New Year's Already?!

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve! That means today is the official scramble-to-find-a-party-worry-about-where-your-kids-are-going day. New Year’s is one of those sneaky holidays full of high expectations and even higher stress levels. Everyone’s so busy with Christmas and you just got your family out the door and you wake up to the realization that tomorrow is New Year’s…You really don’t want to do anything…but it’s New Year’s, the one day a year when just about everyone has a little bubbly or at least stays up late enough to watch that excessively expensive ball drop (thank you Waterford-look at this thing!), so you feel like you have to do something.

So this year, why not relieve everyone’s party-hunting stress? Have your own last-minute New Year’s Extravaganza! Your house is clean enough, I promise…plus, after a few of these simple champagne-based drinks I found, no one will notice the dust bunnies. I can’t say that I’ve made any of these yet, but since my friends have informed me that I will be hosting the party tomorrow, I may just whip a few of these up tomorrow…Relay has all of the ingredients (including the champagne thanks to Rio Hill Wine and Gourmet) and our trucks will be zipping around town tomorrow, so make sure you get those orders in tonight if you want to try these out!

Cranberry Kir

1 1/2 cups chilled cranberry juice

3/4 cup crème de cassis (black currant-flavored liqueur)

1 750-ml bottle chilled dry champagne or sparkling wine

Place 2 tablespoons cranberry juice and 1 tablespoon crème de cassis in each of 12 champagne flutes. Pour 1/4 cup champagne into each and serve.

Strawberry Champagne Punch

1 (750 milliliter) bottle champagne

1 (2 liter) bottle ginger ale, chilled

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen strawberries, partially thawed

In a large punch bowl, combine champagne, ginger ale and strawberries. Gently stir and serve.

Black Velvet

For those anti-champagne Guinness-drinking men (or women…) fix these up and force them to try:

1/2 pint Guinness

1/2 pint champagne

Pour the Guinness into the glass first, then carefully add champagne so that the drinks layer.

If you are hosting a party and making these delectable drinks, make sure everyone has a safe ride home. Chandler Law Group hosts free taxi rides every year through the holiday season so there’s no excuse not to call a cab (or call one for your friends), the Charlottesville Yellow Cab number is 295-4131. Be safe and Happy New Year’s!

(As a side note--we, like you, are upset about the loss of TJ’s…today is the last day to order your Joe’s products, so stock up while you can.)

Phew!

It’s been ‘one of those days’ for the Relay team due to this so-called ‘snowpocalypse’.

We had to excavate one truck as well as our home delivery vehicle and make sure the pick-up locations were clear all before making the rounds to our retailers, who were also, as you can imagine, in a huff because of all the post-snow, pre-Christmas madness. We were slightly behind schedule but managed to get in all of the 20+ orders for the day and even delivered an order to one hungry family who couldn’t make it out to the pick-up spot!

The traffic and the roads are truly horrific…avoid them at all costs. Let us suffer through this mess for you. I just read on cVillain that the Virginia State Police are reporting over 3,237 crashes and 3,567 ‘disabled’ vehicles…I’m not surprised. I know that our lovely baker Shelia’s husband, from Belle Haven Farm Bakery, couldn’t make it home Friday night and she’s had her own share of trouble getting out of Scottsville. Thankfully, Shelia’s family braved the roads and pulled through today to bring us warm, fresh baked bread!

I hope all of you made it safe and sound through this mess and continue to be careful in the icy, slushy days ahead!

Stay Warm

SNOW DAY!! I don't think I've ever seen this much snow in Virginia...really, this is nuts.  Speaking of nuts, I think I'm going to spend the day baking (perhaps these candied curried pecans from Bon Appetit) and frolicking with my puppies.  

        But before I can do anything, I desperately need some hot chocolate to warm me up.  Did you know that the original hot chocolate drinkers were the Olmecs in Central America in 1500 B.C.E.?  Apparently, they discovered that the seeds they tended to spit out while eating the fruit of the cacao tree (which tastes like passionfruit!) could be turned into a delicious drink when mixed with chilies and ground corn...weird.  The Nibble has a pretty interesting article all about hot chocolate/cocoa.  

Check out some of the really interesting hot chocolates and drinking cocoas we offer through Retail Relay (including an Aztec Spicy Hot Chocolate that I'm planning to add in my next order)!  Or, think about wrapping your cold hands around a hot mug of one of the 190 different teas we offer...that's right, 190.

Has anyone made it out into Charlottesville today? Is it the ghost-town that I imagine it to be?  According to this Daily Progress article, officials are asking people with 4 wheel drive vehicles to help emergency crews. If you can help, please call the county Emergency Communications Center at 434-979-INFO.  

Don't forget the Christmas Cookies!

Nine days left of this crazy pre-Christmas shopping, baking, traveling, running around MESS and I do believe we’re right in the middle of Christmas Party season. I actually have my first Christmas party of the year to attend in approximately 1 hour and I’m proud to say I will not be showing up empty-handed. Last night around 10:30 pm I realized said party was quickly approaching and I would be a self-proclaimed bum if I didn’t bring some sort of baked goodie. So, 10:35 I started scouring the Internet for some inspiring new recipe, which turned out to be these delightful inside-out carrot cake cookies. I made it onto retailrelay.com by 11 o’clock, just in time to get my order in before midnight.

For all of you out there who need something fun to cook for your upcoming holiday party, I seriously recommend these unique little beauties—they’re slightly reminiscent of fruit cake (though so, so much better) and with a little extra spice they definitely taste “Christmasy.”
Here’s the Gourmet recipe as I found it (all the links take you to Retail Relay products!):

Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
1 scant cup walnuts (3 ounces), chopped
½ cup raisins (2 ½ ounces)
8 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup honey

Preparation:
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed, then add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.
Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.

I added more cinnamon, some nutmeg and some ginger to give them a little more kick…I also, shamefully, just realized that I forgot the brown sugar…but they turned out beautifully without it! I also threw in a bunch of cranberries and substituted the walnuts for pecans—just a personal preference. I made them pretty small and after the first batch realized that smooshing them down so they’re thick but relatively flat helps the sandwiching process. Based on the comments about the recipe on Epicurious, I actually avoided the honey cream cheese filling and made this one from Bon Appetite, though I had a ton left over so I would recommend halving that.
I really liked them but I guess we’ll see in a few minutes whether or not they’re a hit with the Christmas party-goers! Give ‘em a try and let me know how they turn out!

The Gift of (Difficult) Beer

Has anyone else realized that Christmas is in 10 days?!? YIKES!! I literally haven’t done any Christmas shopping (unless you count that Ghirardelli Chocolate assortment that never made it into my Christmas candy dish…).

My dad is always the most difficult person to shop for on my list. Sure, I could get him another tie, go for the 500^th Freakonomics-esque book, maybe some knee-high black socks…but I’ve reached a point where all of those gifts seem so thoughtless.

Last year I thought I had accomplished the impossible, summited the Mt. Everest of Christmas shopping, found THE perfect gift for my dad…a beer brewing kit! After some serious family time (“we need more honey, quick!!” “YOU’RE WASTING ALL OF MY GOOD HONEYYY!!”) and months of waiting, we had a fridge full of ugly, unlabeled bottles and a super-sweet, mediocre beer.

Although the two “Ale Pails” gathering dust in our basement may add to the ambiance of the room, I’m going to let you know right now that a beer brewing kit is NOT the perfect gift for dad. Why disappoint yourself with a probably not so delicious beer when there are so many top-notch local brews? This year, I think I may just opt for a fridge full of local brews for my dad; as Starr Hill’s motto states “give the gift of great beer” (notice it’s not “give the gift of mediocre, labor intensive beer”).

Retail Relay recently linked up with Charlottesville’s Rio Hill Wine & Gourmet which means we’ve got your Starr Hill Amber Ales, Pale Ales, Loves, and Gifts. Or, just go for the box set! We can also hook you up with some Blue Mountain Brewery delights like Rockfish Wheat, Blue Mountain lager, Lights Out, and the classic Full Nelson. Did you know they actually grow their own hops (according to their website, Virginia was once the hops capital of the New World!)?

Anyone out there have other good gift ideas for dad??

Get your Polyface here, folks!

Many of you Charlottesvillians are probably used to seeing Polyface Farm labels on meat at specialty stores or in your local restaurant menus, maybe you’ve eaten a bite or two…if you have you must know how delicious it is…but do you know what makes it really special?

Polyface’s proprietor, Joel Salatin and his family on their farm in Swoope, Virginia practice ecologically conscious, sustainable small-scale farming, also known as permaculture. Permaculture is a portmanteau word that combines ‘permanent’ with ‘agriculture’ as well as ‘culture’ which essentially means that farmers who practice permaculture focus on creating an ecological system that works with nature rather than against it.

In the case of Polyface, Joel Salatin has created a system of intertwined cycles—cows forage on fresh grass in their mobile enclosure each day, chickens follow behind them and eat the freshly clipped grass sprouts as well as the bugs in their cow paddies all while spreading out the manure. His animals are happy, his land is healthy, and we get delicious, clean meat…what could be better?? If you’d like to learn more about permaculture and its application in Central Virginia, check out the courses offered by the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network.

We’re proud to announce that Retail Relay has joined Polyface’s ecological system by offering fresh chicken breasts, tenders, legs and thighs to our site! So support your local farmer, your local business, the welfare of animals and the land.

UPDATE: Joel Salatin was just named "Person of the Year" by the Hook- Check out this great article about him and Polyface.

DP: 250East Growth Strains Highways, Residents

According to an article in the Progress the other day, "Virginia Department of Transportation traffic counts for last year estimated that 24,000 vehicles traveled on U.S. 250 between Interstate 64 and Route 22 daily, and the number is expected to increase to 42,185 vehicles by 2035."

Nice segue into our latest news: we are shifting our Peter Jefferson Place pickup location to the Topeka Steak House (and Saloon!) on 250East. You can reach this spot from inside the curving lanes of PJP or with an easy zoom-in-zoom-out from the right lane on 250East.

Aside from commuter woes and the implied sitting-in-traffic energy inefficiencies, another issue with congestion is the inability of folks who live east of town to actually get to places they would like to shop in a timely fashion. Solution? Go online -- over 27 different stores, restaurants, and farms. We collect it all for you and meet you with your purchases all bagged up. Get it on the way home! (End of commercial)