Would also be good for the baby softball pitchers out there since they don’t hurt and won’t break many things. Improving your laundry, pleasing cats and babies…what more could you want for $5?

Fresh, local veggie plant starts: I have planted the lettuce and sugar snap peas and they did wonderfully. Leeks, kale etc. also available. By the way watch what is happening in the field next to the store. Remember we also have a wonderful line of seeds for your veggie garden.

One of our local card makers has added birthday cards to her line…check them out.

Our hours have changed and we are now open until 8 on Friday and Saturday.. will be adding more hours as the sun spends more time in Quilcene.

We have tickets for sale for the Locust Street Taxi concert in Quilcene on April 28th. Be among the first to have their new CD.

Cinco de Mayo Sale—-all Hispanic food will be 10% off on May 5th. Get your chips and locally made salsa and other tasty treats.

We need your help and maybe will help you tidy up around your property. We need to reroof some of the Village Store —in places the roof cannot be seen (but still can leak) soooo we are asking for any extra three tap asphalt roofing that you might have sitting around. Any color, any amount. Just bring it to the store and put on the pallets behind the store on porta potty side. (and try to figure out what is happening in our field).

And finally a big THANK YOU to everyone who donated to the big red mail box for the Worthington Park purchase. It was a great success and I am so proud that our customers showed such great support for this wonderful project. Over $4,000 will go to the project as a result of your generosity.

Cass

Eileen Widman won for Best Traditional and also Honorable Mention in Best Traditional.
Joy McFadden won Best Non Traditional and Adina Vierra was Honorable Mention in Non Traditional. The two Best will each receive a $10 gift certificate for Quilcene Village Store. We had some outstanding children’s eggs. They will all get a certificate as well as a small prize. (Because they are minors, I am not listing their names…but they know who they are.) So the winners should all stop at the store to pick up their award certificates, gift certificates as well as retrieve their wonderful eggs.

• View contest pics online!

It was great fun to see what creative ideas folks have, so we are going to have another contest in a few months..

The next contest will be animals made of veggies…be thinking.

Here is a recipe that is very adaptable and includes lots of vegetables.

Remember you get 10% off of all ingredients you purchase for this dish this week.

Tuscan Chicken (or Fish or Veggies)
I had a roasted chicken, so sliced some off and used that. It would be even better with grilled chicken pieces. I think it would work will with a mild white fish and It would be good and satisfying without any meat if you wanted a vegetarian meal. It went together quickly with ingredients from the Village Store. The sauce will serve three to four people. As usual, I really did not measure things—so add more or less as you wish.

Ingredients

Grilled chicken, fish or nothing.
2 cups cooked brown rice, wheat berries or faro .(this can take some time, so I try to keep some cooked up ahead of time)
2 or more cups of steamed broccoli. You can make this while the sauce simmers.
For the sauce:
1/4 red onion chopped
2-3 cloves garlic minced or pressed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 13.5 oz. can artichoke hearts—cut up…(not marinated.) drained
1 teaspoon capers –drained
1-2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

Sauté the chopped onions until soft in olive oil. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds or so. Dump in the tomatoes and artichoke hearts (drained), capers and vinegar. Simmer on low for as long as it takes you to grill the meat, steam the broccoli, and heat the grain.

Pile as much of the rice (or grain) in the center of the plate as you want, add the grilled meat if desired, cooked broccoli, and pour the sauce over it all. Enjoy. Tom took a picture and it really is tastier rather than pretty. I think it may become a staple weeknight recipe for me.

Tuscan Chicken VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL This album has 1 photo and will be available on SkyDrive until 7/6/2013.

We also have Easter candy, great felted little animal/eggs and cute pockets stuffed with a handmade bunny.

But most important… we have extended the Easter Egg contest until Easter… kids and adults, bring in your decorated eggs. (Sage and I are going to do some this Thursday on art day). There are QVS gift certificates as prizes.

Remember to blow the eggs or use other material for the egg shape…we even have one paper egg. And provide some sort of stand for your egg. Bring on the eggs!!! Show the world some of Quilcene’s creativity.

There are just a few more days of the March Match…and there are still some mansion shirts to be had for a $25 donation. Let’s show our support of the Worthington property purchase.

Since I know you are going to be blowing out a bunch of eggs for decorating….here is a recipe for a Frittata adopted from 101 Cookbooks. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/a-tasty-frittata-recipe.html

I think frittatas are great—easy and anything can be added to the eggs…almost like a quiche only a lot easier as there is no crust to make. So add whatever veggies you have to yours! and you can serve it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Frittata

6 large organic eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 small potatoes, very very thinly sliced
1/2 cup yellow zucchini or cauliflower,1/2-inch pieces—or red peppers
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled—or any cheese you like
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted —or other nuts
couple pinches of salt

Preheat your oven to 450F degrees.

In a medium bowl whisk the eggs with a small pinch of salt. Set aside. In a (small) 8 1/2-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat add the olive oil, onion, and another pinch of salt. Saute, stirring constantly, until the onion starts to brown, 5 – 7 minutes. Add the potatoes and other veggies, cover, and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Slide everything out of the skillet onto a plate and set aside.

Turn down the heat a bit. Using the same skillet, add the eggs and cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or until the eggs are just set and there isn’t a lot of liquid running around the pan. To facilitate this, run a spatula underneath the sides of the frittata and tilt the pan so the uncooked eggs run to the underside and cook. Sprinkle the potato onion mixture over the top.

Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 9 minutes, or until well set and puffy. Add a crumble of cheese and the seeds or nuts across the top of the frittata in the final 2 minutes of baking. Remove from oven (be careful the handle is hot!), cut into wedges and serve.

Serves 2 to 4.

Mon – Thurs:  7AM – 7 PM

Fri: 7AM – 8 PM

Sat – Sun: 8AM – 8PM

We’re also extending the Easter Egg contest through April, so keep playing with your food

Add ice cream for dessert if desired—I know people who are addicted to our “It’s a Goody” flavor.

http://www.doublerainbow.com/dr/products/ice_cream/its_a_goody

I know many of you are fans of Jose’s Salsa. Jose has opened a taqueria in Sequim. It is open Tuesday thru Saturday 11 AM to 7 PM—has tacos, burritos, tamales etc. We have had his tamales and they are wonderful. A menu is posted on our bulletin board. Here is a link to an article about them.

http://peninsuladailynews.com/article/20130210/news/302109979/0/SEARCH

Jose and Angee are really nice and hard working folks…support them if you are in Sequim.

We are going to have an Easter Egg Decorating Contest….Bring a decorated egg with STAND to the Quilcene Village Store by March 24th…they will be judged and prizes will be awarded. But the main point is to have fun…just make sure the eggs have been blown and rinsed.

Open to all ages, singles or groups. Just have fun decorating an egg and let the world (or at least Quilcene) see your creativity. Play with your food.

Greg is steadily out there interviewing and filming our local producers. This latest film features Spring Rain Farm whose ladies make our certified organic eggs 20 miles from the store. http://vimeo.com/61065356

So please help us show that our great customers support this fantastic project. Any size donation is appreciated. Drop your change in as you go by if that is all you can spare one day…but give as much as you can…and donate your $25 early to get a good selection of tee shirt sizes.

You might have noticed the reader board mentions fish—it is a reminder to you that we are selling great line caught Cape Cleare Salmon (frozen whole) for 25% off. http://capecleare.com/ They have instructions for thawing and cooking. We also have oysters again.

Here is a recipe shared by one of our customers—everything can be purchased at QVS and it sounds tasty. Suppose to get cold tonight-so tomorrow might be the perfect day for:

Corn Chowder With Bacon and Mushrooms
1 Organic Sweet onion, diced
1 Organic bell Pepper seeded and diced
1 stalk Organic Celery, diced
6 Tablespoons of Organic sweet cream Butter ( do not substitute)
3 Tablespoons organic flour ( I use Spelt)
5 slices organic Bacon, diced
3 cups frozen Organic corn or 2 cans organic corn kernels drained
about 1 cup fresh mushrooms cleaned, de-stemmed, and sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin or to taste
1/2 teaspoon cayenne or to taste
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
5 cups Organic chicken stock ( home made if possible) Use the chicken meat for another meal
1 1/2 cups organic heavy cream
salt to taste

Directions;
1. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large heavy soup pot.
2. Sauté diced onion, bell pepper and Celery in melted butter until onion is tender and clear.
3. Add 3 Tablespoons of flour and stir over med. heat for 3 minutes. Then Add 5 diced slices of Bacon and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add frozen or drained canned corn, cumin,cayenne,paprika and 5 cups of chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Melt the remaining butter in a heavy sauté pan and sauté the mushrooms until tender. Reserve in warm pan until serving time.
6 Stir in 1 cup heavy cream; cook 5 more minutes. Taste, add salt to taste.
Ladle into warm soup bowls and top with sautéed mushrooms and a little of the melted butter. Serve with crusty warm bread for dipping as you eat.
From Eileen Widman’s Kitchen

“Since 1975, our members have been passing on our garden heritage by collecting and distributing thousands of samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. Our mission is to conserve and promote America’s culturally diverse but endangered food crop heritage for future generations by collecting, growing, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants.” – SeedSavers.org

And if your have a gardener Valentine, the great book by Midori Farms on growing veggies locally is in stock for $12, and we have a good selection of seeds from Seed Savers.