A call to readers: I'm researching an upcoming Catalyst feature on all things reused and reusable. I'm looking for innovative, thrifty, fun, and funky ideas on how everyday household items can be reused rather than recycled or thrown away.

I've found a ton of great stuff online, but if any of you have ideas or suggestions on how you reuse items around your home, office, garage, or yard, please post a comment.

Thanks in advance to all you wonderful cooperators. Peace to you in the New Year.

Well Hotsy-Totsy, we've got three new grower Champagnes on our shelves.  If you don't know what I mean by "grower Champagnes," check out my article on page 8 of the current New Pioneer Catalyst:

http://www.newpi.com/Portals/0/%5Ccatalyst/Winter08Catalyst.pdf

Just a quick note here, because it's busy and I need to get back to the aisle.  These are magnificent Champagnes, praised by high-profile wine critics, but I want to quote importer Terry Theise's comments, because his enthusiasm is palpable and infectious.  As I mention in my Catalyst article, these are not inexpensive wines, but they are fairly priced, and they are stunningly yummy. 

First, the NV Henri Billiot Brut RSV: "I’ve said it before, but this is the best N.V. Brut Champagne I have ever tasted, and this is the best bottling I’ve tasted yet. It’s always about ... Read More »

Happy Holidays from New Pioneer!

‘Tis the season for food fiends everywhere to gather together and gorge on all of your favorite holiday treats. Lucky for you, New Pi has some great in-store specials this week to make your occasion even more memorable.

MEAT! Celebrate the season with a fat, juicy slice of prime rib or a buttery lobster tail. These sales are valid only through the 23rd, so hurry in. The meat & seafood department is stuffed with savings like:
             *Prime Rib - $5.99/lb. (large end)
                               & ... Read More »

A few quick thoughts for this week.

* In my last entry, I wrote about New Pioneer's new weekly sales promotions, and I urged you to pick up a bottle of the grassy, zippy, delicious Spanish white wine, El Perro Verde Verdejo, for only $12.99.  It's now back at the regular price of $19.99 on the shelf, but for you loyal blog readers I will mark down a bottle or two if you missed out--or, more likely, if you bought some and realized I wasn't lying about how delicious it is.  Flag me down in the aisle.

* The wine for this week is the Tour Boisee Cabernet Sauvignon from the Languedoc in southern France.  This wine is dynamite-good: juicy and silken-textured, but impeccably balanced.  This week only, marked down from $12 to $9.99.  Price good through Sunday 12/21.

* This week I made my mom's recipe for &l ... Read More »

Continuing the thread of this week's theme (apples, if you hadn't noticed), I was just sent a unique recipe from my friend Erin, adventurous cook and all-around fun human being. Thanks for sharing your recipe with us! If you've got a recipe you'd like to share, please post a comment and let me know or email me at scatlett@newpi.com.

PS - Before I post the recipe, I just wanted to let you wonderful Co-op folks know that last season's citrus star, THE SATSUMA ORANGE, is in the house at both Co-op locations. Satsumas are known for their sweetness, juiciness, and ease of peeling. Dennis notes that when choosing citrus, go for the stuff with the smooth skin, darker pores, and more oil in the pores. These traits indicate ripeness. I haven't had a bad satsuma yet this year - they are perfect!

Here's that yummy recipes:

Oops, I Bought Too Many Apples

1 small onion Read More »

It was a great year for local apples in Johnson County, and as a friend and I munched on apples fresh from the tree she said, “The Macintosh apples have good flavor this year.”

I pondered this. Wouldn’t Macintosh apples always taste the same, at least those from the same tree? Did favorable conditions, like the weekly inch of rain that caused havoc elsewhere, allow the best potential flavor of the Macintosh apples’ genetics to be manifest? This seemed likely.

I continued my exploration of flavor with my own apples. My big old tree, a Jonathon, produced a bumper crop. I harvested several boxes right ahead of the deer and squirrels.
I planned to make applesauce although the apples tasted starchy. I figured a bit of sugar, cinnamon and lemon can fix any applesauce. But I was called out of town suddenly to assist my elderly father. I literally looked back over my shoulder at the boxes of apples stacked in the porch as I walked to the car, ... Read More »

Happy Monday! This fall was a banner season for apples here in Iowa, and if you're anything like me, you've been scrounging around for recipes to use up your appley abundance.

Today's recipe is a long-time family favorite that was a dessert feature at our Thanksgiving feast this year. The applesauce makes the cake super-moist; I think I watched my brother Patrick eat, oh I dunno, twelve pieces of this in one day! This is a snack will fix your (and your teenage son's) sweet tooth up right!

Applesauce Brownie Cake       
Serves 18  Prep time 1 hour
 
1/2 c. cooking oil (canola, safflower, or sunflower, not olive oil)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 c. flour&l ... Read More »

I think that this time of year is a really great time to make potato soup. You've probably got potatoes in your cellar or basement from this year's garden, or if you are like me, your Mom gave you a whole bunch from her garden.

Marketing Manager Jen A. told me that the secret to really great potato soup is chicken broth. You vegetarians and vegans out there might use vegetable broth; it really does add a rich under-note to a soup not necessarily known to be big on flavor.

Once, I actually put creme fraiche in my potato soup. Yeah, that was good.

Anyway, here's a quick and easy potato soup recipe that will warm your bones, use up your potatoes, and not cost a fortune to make.

Classic Potato Soup
Serves 4ish

2 c. potatoes (I keep the skins on), cubed
2 c. chicken broth
1 c. whole milk
... Read More »

The title is a bit tongue-in-cheek.  Wine-industry geeks occasionally hype one grape varietal or another.  Merlot had its day, then Pinot Noir.  Now Malbec seems to be all the rage.  There was a time not long ago when Albariño, the prized white grape of Spain's Galicia, was heralded as the "next big thing."  Now don't get me wrong; I love Albariño.  But lately my heart has been following a new love: Verdejo.  Verdejo is grown most notably in Rueda, just WSW of Ribera del Duero in Spain.  No red wines are allowed to be labeled as coming from Rueda, and although the region grows Sauvignon Blanc and Viura as well, Verdejo is Rueda's pride and joy.  All Rueda wines must be at least 50% Verdejo.

Verdejo has lovely aromatics: very grassy and herbacious, somewhat resembling Sauvignon Blanc but not so aggresive on the nose or so piercingly tart as Sauv Blanc can be.  In the mouth, ... Read More »

Another quick one.  I'm not usually so bossy in my blog titles, but you need to buy the Alain Jaume Côtes du Ventoux either today or tomorrow.  Of course you can buy it after that (so long as it lasts on our shelves), but it's regularly $12, whereas you can get it before Thanksgiving for $9.99.  It's a 50/50 blend of Grenache & Syrah, from a 200-year-old winery in the Rhône Valley.  I do not know anyone who enjoys wine who would not like this wine--in fact, who would not love it.  So if you like wine, buy this wine.  If you're looking for a widely appealing last-minute Thanksgiving wine, buy this wine.  If you have any friends at all, buy each of them a bottle of this wine.  And if you don't have friends, buy this wine and make friends by giving it to people.  If you still can't decide a worthy recipient for this wine, you could always get a bottle for the wine ... Read More »