Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup maple sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup whole milk

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled

2/3 cup pure maple syrup

1 cup pecans, butternuts, or walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin pan or line with paper muffin cups.

2. Mix flour, maple sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk the egg, milk, butter, and maple syrup in another medium bowl. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until almost combined. Gently fold in the nuts.

3. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake muffins in the oven until they are golden brown and firm to the touch, about 20 minutes.

4. Transfer to cooling rack. Serve warm with maple butter or maple cream.

From Dishing Up Vermont: 145 Authentic Recipes from the Green Mountain State, by Tracey Medeiros (Storey, $19.95); contributed by Connie Brooks, Battenkill Books.

For a special treat try some AGED GOUDA. Jenkins describes it as “both sharp and aweet at the same time, like molten honey or butterscotch” and recommends combining it with mashed potatoes, sprinkling it on a green salad, or grating it on buttered bread and broiling til browned for an “upper-crust variation on a grilled cheese.”

Siily Cow Farms Hot Chocolate Mix from Vermont in pretty glass bottles: Marshmallow Swirl, Chocolate Truffle and Chocolate-Chocolate.

Ladyfingers for holiday Trifles and Tiramisu!

Barley sugar lollipops in a variety of shapes and colors.

Give a Co-op Cookbook! Delicious recipes and reasonably priced!

Thanks to the managers and a devoted team of members, we have rearranged display shelving, making progress around the store easier and improving sight lines. All of this has happened in the last ten days, so if you haven’t been in lately, now is the time!

Board member Lisa Jennings has organized a very worthwhile holiday project – providing holiday presents for needy children –  that we hope everyone will participate in! There are “Giving Trees” located in the Co-op and at the TCT Credit Union in Cambridge. The ornaments on the trees are marked with different donation amounts. Just take one off a tree and put it with your donation in the box provided. The Co-op Board will be purchasing, wrapping and delivering the gifts to the families, who have been identified by Family Services and have sent in requests for presents for their children.  (We are encouraging the families to choose local merchants for their gifts). 

We all have a great deal to be grateful for, and the Board would like to thank our devoted corps of members – of every category – and our amazing managers!  WE HAVE BEEN IN OUR NEW SPACE FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR…!!!!

FRESH TURKEYS have been ordered and will be in the Co-op for pick-up MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22 (please note that this date has changed). This is a special order item, but there are usually a few extras.

Canned pumpkin and sweet potato purees

Organic cranberry sauce

Olivia’s stuffing mix in traditional and cornbread – from Vermont

Robertson’s mince meat in 13oz. glass jars

J. Crow’s Mulled Cider Mix

Organic gravies for the culinarily-challenged: wild mushroom and roast trukey varieties.

Gluten free bread crumbs as well as Panko bread crumbs in plain and Italian Herb varieties

Frozen puff pastry (and PLEASE NOTE that our new freezer is coming soon!!)

Soppressata salami for a delicious hors d’oeuvre – pair with some of our cheeses!

And on an Italian note…a new product: FARRO (Triticum dicoccum). Looks a bit like wheat berries. Delicious nutty flavor, usually cooked in advance and can then be used in many different ways. Great in turkey stuffing! Mix with herbs, red onion, capers and/or your choice of other diced vegetables, toss with olive oil and salt and pepper for a perfect fall appetizer. Great with sauteed mushrooms or as a replacement for pasta. Stir in to hearty soups.      [Some farro needs to be pre-soaked, some not, so check package directions. Once cooked, it stores well in fridge for 3-4 days]

The following soup recipe comes from Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Italian Country Table, New York, Scribner, 1999 – a very good cook book for those interested in Italian food!

1/2 cup farro (or wheat berries)

for the Beans:

2 1/8″ thick slices pancetta, minced [NB pancetta is an unsmoked bacon. The Co-op is waiting for its order...if you can't wait to try this, Roma Deli in Saratoga carries it]

2 1/8″ slices soppressata salami, minced) (yes, it’s at the Co-op!)

1 small carrot in 1/4″ dice

1 small stalk celery with leaves in 1/4″ dice

1 medium onion, 1/4″ dice

6 fresh sage leaves, chopped

1 large clove garlic

1 1/4 c dried beans : Borlotti, Lamon or pinto, soaked in hot water for 1 hour and drained

2 med. red-skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4″ dice

about 1 1/2 cups diced butternut squash (peeled first)

For the Soffritto:

1 Tablesp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 1/8″ slices pancetta, minced

2 1/8″ slices soppressata salami, minced

1 scant tsp. dried rosemary

salt and pepper

1 med. onion in 1/4″ dice

1 clove garlic minced

3/4 to 1 cup canned whole tomatoes, with their liquid

1. cook farro according to package directions (wheat berries will take longer)

2. For the beans: Saute the pancetta and salami in a 6qt. pot over med. high heat to release some of their fat. Stir in the carrot, celery, onion, and sage, sauteeing until golden brown. Adjust the heat to keep the vegetables from burning. Stir in the garlic, cooking another minute. Add the drained beans, the potatos, squash, and water to cover by two inches. Partially cover the pot and simmer gently for one hour or until the beans are tender. Add salt to taste. Let the beans stand, off the heat, 10 minutes, then drain, saving their liquid.

3. For the soffritto (while the beans cook): Heat the olive oil in a 10″ skillet over medium heat. Saute the pancetta and salami 1 minute. Add the rosemary, salt and pepper to taste, and the onion and cook until the onion is golden brown. Blend in the garlic and tomatoes and simmer until thick. Remove from heat and cover.

4. Puree half the beans with 1/3 cup of the bean liquid in a food processor. In the bean pot combine the puree and the remaining beans, the soffritto, cooked grain, and 4 cups of the bean liquid. Gently simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning. the soup should be the consistentcy of heavy cream; add more bean liquid if necessary. Serve hot, swirling each serving with a little olive oil and some freshly-ground black pepper.

This great recipe comes from one of my current favorite cookbooks, Pumpkin: A Super Food for All 12 Months of the Year by DeeDee Stovel (Storey, $12.95), and it uses several ingredients that are very plentiful this time of year. We, of course, carry the book at Battenkill Books if the recipe whets anyone’s appetite for more great pumpkin recipes.

Creamy Kale Pumpkin Soup
Kale packs a nutritional wallop that is hard to beat. Pumpkin makes it even better. But the best part of this fall soup is its mild and smooth pumpkin potato flavor, spiked with a bitter hint of kale. Serve with sourdough bread for a wonderful fall lunch or supper.

Ingredients
3 slices bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth, homemade if possible
2 medium new potatoes (about ¾ pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
½ pound curly kale, stems and ribs removed, finely chopped
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups canned unsweetened pumpkin, or your own!
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
¾ cup half-and-half

1.       Cook the bacon over medium heat in a large Dutch oven until brown and crispy. Remove it from the pot, crumble, and set aside. Pour off all but about 1 teaspoon of the fat.

2.       Heat the olive oil in the same pan and add the onion. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and onion starts to caramelize. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer.

3.       Pour two cups of the broth into the pan and stir to loosen browned bits on bottom of the pan. Add the potatoes, kale, and salt; bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork and the kale is wilted.

4.       Puree the potato mixture with a hand-held blender or in a standing blender. There will be flecks of green from the kale. Be careful not to let hot soup splatter on you. Return the soup to the pot.

5.       Stir the remaining broth and the pumpkin, nutmeg, and pepper into the soup. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if desired. Add the half-and-half and heat through, but do not boil.

6.       Sprinkle each steaming bowl with the reserved bacon and serve.

-From Pumpkin: A Super Food for All 12 Months of the Year by DeeDee Stovel (Storey, $12.95).

We are selling lots of nutritional yeast at the Co-op, but I have never used it. Yesterday, while bagging it, I asked Nancy what it was used for. She said it’s wonderful, and that she likes to use it on popcorn and also as a thickener for gravies. It has a “cheesy” flavor.

I came home and checked it out on eHow and several other websites. I found it’s deactivated yeast, often cultured on sugar cane and beet molasses, and is gluten-free. With about 40 calories per tablespoon, nutritional yeast contains 18 amino acids as well as many minerals and is rich in B-complex vitamins. It is a wonderful addition or substitution for high fat proteins such as meat and dairy, and vegans love it. Interestingly enough, it’s from the same family as edible mushrooms.  According to eHow, “If you are diabetic or borderline diabetic or have fluctuating blood sugar levels or a tendency toward low blood pressure, it may help”. You can make “cream” soups without adding milk or cream, and mixed with vinegar and oil it makes a wonderful salad dressing. It is also good on baked potatoes or sprinkled on soups.

Nutritional yeast is found in the egg/yoghurt cooler at the Co-op. It is quite expensive, and I think I’ll try it!

Jane

THE VILLAGE STORE

in Hubbard Hall, Main Street, Cambridge, NY

Hours: Tues-Sat 10-5pm; Sundays 11-2pm.

cambridgevillagestore.com

The Village Store has expanded into the Co-op’s old space. The old country store atmosphere is more charming than ever, but with a great deal more merchandise to tempt customers (AND ALL PROFITS GO TO SUPPORT HUBBARD HALL PROGRAMS!). Our new manager and buyer is constantly updating displays and adding new merchandise, so every visit will offer new treats. Among the expanded departments are

Childrens’ toys and clothing : old-fashioned plush pull toys with wooden wheels, rubber duckies, maple wood baby hairbrush and comb in an organdy bag, super-soft bamboo fibre baby blankets, a new order of our popular animal puppets, pirate costumes for Halloween, and “John Deere” fuzzy truck and back-packs, to name only a few!

Housewares: a new order of Vance Kitira candles has just arrived in time for holiday  tables, (including the popular Pear candles in a lot of new colors), along with their scented candles (a new item for us) – beautifully boxed, in a variety of appealing scents including Apple Blossom, Ylang Ylang, and Peppermint; new colors and patterns in our table cloths/bedspreads, now organized by size for easier shopping; strings of LED lights (indoor-outdoor) at a fanatastic price in a variety of colors, including purple, green, apricot, pearl and ice white.

 Health and beauty products: Auracacia aromatherapy including mineral baths and handy portable sprays; expanded line of Dr. Bronner’s famous bar soaps and travel size liquid soaps; full line of Common Sense and Burt’s Bees baby products; many more scented massage oils

MORE TO COME! 

We would love to have you volunteer!  One shift a month and you receive a 20% discount. Help Hubbard Hall two ways at once! Interested?? Contact our volunteer member coordinator Suzy Gedney: suzygedney@gmail .com.

The Co-op’s coffee corner is now in an actual corner…right up front next to the produce where it is much more accessible. Try our house blend regular or decaf, and then take home some beans!  Rock Hill biscotti and all the Pompanuck cookies in close proximity!