Sunday, May 30, 2010

Ordering for May 28 ends Sunday at 8:00 PM

This is your reminder that you should place your order before Sunday, May 30 at 8:00PM for pickup on Friday, June 4.
 
Click http://baileyslocalfoods.ca/ordering to log-in and order.

*** Mark Sunday, August 15th on you calendar for Bailey's Picnic Pot Luck in Waterloo Park! We have reserved the Servery by the Bandshell for our group! More details to come!

A Couple Notes
  • The last of the seedlings from Sarah are now on the order form
  • Walnut Granola from Erma is in the Baked Goods section
  • Kim Chi from Meals That Heal is available in limited supply
  • Traditional Foods is offering Spinach this week.
  • Cynthia at Divinely Raw's June Special is her Celestial Burgie and she suggests that the Banana Crème Pie â€" Bananas and Coconut sublime â€" is a dream of a treat on a really hot day
Donations
We have a convenient option for you to donate to local food programs through Bailey's. We provided local beans to the Waterloo Region Food Bank with the money you donated in January and February. Donations over $10 (from January through June and again July through December of the 2010 year) are eligible for a tax receipt. We will be donating 100% of what you give to the food bank directly or by sending local food from our suppliers in the coming months.

Items that you have placed in your shopping cart will be ordered on your behalf on Sunday at 8:00PM. There is no checkout button.
If you do not intend to order, please ensure that your shopping cart is empty.

Cheers,
Rachael
Bailey's Local Foods
baileyslocalfoods.ca

Friday, May 28, 2010

Baileys Local Food Buying Club - Pickup Reminder

If you put in an order this month it will be ready for you to pick up on Friday May 28th from 3:30 until 7:00PM in Hilliard Hall at the First United Church at 16 William Street West in Waterloo. You can check your order by logging in at http://baileyslocalfoods.ca/ordering. If you checked the pre-packing option your order will be packed and ready for 5pm. Items that require refrigeration will not be pre-packed for health reasons but we are happy to help you gather them when you arrive.

Samples!
Meals That Heal will have samples today. Come hungry!

See you soon!
Rachael

-------
Self Checkout Reminder
We continue to offer a SELF CHECK-OUT option to those of you who are paying by cheque! We hope that this will help speed up the check out process for some of you who want to work out your total yourself.
We choose to trust our members. You know that if we lose money due to missing items or math mistakes, we won't survive. We will still have the regular check-out option for those of you who prefer it. If you notice an error (ours or yours), please let us know.

Pre-Packed Orders
If you indicated that you would like your items pre-packed when you ordered they will be ready after 5pm. Please ask a volunteer to get your order. Items requiring refrigeration will be added when you arrive.

Please enter through the white kitchen door off Caroline Street.
You will find a pickup slip with your name on it listing the items that you ordered this week. Pick up all your items (including those in the coolers, fridges and freezer), check out our Spontaneous Table then head to our checkout area.

We will have extra items for you to purchase on our Spontaneous Table in front of the blue cupboards just in case you forgot anything. Anyone can purchase items from the Spontaneous Table. You don't even have to be a Member!

There will be room to socialize and mingle. Expect your pick-up to take awhile. If you need help collecting your order, please ask!

In out checkout area, please help us and our volunteers by having items available to view for the checkout process. Please be patient as this area will likely be quite busy.

We accept payment in cash or cheque (made out to Bailey's Local Foods). The total from your shopping cart is always approximate. We will try to ensure that you only pay for the items available this week as local food can sometimes be unpredictable and items that are priced by the pound are approximate on the order form.

When writing cheques, please ensure that the date is correct (it's 2010!) and that the numbers you write (digits and words) match. Also, if you make your cheque out to anything other than "Bailey's Local Foods" the bank won't cash it. We need you to sign it too! Please help us to avoid these costly errors.

You need to bring your own bags to carry your items home. We have boxes, but do not have plastic bags. A limited number of cloth bags will be available for sale.

If possible, consider walking, biking or bringing a wagon to pick up your order. If you are driving, please park in the Waterloo Town Square Public Parking Lot. You can access the Waterloo Town Square Parking Lot by Caroline Street, Alexandra Avenue, Willis Way or King Street by the LCBO. We have been asked not to park in the church parking lot.

**Please don't forget to pick up your order!
At approximately 6:30PM, if you have not picked up your order, we will call the number you provided (when you registered) with a friendly reminder. At 7:00PM we will pack up your order and add the $15 packing fee to your order total. If you have not picked up your order by 7:30PM (or when we finish cleaning up) your order will be donated - and you still get the pleasure of paying for it. We need to receive payment for this week's order before you can order for the following week.

If you are not happy with what you receive, all claims for missing/damaged items must be made at the pick-up site before 7:00PM that same day. After 7:00PM all sales are final.

Thank you,
Rachael and Nina
Bailey's Local Foods
http://www.baileyslocalfoods.ca/ 
P.S. We can use your fruit baskets and boxes as well as jars from preserves again if you return them.

Is this your first email from us? Read more at baileyslocalfoods.blogspot.com.
You are receiving this notification because you are a member of Bailey's Local Food Buying Club.
If you do not wish to receive Notifications in the future, please uncheck the Notifications box associated with your email address in Account Settings at https://www.100milesystems.com/baileyslocalfoods.ca/account.php
Click http://baileyslocalfoods.ca/ordering to log-in.

Bailey's Buying Club - Ordering is now open for Friday, June 4, 2010

Click http://baileyslocalfoods.ca/ordering to log-in and order. Ordering closes on Sunday, May 30 at 8:00PM.
Please be sure to read the wavier on our website when you log in. It reminds you that items placed your shopping cart are automatically saved (there is no 'checkout' button).

*** Mark Sunday, August 15th on you calendar for Bailey's Picnic Pot Luck in Waterloo Park! We have reserved the Servery by the Bandshell for our group! More details to come!
From Rachael:

Look for
  • Frozen strawberries and bulk frozen apple sauce from Apple Creek Farms in the 'other' section
  • Palatine Peaches - they had been hiding! Get them before they are all gone!
  • Erma's BBQ Relish is ready for your next grilled meal. She uses Apple Cider Vinegar when she makes this tasty treat! Save when you buy by the case - A great hostess gift!
  • Vibrant Farm's 'Throwaways' are a great deal! A couple packages in the crock pot makes an excellent bone broth! Tenderloin is on sale too!
  • 'Wild' greens from Soiled Reputation - Sorrel, Chicory, Arugula and more!
  • Oak Manor items will be back on the order form next week!

See you tomorrow at the pickup!
Rachael

----------------

From Nina:

Hi Folks,
I wish I could write this email after chowing down on my order but I can't pick that up until Friday and this email needs to go out Thursday. Maybe that means this will be a short and sweet email. Sweet with anticipation. 

Have you ever tried the dish Haystacks? I've heard people around here call them Pile-Ons. Now is a good season for them as the tomatoes and sweet peppers are available from greenhouses and the spinach and green onions are growing in abundance in fields and back/front yard gardens. A Haystack is a pile of layers of yummy foods. Here is what you put on your plate in order:
  • rice
  • hamburger in tomato sauce (ground turkey is a good alternative)
  • beans (black or kidney)
  • spinach cut into ribbons
  • diced sweet peppers
  • diced tomatoes
  • diced green onions
  • olives sliced (any kind)
  • sunflower seeds (salted)
  • crushed tortilla chips (Mexican Spice is the best)
  • and then top it all with a warm cheese sauce (white sauce with old cheddar thrown in is divine)

My 8 year old requests haystacks every year for his birthday meal. I like it because it makes everyone happy as each person can pick and choose what they want to include. I also like it because it makes GREAT leftovers. With almost no effort leftovers can be made into a taco salad, casserole or burritos.

Farmers asking for rain
Paul Bowman said they started irrigating the strawberry patch yesterday. It is just so dry that the 1/10 inch of rain on the weekend was not enough. The farmers all are hoping for rain. Are we hoping for rain? It's impossible to irrigate as well as a good soaking rain. Hopefully we'll get a good soak on Friday. 
 
Inside Perspective on Bailey's Local Foods
I asked Natalie (our newest amazing helper) how it is going figuring things out at Bailey's. Here are her reflections from her first week of contacting suppliers with your orders:
 
"Everything seems to be going really well. I'm enjoying the work, the suppliers are great to deal with, and Rachael and I are proving to be a good team. I continue to be astounded at how BIG this thing is. What a wonderful group your suppliers are, and what a buying force you have in your customers! I have to admit, I felt an odd surge of power while placing $100s and $1000s worth of orders for local foods. YAY!"

Here are a couple of paragraphs that I wrote late May last year that are worth sending out again as they speak to the awkward issue of why our asparagus may cost more than the supermarket's:

Between a Rock and a Hard Place
I was feeling down yesterday because I noticed that two stores in Uptown Waterloo are selling local asparagus for $1.99/lb. Farmers are selling it to me for $2.50 so I don't know how they are able to sell it at that price. I was feeling low because I'm torn between wanting to keep our food prices as low as possible AND wanting to pay farmers a fair price. I am also worried that buying club members will think that the farmers or I am overcharging them. When our buying club was small and run out of our home last year, most of the members knew me and trusted me to not take advantage of them by hiking prices. They also trusted me to buy from farmers who were not overcharging. Now that many of our new members do not know Rachael, Wendell or me personally, you may not know if you can trust us not to gouge you with high prices. I want to build this trust between us. One way we do this is by being completely transparent in how we decide a price. We mark up the foods by 25% or sell them for the suggested retail price - not lower than you would pay if you went directly to that farm or business. (The food on the spontaneous table has a higher mark up because we have to absorb what is left over.) We are committed to paying farmers a fair price. The way I do this is I ask the farmer: what do you need to charge me so that you receive a fair amount and at the same time sell it to me for less than retail since I am able to save you a lot of time and hassle by buying large quantities? If you are ever wondering why something is priced the way it is, send us an email and we'll be happy to tell you what we pay the farmer. I'll also include info about the true costs of food in the weekly emails I send.

The bottom line is: shopping for food through the buying club means that your money is going directly from us to local farmers and food processors. They love selling to us because we are a steady buyer with whom they can plan ahead to increase production for coming seasons. Together we are increasing the amount of local food that is grown and processed in our area. Together we are increasing the resiliency of our communities. When we grow a large percentage of our own food, we can better survive natural and human-made disasters (floods, epidemics, food contaminations, economic collapse, high fuel prices,...). Together we are increasing the incomes of local farmers and food processors and encouraging young people to become farmers. Together we are inventing a new way of moving local food into a city that others are interested in replicating in their cities.

Things to look for this week:
  • Asparagus and Cauliflower Tortilla Chips from Barrie's Brothers (made by McKechnie foods so they taste as good as Luke's Tortilla Chips - just a different flavour!)
  • Rhubarb pies from Susie at Shakespeare Pies
  • Small Red Mexican Beans (my favourite)
  • Red Prince Apples (new favourite apple - it is STILL crisp and sweet/tart!)
  • Pear Applesauce for homemade freezer pops (just pour into the mold)

I look forward to seeing you at the pick up on Friday. 

Still in love with local food and farmers,
Nina
Bailey's Local Foods
www.baileyslocalfoods.ca

P.S. We can use your fruit baskets and jars from preserves again if you return them.

Is this your first email from us? Read more at baileyslocalfoods.blogspot.com.

You are receiving Nina's messages because you are a member of Bailey's Local Food Buying Club. 

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Ordering for May 28 ends Sunday at 8:00 PM

This is your reminder that you should place your order before Sunday, May 23 at 8:00PM for pickup on Friday, May 28.
 
Click http://baileyslocalfoods.ca/ordering to log-in and order.

From Rachael:

As much as I hope that you get and read this email, I also hope that some of you are away from the computer and not checking email until Tuesday! If so, please stop by for some spontaneous yummies on Friday and be sure to order for next week!

*** Mark Sunday, August 15th on you calendar for Bailey's Picnic Pot Luck in Waterloo Park! We have reserved the Servery by the Bandshell for our group! More details to come!

A Couple Notes
  • Small Grilling Leeks from Shallot Hill now on the order form
  • Additional seedling's from Sarah are available (look for some spontaneously too!)
  • Susie from Shakespeare Pies has added Rhubarb and Cherry Pies with local fruit
  • New cheeses including boconncini from Local Dairy
Donations
We have a convenient option for you to donate to local food programs through Bailey's. We provided local beans to the Waterloo Region Food Bank with the money you donated in January and February. Donations over $10 (from January through June and again July through December of the 2010 year) are eligible for a tax receipt. We will be donating 100% of what you give to the food bank directly or by sending local food from our suppliers in the coming months.

Items that you have placed in your shopping cart will be ordered on your behalf on Sunday at 8:00PM. There is no checkout button.
If you do not intend to order, please ensure that your shopping cart is empty.

Have a great week!
Rachael
Bailey's Local Foods
baileyslocalfoods.ca

Click http://baileyslocalfoods.ca/ordering to log-in and order.

Is this your first email from us?
Read more at baileyslocalfoods.blogspot.com.

You are receiving this notification because you are a member of Bailey's Local Food Buying Club.

If you do not wish to receive Notifications in the future, please uncheck the Notifications box associated with your email address in Account Settings at https://www.100milesystems.com/baileyslocalfoods.ca/account.php

Friday, May 21, 2010

Bailey's Buying Club - Ordering is now open for Friday, May 28, 2010

Click http://baileyslocalfoods.ca/ordering to log-in and order. Ordering closes on Sunday, May 23 at 8:00PM. Please order early so you won't be disappointed!

Please be sure to read the wavier on our website when you log in. It reminds you that items placed your shopping cart are automatically saved (there is no 'checkout' button).

A few notes from Rachael:

*** Mark Sunday, August 15th on you calendar for Bailey's Picnic Pot Luck in Waterloo Park! We have reserved the Servery by the Bandshell for our group! More details to come!

  • Sarah has grown seedlings for us so that you can grow tomatoes, peppers, herbs and more in your own garden!
  • Check out the new dips (in the prepared section) and cheeses from Local Dairy as well as the new names and flavours of Mapleton's Yogurt including Whole Milk Strawberry and Fat Free Blueberry.
  • Oak Manor grains will be offered every other week to meet the minimum for delivery. This week we have a sale on Whole Wheat Bread Flour, Whole Wheat Cake and Pastry Flour and Steel Cut Oats.
  • Our inventory is in transition right now. We'll do our best to fill all your orders this week and get everything counted again for next week! Peanut and popcorn numbers may be off a bit.
  • Snyder Heritage Farms has WHOLE turkey breasts in addition to 1 lb portions.
  • You should try the Tex Mex Tostadas from Divinely Raw... Mmmm!

Enjoying this weather!
Rachael

------------------------------

Hi Folks,
Welcome to another intoxicating Canadian Spring.  Can you believe how we get used to the new green leaves so quickly and hardly notice them?  When they first come out they just astound me and I have to kiss a few.  Our friend just came back from a few months in India and he was shocked how green it is here.  We just take it for granted that we live in this LUSH green rich parcel of the planet for six months of the year.  

Spring Greens

Have you been getting your spring greens?  Spinach salads, steamed asparagus with a touch of salt, fiddleheads sauteed in butter, green onions in and on everything?  If not, now is your chance to order and start revelling in devouring spring greens.  Brenda Knechtel has fresh parsley, bok choy, green garlic and radishes (which are not green).  We've been enjoying radishes here at our house from our garden.  Two of the three kids have declared them "too spicy" but the third loves them.  Their red colour is almost hard to believe.  Downright sassy.  I don't have any recipe ideas for them as I only eat them dipped in salt.  That's also how I like to eat green onions. Haven't had that fix yet this spring.  Our green onions have been harvestable for the last two weeks which is about how long I've noticed onion breath when I go to kiss my kids.  We made a super easy egg skillet supper the other night with a sauteed potato, asparagus pieces, with lots of green onions and cheddar sprinkled on top - then broil.  Okay, to be honest, we had to push the kids to finish theirs. The adults needed no coaxing. It was good for breakfast the next day too.

Membership Renewal
A few of you have asked me how your annual membership works now that it has expired.  The annual membership fee ($20) will be automatically added onto the first time you order after your anniversary with Bailey's Local Foods.  Just tonight I was talking to Maryrose, a member who has not missed ordering a single week since she joined last May!  Whoa!  I gave her a jar of dill pickles as an award for being one of the most consistent and reliable local food buying club members - in the world!  Maryrose is not only reliable, she is an angel. She is going to be our new bookkeeper!  She knows a lot about running businesses so we're looking forward to her suggestions for improving the efficiency of how things run behind the scenes at Bailey's.

Volunteering Fridays or Tuesdays with Bailey's

Does it look fun to join the crew of folks helping to make Bailey's pick up days run smoothly?  If you're interested, send us an email.  We love our volunteers!  It is a great way to be a part of the momentum that is moving local food from the fringe to the centre of our menus and economy.  Volunteering is also a great way to get a discount on your Bailey's orders.

Hamburger Fantasies
I'm nearly desperate for the lovely hamburger from Vibrant. I was at Valu Mart and a package in the freezer caught my eye that said "Gourmet Burgers". Since seeing that I have been craving 100% beef hamburger patties cooked over a wood fire.  We are having a cookout this week but I had no meat left in the freezer so I had to run to Vincenzo's for frozen sausage. I hate not knowing where the pork comes from or how it was raised.  I should've gotten their fresh sausages from the butcher but I was too distracted parenting to focus on the case.  I'm also a huge fan of the ground turkey from Snyders.  I sound like such a carnivore!  Maybe I should just accept that I am.

Anticipation

You know what I'm really looking forward to?  The first baby carrots.  These stored carrots from Martins are amazingly good but baby carrots are almost like another vegetable completely.  I'm also looking forward to salads with Soiled Reputation's Gourmet Salad Mix.  So subtley spicy and great texture!  What are you looking forward to?  Let me guess... strawberries?  I wish that we'd have strawberries for my dad's birthday on June 7 but that is wishful thinking.  We'll need to use rhubarb instead.  He loves pies. Maybe I should make him peach pies with my canned peaches from the Palantine farm in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  He has this ranking of his favourite pies.  Cherry pie was #1 when I was a kid but the ranking keeps shifting and I think peach is on top now.  Pecan too?  I have about 22 lbs left of pecans from small farmers in Georgia. They're so small they have to hire tall people to harvest their pecans.  Har har.  It's been pecan season at our house since my dad brought back 30 lbs in mid February.

Oh! You know what I really can hardly wait to taste?!  The first honeyberry from this honeyberry bush that I planted three years ago.  I've never tasted a honeyberry so I have no idea what it will be like.  The mongolian cherry tree that I planted at the same time is setting fruits for the first time too. So I'll be able to taste two totally new local fruits this season. I'll let you know how they taste.

Meal Ideas
Happy ordering.  Tis the season for chef salads, taco salad and white sauce over any of the following: asparagus, fiddleheads, steamed spinach.  Add rice or toast to the white sauce dish and you have a meal.  Add a few hard boiled eggs to the white sauce and you have what I call "egg gravy".  Old cheddar and fresh pepper make a divine egg gravy.  If you are one of those households that is making the rest of us salivate by BBQing every other night, this is BBQ season.  So stock up the freezer on what you like to BBQ and include asparagus on the grill so you don't look like a complete caveman : )

Every Week - Mark Your Calendars

You can now order from Bailey's Local Foods every week. Pick-up is on Fridays.  June 10 you'll be able to choose if you want to pick up on Fridays or Tuesdays of the following week.  The order form will always open on a Thursday night and close on Sunday night.  We have a cool calendar on our website with this info. Many members write it into their own calendar so it becomes a part of their lives.  Let's spread the local food joy.  Remind a friend about the ordering beginning weekly and invite another friend to come with you to a pick-up to see how it works.

Thank you for helping to change the food system!
Nina
Bailey's Local Foods
www.baileyslocalfoods.ca

P.S. We can use your fruit baskets and jars from preserves again if you return them.

Is this your first email from us? Read more at baileyslocalfoods.blogspot.com.

You are receiving Nina's messages because you are a member of Bailey's Local Food Buying Club. 
If you do not wish to receive Nina's messages in the future, please uncheck the Nina's messages box associated with your email address in Account Settings at 
https://www.100milesystems.com/baileyslocalfoods.ca/account.php