Perky Jerky and more...

As promised, a few fun foodie articles I read yesterday:

Cookbook for Kids (Chicago Tribune): a 6-yr old boy (with the help of his mom) compiled a cookbook with recipes from his classmates to raise over $20,000 for his local food bank. CUTE!

Perky Jerky (NY Daily News): Caffeinated beef jerky. Need I say more? It’s not on Relay yet but if this really takes off I’m sure we’ll find a way to get it to all of you caffeine-heads out there.

Sugar: the new “anti-food” (AlterNet): Sweet fact- Americans eat 156 pounds of sugar (including all sweeteners added to processed and non-processed foods by consumers and manufacturers) per person per year. In 1830 the average was only 11 pounds per year. Yikes.

Yogis and Foodies (NYTimes): Delicious meals served with a side of yoga! Could anything be more delicious for your body and mind than eating and fully appreciating great food after reuniting with your senses? “Ssssmell the squassshhhh waaaafting through the air.” I think I might open C’ville’s first yoga restaurant/studio next year.

Better than the 30 second rule (SFoodie): Maybe you don’t want to admit it to your significant other or your mother but we all know you eat food off the floor sometimes…it happens…there’s no point in wasting that delicious bar of Gearhart's chocolate (YES RELAY DOES HAVE THEM!!!) just because it has a little piece of dog hair stuck to it…This flow chart from San Francisco Foodie is one of those funny little pass-it on tidbits.

Six Meaningless Claims on Food Labels (NYTimes): Another ‘Yikes’. Don’t trust the wordsmiths out there. Foods that claim to be “lightly-sweetened,” “a good source of fiber,” “strengthens your immune system,” “made with real fruit,” “made with whole grains,” and “all natural” may not really be so good for you.

Happy (Cozy) Chickens

Dear gray clouds and soft white stuff outside my window,

Thank you. This is what a snowstorm should be. BEAUTIFUL. Thank you for starting in the wee hours of the morning instead of right at rush hour like the last jerk of a storm. I’ve decided that this is the perfect day to catch up on my internet news (if G-reader could overflow mine would be spilling out all over my computer right about now…).

I’ll be sending out some links to the best food articles tomorrow, but in the meantime, I want to show you the blog of a 13 year old committed vegetarian boy who raises chickens and bees and may just become the next Michael Pollan or Joel Salatin (both of whom he writes about). His blog, Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs, is a compilation of links and personal stories from fun foodie articles (how to make your own seedling newspaper cups) to incredibly serious links about Monsanto’s GMO corn all interspersed with some really beautiful photography (mostly of chickens). I’m so impressed with kids these days. Only 13? Really? With kids like this around I really believe our world will be okay after all.

While we’re talking about happy chickens, I want to send a quick shout-out (and thank you) to Tim and Elizabeth DiChiara at Davis Creek Farms. Most people have heard about Joel Salatin and how happy Polyface chickens are, but there are many other ‘unsung heros’ out there, like the folks at Davis Creek. Their chickens are raised in hoop houses in small groups and moved to fresh pasture daily where they consume a diet consisting of at least thirty percent grass and bugs foraged in the field, the rest consists of antibiotic-free, locally produced grains. Having raised chickens most of my life, I think it’s pretty safe to say that these chickens live in chicken paradise.

Stay warm and safe out there, friends.

Dreary days won't slow us down

I’m pretty sure I can feel the vitamin D slowly oozing out of my body…apparently the beautiful weather we had at the beginning of the week was just a tease. I’m feeling a serious urge today to hide under my covers, watch some movies and avoid all contact with the outside world until the sun decides to grace us with its presence once more. The only thing that is going to drag me kicking and screaming out of my warm cocoon is the fact that today is a GREAT day for the Relay team!

Yesterday Neal received a call from a sweet lady from UVA Health Systems who wanted 48 gift bags made up for the Residents who so heroically stayed at the hospital to help out during the Snowpocalypse of 2009…she wanted them all ready in 24 hours. Neal called Nancy, Nancy ran to Michaels to pick up gift bags and started madly calling our dedicated retailers. Eric from Feast pulled together 48 bags of chocolate bark (which wasn’t previously on the Relay site…). Kim from Reid’s stayed late to organize fresh fruit for each bag while Nancy rushed around passing out regular Wednesday home deliveries. Janet and Jenny at Foods rounded up variously flavored gnocchi. And KeriAn from Rebecca’s gathered up a ton of lipbalm and granola bars of all sorts. The Relay drivers are picking up all of the goodies with the regular orders right this minute and in about an hour I’ll have to drag myself out of my sun-less melancholy to (very happily) bag up thank-you gifts for our wonderful UVA Residents!

The Relay team does it again…Thanks to all of our retailers, the Residents themselves for taking care of all of the stranded, cold C’villians and Nancy for working extra hard to make this work!

Mmm Soup...

It is so cold outside…that really bitter wind-chill cuts through your entire body sort of gray, depressing cold…if you haven’t felt it yet, don’t. Stay inside, cuddle up with your puppy, order your groceries from Relay and work from home. Trust me on this.

If you HAVE to go out, let me at least make one suggestion: go to Revolutionary Soup and order the Spicy Senegalese Peanut Tofu soup, it is pure warmth and comfort in your belly. Make sure you say ‘hi’ to Cary and Tasha, they’re the cute ones smiling at you from behind the counter doling out those big scoops of soup!

If you take my advice and stay wrapped up in your blanket, order a half gallon of this stuff from Relay to keep in your fridge as emergency food when you just can’t brace yourself against the cold weather coming this week. Did you know that they get many of their products from local sources (including Polyface and Twin Oaks)!

As an aside, I just read this interesting NY Times article about couples bickering over green lifestyle choices…don’t be like them! This weather is depressing enough, quit bickering and heat up a pot full of Rev. Soup, everyone in the family will be happy!

What a great day! It's beautiful outside, people are smiling everywhere, the sun is smiling on us all, AND it's Jason's first day as an official Relay team member!

I’ve known Jason since we were both awkward, goofy fifth graders and he is without a doubt one of the kindest, most genuine people I've ever met. He grew up just down the road in Ivy where he and his brothers actually started their own produce delivery service—they grew veggies and rode around on their bikes taking orders from neighbors and delivering the fruits of their labor. Jason graduated this past May from UVA with a B.A. in Political Philosophy, Policy and Law and several years of Nature Camp counseling under his belt (yeah, we’ve all seen those ‘I’d rather be at Nature Camp’ bumper stickers…). He’s passionate about philosophy, politics, the Great Outdoors and his local band, Tyger and the Lamb (check them out at the Tea Bazaar on Jan. 23^rd). Tall, handsome, intelligent and the singer in a band…how dreamy!! Make sure you say a special ‘hello’ to Jason when you see him on the Relay trucks this week!

Friends at the CASPCA

Is there anything better than sitting in your PJ’s and looking at pictures of puppies and kittens with your own best friend curled up at your feet? I think not, my friend. The Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA has a GREAT website jam-packed with all the puppy/kitten pictures your heart can handle…check out this video about them! They became a no-kill shelter in 2005 and continue to do so much to help our fine four-legged friends but they can’t continue to take in new homeless creatures without the support of our community. If you're ready to adopt a new pet, you can go to their site and actually look at the profiles (complete with pictures) of your potential new family members.

This month, Relay is giving 25% of our gross profit to the CASPCA. On top of that, if you type in the promo code “CASPCA” when you check out, YOU will receive 10% off your total order! Think about all of those cold, abandoned critters left outside this month as you order food for your own family through Relay.

PS- For all you animal lovers out there- here's a little treat: baby animals (I can not tell you how much time I've spent procrastinating on this site..)!

UPDATE!! Charlottesville's own Schuyler Fisk just released a song on Itunes called 'Love Somebody' and all proceeds from the Itunes sale will go to the CASPCA--Download it here--a great song for a great cause!!

South Street Crisis Averted!

Did anyone (attempt) to drive down South Street yesterday?? It was an absolute MESS! A water main burst right in front of Milano which led to total chaos, people running, screaming, water gushing everywhere, icicles dripping off of beards… Milano was forced to close and the Relay team was left out in the cold (literally) with 7 orders waiting to be claimed. Since we couldn’t leave them inside Milano, as we usually do, we rounded up the team, managed to free up a truck and diligently waited amidst the chaos for our (cold) customers. Crisis averted once again thanks to our dedicated operations team (thanks Dennis, Annick and Ted)!

(So I might be exaggerating about the icicles…but school bus drivers and working mothers alike were none too please to see a 20 ft hole in the middle of road at 4:00)

Fresh, clean turkey to the full extent of your desire...

So, I'm assuming after reading about Planet Earth Diversified’s fresh, flavorful herbs you went out (or, hopefully, sat at your computer…) and ordered yourself a few to try. Now the question is, what, exactly, are you going to do with them before they start turning brown in your fridge (at least that’s what tends to happen to my herbs…did I really buy them a month ago…)? Well, I have a suggestion. While you’re experimenting with new local farms why not try a turkey from Heartland Harvest Farm; they are delicious and oh so good for the locavore in us all.

Heartland Harvest is a local, biodiverse, polycultured, multi-generational family farm run by James and Lorretta Showalter with their family. Their eight children all work on the farm and take pride in the fact that their “heart” is in the “land” as they work to produce a “harvest” of the best quality foods connecting you with your community, your farmer (and family) as well as the soil. Their turkeys are purchased as day-old poults from a local hatchery then cared for in a brooder house until they are old enough to move to pasture in a semi-free range model for two weeks. At eight weeks they enjoy true free-range life with sun, fresh air, grass, insects and non-GMO feed as well as a safe house to retreat to at night. The Showalter’s goal is to provide “each animal with abundant, fresh, clean pasture to the full extent of its desire.”

In my humble opinion, I believe that turkey is soo delicious that it shouldn’t be reserved for only special occasions and feast days…invite some friends over and carve up some happiness! Plus, turkey leftovers are maybe more dynamic than any food in the world. On top of all that, they’re on sale through Retail Relay right now!

Rowena Morrel from In The Kitchen Magazine generously sent me a few supremely helpful suggestions from her magazine about what to do with your left over turkey; these are my favorite tips and recipes:

Prepare the carcass for turkey stock to make soup before you finish cleaning up the kitchen. Pick the meat from the carcass and place in a big stockpot, cover with water, and add several cloves of garlic, diced onion, a few slices of fresh ginger, peppercorns, and an ounce of vinegar. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for at least 3-5 hours. Strain and discard solids; (I do not save the solids because all of the taste and nutrition is now in the stock) cool quickly over ice and refrigerate. Now you can freeze stock or make soup by adding diced onions, celery, and fresh herbs. Add rice or noodles and fresh vegetables and cook about 20 minutes. Add meat (meat from wings and neck prepared for stock as well as scraps from turkey dinner) and simmer 10 more minutes. Correct seasoning and serve or cool and refrigerate. Once again, if there are leftovers, cool the soup over ice and store in a shallow container, refrigerated as quickly as possible.

Turkey Mornay with Steamed Broccoli

Butter 4 ramekins. Sauté 1 lb fresh mushrooms (quartered). Steam 2 stalks broccoli (halved). Mornay sauce: Melt 3 T butter; stir in 3 T flour until smooth and cook until butter and flour froth. Take off heat; whip in 1 1/2 c milk to incorporate roux thoroughly. Return to heat and continue to whip adding 1/2 c Swiss cheese, salt and white pepper and a dash of freshly ground nutmeg. Place a half stalk steamed broccoli in bottom of each ramekin; add 1/2 c turkey (diced) and 1/4 portion of mushrooms. Top each with Mornay sauce and bake until bubbly. This may be made in large casserole or chafing dish for buffet services.

Straight from the expert’s mouth to your taste buds! Get one of these turkeys before they gobble off!!

Diversification in 2010

Happy 2010! I hope the New Year is getting to a good start for everyone! At Relay we’re starting off the New Year with a revamped How It Works section of the website to make ordering and this whole crazy concept of online local grocery shopping a little easier. We also have a new Our Value To You page addressing exactly how shopping with Relay reconnects you with the values that sometimes get lost in the swirling, rushing mess of day to day life. But even more exciting than the site face-lift, we’ve added Planet Earth Diversified products through Foods of All Nations!

Let me tell you a little bit about these guys…Planet Earth Diversified has been around (in Standardsville) since 1975 and they are one of the few farms in the area with ecological greenhouses that provide us (and many of the finest restaurants in and around C’ville) with year-round quality produce. Michael Clark, the farmer behind Planet Earth Diversified, is also the host of Meet the Farmer TV, which is a delightful program that literally shows you the social relationships among growers, chefs, and consumers in our area. Michael Clark has interviewed Joel Salatin of Polyface, the folks over at Local Food Hub, farmers at The Farm at Red Hill, as well as Feast! proprietors and Rowena Morrel from In The Kitchen Magazine. On top of educating the community about our local food systems, Meet the Farmer TV has helped empower local farmers by creating websites for them for free!

SO! By supporting Planet Earth Diversified you get delicious, fresh produce year-round, you support the local food movement, as well as our local farmers themselves AND you support your local business/community (us over here at Retail Relay)!

You can watch full episodes of Meet the Farmer TV on their website and pick up Planet Earth Diversified mint, thyme, rosemary, chives, etc. from Retail Relay!