the Friday Feeding; VOL. 64

Yes, it’s been that cold! But one of the things we love most about the store is how cozy and warm it is, with plenty of light to lift one’s spirits even on the darkest of days.  We love coming to work.  We hope you will come to warm up and simply hang out too and be a part of us.

About those lights…

…we planned them specifically.  No florescent over-heads because they do not allow natural shadowing and brightening like daylight does. And they have a microscopic flicker that over-stimulates oneself [in fact, epileptic folks have to be careful] so it negates any reason to linger and be cozy.

We chose drop down lights to mimic a barn, focussing light downward while we painted the ceiling an ever-so-slight metal gray to capture the shadows to contrast that warm downward light.  And strategically placed can lighting that dims to match the mood of the day or season. Cozy.

And we chose spot lighting to showcase the artisan’s work and our specialty products at just the right angle so that the artwork sparkles and color is enhanced so that food looks as delicious as it is.  So important as this is, we actually had the original installation removed to replace the lighting at a better angle.

And we measured the temperature of the LED bulbs to make sure they cast the correct color. Sounds fussy maybe but these are some of the things that stores think of to make it be as inviting as possible.  For you and for us who work there.

We thought you might find this interesting.

What’s new? It’s never to cold for brew…

Cooking with beans.

“Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat the more you toot”! It’s true that beans can give digestion problems for some of us, building up gas in the gut then exploding outward. Whooshed odiferous puffery.

But beans have a bad rap as being the primary gas producing food. It’s not actually because it is beans but because they are an ultra dehydrated food with no moisture to aid in digestion. Dried fruit, for example, can create the same problem.

There are various methods for cooking beans to reduce this gas problem. Some swear by adding baking soda while cooking in same way that drinking some alkaline baking soda will neutralize the acid in the stomach to immediately alleviate gas. We discussed last week how some add herbs to cooking beans to help them break down and digest better. For me, I have found that the only way to have fool proof, gas-less beans is by soaking them a l o n g time. I soak beans a minimum of 24 hours up to 3 days refrigerated. The longer they soak, the more the beans break down to sort of pre-digest themselves.

But if you are in a hurry, making dishes with a smaller bean can have excellent results. If cooked long enough, there will be no toot problem. Here is a baked “bean” recipe to make with tiny beans or brown lentils.

Baked beans

In the bottom of an oven casserole with lid place the following

• 1 cup frozen pearl onions. thawed
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 2T olive oil

Rinse for one full minute under HOT tap water. Add on top of the previous.

• 1 cup mung or moth beans or brown lentils OR a mixture

Add on top in this order:

• 1/2 cup boiled apple cider (we sell this)
• 1T applewood smoked sea salt, sprinkled evenly around (we sell this)
• optional: up to 2 cups protein; cooked chicken, cooked bacon, tofu etc
• 3 1/2 cup boiling water

Place lid on casserole dish and place in a preheated 300° oven.  Bake for 2 hours. Remove lid to inspect.  If beans are completely soft remove from oven or replace for another 15 minutes if they are too firm.

Want some Brown Bread with that?

For a speedy and VERY delicious Brown Bread, assemble our Classic Maple Corn Bread mix per instructions then also add 1/2 cup molasses. Pour into a buttered dutch oven covering with it’s lid or 8″x 8″ pan covered with foil and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Easy.

Click here for next week’s Plan Ahead Specials menu..

Have a great week-end,

Jane and Dave