Welcome to Week 29

Welcome New Winter Shares members!

We're beginning the Winter Shares program this week, giving the folks from the wait list an opportunity to get into Fair Shares early at the Kirkwood and Mothership pickup sites. If you have friends interested in joining Fair Shares, encourage them to sign up now! If you were interested in picking up in Kirkwood, but haven't heard from us yet, let us know.

Winter Shares Members: read up on how trades work, and other important info we want all our members to know in our Pre-season and first week's newsletters from the start of the season here and here, or access them on the Newsletter Page of the website at http://www.fairshares.org. Remember that you are responsible for making your future payments on time. So set it up through your bank or make a note in your calendar, please!

Have you sent your rsvp for the Nolte Hills Farm Tour THIS Saturday November 5th?

BYOB = BRING YOUR OWN BAG!

Bring your Fair Shares bags, please. When we run out of paper bags, you will be making multiple trips to your car if you don't bring something to put your food in! We don't need everyone's stash of bags, please--with over 400 full and half share members, that can get a bit out of hand, so please just remember to bring your own bags. Thanks.

 

Extras Available

Email your order by noon to orders@fairshares.org, and please include your pickup group in your email. If your name/email is not the one we have on the check-in sheet, please include that too. Remember that fresh produce IS NOT tradable. Some items may be in short supply, so please leave an alternative if you plan to make an even trade.

NOTE: we're out of ground lamb.

SALMON IS BACK! $12.50/lb. in various sized fillets. Wild Alaskan Salmon is fished each summer by Captain Tony Wood of Carbondale, IL, which qualifies as local for us! Order by the pound and we'll do our best to get there exactly. Feel free to ask for a number of fillets and approximate weight. We do have a few larger fillets, and there are three varieties available. Sockeye is the reddest, richest, strongest flavor and highest fat. Coho is the mid-range variety, a little less red than the sockeye, and Keta is the lightest, mildest and lowest fat, and therefore requires shorter cooking time (so it won't dry out). If you don't specify, we'll choose for you.

Chestnuts: $2.95/.5 lb. Yay! Rejoice! Sara's favorite food is back in season! Carefully score an "x" in the flat side with a knife or good kitchen shears (did we mention "carefully"), and roast in the toaster oven at about 400F for about 20 minutes. The cut skin will curl back a little, and the white flesh will turn yellow. Pluck one out, toss it from hand to hand until you can give it a squeeze to crack the peel in both directions of the "x" you cut in it, and pop it in your mouth to check for doneness. It should be firm, but not crunchy. Remove from the oven when done and wait just until cool enough to handle before peeling. Once they cool, the skin inside the peel will re-adhere to the flesh making it difficult to peel. Eat them up or add to a recipe. They are so good in pasta with greens and mushrooms and maybe sausage all sauteed together. Yay!

From Fowl To Fabulous

- Houston's Homegrown Turkeys: Paul Houston has 10-14 pound turkeys available this week. Time to practice for Thanksgiving. There's nothing like a smoked turkey on the barby, MmmmMmm! $4.50/lb.

ORDER YOUR THANKSGIVING TURKEYS: Natural, free-range, local, happy Thanksgiving turkeys! In case that link doesn't work, go here: http://www.fairshares.org/content/fs4-week-23-newsletter-9-15-11#fowlstuff

Thrilled to the Grill
Now that the weather has become more tolerable, get on out there and stoke up the coals! Speaking of coals, we've just received some new Missouri-made charcoal...
Dragon Breath Charcoal: 20lb. bag/$16. This is high-end lump charcoal fresh from Missouri! No, it is not too late to barbecue. Get the good charcoal and get-a-grillin' tonight.

American Grassfed Beef makes awesome dry-aged steaks:
Sirloin: $9.50/8oz.
NY Strip or Ribeye: $13/8oz. or 2/$25
Filet Mignon: $11/6 oz. or $15/8 oz. Wrap it in bacon--it's like Christmas!
Flank or Skirt Steak: $9.50/lb. (Skirt steak is flank steak's not-as-cute sister. They range in size from slightly under 1lb. to 1.5 lbs.) Marinate in equal parts soy sauce and cooking wine. Grill to mid-rare. Dee-lish! Great as an appetizer on Crostini, or in fajitas.
Ground Beef ($6/lb.) and Ground Bison ($6.50/lb.) mixed together make an awesome burger--just add a little garlic and hot pepper--zing-a-ling!
Brisket: $5.70/lb. Averaging about 2.5-3+ lb. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
Chuck Roast: $6.25/lb. It's getting to be that time of year. We don't keep lots in stock, so order ahead!

Happy Pigs = Tasty Pork!
Pork-Onion Patties: $5.75/lb. These are really tasty and satisfying burgers, four to a package, averaging a little over a pound. (Priced per pkg.)
Sausages-a-plenty: We have a variety of Geisert ($5.50) and Hinkebein ($6.50) link sausages and brats available.
Bacon: $5.99/lb. Priced as marked. Keep one in the freezer, in case of emergencies.
Braunschweiger (aka liverwurst): $5.50/1 lb. package in a bright yellow wrapper! We'll be switching to half pound packages in the near future. Great on pretzel bread with Sand Hill's spicy mustard ($4.50)

Chicken Stock bags: $2.00/lb. in 2-3 pound bags. Make your own stock with these chicken bones. See exciting info here! Replacing water in a recipe with chicken stock is the easiest way to make vast leaps in making your food taste good. Use it to cook pasta, beans, rice, veggies, and any other place you use plain water. Not recommended in dessert recipes. Heh heh.
Salume Beddu Mostarda: $7.50. So good on crackers with cheese or with meat. Yum!
Salume Beddu Fig Tapenade: $9.00. A combination of kalamata olives and figs to send you over the moon. Great with chevre. Mmm hmm.

Bellews Creek Black Beans are back!: $3.00/lb. These dry black turtle beans make a great soup, chili, or Mexican accompaniment.

  Butter!  $5.00/.5 lb. Holy cow, that's expensive! Yes, she held out on us for months and then raised the price 50¢ per piece. And no, I didn't hesitate when she said it, because we all know it's worth it. It's a cheap addiction and you know it, and I'd bet that cow really is holy.

Apples: $2.80/6. Organic apples. They aren't beautiful, but they are delicious!
Schwartz Apple cider: $4.50/.5 gallon. The beginning of the cool season makes me happy because I know it means hot cider (with rum and a cinnamon stick for me)!
Organic Blue Heron Apple Cider: $5.50/.5 gallon. A more complex, heartier cider. Just as delicious heated and served with rum...
Raspberries!:

Broccoli: $2.80/ 1 lb. bag (limited quantities!)
Cauliflower: $3.30/lb. priced by the head (all are over one pound, some close to two pounds; limited quantities!)
Cucumbers: $2/lb. Crunch crunch crunch.
Green Peppers: $2/lb.

Summer Squash: $2.25/lb. Zephyrs for sure, maybe zucchini.
Winter Squash: $1.50/lb. Butternut, Acorn, Spaghetti, and Delicata. We can get more pie pumpkins for next week, so let us know if you are interested. Pair winter squashes with their friends the apple and the pecan.

Missouri Pecans: $4.25/.5 lb. or $8.45/lb. Sweet little things. Great for desserts, salads or as an addition to your roasted eggplant dish (don't forget the cheese!). The next order that's coming in is costing more, so the price will be going up to $4.65/.5 lb. shortly. Get 'em cheap while you can!
Potatoes: $3.50/2 lb. Red Norland.
Sweet Potatoes: $3.50/2lb. bag.

Lettuce: $4/.5 lb. Yay, beautiful and delicious. Get more down your gullet by chopping it right in the bowl with your kitchen shears--bam, there's room for more. Dress the salad and it'll wilt a little--ta daa, room for a little more. Add bacon--voila, you're not full after all!
Sunchokes: $3.45/lb. No need to peel; just scrub and they're ready. Eat them sliced thin, raw in your salad, roasted, sauteed, boiled, pureed...you get the picture.

Edamame: $4/lb. They're frozen in the pods. Boil five minutes in a pot of salted water, drain and serve. Pop them out of the shells and store in the fridge for use in salads, soups or other recipes.
Garlic: $1.65/share (~3 heads--depends on the head size). Bellew Creek large head of garlic: $1.10 ea.
Onions: $2/lb. Red, white and yellow. Almost patriotic.
Mushrooms: $7.00.

Freeze Your Jalapeños! Did you know you can pop those jalapeños right in the freezer and pull them out to add into recipes as needed? Just place in a freezer zip lock bag and you're good to go!