the Friday Feeding; VOL. 22

There’s been a lot happening this week around the store and even more this week-end; Town Meeting and…

…it’s the Irish-Sugar-Flower week-end! What?

It’s St.Patricks Day on Sunday, it’s maple sugaring week-end and Amber from Sunfox Sunflower Farm in Concord, NH will be here 11-1 on Saturday to tell us about and sample their healthy culinary sunflower seed oil. Learn about it’s nutritional benefits and we are doing some mash-up recipes using sunflower oil and maple. Come by for free samples and grab some great recipes to take home and try. There’s a lot going on!

Support our local sugar shacks around town this week-end–just look for the steam–then stop by the store for breakfast or lunch while you are out; Irish burritos, gooey maple treats, maple Irish soda bread muffins and more. See our entire menu for the week by CLICKING HERE.

Maple as a nutrient

We all love our maple; sticky sweet goodness to put in coffee or over yogurt or on pancakes.  It’s uses are actually endless but did you know it has some health benefits too?  Some of us use maple syrup as a replacement to refined sugar due to the fact that it brings about a lower glucose and insulin response in our bodies; less buzz, less let-down and less stress on our body’s internal systems.  But besides that, maple syrup contains high levels of minerals and amino acids that support our bodies health, in addition to enzymes and dissolving compounds that break down the free-radical activity in our cells that can lead to early aging and disease. Whew.

It’s good stuff.  Here are a few recipes using maple.

Maple syrup makes an excellent face mask. Yep. The enzymes it contains dissolve dead skin cells and it’s mineral content helps hydrate the skin.  Spread on a thick layer while in the shower then rinse off in the end.  Keep in place for up to 10 minutes if you can for best results.

Want a healthy blueberry syrup for your pancakes? Put one quart of maple syrup in a sauce pan then add 4 cups of blueberries, perhaps from your frozen stash picked last year at Hackleboro Orchards or Apple Hill Farm. Heat until boiling. Turn off the heat and put a lid on it. Let steep for 30 minutes then pour out the syrup straining the berries; refrigerate. Voila, real blueberry syrup. Save the discarded blueberries for sweetening yogurt or making jam.

Next time you are roasting some meat–or that easter ham–use maple syrup as a glaze. To each 1/2 cup of maple add: 2 T finely minced fresh rosemary, 1 tsp granulated garlic, 2 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper. Jack it up even further with a 1/2 tsp Spanish smoked paprika for a deeper, smokier flavor. Brush the meat with the blended syrup before it goes in the oven then keep brushing the syrup on several times during roasting and it will give a dark caramelized crust. If you don’t eat meat, consider tossing this along with some olive oil into cut up vegetables and roast them as you would. It’s all very yum…

Friday night pizza, March 15 . Order ahead 12” organic sour dough pizzas to take out or sit down and eat here.  $15.95. Call ahead to order and choose a pick-up time slot. 603-783-9933 

Choose:

1. Pepperoni on red sauce.
2. Vegetable choice of mushrooms, green peppers, onions and pepperoncini on red sauce
3. Fig with gorgonzola and a honey drizzle over olive oil (no garlic)
4. Cheese only on red sauce always by request
5. SPECIAL: Bacon and cheese curds

We hope you have a really great week,

Jane and Dave