The Friends of Fall

Watching the 2011 harvest come into our store has all the fondness of running into old friends you haven’t seen in a long time accompanied by the excitement of meeting some new ones for the first time. 

Here are the new Local and Made in Vermont products that caught my eye around the store lately (I can already tell we’ll be fast friends) along with some BFFs.

Can you believe that we have almost local ginger now? Old Friends Farm in Amherst, MA is growing fresh ginger in a hoophouse!

Unlike the stuff from Hawaii, this ginger is harvested at an earlier stage so it's younger and more tender. Cooking with this ginger last week I found it not only had a much softer, less woody shell but it was also much less fiberous than most gingers. This also means I can't abuse it by leaving it sitting on my counter for weeks - it is more perishable. We'll only have a supply for a short while.

Speaking of ginger, I've become a devotee of Shelburne Orchards' Ginger Cider this season. This is an 'old friend' for our Co-op but a new friend for me. The ginger flavor is pronounced when it's served cold but heat it up and it all goes to another level.

OK, on to some less gingery goodness:

Just as local greens are going out of style for the season, we've got a couple of new vinegrettes on our shelves (oh well, they'll still be here in the spring!). Well Dressed Greens have been selling well at the Burlington Farmers' Market for the past year and we're glade to have their three dressings, named for three generations of women in the family, on our Poduce shelves. 

Ben's Beet Vinegar from Gadabout Farm is a great vinegar for DIY vinegrettes that we're happy to have in the bulk department. (Stay tuned for more information on this unusual product coming soon; it's so mysterious locked behind the wooden cabinettes in the bulk department, don't you think?) 

Hillsboro Sugarworks has been selling us syrup forever but now they're selling them to us in these gorgeous half gallon jugs. I love everything about these - the syrup glows as the light shines through - and Amy Trubek at UVM, who knows more about tasting maple syrup than anyone, swears that packaging in glass imparts less of a flavor to the syrup than the traditional plastic. 

Finally, as I was foraging photos for this post on the floor, I was so pleased to bump into an old, old friend. Doug Flack's Kim-Chi is back on our shelves after months away this summer - too darn popular I guess.

Happy autumn.