Friday, October 31, 2008

Bailey's Notes for today

Hi Folks,

What a gorgeous day for picking up local food!!
There is too much I want to tell you about. I have to send an email
today rather than try to cram it all on your pick up slips.

Someone asked me if the canned goods are made in an inspected
facility. The fruits jars are preserved in an facility inspected by
Region of Waterloo Public Health Department. The relishes and pickles
are made in a kitchen that is up to inspection standards (just built
this summer) but has not been inspected yet. Both Erma and Naamon are
trained in food handling and are careful in what they do.

PASTA
First of all, the pasta is a SURPRISE! Turns out Rosa (at Vincenzo's)
made us not 50/50 unbleached/whole wheat, it's Unbleached Wheat OR
Whole Wheat SPIRAL pasta. Okay, we can be flexible. You'll be able to
choose if you want unbleached or whole wheat when you come.

APPLES
The low-spray apples have scabs on them. I want to make sure that you
understand that if farmers don't spray the heck out of their orchards,
they get scabs. Scabs do not affect the taste or keeping ability. Just
think of them as polka-dotted apples. Cool, right? : )

NUTS
I'm short on chestnuts and hazelnuts so I lowered everyone's order to
one pound so that more people can taste them. I ordered extra of the
Heartnuts so check them out on the spontaneous table and consider
topping up your amount with those.

PEACHES
We opened a jar for dessert last night for the first time. Oh my. THEY
ARE SO GOOD. They taste like summer. I don't know how else to describe
it. We polished off two jars in one sitting (we had three adults and
two kids who love peaches). Peaches will be on the spontaneous table
if you're wishing you had ordered more. I'll lower the price a little
too. They are just so labour intensive (washing them, skinning them,
slicing them, packing into jars...) and you remember that no-spray
peaches are not cheap to begin with. Lots of work goes into them. Can
we compare them to a Blizzard at DQ? I think they're about $5. Or a
slice of cheesecake at a restaurant? Which is more valuable in taste
pleasure, nutrition and ethical pleasure?

The Spontaneous Table will be FULL of goodies today. I have some
extras of things from other weeks that I'll put out there too. If you
get here early, here is what you'll find on the Spontaneous Table:

Peaches
Apple-Pear Sauce
Pickled Beets
Currant Jam
Canola Oil
Apple Cider Vinegar
Celery
Parsnip
Dried Beans (a few I found through Pfennings)
Peach Custard Pies
Butter


There are bound to be more surprises today so come expecting the
unexpected. I know that we are short on pear slices, dilly beans, and
garlic dill cukes so we will quickly run out. Remember, don't come in
a rush. We are not a store or a factory and do not pride ourselves on
the speed at which we process you or anything else. We'd rather you
take the time to tell us what you're thinking and stop and smell the
celariac (it smells just like celery!).

See you later,
Nina

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