Quilcene Village Store News for 4/7/13

Announcing the winners of the Egg Decorating Contest!

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.

Easter Reminders

We have some lovely flower bouquets from Serendipity—daffodils make everyone smile. What a great way to bring a bit of sunshine inside.

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.

Spring has Sprung

With the longer days, we’re expanding our hours back to:

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

New Products and Easter Egg Event News

Frozen sausage arrived at the store today…several types—as I remember—breakfast, Chicken Chipotle, bratwurst and more….good for a quick meal…brown while you are making pasta, veggies or a salad and dinner is on the table in 29 minutes.

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.

Quilcene Village Store News…..

The biggest news is that we are involved in a MARCH MATCH and need your help. We have a big red mail box for donations for the Worthington Mansion…If you give $25 dollars or more, you will get a tee shirt with a photo of the Mansion as it was once — complete with mansard roof. And you donation will go twice as far since the Village Store will match the first $1,000 donations. This is a great project for our community—it truly is 10 Acres of Possibility.

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

Quilcene Village Store can help with Valentine’s wishes

We have Valentines cards—some sweet and some edgy—adorable, special packages of Serenade Chocolates includes a heart shaped chocolate, a great wine selection, and a few small arrangements of flowers.

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.

Date Change: wine and chocolate tasting–plus salad dressings Wed. 2/6/13 at 5:30 PM

We have had to change to wine tasting date—but it will be totally worth it. The wine tasting will be at 5:30 PM on Wednesday Feb.6th….Five samples for $5 and $2.50 off each of your first two purchased bottles of Wind Rose wine. I am sure you remember that one of the wines is the Library ReAd—a fund raiser for our library system. There were only 25 cases made and you really want to have a bottle. David Volmut of Wind Rose Cellars will be doing the pouring of these, his own locally made wines. And to sweeten the deal (he he), Jim from Chocolate Serenade will be giving samples of his wonderful chocolates…and I think he is going to have some heart shaped candies for sale. And if wine or chocolates are not your thing, Chris Llewellyn will be sampling the Serendipity Farms salad dressings. I am sure one of these (if not all three)is just what your Valentine wants!

Greg is making short films about some of our local suppliers and the one about Chocolate Serenade is ready —so watch this 6 minute video about the creation of this locally made chocolate created by one of Quilcene film makers. Just click on this link: http://vimeo.com/58476542 And come and taste the wonderful chocolates on February 6th

Recipe for super easy Carrot Salad filled with winter veggies (recipe from the Food Coop in PT)

5 carrot
1 parsnip
1/4 to 1/2 cup raisins
1/8 c agave syrup or honey
1/8 apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
handful toasted almond slices (addition by Cass)

Peel, if needed, then grate carrots and parsnip, add other ingredients, toss and chill. Proportions are not important. Keeps for several days in refrigerator if you make enough to last. I plumped my raisins in hot water and drained them before adding—but my raisins were not the freshest. Easy, keeps well, looks pretty on the plate, and gets more root veggies into your diet. You get 10% off of the purchase price of any or all the ingredients when purchased at the Quilcene Village Store.

Wine tasting Tuesday Feb 5th, 5:30 PM

The big news this week is that February 5 is the Wine Tasting. This will feature the Library fund raiser wine which is Library Re(a)d. Just the thing to give to your valentine and show him/her that you support good causes also!

The wine maker, David Volmut, from Wind Rose Cellars will bring 5 wines to sample—you can try all 5 for $5. And you will get $2.50 off each of your first two purchased bottles of Wind Rose wine. And Ray Serebrin, director of the Jefferson County Library, will present something wonderful to Quilcene.

Chris Llewellyn of Serendipity Farm will also be there to offer samples of her wonderful homemade salad dressings. I have had two flavors and they are both wonderful and unlike anything you can buy commercially. No charge for dressings—but no discount either.

So put Tuesday, February 5 at 5:30 at the Quilcene Village Store on your calendar.

Greg has ordered some other wines and beers just for Valentines day—including a chocolate stout. And of course, we have the best chocolate in the world from Chocolate Serenade. And if you want chocolate bars we have a great selection of Theo Chocolates—made in Seattle and Fair Traded. So several choices of wine and chocolates made within 100 miles. We really can eat well locally.

Gardeners—our seeds have arrived from Seed Saver Exchange—about 50 varieties of veggies, herbs and eatable flowers. Stacey ordered them and it looks like a great selection—I can see nasturtiums making salads beautiful and tasty all throughout Quilcene. We will sell the heritage seeds for the same price you could order them on line—get them instantly and no shipping costs.

Have you checked out our bulk food section? Even I was surprised at the variety of organic grains we carry. Couscous is still 50% off. Also any item that has an orange sticker on it is 50% off—help us clear them out so we can get new items.

This recipe is again from Spilling the Beans—cooking and baking with beans and grains every day by Rosendaal and Duncan.

Sausage, Lentil and Barley Soup (serves 6)
1/3 cup dry green lentils
1/3 cup pearl barley
1-2 Italian sausages ( I used QVS frozen chorizo –used some for the cornmeal crust pizza and rest for this) (Pizza was good and easy)
half a bunch of celery
8 cups chicken or veggie broth
olive oil and salt and pepper to taste

Put lentils and barley in pan and cover with water about 1 inch above them. Bring to boil, turn to simmer and cook 40 minutes until both are tender. Drain well and set aside. In a large soup pot, Squeeze sausage out of casing (if any), brown in oil, add chopped celery and cook, stirring for 5 minutes. Add stock, lentils and barley. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

I am off to make this soup for tomorrow. But I am going to cook it in my pressure cooker so it will take 15 minutes…this is my favorite kitchen equipment now. Anyone else have one? Love to share recipes.

Cass

(just email me if you want to be removed from this mailing list)
Links:
Wind Rose Cellars of Sequim http://www.windrosecellars.com/
Serendipity Farm of Quilcene http://home.earthlink.net/~serendipityfarm/
Chocolate Serenade of Sequim https://chocolateserenade.com/?page_id=107
Theo Chocolates of Seattle https://www.theochocolate.com/about-theo
Here is a CBS video about the business practices of Theo http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50136247n
Seed Savers Exchange http://www.seedsavers.org/
Amazon link for cook book.http://www.amazon.com/dp/1770500413/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=19187656477&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17003713111761837621&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&ref=pd_sl_5zf79r9778_e

Quilcene Village Store wishes you a Happy New Year!

For your celebrations we have some highly rated “champagne” called Renaissance Brut for $7.99. Plus we have all the nibbly food you could want. Also a terrific unprocessed ham for a big spread.

We will be open until 7 PM on New Year’s Eve, but closed on New Year’s Day.

An exciting event coming soon will be a wine tasting featuring the Library Re(A)d wine which is being sold in limited quantities to benefit the Jefferson and Clallam Library systems. We have one of the only 24 cases. Ray Serebrin, Director of the our library system, and David Volmut, vintner from Windrose Winery, http://www.windrosecellars.com will be there to share the good times. And there will be an additional exciting announcement that night (yes, this is a teaser). You won’t want to miss this.

If you are adding a few more veggies in the new year we have a new supply of Wildwood Farms rainbow carrots (pretty and tasty) and Dharma Ridge beets. Have you tried a salad with cooked beets, blue cheese and toasted walnuts? Really good.

Remember, try the Quilcene Village Store FIRST for your grocery needs. If we don’t have it, we will try to get it for you.

Thanks to all of our loyal customers who shop with us!