These are a few of my favorite beers – Lagunitas

I try not to post strictly based on my own taste but in this case I just can help myself. Lagunitas Brewery of Petaluma, CA has always made really solid beers but this year they are knocking it out of the park with their big bottle series (22 oz.). These are some of the best beers in a bottle that I've had this year and they are an amazing value. The Hop Stoopid quickly became one of my favorite beers because of it's big, juicy, citrusy flavor. I've had it on tap, on cask, and in a bottle and every time it was outstanding. At 7.7 abv it is strong but incredibly fresh, well balanced, and drinkable so tread lightly.

And just when I thought it couldn't get better Lagunitas has released the Correctional Ale, another riff on their run-in-with-the-law series. The Correctional Ale is very similar to the Hop Stoopid but has a little less weight at 6.33 abv. It's fresh and bright and one of the best spring/summer hop backbone beers that one can find in a bottle.

Lagunitas brews whatever they want, whenever they want so, don't expect these beers to be around for long but look forward to Lucky 13 and other great beers at fair prices from these eclectic brewers.

Cheers, Anngel

Picnic-ready Charcuterie for Going A-Maying

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread,
A 10-oz. Stick of Parisian-style Saucisson --
And Thou...

If you can sing in the wilderness, you can throw a killer picnic. That new Cavafy translation, a fresh baguette, a bottle of plonk, some cheese, maybe an onion, and all you need to hit the grassy meadows is a few slices of a good, garlicky French sausage.

Local charcutier Daniel of Larchmont Charcuterie offers a delicious, clean, natural alternative to the highly-processed meats and salamis commonly produced. No added nitrates or preservatives here; just top-quality pork and grass-finished beef, garlic, sea salt, and spices, all smoked over real wood. Try both the Pork/Beef Saucisson (Daniel recommends pairing with a full-bodied Medoc) and the All-Beef Spicy Cervelat (a Chianti or Cote du Rhone).

Beer is good, too.

-- Guillaume le Boucher.

Bleu without the Cheese

Looking to add variety to your non-dairy cheese plate? Try these organic cheese alternatives from Sunergia:

Soya Bleu

Soy Feta: Tomato Garlic &
Lemon Oregano flavors

Find them with the non-dairy cheeses in the Milk/Juice Refrigerator.

Pollo Rosso -- Yes, ANOTHER new chicken

"This red-feathered, Italian heritage breed chicken has been imported* by a community of farmers in Pennsylvania Amish Country. Raised humanely with access to pasture, fed a vegetarian diet, with no antibiotics ever administered, every effort has been made to duplicate the stress-free and slow-growth traditions of Italy. The result -- a chicken with firm texture, thin skin, and wonderfully rich flavor." -- Pollo Rosso farmers' press release

*smuggled

Oh, these babies are gooood. That piquant dash of intrigue, knowing you're carving a chicken raised from contraband eggs bootlegged in from Tuscany under cover of darkest night, only adds to the savor. A special occasion chicken you'll want to roast every day.

Have you BOBOed?

If you've been hanging around the poultry case lately, you've probably heard the ruckus about Bobo Farm and the amazing chickens they've been providing to the Coop. "The Chinese-American farmer brings these down LIVE from the Hudson Valley to his cousin in Williamsburg, and the Coop gets them the next day!" These fresh magnificent birds come "Buddha-style," with the feet attached, a boon to those who know that feet enrich and add great flavor to soups and stocks.

The Bobo White Feather chicken is a Cornish cross breed, bred for plumpness and lots of breast meat, butchered at a tender 9 weeks, perfect for roasting. The Black Feather is a Silver Barred cross breed with a narrower breast and longer legs and wings: a European-style chicken which lives 12 weeks, yielding a more flavorful meat which responds well to braising and stewing (although it also roasts up nicely). The Bobo Poussin is a baby White Feather....split it and grill it!

GF! LS! HC! WTH!

GF stands for "gluten free." Not only did we get a new gluten free waffle from Kinnikinnik, the freezer finally has doughnuts! These cinnamon sugar doughnuts are also from Kinnikinnik and are also gluten free.

LS stands for "low sodium" which is what Amy's Mattar Paneer meal is. Loaded with all kinds of veggies, Indian cheese (paneer), and exotic spices.

HC stands for "holy cow" which is what some people will exclaim in reaction to the new products.

WTH stands for "what the heck?" which is what some people will say when I tell them that the Henry and Lisa frozen shrimp might have been discontinued. We haven't been able to get them for weeks but our distributor kept on saying "next week." Well, they've changed "next week" to "maybe never again." I'm looking into other enviromentally friendly sources for shrimp.

It's springtime in the produce aisle

Right now we have English peas (peas in a pod)






and fava beans, both organic and from Mexico.






On Friday we are expecting from Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op from Lancaster County PA, the following organic greens:

loose arugula
loose dandelions
baby red russian kale
baby mache
loose baby spinach
loose wild watercress

And on Monday we expect: organic rhubarb from California!

Life by Chocolate

We've added some new chocolates from Life by Chocolate in Greenville, New York in time for Easter. The bunnies are hopping out of here very fast. (More are coming Thursday afternoon.) We've also added bars with unusual flavors (choc covered smoked peanut butter, anyone?) Some of the chocolate is fair trade and some of the bars are vegan. One of their best selling bars is Bee's Knees, made with honey.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

The coop has tons of sale beer at not merely good, but amazing prices – 50-70% off kind of prices. Look on the front display rack and/or for shelf labels with little yellow dots.



Anderson Valley Winter (it’s not just for January) $0.76
Rogue Chipotle Ale (smokey but not crazy) $0.76
Otter Creek Raspberry Brown (nice) $0.91
Elysian Pumpkin Ale (restrained pumpin, yummy) $1.41
Corsendonk Gift Packs (2x12 oz. beers plus a glass) $8.97
Schneider Weisse (5x16.0 oz. beers plus a glass) $8.83

Bear Republic Racer 5 and Red Rocket were $1.61, now $1.51 and the Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye was $4.74, and is now $3.93. Krusovice was $1.72, now $1.51

Cheers, Anngel

Lindt Pistachio bar not recalled

Correction, correction. Lindt pistachio bar was not recalled by Lindt. Yuri received a confirmation from our distributor, who confirmed that this bar was not made with California pistachios. They erred on the side of caution.

Pistachio Recall Redux - Lindt Chocolate w/ Pistachio

Please be advised that Lindt Pistachio Chocolate bar is being recalled by our supplier. Bring in any bars to the return desk on the second floor you may have purchased.