this week is Valentine's Day, so let's get down to it! Let us cook for you and yours!

In the Deli case this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, you will find Florentine Meatballs, made with fresh ground turkey, spinach and parmesan cheese. Add to those a bottle of red sauce from our Grocery and some fresh, local pasta in our Cheese department and you'll have a special, nearly-homemade Valentine's Day dinner ready in no time!

In addition to those tasty meatballs, the Wheatsville Deli will be making two specialty quiches for you to take home this weekend! We'll have a vegetarian Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche, as well as a Monterey Jack & Mushroom Quiche with Boar's Head Ham for the meat-lovers. Pick one up to share with your sweetheart on Saturday morning for a lovely, romantic Valentine's brunch!

And it's the weekend, so let's talk Mimosas! Add on a bottle of te aforementioned Piper Sonoma Brut Champagne and a carton of Tropicana orange juice to your quiche order for just over $20 more! Pick it all up by Friday and you can have breakfast in bed ready in a flash without ever having to leave home! And for those who don't have the appetite for a whole pie, our quiches will also be sold by the slice in our Deli case! Let us know what you think!

And don't forget our Deli counter's Valentine's spirit, as well! Our holiday-themed smoothie of the month is Chocolate Covered Strawberry! Strawberries and cacao nibs are blended with bananas, soymilk and apple juice, making a pretty and pink drink, spiked with tiny chocolaty chips of cacao!

Come on in and taste the bakery love!

The Wheatsville Bakery will have special Valentine's Day treats for your sweetie, too! Pick up individually-sized heart-shaped vegan frosted Chocolate-Raspberry Cakes and heart-shaped Pecan Linzer Torte Cookies, filled with jam and topped with powdered sugar, for your honey!

Chocolate Amore aka if loving chocolate is wrong, we don't want to be right!

Be sure to take a look at our new monthly sales display featuring new varieties of chocolate bars at great prices!

NEW: Theo & 3400 Phinney Chocolate Bars with such delicious varieties as…

Coconut Curry Milk-chocolate with toasted coconut and savory curry spices.)

Bread and Chocolate Dark Chocolate-An innovative twist on a traditional pairing, featuring dark chocolate with buttery, toasted artisan breadcrumbs and the perfect amount of salt.)

Theo Ghana Dark Chocolate Bar 84%-The Fair Trade Certified™ cacao used in this single-origin dark chocolate bar is from the fertile growing region surrounding Kumasi, Ghana. The perfectly fermented and dried beans yield slightly floral notes over golden and round chocolate flavors.

Theo Jane Goodall 70% organic Dark Chocolate or Milk Chocolate
70% Organic Dark Chocolate – richly satisfying dark chocolate bar, organic and Fair Trade certified

Proceeds from the sale of these chocolate bars will benefit cocoa farmers, promote conservation in the tropical rainforest and directly contribute to the Jane Goodall Institute's efforts to save chimpanzees, develop community centered conservation efforts and direct youth education programs around the world.

For more information see https://www.theochocolate.com/

Also on sale: your favorite varieties of Chocolove, Equal Exchange and Dagoba Chocolate bars. We also have oodles of Valentine goodies such as the ever popular "Love Rats", Kids' Valentines, Valentine Greeting Cards, delightful bodycare products and NEW! Sjaak's Dutch style chocolate in cute Valentine packaging, featuring Organic, Fair-trade and some styles are Vegan, delicious chocolate treats!

From the land of Cheese

This week we are welcoming back an old friend, Pureluck farms. They are producing their wonderful goat cheeses again, after taking a couple of months off while their goats were kidding. Their chevre molds were the only cheeses available, but the other cheeses are soon to follow. I was also told that there is a new cheese in the works. Very exciting!

Still deciding what to prepare for that Valentines day meal? You can start off with a nice hunk of Saint Andre's brie served with a fig spread, walnuts, a warm crusty baugette and some champagne. Next a wonderful and light salad made with some baby greens, sliced pears, walnuts, and crumbled blue cheese or feta and our deli's Cashew Tamari dressing. For the main course a pasta dish made with one of our fresh Pasta and Company pastas and a P/2  Organics pesto or alfredo sauce. Our meat department sales a wonderful Italian sausage that you can use along with your pasta. This is not only simple and delicious, but it will not bog you down for the after dinner festivities ; )

From Bryan, The Butcher

Hello everybody! Good coupons this month stop by and see what's crackin. We have Niman natural sweet Italian sausage at the great price of $5.99, but wait…this month you get $1 off the regular price with your member coupon. That's a buck a sausage! You can use sweet Italian sausage in your favorite pasta dish like spaghetti, lasagna, or with penne and peppers. Sliced, it's great on homemade pizza. For you purists, it's awesome on a hotdog bun with onion and peppers.

Also, this month we're still running specials on the Niman ranch Boneless Ribeyes steaks. Get $1 off the total price with member coupon.

Hang on though, this week is our meaty send up to Valentine's Day. The "sweetheart" steak is basically a butterflied boneless ribeye. This cut is a monster of a steak, impressive, and to gourmands' it's heaven on earth. This creation was taught to me by an old retired butcher from another generation when a special meal like this really meant something. When cut perfectly the steak takes the shape of a heart.

It takes a special kind of couple to see the love in this meal but believe me it's there. I really must recommend grilling this steak since its so large. If you think your loved one would get off on this please give me a call and I'll make it to your order. Plus Friday and Saturday we'll cut some for the case so come by and see for yourself.

Citrus in Full Swing
Right now, in your produce department, we have a great selection of organic citrus for your enjoyment. We are currently featuring organic cara caras (amazing!), organic honey tangerines, organic clementines, organic blood oranges, organic tangelos, organic royal mandarins, organic meyer lemons, organic kumquats, organic Rio Star Grapefruit, three pound bags of organic Texas valencias, and conventionally grown Texas valencias. As always we have organic lemons, and bags of organic limes. It is getting close to the peak of citrus season, so if you want to eat seasonal fruit in the dead of 'winter', now's the time. 
(Dan note: Yesterday, we asked a question of our Twitter pals ( www.twitter.com/wheatsville) whether they prefer Rio Star Grapefruits or Blood Oranges best. It was a close one, but it appears Rio Stars edged out my personal fave Blood Orange. But there was A LOT of love for both!)
More from Montesino
The fine folks out at
Montesino Ranch in Wimberly will be bringing us some nice, organic,
seasonal produce next week. Look for their amazing organic brussels sprouts, lettuce, kale, salad mix, and spinach in our department next week. This farm produces on a pretty small scale, so get their goods while they last!

 
Apologies (Banana culpa)
I'd like to extend an
apology to anyone who was trying to buy organic bananas earlier this
week. We were having issues getting bananas in saleable condition, but
things should be okay for now. Thank you for your patience, and sorry
for any inconvenience this may have caused.
 
Bubbly Valentine!
Looking for some yummy bubbly this Valentine's Day,  why not try Piper Sonoma Brut Sonoma County Select Cuvee NV?
This sparkling wine is made from hand-picked Champagne grapes (Pinot
Noir, Chardonnay) grown in the Northern reaches of Sonoma County and
the wine is aged on the yeast for a minimum 2½ year period of time.
This gives the wine a complex bread-yeast aroma and lightly yeasty
flavor. The wine is aged in large, French oak barrels (1625 gallon
barrel foudres), prior to bottling and secondary fermentation. By aging
this wine in oak, there is imparted to the wine a toasty/vanilla
character in addition to the light apple and lemon flavors that the
wine ordinarily possesses. At $16.99 a bottle, Piper Sonoma Brut Sonoma
County Select Cuvee NV  is the perfect treat for you and your sweetie.

In the Beer Aisle
Beer of the Week: Tecate 12 pack cans!
(Warning: lime rhyme ahead)
Packaged in its own
handy carrying case, Tecate's crisp and refreshing taste is great for
this week's warmer clime. Take a 12 pack to this weekend's cookout and
don't forget the lime!

On Sale in Supplements: 
Herb Pharm Digestive Bitters, promotes healthy appetite & digestion reg: $10.99/sale: $8.79
 
Health Team Member Coupons:
Natural Max  Bloat-X,
an advanced digestive, water & fluid balance formula containing
probiotics, enzymes and herbs.  $14.29 / $4.00 off with your member
coupon.
 
Thompson  Pomegranate CoQ-10,
an antioxidant combo featuring 500mg of pomegranate fruit extract and
30mg of CoQ-10 in 2 vegetarian capsules.  $17.29 / $4.00 off with your
member coupon.

RECIPES!!!

Here's a quickie of a recipe from Bryan Butler for Valentine's Day or anytime that uses the meat special this month, Italian sausage. It's a neat and fast recipe so you can get down to more important things if you catch my drift, *wink*wink*nudge*nudge* say no more.

PASTA WITH SAUSAGE AND MUSHROOM CREAM
SAUCE 

1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 lb. sweet sausage (casings removed)
1 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms ( your choice)
1 1/4 c. heavy cream (anything Remember When product will work)
Parsley (fresh is a must)
Pasta (defiantly get this from our great bulk pastas)
Parmesan cheese (buy the good stuff from our cheese case. Never the green can, yuk.)

In skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Add minced garlic, saute 2 minutes. Add sausage and mushrooms. Saute, breaking up sausage until cooked. Add heavy cream and simmer 3 minutes. Toss in parsley. Serve over your favorite hot, cooked pasta with Parmesan cheese.

This recipe is also quite cheap to make the meal should easily cost less than $10, and you can spend your extra bucks on some wine or your favorite hooch.

Citrus Vinaigrette recipe from Johnny Livesay in Produce
Use blood orange, Rio stars or meyer lemon juice to make simple yet delicious vinaigrettes for your fresh salads.
6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp of white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp of fresh citrus juice
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
 
Combine vinegar, citrus, and dijon in a high sided container, and mix until mustard is evenly incorporated. Slowly add the oil while whisking to form the emulsion. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy. Will keep for quite some time.
 
You made it to the end of this super full e-mail! Congratulations! May love pour down on you like yesterday's rain!

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