the Friday Feeding; VOL. 8

December is here and we’re here to fill your pantries, fill your stomachs and fill your senses with this final season of the year.  

With the turning of the calendar, food has always been at the center of winter celebration. Common to all religions and cultures, the culinary celebration has been inspired by the shortening of daylight and the stillness while nature sleeps.  Spices and ales, deeper flavors from condensed preserved foods and the use of meat as a center piece, the ancient cultures knew that these types of food helped to nourish and strengthen the body in cold, leaner times.

There is a reason why traditional flavors of December have developed.  Cinnamon and  ginger increase blood flow to warm the body, cloves and ginger are numbing analgesic and reduce inflammation in the body and dried fruits are concentrated vitamins.  These flavors delivered through ale that dilates the blood vessels so a body can absorb them more, were an effective winter tonic for sore muscles and stiff joints at a time when everyone did manual labor.

Even the eating of meat as the center to a meal had purpose. Killing your live stock was a celebratory luxury but in ancient eastern Ayurvedic medicine [think: the Wise Men in the Christmas story] meat was prescribed as a medicine to strengthen the body.  It still is today.

So what ever your celebration is, we hope you enjoy it and let us participate with some of our special foods.  See our expanded menu for the week at the end of this post.  And its Friday night pizza again so see that too.

Yes, we still do meals. 

I think we used the incorrect wording a few posts back to describe that we could no longer offer a set menu of entrees; there was too much waste by committing to a certain dish on a certain day. But we have been making take-out meals to serve alone or over rice etc.  This last week we had Steak Tip Chili, African Sweet Potato Stew…we make it as the case empties so it stays fresh.  The freezer always has something too.  Please give us a call or stop in to see what is there.

Is there a doctor in the house? There is for only one more day. Our Martha is an Osteopath physician and helped us out as a store clerk while waiting for her job in primary care to open up in Wolfeboro. She has been a handy reference point while we are all working so hard. Besides that, she is lovely and we will miss her greatly. Thank you Martha!

Fig and cheese canapé 

Slice a 10oz package of Turkish Figs lengthwise into flat rounds.  Remove any stems that may be present.

Place a small scoop of the following onto each round:

• 1 cup crumbled Hazen Blue cheese.  Crumbled with fingertips and let come to room temperature.
• 1/3 cup sour cream mixed and smashed into the cheese
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp group coriander 
• OR replace both spices with 1/4 tsp Yule Spice Blend for a deeper flavor.

Refrigerate until firm.

Sprinkle candied sunflower seeds over the top of each canapé .

To candy the seeds, place 1/2 T unsalted butter with 2T white sugar in a pan over med/low heat.  Add 1/2 raw sunflower seeds and cook until they get toasted and the sugar is melted.  Pour the hot mixture onto parchment paper and let cool. Break apart into pieces to scatter.

Friday night pizza

12″ pizzas, $15.95. We use Sunnyfield naturally fermented pizza dough. Call ahead to order and pick your time slot for pick up. 603-783-9933

Choose:

1. Pepperoni and cheese w/red sauce
2. Veggie; mushroom, red & green bell peppers and cheese w/red sauce
3. Pineapple, fig and gorgonzola with olive oil

CLICK HERE for the weekly menu.

Thank you for reading, your store keepers,

Jane and Dave