Wheatsville Co-op Austin, TX

[Dan gillotte <dangillotte AT gmail.com>]

Hello friends!

I hope that you are planning to come party down with us at our Grand reOpening Celebration this Saturday from 4-10pm! It's going to be an amazing event!

We have lots of fun stuff planned for the whole family!

LIVE MUSIC and presentations

4:00 Kids show w/ Laura Freeman & the Hay Holly's
4:45-6:00 Long-time owner Jimmy Robertson, Board President Rose Marie Klee, General Manager Dan Gillotte and local dignitaries speak to the crowd about this auspicious occasion
6:00 Justin Rayfield (music)
7:00 Two High String Band
8:30 PONG in a VERY special performance that we'll be talking about for a long time!

Free Kids Activities including face painting, balloon animals, & a Moonwalk!
Non-Profit Community Groups our Owners have supported over the year
Free Samples from many of our Local Vendors
Food Drive w/ Capital Area Food Bank
Talk with Paul Willis founder & manager of Niman Ranch Pork, including samples!
Visit with one of Organic Valley's Dairy Farmers

We'll be providing OFF SITE parking at Mid-Town Medical Parking Garage on W. 38th between Lamar and West Ave. The Rockin' Rides Bio-diesel shuttle will pick you up at the 37th street side of the garage and bring you back to Wheatsville. There is also parking in the neighborhood on Saturday.

We're also featuring some of the best DEALS ever this Saturday (while supplies last)
Organic Bananas for just 69 cents a pound!
Organic Broccoli for just 99 cents per pound!
Amy's Organic Burritos Buy one, get one free!!!
16 oz latte, mocha or cappuccino for the amazingly low price of $1.50!!!

Boars Head Mesquite Smoked Turkey for just $6.99 a pound!
Boars Head Muenster for $2.99 a pound!

Popcorn Tofu on the Hot Food Bar for just $7.99 a pound!

So, come on down and celebrate with us!

Special note: while we would love to have you all come to the party, we know that some of you are just looking to shop on Saturday. While we will do everything we can to send partiers to our parking garage, parking will still be hairy during the party. Sooo... Please consider getting your shopping done early on Saturday if you can. And of course, walking, biking or bussing to Wheatsville is ALWAYS a good option!

Please(!) if you are coming for the party and planning to stay for a while we ask that you park off site to preserve whatever parking we can for those folks that just want to get in and shop. We really appreciate your help with this!

Texas Apples!
Yep, we've got the most rare of local fruit, local Apples! And they are good!

Greetings from Cheese Island!
Have I  got something special for you!!! I am bringing in 3 special cheeses for your enjoyment. Let me start with the Local cheeses. I am bringing in 2 new cheeses from Veldhuizen Farms. One is Stuart Veldhuizen’s take on an Alpine cheese. “Green’s Creek Gruyere ages in their on-farm cave for up to 9 months. The result is a semi-firm cheese with intense flavor. While hitting key notes of the Swiss classic, this Gruyere has a subtle nutty flavor all its own.”  Also coming in is Veldhuizen’s Bosque Blue. “Much like a Stilton, Bosque is robust in flavor with a creamy, yet crumbly, texture. It’s lovely straw-yellow coloring is thanks to all the healthy grass that the Veldhuizens' free-ranging cows get to munch on.”

 

Recently, I was fortunate enough to attend the American Cheese Society’s Annual  Cheese Conference and was able to try many of the thousands of cheeses shown at the conference. There were Cheddars, Bries, Fetas, Chevre… oh  I could go on and on, but the one cheese that I tasted and fell in love with was the Rogue River Blue. This Blue cheese, from Rogue Creamery, not only took first in the Cows milk Blue Category, but took best in show. I knew, after tasting this cheese, that I wanted to bring it in so that you could experience what I had experienced. Unfortunately, this cheese is a seasonal cheese and I had to wait for it to come into season. Ooohhh what a long three months it has been, but now, finally, it is on a plane and should be here tomorrow or Friday. So what is the Rogue River Blue that I speak of? It is a seasonal raw milk Blue cheese from Rogue Creamery out of Oregon. It is aged up to a year in rooms that simulate the conditions of the caves used to age Roquefort. This allows the naturally occurring molds to collect on the cheese and gives it a signature terroir.* Also adding to the cheese’s terroir, the cheese is wrapped in grape leaves collected from Carpenter Hills Vineyard that is located along theRouge River Valley and these grape leaves are macerated with Clear Hills Pear Brandy. Yes this cheese will be expensive, but you work hard and you deserve to treat yourself well. What a treat this cheese is!! So now that cooler weather is prevailing buy you a piece of the Rogue River Blue, a nice Concorde pear, a crusty baguette and a bottle of bubbly. Go home open up all the windows so that fresh fall air fills your home, turn down the lights, light some candles, put on some wonderful music and enjoy the moment. Treat yourself Well!!

 

*Terroir a term associated with wine. It is used to describe the flavors given to the grape from the environment that it is grown. This environment would include the soil, weatherconditions and water used to irrigate the vinyards. So when someone refers to a cheese’s terroir they are referring to flavors given to it from its surroundings, which would include the naturally occurring molds from the area and the grass the cows eat.

News from the Meat Department

Faithful patrons of the meat market at Wheatsville food Coop. If you love what we've been doing the last few years, then you must not miss the grand re-opening events this Saturday. We'll have several of our producers in the store sampling their products and answering questions about their practices using in the raising of your beef and poultry. Patty Jacobs, from Bastrop Cattle Company, will be inside the store by the meat counter offering tasty grass-fed beef treats. Jane Levan from Dewberry Hills Farm will be outside answering questions and discussing their pasture raised chickens, hand raised for Wheatsville Food Coop.

I'm personally most excited for the owners of Wheatsville food coop to get the opportunity to meet Paul Willis from Niman Ranch Pork. Having recently spent time in Iowa getting to tour Paul Willis's operation and hearing him speak, I'm overjoyed to be sharing some of my experience with the owners, workers, and general public.

Paul Willis is pork producer for Niman Ranch pork program. Although he's a farmer first he is also oversees the 500 coop run family farms. He and Niman Ranch are on the forefront of animal welfare treatment in the US. Niman producers have recently adopted a 21 point animal welfare system created by Dr. Temple Grandin. They're praised for running confinement free farms, and are modern marvels of biodiversity. Paul has a great story to tell I high recommend taking the opportunity to hear him speak. So head to the north-west corner of the parking lot, for a picnic style meet and greet on the grass. He and our friends from Lonestar Food service, Franklin, Travis, and Todd will be there offering samples of bratwurst, BBQ style pulled pork, and hot dogs--yum!

Wheatsville is preparing and stuffing our own sausages now. Made from the best Niman Ranch cuts and mixed with natural and fresh spices and ingredients. This is a first for Wheatsville and we’re very proud of the program. To promote our great sausages we’re reducing the price .50 cents in the month of October. Look for Sweet Italian, Hot Italian, Chorizo, and country style breakfast sausage in the full service meat counter by the deli. Sausages are regularly $7.99lb, but for October they’ll be $7.49lb. These sausages come linked in natural casings and in bulk, not linked. You can prepare these many different ways; grilled, pan fried, steamed, baked, and crumbles can be pan fried. Come by and pick some up!

 

Oh yea and we have deals too!!

Niman Ranch Beef boneless ribeyes $14.99 lb, regular $16.99 lb.

Niman Ranch Beef top sirloin steaks $8.99 lb , regular $9.99 lb.

Niman Ranch Beef 85/15 ground sirloin $7.99 lb, regular $8.99 lb.

Applegate sliced pepperoni $5.49, regular $5.99.

 

In The Grocery Aisle

 

Living Harvest Hemp Milk:

 

Living Harvest has perfected the process of making a creamy and smooth hemp milk. Hemp milk is high in both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. It is also loaded with vitamins and minerals, and all 10 essential amino acids. Living Harvest Tempt Hemp Milk is a very enjoyable and beneficial alternative to dairy or soy milk. The consistency is perfect for cereal or as a drink by itself. It can also be substituted cup for cup in recipes that call for dairy milk. Wheatsville has five varieties of Tempt on sale this month for $2.89. We also have cases on hand. Check out Living Harvest atwww.livingharvest.com Justin Merrifield, Grocery Buyer


I hope that you have a great week!!!

Dan Gillotte
Wheatsville GM and e-mail guy!