Baked with Love!: The Beet, Weaver Street's E-Newsletter

Link to Weaver Street Market's Home Page

Baked with Love!
By Cat Moleski, Contributing Writer
For the last few years my partner and I have been invited to share the love on Valentine's Day with a group of friends. It's a pot luck affair, but I always bring the dessert because I work at Weaver Street Market, of course. One year I brought a decadent chocolate cake, last year I brought a selection of our elegant Opera Cakes. This year I am torn between a specialty make-your-own cake, an assortment of our mousse cakes, or a bunch of our new profiteroles. The profiteroles are tempting because they are bite-size pieces of cream puff heaven and you can eat a whole lot and still think you're watching your waist-line. The mousse cakes make a beautiful presentation and who can resist the flavors: Almond Chocolate (with hearts on them), Tiramisu, Frangelico, and Tropical (with coconut and passion fruit)! More

Heart-shaped Baguettes
Bulk Chocolate
Flowers
Hot Cocoa

Board Meeting

Open Mic in Hillsborough
New CCCC Class

Envirobits
PLANT @ Breeze Farm

Special Promos!
Valentine's Dinner
New Art Show

Weekly Produce Specials
Weekly Meat Specials

Chocolate Fondue
Tastings: Chapel Hill Toffee
Every Day Low Price items



Baked with Love! continued
I am especially drawn to the make-your-own cake this year as I am on a raspberry kick. If you're not familiar with this option, here's the run down: You can order your own specialty cake by mixing and matching cake bodies, fillings, icing, and toppings like chocolate curls. Check out the pdf below and order your specialty cake today or early tomorrow for Saturday pick-up.
Follow this link to find our cake order form.

Weekly Produce Specials - THESE SALES ARE EFFECTIVE Tuesday, February 10 through Monday, February 16.


	Tender, Green Asparagus	$2.99 lb	save $1.00 lb product of Peru
	Organic Bosc Pears	99¢ lb	super low price product of Washington
	Organic Pink Lady Apples	3 lb. bags 3/$10.00	product of Washington

Weekly Meat & Seafood Specials

	Local Pasture Raised Pork Bone-in Pork Chops	$5.49 lb	save $1.00 lb
	Wild Caught Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fillets	$9.99 lb	save $3.00 lb
	USDA Choice Beef London Broil	$5.99 lb	All Natural save $1.00 lb

Read more about other Weaver Street Market Specials.


Chocolate Fondue

This month we've got El Rey's bulk chocolate on sale for the most romantic month of the year. • 16 oz dark chocolate • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream • 1 tsp vanilla or 2 tbs grand marnier or liquer of your choice Gently melt together all three ingredients until well blended. Serve with fresh fruit, marshmallows or poundcake.

Tastings: Chapel Hill Toffee

New in all our stores, this local delight will make a delicious addition to your Valentine's Day! Friday, February 13, 4:00-6:30 pm in Southern Village Saturday, February 14, 11:00-1:30 pm in Carrboro Saturday, February 14, 3:00-5:30 pm in Hillsborough

Every Day Low Price

To help you with your budget, Weaver Street Market has added many items to a selection of Every Day Low Price values. To see the list of these items, please click here. Look for these items throughout the store. Local and delicious! Maple View Farms Milk Products are Every Day Low Prices at Weaver Street Market.

Heart-shaped Baguettes

Enjoy our deliciously romantic heart-shaped baguettes this Saturday only!

By doing much of the process by hand, and taking the time needed for proper dough development, our bakers create loaves that are works of art and full of intricate flavor.

Bulk Chocolate on Sale!

Mmm...chocolate! Try these by themselves with a sparkling Shiraz, or for a more decadent dish, try our Fondue recipe above. These Fair Trade Chocolates are wonderfully intense with a rich texture and finish.

Great for your Valentine's Day baking!

El Rey "APAMATE" 73% cacao - on sale $7.99/lb, regularly $9.99/lb
El Rey "BUCARE" 58% cacao - on sale $6.99/lb, regularly $8.99/lb

Valentine's Flowers

Fresh and beautiful for Valentine's Day or any day!

Local Lilies, grown by Sarah & Michael's Farm

Roses - super fresh, florist quality
single rose bouquet - $2.99/each
3-stem rose bouquet - $6.99/each
One dozen - $24.99

Valentine Mixed Bouquet - $9.99/each

10-stem Tulip Bouquet - $9.99/each

Iris Bouquet - $9.99/each

Hot Cocoa

Customize Your Hot Cocoa
Submitted by Emily Buehler, Contributing Writer

In this cold weather, there's nothing like a thick cup of hot cocoa to finish a meal. Most instant hot cocoa powders work with either boiling water or hot milk, but we all know they're a little bit creamier when made with milk. I don't usually keep milk in the house though, and I don't like the flavor of hot cocoa made with soy or rice milks. So unless my parents have just been for a visit (leaving me with a well-stocked fridge), it's been watery hot cocoa for me.

Until I discovered coconut milk. I began using it in place of milk in pancakes and muffins, with great success. Since it's thicker than milk, I watered it down to achieve an appropriate consistency. It comes in cans that keep on the shelf for years. And if I can't use a whole can in a week, I freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays. I pop the frozen coco cubes out with a butter knife and store them in a container in the freezer. When it's time to make hot cocoa, they melt quickly in the water heating on the stove.

Coconut milk solved one problem with making hot cocoa, but sugar concerned me as well: sometimes I want the chocolaty-ness of hot cocoa, but not the sugar. I'm a big fan of those high-percentage chocolate bars, the kind with "86% cocoa content" that remind me of the time my sister tricked me with the unsweetened baker's chocolate as a child. By varying the cocoa powder-sugar ratio, you can customize your hot cocoa. Use the recipes below, or just add some straight cocoa powder to your store-bought hot cocoa mix to make it less sweet, more chocolate!

Bitter and Chocolaty Hot Cocoa
2 cups water
2 frozen "coco-cubes" (see above) or 2 heaping Tbsp coconut milk
3 heaping tsp cocoa powder
1 heaping tsp sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla

Traditional Hot Cocoa
2 cups water
2 frozen "coco-cubes" (see above) or 2 heaping Tbsp coconut milk
2-3 heaping tsp cocoa powder
2 heaping tsp sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla

Whisk all the ingredients in a saucepan on medium high. Keep stirring until the cocoa powder has all dissolved, and the frozen coco-cubes have melted. Heat until it's hot, stirring occasionally.

Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk is on sale through the month of February in our Carrboro and Hillsborough stores!

Board Meeting

WSM Board meeting
Wednesday, February 18, 6:30-9:30pm
The Board meets on the third Wednesday of each month in the Community Realty building on the northwest corner of Weaver and Greensboro Streets in Carrboro. Meetings run from 6:30-9:30pm and all owners of the Co-op are welcome to attend as observers. To confirm an upcoming meeting, please contact the board here.



Open Mic in Hillsborough Now - Thursday nights

Just in case your THURSDAY evenings are as quiet as ours, we're inviting you to our acoustic musicians' open-mic night, every THURSDAY from 6:30-8:30 pm. Greetings from the Weave to the north! Those of us who made the pioneering trip from Carrboro don't see you so much anymore, but we hope you didn't forget about us. Coming up! February 12th: Victor Murillo February 19th: Tim Stambaugh February 26th: Charles Pettee March 5th: Doctor Oakroot We expect to see y'all (especially those of you with songs to play) some Thursday night very soon.
View more Weaver Street Market events here.

New CCCC Class

Introduction to Sustainable Communities CCCC Pittsboro February 25 - April 29 A hands-on and participatory public policy course taught by Jeffrey Starkweather. This course is designed to help students understand the concept of sustainability, in general as it applies from global to local communities, as well as its value, justification, challenges and practical application to students' local community in particular. Students will explore the possibilities and limitations for promoting sustainable community practices in the private, non-profit and governmental sectors. Instructor: Jeffrey Starkweather, Attorney at Law, Chatham County Economic Development Board member, Chatham County Affordable Housing Task Force, former Executive Director, North Carolina Smart Growth Alliance, former Chatham County Planning Board member(6 years). For additional questions about this class contact instructor at jeffreystarkweather@earthlink.net or cell phone 919-417-0969. Class meets Wednesday evenings, Pittsboro Campus, 6-9pm Course costs: $55. Required textbook: Toward Sustainable Communities, by Mark Roseland, New Society Publishers (ISBN #0-86571-535-1) (2005) $22.95 new at CCCC bookstore. Registration: Call 542-6495, ext 223
Learn more about CCCC here.



Envirobits

Grice— What It Is and What You Can Do With It Our local PTA thrift stores are a great source of used everything, from clothing to books and furniture. They're also a great place to bring your old things, cleaning out your house and ultimately making money for our schools. With spring on the horizon, it's the perfect time of year to clean out your closet, getting rid of those items that just hang there unused, contributing to cluttering your space. Every time I clean out my closet, there are a few items I'm tempted to throw out, thinking, "No one would wear this!" Socks with worn out heels, boxer shorts with an overstretched elastic waistband, or that ugly tee shirt I made in high school that no one else could ever love—these items aren't going to make it onto the rack at the PTA. But sending them to a landfill doesn't help anyone. Fortunately there's a solution. Several years ago, the PTA thrift stores began a program of gathering up such unusable clothing, which they called "grice," bundling it and selling it to be recycled. They actually make money off of it, while diverting it from the landfill. If you have such clothing, you can bring it to the PTA's Carrboro location during donation drop-off hours. Please label it "grice" and let the donations staff know it's grice, as well. But why is it called "grice"? I couldn't find any answers online, but a former PTA staff person told me it was named after a man involved with the program at its conception.
Visit the PTA thrift stores' website here here.

PLANT @ Breeze Farm

PLANT Guides the Decisions of Would-Be Farmers Kelly Owensby heard about the PLANT program from her friend Jessica Sandford. Kelly had interned on many of our area's finest farms—Ecofarm, Perry-Winkle Farm, Wild Hare Farm—and had a large garden at home, but for 2008 she wanted to be on her own, planting something bigger than a garden and selling her produce. PLANT (People Learning Agriculture Now for Tomorrow) turned out to be just what she needed. Read more.


Special Promos

Starting this week, we're introducing 3 delicious, healthy ways to live well during an economic downturn. At Panzanella, we're going to keep making great food from the best ingredients. So, here's our 3-part strategy for feeling good and maintaining optimism: $20 Family & Friends Dinner Special Sundays & Wednesdays 5:30 - 9 pm Price includes: • 1 cheese pizza • A second pizza of your choice, from the menu • A large Weaver Street House Salad, served family style Extra pizza toppings available for $2 each. "Family & Friends" offer available on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, 5:30 - 9:00 pm only Fresh, Fast $5 Lunch: Fast food that's good for you! Monday - Thursday, 11:30 am - 2 pm • A Cup of Soup, made fresh daily • Weaver Street House Salad • Slice of handcrafted bread from Weaver Street Market's bakery $10 Wines! Enjoy extravagance at your mid-week meal with excellent wines at an incredible price. Available Tuesdays & Thursdays, during both Lunch and Dinner, beginning tomorrow. Enjoy your choice of these 3 selected wines for only $10 a bottle: Bricco dei Tati Cortese 2007 (white) Villa Sorono Pinot Noir delle Venezie 2006 (red) Vallevo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2007 (red)
Visit Panzanella's website to view all menus (lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch).
Sign up for Panzanella's Enewsletter here.

Valentine's Day Dinner

Join us on Saturday, February 14th for a special night of dinner and romance. Panzanella will have a special menu designed to delight the senses! It's never to early to start planning for Valentine's Day! To view Panzanella's Valentine's Day Menu, please click here.

New Art Show

Our next art exhibit "Weaver Street Market in Carrboro: 20 Years of Community Partnership" February 10 - April 5, 2009 Starting out with goals that focused on authentic food, environmental concerns and supporting the local economy, Weaver Street Market has always been more than a grocery store, and has influenced, and been influenced by owner interests, local producers and farmers, and area non-profits. This exhibit contains images created by our neighbors and inspired by the people, places, and events that continue to make our little town so extraordinary.