Bring a little green to your winter! On Thursday, January 28, from 1-3 p.m. the Virginia Greenhouse at Olcott Park will have an Open House. Drinks and snacks will be available.

Join the tour from 10-11 a.m. for city councilors, staff and the public, or from 11 a.m. to noon, listen in on the feasibility study and business plan presented by the University of Minnesota’s Sustainability Partnership. The U of M group was one of the major supporters of both last year’s and this year’s Iron Range Earth Fest.

See you there!

Join the Slow Food Lake Superior chapter in this potluck celebration of root and winter vegetables, cooking and discussion.

Bring your favorite root or winter veggie potluck dish and a food-related book or movie (or info about it).  Eat great food and find out what others are reading and watching.

A prize will be awarded for the best root/winter vegetable dessert!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

4 pm – 6 pm

Peace Church, 1111 N 11th Ave E, Duluth, MN

For more information, contact: slowfoodlakesuperior@gmail.com

View the PDF here: Food, books, movies

The co-op is creeping along into the era of social media. We’ve got a fresh page up on Facebook, so if you find yourself on the world’s favorite time burglar, fan us now!      We don’t have any plans to be tweeting the annual meeting this year, but we’re looking forward to increased interaction in 2010.

If you missed our cheese making classes in October and  are looking for a fun, dairy-fied winter activity, you can rent our copy of Ricki “The Cheese Queen” Carroll’s DVD Cheesemaking 101. She promises the secrets to making fresh creme fraiche, farmhouse cheddar, fromage blanc, mascarpone, mozzarella, queso blanco & ricotta. To check out the DVD, ask a cashier. Rental fee is $3, plus a deposit of $5 to ensure that the DVDs keep coming back!

Bear in mind, we  look forward to holding more cheese classes in the early part of  2010!

Come to the co-op for all the best holiday gifts and  stocking stuffers. We’re focusing on small, usable and  practical items that will nourish the soul, and usually the  stomach. It seems that many of the items we usually carry  are also gourmet treats just waiting to be gifted, from wild rice to We have plenty of potica, Lindt truffles are back in stock and Red and green gift bags are stocked in our bulk coffee section, and Ely’s Crapola bags are ready for the filling. Think about buying a gift certificate, a wine or beer kit, or even a membership for a loved one.

In produce, Anja is taking orders for fruit baskets or platters that make delectable, healthful and stress-free gifts for any gathering. The freshness of fruit is so welcome at this time of year, so turn to us for juicy grapes, Satsumas, pears and persimmons. Or, consider making your own basket from the variety of inexpensive baskets we have in stock. We have all that you need to build your own gift basket full of teas, bulk goodies, health and beauty treats. Maybe your sweetie would love nothing more than a big bag of steel cut oats. We’ve got those, as well as scented wraps for necks and feet, scented bath salts, aromatherapy oils, holiday tea and lotion sets, and lots of chocolates on sale in December.

Join one of our next classes and warm up this weather with home brew. Refresh your skills or learn a new hobby as we celebrate National Co-op Month this October. All classes are $15 a person, $13 for members. Register by phone (218.741.4663) or in-store  at 505 N. 3rd St., on Bailey’s Lake in Virginia

Beer Making
Thurs., October 22, 6–8 p.m.
Brew with the best! Long-time professors of the fermented arts, Wayne Wilberg and Will Hauser, are ready to take on their next batch of eager beginners and experienced beer makers hungry for more. Come ready for knowledge, recipes and assorted beer lore, stay for the samples. 
 
Wine Making
Thursday, Oct. 29, 6–8 p.m.
Back by popular demand! Here’s another chance to learn basic wine making techniques using local fruits, berries and kits. Lisa Hesse and Wayne Wilberg will review wine making ingredients, equipment and other possibilities. Samples and recipes will be shared with all.

food clipart cheeseGet ready! We’ve set dates for cheese making classes this fall. This time we’re not waiting for the first to fill up before adding a second class. We just KNOW how popular they will be. In October, we will have two fun-filled, hands-on cheese making classes with Mindy Bialke, our favorite mistress of curds and whey. You’ll learn to make a traditional Finnish squeaky cheese and another of her specialties from whole-milk mozzarella to ricotta with lemon curds.

Call 218.741.4663 or sign up in store for either the Tuesday, Oct. 6 or Wednesday, Oct. 7 class.

Fee: $13 for members, $15 for non-members

Time: 6-8 p.m.

Cindy Bird led a class on water-bath tomato canning a couple weeks ago, and enlightened us with just how easy it can be once you have all the equipment in front of you.

Cindy gets started with all the right tools.

 

 With 35 years experience canning, Cindy was a   great resource to show us the basics of canning tomatoes from start to finish.

 

Cindy guides an attentive class through the basics of canning tomatoes.

 

She answered loads of questions along the way about canning tomatoes, beans, sauerkraut, the perils of pressure-canning and more.

 

 

No-stress, low-mess canning.

Though the process can be involved, and you need to be prepared, it is not very complicated. Cindy blanched the tomatoes and used her handy canning funnel to make cut down on the mess.

Our local tomato supplier, Mike Olund, still has canning tomatoes available. Call Anja at the store if you’re interested in ordering some: 218.741.4663.

 

Tomatoes take a hot bath.

 

Tomatoes finish their process in the water bath.

 

 

Tomatoes all ready for the shelf.

 

Et voila! Happily canned tomatoes emerge at last.

 

 

Preserving the Harvest with books!Everyone left with a booklet of recipes and resources to help the home canning process. We also stock lots of great books on canning, preserving and cellaring to allow your harvest to live on long into the winter.

http://www.beauxfreres.com/tech.htm The days of wine are here again . . .

Whatever your predicament: the chilly summer, a freezer stocked with berries, a yard full of rhubarb, or just an insatiable thirst, the wine making class has something to offer everyone, from curious newcomers to long-time grape stompers. We can’t promise actual grape stomping, but we’ll sample several varieties and you’ll leave with recipes and all the tips you need to get started.

Join us soon for one of the most in-demand classes of the fall:

WINE MAKING with Wayne Wilberg and Lisa Hesse

Thursday, September 10, from 6 – 8 p.m.

Fee for members is $8; $10 for non-members. Please pay in advance by Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Sign up in the store or call 218.741.4663 to reserve your spot.

tomatoHome Canning with Tomatoes

with Cindy Bird

Thurs. Aug. 27, 5:30-8 p.m.

Maximum class size: 10 people

$15 for non-members, $13 for members

Are you the envy of the neighborhood with a surplus of tomatoes to give away every year? This introduction to home canning will teach you to preserve your harvest, use your own vessels and extend your enjoyment of fresh tomatoes all year round. Learn the basics of safe water-bath canning as you watch the process start to finish.

Make us a Pit Stop

Let Natural Harvest help fuel your trail ride this year. Look for our booth along the Mesabi Trail Bike Tour on Aug. 8 at the Marble stop.

Next Page »