Jaialdi 2010 has arrived, with the greater downtown area of Boise awash in festive celebration of Basque culture and traditions! In honor of this twice-a-decade festival we at the Boise Co-op would like to introduce you to some of the unique Basque products we carry, and encourage you to take advantage of and experience this delicious cultural cuisine:

The meat department makes it very own Basque Chorizo from scratch every week, following traditional Basque recipes of fresh chilies and garlic and spices to produce these rich and hearty pork sausages. And on the other side of the store as always is the amazing array of excellent Basque (and maybe close-to-Basque Spanish) cheeses residing in the cheese island at the Deli: exceptional crumbly/soft sheep’s milk Manchegos and Petit Basque; sharp and rich hard cheeses such as the smoky Ideazabel and Garrotxa; the creamy Capitoul, closer to a French than a strictly Basque brie-like cheese, is entirely gratifying.

Additionally the Co-op carries a variety of fish meats, primarily tuna ventresca (tuna belly) canned or jarred in oil according to traditional practices. This extremely juicy meat is very tasty and flakes off and crumbles making it ideal for salads as well as the traditional Basque marmitako, a potato & tuna stew eaten by Basque fishermen throughout the ages. We also carry several varieties of jarred pimientos and white asparagus spears from the Basque food companies of Viter and Ortize, as well as an exceptionally robust Basque olive mix available by the pound in the Deli olive bar. And of course the Co-op wine department features a variety of Basque wines and hard ciders, including Orvalaiz Crianza, a cabernet-merlot blend, and Torre Oria tempranillo red, along with the Sarrasola and Astarbe Ciders, available in meal-sized 750ml carafe sized bottles, the perfect complements to any meal!

As an added Jaialdi perk the Boise Co-op Wine Shop is having a summer 6-pack wine sale! On selected wines, take 15% off of 6 or more bottles, mix and match. Lots of Spanish red, white and rose to choose from! Sale runs through Jaialdi, ending Aug 1. For more information, visit www.boisecoopwineshop.com

So be sure to stop by the Co-op for some great Basque fare, take advantage of our fantastic wine sale, and get out and enjoy the Jailadi festivities taking place July 27^th thru August 1^st primarily along the Basque block of downtown Boise.

View our flier by clicking on the button below.

Some blame Lindsey Lohan. This seems like a stretch of the imagination. However it does appear that concern around the alcohol content within the fermented drink became an issue suspiciously soon after the actress publicly claimed her elevated BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) was due to Kombucha consumption.

 It would seem highly unlikely that one could reach a BAC level similar to that achieved from an entire mixed drink by simply guzzling Kombucha. But it does appear that the attention this has brought to the detoxifying, metabolic balancing tea is enough to cause the major producers of Kombucha to voluntarily stop providing the drink until they can clarify its alcohol content more definitively.

The issue is: there is no clear way to determine the precise alcohol content of the non-pasteurized drink – by its nature, the fermentation of the fruit juices within the drink will continue after bottling, leading to some trace alcohol development, the amount of which is not clear since it depends upon storage temperatures, bottling dates, quantities of sugars and fermentable ingredients present, etc.

The current labeling suggests some trace amounts of alcohol may be present, but less than 0.5%. It is this vague percentage that is being called in to question and that will likely need to be clarified before the Kombucha manufacturers resume peaceful production. Attention like this will not disappear and if you ask enough steady Kombucha drinkers, they’ll likely admit they get a little buzz now and then when they drink it – meaning that as ridiculous as it may sound, the tea probably needs to fall under the same restrictions as NA beer.

For now, stock up while you can steady Kombucha heads: what you see is what we’ve got at the Co-op, and it’s not a whole lot at this point.

We at the Boise Co-op are extremely proud to introduce Homestyle Direct individual frozen meals – available today in the frozen food section, Aisle 3.

“Another frozen meal, what’s the big deal? Well, the Homestyle Direct family business has been providing gourmet-level, restaurant style frozen foods as a home delivery service to the greater northwest area for years – with the hope that providing nutritious and tasty meals at an affordable cost would enable families to return to sit-down dinners on a regular basis, since the time and effort of food preparation would be taken care of in a simple delivery.

Now the Homestyle Direct folks have taken their approach to the next level – providing frozen meals for the general grocery consumer – not just those wishing to have vacuum sealed, frozen entrees delivered to their homes on a regular basis. And we at the Co-op are proud to be one of the exclusive providers of these delicious, easy to prepare meals in the Boise area!

Currently we have five different frozen entrees available in the frozen food aisle 3, each a complete meal for just over five dollars:

Malibu Chicken
Pork Loin with Baked Potato
Stuffed Salmon Boat
Southwestern Breakfast
Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Come check them out, we guarantee you will be delighted!

Sometimes taking care of yourself means taking the time to enjoy yourself. Moderation in all things? Does that include moderation in moderation? I think so! Our produce department is now offering the best price of the season on local, organic, Pie Pumpkins. It’s a steal at $.69/lb. Do take advantage of this offer and enjoy yourself before we enter a new spring! (Also, I’m betting the local Cloverleaf heavy cream could whip and top a fresh piece of pie yielding earthly heaven.)

Despite this advocacy of the indulgent, I’d also like to point you toward some of our RAW, healthy choices. These products are featured in the produce “juice cooler” located near the fruit table as you enter the produce department. Try one of the many RAW Perfect Foods Bar. There is nothing better for an energy snack. Also consider one of our RAW crackers from It’s Alive! or Dr. John’s. We also are featuring a RAW sauerkraut and RAW Paté from It’s Alive!.

So in closing. . .? Do enjoy yourself, but also consider some of our RAW healthy choices too!

Be well,

~Douglas Bolles

Our bulk tea, spice and herb selection has been streamlined over the past couple of years, and it’s more user-friendly than ever! On Aisle 5, you’ll find an incredible selection of black, green and herbal teas, as well as a wide variety of medicinal herbs. On Aisle 2, across from the bulk food bins, are all our bulk culinary herbs and spices. Buy as little or as much as you need!

Bulk Herbs and Spices

Speaking of bulk, we now have a bulk cleaning supplies station on Aisle 4!. Our selection includes dish and laundry soap, all-purpose cleaners and lots more! This is an easy way to save money and live a greener life! Bring your own container, or purchase a re-useable and recyclable one at the display.

Bulk Cleaning Supplies

The Raw Food movement has come to Boise, and along with all our great Raw (non) Cookbooks, we now have a variety of grab-and- go raw food in the cooler at the back of the store. There’s no denying the health benefits of “live” food, and these ready-to-eat options make it simple to go raw in a rush.

Grab-n-Go Raw Foods

Have you seen the changes we’ve made to our Frozen Food Aisle? Lots more freezer space means a big increase in our selection, and we’ve brought in quite a few exciting new gluten-free and organic products.

Our Freezer Aisle

We’re big lovers of Mediterranean food, and couldn’t be happier to introduce San Giuliano products to our shoppers! Their extra-virgin olive oil, truly traditional pasta, and 10-year-aged Balsamic vinegar from Modena is some of the best we’ve tried, and we think you’ll be impressed, too!

San Giuliano Products

For the kid in all of us, we just brought in Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops. We cannot believe how delicious these are! Even better, with no wheat, dairy, nuts, soy, egg, chemical dyes or artificial ingredients, they’re an excellent treat for people with food sensitivities. Have two!

Yummy Earth Lollipops

And finally, for all those trick-or-treaters (or for yourself!), pick up some yummy Endangered Species Chocolate Halloween Candy! Sustainably-grown and 100% ethically-traded, this all-natural delight comes in dark and milk chocolate varieties, and it’s just incredibly tasty. Endangered Species donates 10% of their net proceeds to environmental charities, which somehow makes this candy taste even better to us.

Endangered Species Halloween Treats

]]> http://www.boisecoop.com/the-grocery-report-october-2009/feed 0 http://www.boisecoop.com/new-daves-killer-bread http://www.boisecoop.com/new-daves-killer-bread#comments Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:35:38 +0000 wendy http://www.boisecoop.com/?p=3070 Located in Milwaukie, Oregon, Dave’s Killer Bread is dedicated to baking the highest quality, best tasting organic bread possible. Each loaf is packed with whole grains, seeds, and/or nuts, resulting in a bread that is both healthy and delicious. They currently offer 10 varieties, all of which contain no animal products, artificial preservatives or genetically modified organisms.

To make the world a better place… one loaf of bread at a time

Field Day Paper Products are all 100% recycled.

The bath tissue is soft, strong, earth-friendly, and a good value.

The napkins are whitened without chlorine bleach, our recycled paper napkins are a super buy.

The jumbo paper towels are a great eco-paper towel but sized to fit your needs and budget.

By Sylvie Ryan, Boise Co-op Culinary Educator

Olive oils are essential to the food lover’s kitchen! I always enjoy experimenting with them, and often have more then one bottle in my cupboard. They’re versatile and they simply bring out the best flavors in so many dishes. Here are my favorites from around the world, all of which you can find at the Boise Coop!

Mas du Gourgonnier: The Must-Have!
(From France)

Picture this: A palette of the most stunningly different greens, with views of endless rows of olives trees. Happy, strong, healthy!

You are in the most beautiful Provence region of France! It is Baux-de-Provence and we are at the Mas du Gourgonnier, to be exact. Luc and Eve Cartier take pride in nurturing the products they grow with love, patience and dedication. The mas du Gourgonnier’s wines and oils all come from organic agriculture. This pure liquid sensation is a non-filtered olive oil made with four traditional variety of olives: Salonenque, Grossane, Verdale and Beruguette. The Boise Co-op has marvelled at the Cartier’s quality of outstanding products for many years, and Drew at the Boise Co-op Wine Shop summed up our feelings toward this oil beautifully— after tasting it, he exclaimed “Yes, I had it with toasted bread and I thought, ‘Forget the bread, this is so good!” You, too, should experience this amazing and delicious condiment.

See the recipe below for a fabulous way to utilize this precious oil!

Basso Fedele& Figli: The Fresh and Grassy!
(From Italy)

Basso Fedele e Figli srl is a company that has been producing cooking oils since 1904. The production plant is located in Campania, which is the third olive oil production region of Italy. BASSO Extra Virgin Olive Oil is obtained without chemical treatment and obtained from the first cold press of healthy, ripe olives. This delicious oil is great when used raw or in cooked meals  It offers a very pleasing fresh olive flavor.  I find the chartreuse green color looks gorgeous when drizzled on a white plate.

Gaeta: The Sweet Bargain!
(From Italy)

The Italian castle dates back as far as the Byzantine Empire. Through its walls lies the region of Gaeta-Itri, Italy where Gaeta olives (rare and delicious) are grown on the hillside above the azure sea.

This is where John Fusco traced his roots to a family legacy of Olive trees that had lost their importance. The extra virgin olive oil from these groves was so extraordinary, with an acidity level far below the 1% international standard, that it was being purchased by cheap oil companies as an additive to improve the quality of their own oil.

When John learned that his family’s farms had been virtually abandoned, he focused his heart and mind to restoring them to their original condition and purpose. He spent a year in the olive fields handpicking the sun-drenched olives and mastering the growing secrets for a unique, delicious olive oil.

Nearly all mass-market olive oils are produced from a mixed selection of olive types grown in a variety of regions and climates. With varying olive types from harvest to harvest and inconsistent crop yields from year to year, it is impossible to compete with the quality of Gaeta olive oil, because Gaeta’s single-grove harvesting produces a quality and flavor consistency that can be relied upon forever. All Gaeta products are made from completely natural, organic, and/or kosher ingredients. I find this remarkably inexpensive oil to be perfect for every day use, as it perfectly enhances a multitude of raw and cooked dishes.

Yellingbo Gold: The Award-Winning Mild and Fruity!
(From Australia)

This olive oil is a mild, fruity blend of Manzanillo, Leccino, Frantoio and Barnea olives. It’s versatile and marries well with most any dish—as salads, vegetables, seafood and fish. Its delicate flavor will complement your favorite food without overwhelming the taste. Saveur Magazine had this to say about this lovely oil:

“Wonderful aromas of fresh fruit, lead to a creamy palate of sweet almonds and a mild lingering peppery finish…”

Australian Yellingbo donates 5% of their profits to the Jasmine Foundation to help support Children Orphinages. Find out more at: www.jasminefoundation.org.

Try out Sylvie’s
Elegant Figs with Prosciutto

]]> http://www.boisecoop.com/huiles-dolive-an-olive-oil-primer-for-the-food-lover/feed 0 http://www.boisecoop.com/reusable-bags-are-awesome http://www.boisecoop.com/reusable-bags-are-awesome#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:37:41 +0000 robin http://www.boisecoop.com/?p=1536

Patty loves reusable bags!

Be conscious of resources and waste!

Boise Co-op encourages everyone to shop consciously and use reusable bags. We now have reusable shopping bags from post-consumer recycled material for 99 cents available at the front of the store!

Be proactive in your consumer behavior! Thank you to all who commit to waste reduction!!!

The following article is sourced from www.reusablebags.com. I encourage all of you to visit the site and witness the constant and rapidly changing number of plastic bags consumed this year displayed at the top… at the time of my posting, it was at 7,990,796,668!

**Facts and figures regarding the true cost of plastic bags**

Want to know more about Ireland’s wildly successful PlasTax? How about numbers on consumption? Think paper bags are better than plastic bags?…Think again, and be in the know.

Top Facts – Consumption

# Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.

# According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.

# According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)

# According to the industry publication Modern Plastics, Taiwan consumes 20 billion bags a year – 900 per person.

# According to Australia’s Department of Environment, Australians consume 6.9 billion plastic bags each year – 326 per person. An estimated 0.7% or 49,600,000 end up as litter each year.

Top Facts – Environmental Impact

# Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.

# Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade – breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.

# As part of Clean Up Australia Day, in one day nearly 500,000 plastic bags were collected.

# Windblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has sprung up harvesting bags and using them to weave hats, and even bags. According to the BBC, one group harvests 30,000 per month.

# According to David Barnes, a marine scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, plastic bags have gone “from being rare in the late 80s and early 90s to being almost everywhere from Spitsbergen 78 degrees North [latitude] to Falklands 51 degrees South [latitude].”

# Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation.

Top Facts – Solutions

# In 2001, Ireland consumed 1.2 billion plastic bags, or 316 per person. An extremely successful plastic bag consumption tax, or PlasTax, introduced in 2002 reduced consumption by 90%. Approximately 18,000,000 liters of oil have been saved due to this reduced production. Governments around the world are considering implementing similar measures.

# July 2003, ReusableBags.com goes live, advancing the mainstream adoption of reusable shopping bags.

# Each high quality reusable shopping bag you use has the potential to eliminate hundreds, if not thousands, of plastic bags over its lifetime.

Ryan, Vachel and Patty, doin' their part