Thankful

Hello friends,

It's that time of year again.  You know, the one where you meet up with friends, family and loved ones and celebrate together with food, drinks, football and more food.  In short, my kind of holiday.  As I sit here typing on this crisp, sunny fall morning, I want to share some of the things I am thankful for.  Coffee, for one.  My health, my children, my family, my wonderful customers (you guys!), my beautiful city and, again, coffee.  And Black Mission Fig Balsamic.  In order to make your Thanksgiving meal absolutely complete, this month's feature is Fig Balsamic.

For the month of November, when you can get 20% off any bottle of Fig Balsamic and I will give you a slew of ideas/recipes to go along with it.  I have started stocking up the store for the onslaught of Thanksgiving and Christmas shoppers, as I hope to see your lovely faces in the coming weeks.  I have new kitchen towels from Oh Little Rabbit, some new packaging for salts, Taza chocolates, and Charlito's Cocina handmade dry-cured sausages.  I'm mostly excited for the Charlito's.  They just got a fantastic write up in last month's Bon Appetit and the American charcuterie scene is really starting to flourish.  We carried their sausages last year and if you didn't get a chance to try them, now is the time.  You won't regret it, I promise!

We're also going to try and make your lives easier this year, with pre-packaged/wrapped bottles of our most popular oils and vinegars.  You can also give us a call ahead of time and we can have your order ready to pick up when you get here.  I know part of the fun is coming and tasting everything, but every now and then you're in a hurry and need to scoot.  I get it!

Oh, our holiday hours are going to change up a bit as well.  For the week of Thanksgiving, we will be closed Thursday and Friday, but plan on us being here with bells on for Small Business Saturday.  We will be open from 9:00-5:00 Saturday, November 26 and those will be our Saturday hours throughout the holiday season.  We'll also be hosting an after hours shindig on First Thursday (December 1) from 6:00-8:00, so stop by for food and drinks and a door prize or two!

Back to things I'm thankful for: food you can eat with one hand.  I have been eating a lot of things that look like this.  But!  Thanksgiving should change all of that.  The recipes I'm giving you are actually from our archives, but they are so good I thought they deserved a revival.  

First, Caramelized Garlic.  This simple recipe will give you a whole new appreciation for how garlic goes in a dish.  I use this on pizzas (prosciutto, arugula, etc.), in quiche, tucked into breads, or made into paste and spread on a sandwich.  It's fantastic.  The Caramelized Onions and Balsamic Braised Brussels Sprouts are both excellent side dishes for Thanksgiving.  Nobody thought that B. Sprouts would be the most coveted item on our family's menu, but there was nary a leaf left of that sweet, smoky, crispy delight when it was all said and done.  Do me a favor and make them this year using the Black Mission Fig Balsamic.  Just...just trust me on this.

Here are the recipes' links.  Happy November!

Cheers,
Andrea

Recipes:
Caramelized garlic
Caramelized Onions in Black Mission Fig Balsamic
Balsamic Braised Brussels Sprouts
Fig and Cheddar Grilled Cheese