Before I write anything else, let me say, "Thank. You." Thank you so much for shopping with us this Holiday Season. It warms my heart on this chilly day to think of how many people came out and shopped local this year. You are the reason small businesses thrive in this fair town of Fayetteville. So...thanks! We love you all! Also, thanks to Dirty Apron Bake House for providing amazing bread to our late night shoppers at our Holiday Open House. If you haven't gotten a loaf of Nick's bread yet, you're missing out. Find them on Church and Dickson Street on the backside of The Garden Room. They're pretty great. (I think they are closed until January 2, though. FYI.)
Okay, now that I got through those warm and cuddly feelings, let's move on. What's new and interesting in the store, you ask? Not much, just switching over to the Northern Hemisphere olive oils at a snail's pace. I just ordered two new Portuguese oils. One is a robust Cobrancosa and the other is a mild/medium Chiquitita. Those are the only two available to us at this moment. The minute the Spanish, Californian, and (hopefully) Italian and Greek oils make their way into the market, I will get them into our store. I say "hopefully" about the Italian and Greek oils because the 2016 harvest was "catastrophic" due to a severe drought in Europe. This year the drought has continued and a hail storm punched through Western Greece a few weeks prior to their harvest and devastated some groves, so....we'll see! You'll be glad to know that the wildfires in Northern California did not affect most of the growers' harvests and the trials at UC Davis Olive Center have shown that the flavor of the olives does not seem to have been impacted by the smoke. Hooray!
Olives! Yes! I just ordered some new jars of the Spanish Medley olives with pits, the green chili stuffed olives, and the red chili and garlic stuffed olives. I know a few folks have been asking after them. They should be in next week, weather and holidays permitting.
We now have on tap a Black Cherry Dark Balsamic per several customers' requests. I was hesitant to get this one because I generally think of Cherry anything as cough syrup. Boy was I surprised to find that I really REALLY like this Balsamic! It is sweet, but it's also quite tart and it makes the most amazing vinaigrette when mixed with the Roasted Almond Oil. I think it would make a killer glaze on a Pork Tenderloin. It's challenging my world view of "cherry." It does help that it's not artificially flavored and so dark that it is truly Black Cherry. No red food coloring for us, if you please!
I am going to replace the Passion fruit White Balsamic with the beloved Grapefruit White Balsamic for the winter. I love how zippy it is! Citrus in the winter is where it's at, people. Welcome back, Grapefruit. We have missed you.
Sadly, we are temporarily out of the Rosemary Infused Olive Oil. We'll get it back, too, don't worry! Our distributor is out of it, thus we are out of it. Patience, my friends, and apologies. They will hopefully have it back in stock mid-January.
Speaking of January, do you want to know a secret? I hate New Years' Resolutions. No, I really hate them. I have never done one in my life. I am the person that scoffs at the crowded gyms and empty produce isles and thinks, "we'll see how long this lasts." So I am hesitant to say that I am doing a Resolution for the New Year. It is a coincidence that I am giving up sugar for a month and that month happens to be January.
That's right, my dears, no sugar for one month. What does that entail, you ask? No: refined sugar, corn syrup (that pretty much rules out any packaged snack foods), no sweetened drinks (including coffee and tea), white rice, white flour, white bread, PASTA, and alcohol*. Yes: honey, pure maple syrup, balsamic, whole fruit, dried fruit, whole grains, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, dark chocolate, and weekend red wine*.
How will you survive, you ask? Air popped popcorn with our Butter Olive Oil, kale chips, Sweet and Spicy Mixed Nuts, Granola, and lots of smoothies. Meals won't be too difficult. It's snacking that gets in my way. With my two small children around, Goldfish Crackers are basically a food group at our house. Which brings us to the "why". Why are you doing this, you ask? Because. For the first time in my entire life, I have a cavity. I have a CAVITY! In my tooth! What the heck?! I could be a professional electric toothbrush reviewer and I have a cavity? I don't think so. As you can see, I take this very personally. So, I am going to be eating mindfully for the following month in an attempt to recalibrate my taste buds and my way of thinking of snacking. My dentist told me that it's not Halloween candy or even the sweets around the Holidays that cause cavities, it's the every day simple carbs that break down into sugar in your mouth. We don't go around eating candy all day, but we do snack on *ahem* Goldfish/Wheat Thins/Crackers, etc. So....here we go! Time to cut that out!
I have a few tricks up my sleeve, though. I'm keeping Dark Chocolate on my acceptable foods list. And guess what we just got in from Taza? Their Wicked Dark (95% cacao) Ginger Bar. It is DARK and I love it. I'll allow myself a square or two if I just need a buzz every now and then. Also, any one of our Balsamic vinegars is acceptable. It has no added sugar or corn syrup! All natural, my friends. I can add a splash of Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic to my fizzy water and kale salad and get that hint of sweetness without a bit of white sugar.And just like that, I decided that Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic is going to be our sale Vinegar for the month of January. Boom! A stroke of brilliance. Today I am going to give you the bare bones tools to make a massaged kale salad. What's that, you ask? It is my new obsession. You take a bunch of kale, tear off the leaves, wash it, dry it, then throw it in a large bowl. Next you take a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil and pour it over your kale. Now massage the kale. You don't even have to be good at it. You just work the kale around until it wilts a bit. The rest is up to you. You can add strawberries and a dark balsamic, or (my favorite) Sicilian lemon balsamic (or lemon juice, honey, and rice vinegar) with Toasted Sesame Oil and a splash of soy sauce or Bragg's amino acids, and any combination of seeds or nuts. There you have it. It's almost too healthy, you know? I will call this my Anti-Resolution Salad.
Thank you all for shopping with us and I look forward to seeing you all in 2018!
Cheers,
Andrea
Massaged Kale Salad
1 bunch kale, washed and dried
2 Tbsp. EVOO
1 tsp. Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic
1 tsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
1 tsp. Soy Sauce or Bragg's Amino Acids
Anything else you want: chickpeas, avocados, tomatoes, almonds, pepitas, etc.
1. Place kale in a large mixing bowl. Add the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and massage until the leaves are wilted, about 3 minutes.
2. Mix in the remaining ingredients and enjoy!
