Snowflake Social at the Co-op, 2014

by Jaimie Jusczyk, Marketing Specialist

In case you missed the Co-op's last sampling event at our Concord store, you can catch up on all the excitement here on our blog at the Snowflake Social held on Thursday, December 11. We lucked out and in between icy pellets had a few snowflakes fall to create the perfect cozy atmosphere here in the store, perfect for sipping hot chocolate, enjoying the holiday menu off the hot bar and a prime rib carving station and samples throughout all departments.

Kris and Kim serving up hot chocolate

We welcomed all our regular shoppers and their guests to try our very own hot chocolate bar where you could choose from a whole milk and half'n'half blend or a non-dairy almond milk option, both made with Navitas Naturals cocoa powder, maca powder, sweetened with raw sugar and given a pinch of cinnamon for an extra special spicy treat. Then to top it all off there was whipped cream, crushed candy canes, chocolate syrup, marshmallows, and sprinkles, all-natural of course!

Sap House Meadery in the holiday spirit!

If you were looking for something a little more adult, Sap House Meadery were pouring samples of five of their best selling meads that you can find at the Co-op. Moat Mountain Brewery happily shared samples of their ales until we sold out! And Derek returned to sample the Co-op wines of the month from Charles Smith Wines and a couple bottles of Gruet Brut to get the party started!

Executive Chef Scott Jones hand carving prime rib for hungry shoppers.

In case you were hungry, Executive Chef Scott prepared with his team a holiday hot bar menu featuring roast duck sliders, creamy seafood alfredo, broccoli au gratin and roasted fingerling potatoes to name just a few things. During the event Chef Scott also hand carved prime rib to order with the hot bar selections.

Pastry Chef Lori handing out snowflake cupcakes to the kids.

The highlight of the night for most was the Bakery Box dessert tables. With their spreads of raspberry whoopie pies, holiday cookies, cream puffs, festive cupcakes and more, everyone found something to enjoy as determined by the very few left overs.
As well as our own creative staff presenting holiday treats, Miles Smith Farm was present sampling their pork/beef mix, Émoi Dips were being scooped up, Angie's Holidrizzle popcorn was crunched away, and cheese and cracker platters devoured.

My guess is that everyone had a great time, there was plenty of holiday cheer and happy full bellies leaving at the end of the night. Thanks to everyone who braved the weather and came out to shop at the Co-op! If you are looking for the full album of photos from the evening click here.
Stay tuned for more fun Co-op events as we prepare our 2015 calendar at the Co-op, click here!

Thanksgiving at the Co-op, 2014

by Jaimie Jusczyk, Marketing Specialist

It's Turkey Time and the Co-op has all your holiday goodies at both our locations, Concord and New London. Yesterday the Concord store opened it's doors to customers with the scent of home-cooked turkey with all the fixings as the hot bar menu featured a Thanksgiving meal menu. Executive Chef Scott Jones and his team in the Celery Stick Café gave us a preview of what's to come when you place your Thanksgiving meal to-go. There was oven roasted turkey, savory gravy, mashed potatoes, sausage apple stuffing, whipped butternut squash, orange cranberry sauce and more like green bean casserole and maple dill glazed carrots. For only $8.99/lb the Co-op hot bar is definitely the biggest bang for your buck in town. To place your orders for a Thanksgiving meal to-go available for pick up Wednesday, November 26 call the Celery Stick Café chefs at (603) 225-6840 and click here to view the order form and menu.

To complete the hot bar meal the Bakery Box and Co-op Bakehouse supplied us with lots of free samples of their Thanksgiving pies and desserts. We were treated to bite sized pieces of apple pie with vegan and gluten-free options (I could barely tell them apart, both were delicious), honey wheat and parker bread rolls with dollops of fresh Amish butter, and pumpkin pie. Café Indigo vegan treats for sample included truffles with different toppings, the coconut was amazing. You can order your Thanksgiving desserts by calling our bakers at (603) 225-6840 and click here to view the order form and menu.

To wash it all down our grocery department was busy handing out samples of eggnog, hot pumpkin harvest tea and hot apple cider with mulling spices. Mmmm, so once we were fully in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we were asked to try Marich candies, apple chips from Terra Chips and lots more! There were over 15 stations throughout the store with all kinds of seasonal goodies to try. I hope you found something new for your next holiday party to share with family and friends.

We also had some of our favorite farmers in to sample their products including Miles Smith Farm and Huckins Dairy. It is always great to be able to stop in and chat with the farmers who supply the Co-op with the products you love. Plus our farmers are a lot of fun :)
Stay tuned for details on our next big sampling event as we prepare for end of year celebrations! The Co-op's Snowflake Social will take place on Thursday, December 11 from 4 pm - 6 pm in the Concord store again. Chef Scott has a holiday hot bar menu and prime rib carving station planned, the Co-op bakers will be bringing in more yummy desserts, there will be wine and mead samples, cheese platters and a hot chocolate bar with all different kind of flavors and toppings to create yourself the perfect and extravagant chocolately delight. There will be the option to purchase a fun Co-op moose print mug to create a full sized treat in, supplies are limited to don't be late! Save the date, you won't want to miss this holiday event! For more details about the Co-op's Snowflake Social sign up to our email list on the bottom of our website or click here.

SNOB Film Festival Beer Tasting at the Co-op, 2014

by Jaimie Jusczyk, Marketing Specialist

The Co-op participated in celebrating the first night of the Somewhat North Of Boston Film Festival again by opening our doors to hungry movie goers with a pub fare hot bar and free beer samples.
Executive Chef Scott Jones from the Celery Stick Café inside the Co-op, treated us to some good pub grub to complement the beer. We enjoyed pulled pork sliders, loaded potato skins, chicken pot stickers, buffalo wings, dragon balls, cheesy gravy fries and more. With plenty for everyone to enjoy the hot bar was, again, hugely popular.

The first night of the film festival is all about craft brews so what better way to start than with a few friendly drinks with the brewers themselves. In the Co-op we featured Tom from Out.Haus Ales, Jim serving Redhook, Tuckermans and Founders, head brewer Chris from Henniker Brewing serving their SNOB limited edition Reel Ale and Craig from Stark Brewing with their current line up available for purchase at the Co-op.

While we all ate and made merry, many new friendships where formed and old ones reignited as we recognized familiar faces from last years event. Thank you to all who came out to enjoy the food and beer with us at the Co-op. We hope you enjoyed the films at SNOB Film Festival and see you next year.

Musterfield Farm Harvest Day 2014

by Jaimie Jusczyk, Digital Marketing Specialist

After a rainy Saturday, I awoke Sunday morning, October 5, to blue skies and warm sunshine, the perfect day to head on over to Muster Field Farm in North Sutton for their annual Harvest Day event. Muster Field Farm delivers Monday through Saturday to the Concord Food Co-op of New London fresh produce, including a variety of apples, potatoes, red peppers, and different kinds of seasonal squash and pumpkins. I regularly see farm manager, Steve at the Co-op and thought I would go visit his stomping grounds on this beautiful fall day.

View of the Pillsbury Barn.

If you have visited Muster Field Farm before, you will know that it is a very special place with large open fields covering 250 acres and lots of unique buildings from the local area to create a sprawling museum. Every building is packed with vintage farm equipment, quaint signs, horse drawn vehicles, worn housewares, stories from the past and everything in between.

Making fresh pressed apple cider at Muster Field Farm.

The Harvest Day opened the gates for us to explore the grounds, enjoy hot homemade soups, enjoy fresh pressed cider made right before us, chat with a local historian, watch a basket making demonstration (while eating the basket makers birthday cake! Yummy!) and wander the grounds and buildings before hitting the farm stand to stock up on apples. There is plenty of space for the kids and the tractor was hooked up to a hay wagon for rides around the farm. I even tried walking on stilts, which was a lot harder than I imagined it would be!

I had to have some helpful tips from this kid who seemed to have mastered stilt walking.

As well as seeing the fields where the volunteers toil to provide us delicious produce for great prices, Muster Field Farm also has a few cows, pigs, chickens and beehives, making it a great place to bring the kids to meet the animals and see where their food comes from. The drive alone is well worth the visit too as you wind past the Follansbee Inn to take in the view of Kezar Lake, which is stunning this time of year.

Cows enjoying the sun at Muster Field Farm.

To view the visiting hours of Muster Field Farm museum and farm stand, visit their website at http://musterfieldfarm.com and don't forget to look up their next open day, Ice Day in January 2015.
The next time you are at our New London store, say Hello to Steve if he is making his deliveries and try his produce, you'll love it!

Grilling & Chilling Grand Finale 2014

by Jaimie Jusczyk, Marketing Specialist

As summer starts to wind down and the kids get ready to go back to school, the Co-op hosted the last Grilling & Chilling in the parking lot for the season on Friday, August 22. Chef Stephen was out grilling four different worldly themed kabobs, the Mideast Feast, the Old World, the New World and Caribbean Cruise from 11:30am - 6 pm. This time he also served corn on the cob with two different compound butters to choose from and deep fried pineapple with ice cream, which proved popular.

At 3 pm we turned up the tunes and Megafood joined us for free samples of smoothies featuring their latest nutrient booster powders.

Christina brought in her Fender Blender and customers and kids could peddle their own fresh smoothie. The first recipe was fresh cut pineapple, spinach, OJ and featured Daily C Booster powder. The second recipe was local peaches, vanilla coconut milk, banana and the Daily C Booster from Megafood. Both recipes seemed to be a hit for adults and kids.

Charlene from Megafood, Deb from Garden of Life and Connie from Amazing Grass were also creating yummy smoothies to showcase the Nutrient Booster Powders with their own awesome products. The Megafood Nutrient Booster Powders are so easy to add to your daily routine, you don't need to take anything away, just add them to your fave smoothies, shakes, juices or even into some yogurt with granola. So easy and convenient.

So while we were all having fun outside, adults could make their way inside to enjoy free beer and wine samples. Josh from Horizon was pouring a selection of reds and whites that would be perfect to serve during your Labor Day long weekend party.

Jim from NH Distributors was serving up some Pumpkin Porter from Redhook that was surprisingly refreshing. Find 6-packs in the Co-op beer fridge.
Sebago was present with free samples of their Bonfire Rye. You will definitely need a 6-pack of this for your Labor Day party if you plan on sitting around a fire.

And Stark Mill Brewing treated us to samples of the Milly's Oatmeal Stout that will satisfy any stout fan. Look for their 1 Pint sized bottles in the Co-op's beer fridge.
So now that summer is almost over, stop into the Co-op to see what fall beers are coming in and get your immune system ready for the cold season with Megafood Daily Booster Powders.

Should We Start a Co-op Farm?

Where do you see the Concord Food Co-op in the future?

The Co-op staff have been thinking out of the box! With the recent acquisition of Cafe Indigo on Hall Street in Concord - now called The Co-op Bakehouse - the Co-op staff see that the Co-op has limitless possibilities with the enthusiasm of our General Manager, Paula Harris, guiding us. Some of us have been here long enough to have witness multiple Concord store expansions, purchasing our Concord building, and the start of our New London store. We're constantly chatting with our fellow member-owners and customers and listen to their requests. This inspires us to keep thinking outside the box for the Co-op's future. And, in this case, that means thinking outside the building!

Watch this video to see what some of our Co-op staff envision...



So, could the Co-op's very own farm be in our future? A place to cater gorgeous weddings with our very own catered meals? State-of-the-art classrooms to support classes large and small, including hands-on cooking workshops? Teaching gardens, kids day camps, and a place to grow our very own organic veggies, raise chickens for eggs, bees for honey, goats for milk and cheese? A smokehouse and brick bread oven? CSA shares? 

We want to know what you think? Do you agree that a farm is the ideal next step for the Co-op? Or do you see something entirely different? What matters most to you?

Have your say in this survey!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Co-op Staff Vision for the Future

by Jaimie Jusczyk, Marketing Specialist

Our General Manager, Paula Harris, has achieved a lot in the nine years she has been with the Concord Food Co-op while following the Co-op’s mission from the Board of Directors. So where do we go from here? Paula asked me to interview the Co-op staff to see their vision of the Co-op in the not-too-distant future and present it to the Board of Directors via a video. Watch below to see what the Co-op staff imagine the next big step for the Concord Food Co-op to be…

http://youtu.be/G4Xibple2SI

What do you think? What would you like to see in the Co-op’s future? Share with us in the comments.

Video credits:
All music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Images courtesy of Concord Food Co-op or found using Google Image search to help viewers envision the ideas.

Spring Into Healthy Living 2014

by Jaimie Jusczyk, Co-op Marketing Specialist

The day started with a few morning showers but the clouds blew away to reveal a beautiful warm spring day for the Seventh Annual Spring Into Healthy Living street fair on May 10, 2014. With over 90 vendors set up to sample and chat about their products under the big tent, there was definitely something for every one of the 5,000 people who stopped by to enjoy. The Club Soda Band had us all tapping our toes and singing along as we wandered up and down the aisles. Even the animals from the traveling barnyard and reptile display seemed to enjoy the good vibes.
Miles Smith Farm where present with two Highland cows generously taking kids for rides down Main Street, a treat they won’t be forgetting soon. Word on the street is that the Concord Police Department may have a new mounted rider combination.

Concord Mounted Police Department

Executive Chef Scott from the Celery Stick Café demonstrated cooking with real cedar wood wraps. He prepared salmon with a peppercorn rub, then wrapped and tied it in the cedar before grilling it and serving samples. The cedar wraps created an inviting fragrance while cooking and really added to the flavor of the salmon. You can find the cedar wraps in the Co-op and Chef Scott is always happy to give advice on how to use them.
As well as all the activity going on outside there were more samples inside the store like beer, wine, chocolate, and sushi. But the day wasn’t just about food and drinks; it was about healthier and better living. The Co-op’s Wellness Educators were on hand to answer health, nutrition and lifestyle questions as well as promote their practices with coupons and give-aways. Several of the Co-op’s Community Partners also set up tables with information on the important work they do in our community.
If you missed out this year on the Co-op’s biggest FREE event, sign up to receive our weekly emails to stay in the loop what’s happening at the Co-op, click here.

Post by Concord Food Co-op.

YMCA Charity Auction & Top Chef Competition

by Jaimie Jusczyk, Marketing Specialist

Executive Chef Scott Jones along with Chef John Riccelli from the Celery Stick Café accepted the challenge at the YMCA Charity Auction to compete in the Top Chef Competition on April 16th, along with three other top restaurants in Concord, The Barely House, Granite Restaurant, and O’s Steak & Seafood.

Chef John and Chef Scott ready to serve the guests.

Chef Scott was serving a fresh sushi grade yellowfin tuna tartare complimented with avocado & lemon ginger dashi gel, topped with wasabi cream on a wanton crisp. This bold choice was beautifully presented on layers of glass with a bouquet and seashells. It was easy to just pick the whole serving up and pop it in your mouth to enjoy the Asian inspired textures and flavors.
As the guests enjoyed the chef’s creations they also sipped samples of wines, beers, & cider, while placing bids on silent auction items and also participating in live auctions to benefit the Concord YMCA. To vote for their favorite restaurant, the guests placed tulips into bowls on the tables which were tallied up at the end of the evening.

Chef Scott's beautiful presentation of fresh Yellowfun Tuna Tartare.

After hearing raving reviews about the tuna tartare and beautiful presentation of his table, Chef Scott from the Celery Stick Café was announced as the winner of the Top Chef competition.  Congratulations Chef Scott, we are proud to have you as the Executive Chef in the Celery Stick Café and look forward to trying your latest culinary creations.

Counting the tulips before announcing the Concord Food Co-op as the winner!

 Come on in to the Concord Food Co-op and taste for yourself the fresh and all-natural selections made daily on the hot bar, deli, olive bar, and bakery. If you have any questions our chefs are always happy to answer them.
Our World Cuisine Tour on the hot bar is also being extended to include a US Regional Cuisine Tour to bring our Celery Stick Café chefs home, Thursday through May 29th – June 19th. Stamps can still be collected to redeem for Free Co-op Event Tickets in your Co-op Passport. For full details come into the Co-op on Thursday’s from 10:30 am – 7 pm to talk with our “Customs Officer” who will have Free Co-op Passports so you can join in the fun or click here.

Winners are Grinners!

by Jaimie Jusczyk, Marketing Specialist

Welcome to all our new Co-op member-owners who signed up during the Concord Food Co-op’s new membership drive at the beginning of the year. As the Co-op grows bigger and stronger, more opportunities present themselves for us to fulfill and move with our mission of providing all-natural products to the community and supporting the quality standards we strive for.
If you would like to get more involved in the Co-op, all our member-owners are invited to the next Board of Directors meeting, Wednesday April 16th. Email board@concordfoodcoop.coop for details on attending.

Thanks S & W Sports.

As a part of the new membership drive, the Co-op held a major prize raffle with two awesome prizes to get active outdoors. The first prize was a mountain bike supplied by S&W Sports of Concord and was won by a very generous member, Jodi who thinks someone else will get a lot more use out of this sweet ride and donated the bike to the Friends Program in Concord, NH. The Co-op is a sponsor of the Friends Program Charity Auction that is coming up in May so we find this very fitting. For more information about the Friends Program, click here.

Congratulation's Terry and thanks to EMS!

The second prize was a kayak supplied by EMS in Concord which was won by Terry who had already been searching for a new kayak. We wish Terry lots of fun on the water this summer with her ideal prize.  Will we see Terry on the water at the Co-op's Lakeside Luau Summer party this July?

Congratulations to our winners and we will look forward to seeing all our new members in the Co-op!
Stay tuned for our upcoming Mothers Day and Fathers Day competitions for more fun prizes from the Concord Food Co-op.