December January February The Dirt 2013/14 Let’s Get Cooking! GreenTree Co-op 214 N. Franklin Ave. Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858 In This Issue: Co-op Anniversaries Staff Favorite: Holiday Meal Planning Sirah Dowell Produce Keepin’ It Fresh Erin loves Assistant/ A Bevy of Beverages Storekeeper Organic Bodacious Buffalo January—2 years Chicken Dip Valley Awesome Pumpkin Dip Rachel Cromell Pasture Storekeeper Mushrooms Rockefeller Butter. February—2 years Tuscan Kale Stew Southwest Polenta Lasagna Welcome these new faces to the Co-op: Why does she love it? i Sumptuous Pumpkin Roll <Claudia “It is the greatest butter in Sweet Potato Cranberry Miculici the entire world! Its texture Muffins Deli Assistant is smooth and not greasy.” The Spa Space i Gabrielle Sorge> Poached Pears Storekeeper Peppernuts <Mackia Buskirk- Staff Favorite: Meet a Staff Member Crowley Deli Assistant/ Claudia Important Dates: Baker loves So December Megan Barber> 7– Owner Appreciation Day Storekeeper Delicious 18– Board Meeting 18– Wellness Wednesday <Tony Johnston coconut 19—Closed at 6pm Storekeeper yogurt. 24– Closed at 6pm 25– Closed 31– Closed at 6pm Why does she love it? i January Open 8am-9pm “It’s the perfect mix of 1– Closed 4– Owner Appreciation Day coconut and vanilla, and 15– Board Meeting Every Day it’s great with fruit!” 29– Wellness Wednesday February This fall we extended 1– Owner Appreciation Day Staff Favorite: 19– Board Meeting our opening and closing 26– Wellness Wednesday times, making the Dawn loves Alaffia Board of Directors: Co-op available for two shampoo. Eric Baerren Wilma Blackman additional hours every Why does she Michael Brockman love it? day. You can now stop i Liz Busch: Vice Chair “It works wonders Kimberly Crandell in earlier or on a dry flakey Mark Fairbrother: shop later Treasurer scalp. Plus the Jay Fields: Chair seven days a smell and lather Talat Halman: week! are great!” Secretary Website: www.greentree.coop Phone: (989) 772-3221 Email: [email protected] Cover photo by: This work was released by Alan Zomerfeld under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. Holiday Meal Planning: A Recipe for Success By Christopher Wiesman, Deli Manager, Co-op Owner Ah, holiday dinners. The best of times, gravy well ahead of time. When you're Two Days Before: the worst of times. Well, the cooking ready to use it, place the gravy and a bit Start Preparing Side Dishes, Gravy, and part anyway. But it doesn’t have to be! of water (as needed) in a saucepan over Stuffing Behold: A home cook’s guide for a low heat and bring it slowly to a stress-free dinner that can please simmer. Leaving gravy to the last minute can be everyone, including the chef. Because, • Make your cookie dough and freeze a recipe for disaster. Start it ahead of my god, we’ve earned it. it. Sugar cookie dough can be wrapped time, along with the vegetables, to prevent last-minute problems. Up to 3 Weeks before the meal: Secure a in a double layer of plastic, then • If you didn’t make and freeze an all- Turkey/Ham/Non-Meat Centerpiece aluminum foil, then frozen. • This is also a good time to stock up purpose gravy, remove the turkey Choosing the meat/main dish for you: on your canned/aseptically packaged giblets and neck and make gravy now. • Choose the right size turkey/ham/ goods such as chicken broth or canned Refrigerate and just before serving, other, obviously, but crucially. To serve pumpkin. reheat in medium saucepan over 10 -12, get a 12-15 pounds; To serve 15-18, medium heat until hot. choose 14-16 pounds; To serve 20-22, Weekend Before the Meal: Defrost! • If you’re making homemade choose 18-22 pounds. And Finalize Your Plans stuffing, set the bread out to stale. • Local/heirloom turkeys: order them Many people don't realize that a 20- • Make any creamy dips. right away. They sell quickly. If you’re pound bird can take four days—not a • If you didn’t freeze your pie dough, vegetarian/vegan, now is a good time to mere 24 hours—to thaw out in the make it now. buy/make a main dish and freeze it. refrigerator. This happened to me once. • Bake your cookies now. Store them I ended up having • Now is a good in an air-tight container. time to replace to make chicken Many people don't realize • Blanch and shock any of the your spices too, casseroles for 15. following vegetables for a quick final especially any that that a 20-pound bird can Thaw your frozen cooking: asparagus, broccoli, Brussels are over a year old. meats well in sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, green Give them a smell: take four days to thaw out advance. beans, snap peas, and/or snow peas. If they no longer in the refrigerator. • Make certain have an aroma, get you are giving the • Most relishes and salad dressings new ones. turkey/ham/ can be prepared now. (Incidentally, GreenTree has basically whatever ample time to defrost. Plan on • Cook any sweet potatoes or squash all the spices you could need in our bulk one day for every 4 pounds of frozen casseroles and refrigerate. section. There are some serious deals meat, and finish defrosting the day • Finish shopping for your fresh over there.) before cooking. Thaw in the fridge so vegetables. If you’ve ordered a fresh that the meat does not warm to 40 turkey, pick it up now. Up to 2 Weeks before the meal: Make degrees or higher, which is what the and Freeze Pies, Cookies, and Gravy The Day Before: Final Countdown Health Department considers the The day before, you can finish almost Pies are fussy. And gravy can require “danger zone” for pathogen growth. No all the cooking. So clear your schedule. demanding, last-minute attention. one wants salmonella poisoning for the Freezing them ahead of time is not only holidays. • If you have room in your refrigerator, brine the turkey this time-saving, but prevents last minute • Complete the bulk of your afternoon, dry it off, and leave it disasters. (Especially with gravy. Ugh.) shopping. Buy vegetables that store uncovered in the refrigerator overnight • Is your freezer at zero degrees well: onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet (at least 8 hours). (Fast fact: Roasting Fahrenheit? Check it; it should be. potatoes, root vegetables, winter squash. an air-dried turkey makes for • Make enough pie dough for all the (Wait until a few days before to buy exceptionally crisp skin.) pies you’ll need. Pat each crust into a 4- more delicate vegetables such as green inch disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap beans, asparagus, or Brussels sprouts.) • Oven-baked stuffing can be assembled ahead of time, put in a and then foil, and freeze. Let the dough • Wash and store your greens. casserole dish, and refrigerated until it's defrost overnight in the refrigerator • Start making extra ice. before assembling and baking the pies. ready to be baked. • Make and freeze any soups you • Make All-Purpose Gravy. If you’re might have on the menu. Now is also a not planning on using turkey giblets to good time to make fresh cranberry Continued on page 10... make stock, you can prepare and freeze sauce. 2 Keepin’ it Fresh for the Holidays By Amanda Tomczyk, Produce Buyer, Co-op Owner It can be easy to with added produce, like onions, • Try mashing other vegetables, like overdo it when celery, and apples. turnips, sweet potatoes, and surrounded by • You can also use fruits and rutabagas. My favorite is adding a seasonal treats! Here are some tips on vegetables in place of sausage in few Japanese sweet potatoes in with how you can keep traditional holiday stuffing recipes. Yukon gold potatoes for a heartier, fare fresh: slightly sweeter mashed potato. Produce • Make your own cranberry sauce. It's Appetizers • Serve a variety of colorful, in- easy! Cranberries are a great source • Aim for a variety of textures, season fruits and vegetables, like of vitamin C, some of which is lost flavors and color. Add kale and in the canning process. some dried fruits, like carrots, yams raisins and apricots, to a and Dessert dish of heart-healthy cranberries, • Use fresh fruits lavishly in your nuts, for example. squash, and red dessert spread. Strawberries— • Serve red and green and green dipped in dark chocolate, if you grapes with cheese apples. like—are always luscious; apple slices and crisp whole • Instead of slices with caramel are seasonally grain breads. opening a can festive; and a big bowl of assorted • Offer a veggie platter of green beans pears is colorful and enticing! before the big meal to start everyone for that casserole, or using canned • Use fruits as the mainstay for your off on the right foot. pumpkin for that pie, why not use baked desserts, too—baked apples, fresh ingredients? fruit tarts, blueberry bread pudding, Stuffing • For added nutrients and fiber, leave peach custards, and poached pears*, • For even more nutrients, replace the skins on potatoes while cooking for example. some of the bread in your recipe and mashing. It saves time too! *See recipe on page 8. A Bevy of Beverages Eggnog (for Adults Only!) Hot Spiced By Liz Busch, Board Vice Chair, Co-op Owner i Cider Christmas This recipe has been passed down By Rachel Cromell, Storekeeper, Co-op Owner through the women in my family on Cosmo my fathers side since at least the civil Start by filling a slow cooker with By Stacy Saul, Grocery war. I have a hand written recipe card apple cider (about 3 quarts, up to a and Merchandising Manager, Co-op Owner from my Great-great-great gallon, depending on the size of your Try this Cosmo for Christmas flavor in grandmother Mimi.