This week
What's Fresh for Delivery November 17th, November 20th and November 22nd
New This Week:
- Chesapeake Bay She-Crab Soup, New England Clam Chowder, Seafood Chowder and Beef & Veggie Chili
- Extra Sharp Virginia Cheddar
- New Growlers: Dogfish Head 60-Minute IPA, Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout and Starr Hill Amber Ale
- Breaux Vineyards Viognier and Horton Vineyards Cabernet Franc
Hello Beloved Arganicans! Please remember that we've shifted our ordering deadlines for the next 2 weeks to better serve your Thanksgiving table needs.
Order by: Monday Nov. 14th at Midnight
For Delivery: Thursday, Nov 17th
Order by: Wednesday Nov. 16th at Midnight
For Delivery: Sunday, Nov 20th or Tuesday, Nov 22nd
Order by: Monday Nov. 21st at Midnight
For Delivery: Sunday, Nov. 27th
Happy Thanksgiving 2011
“In the South, you put everything you have on the table…You cook what you have and you're thankful.” Edna Lewis
I should have known it was coming—sunsets have been creeping earlier like an incoming tide, the brightly painted trees have been shouting for attention, the snowflake lights are hanging from lampposts downtown—but somehow the holiday season still always sneaks up from behind.
This year, despite the 5.8 Louisa earthquake, Hurricane Irene, campaign mudslinging (apparently not quite as dirty as the election of 1884), and a narrowly avoided end of the universe, the Blue Ridge Mountains are still standing upright, and we have more than ever to be grateful for here at Arganica.
Our hardworking farmers and growers are all thankful for the harvest season, and the coming weeks of relative rest as crops will be chilled and covered with snow. And we at Holly Tree Farm are so thankful for the positive feedback you’ve been throwing at us, delicious recipes you’ve shared, and most of all, for the vibrant community of local-crazed chefs, foodies, and food activists we’ve formed together. So, hey, thanks so much!
In gratitude to you, dear Arganicans, our buyers, Suzy, Cassy and Samantha, have been bustling about to gather the very best seasonal treats to vie for best-supporting act to your Polyface or Maple Lawn Farm Turkey. Family Ties & Pies are prepping to bake you three traditional 9” holiday pies—apple, pumpkin, and pecan—each made from scratch with all-natural ingredients and local fruit. Homestead Creamery’s rich, smooth Custard and Eggnog, Cranberry and Fig Chutneys from Virginia Chutney Company, and Fig and Honey Conserve from Tait Farm Foods are all available for your holiday enjoyment. Don’t forget to order a jug of small-batch, fresh-pressed Showalter’s Apple Cider, sure to complement your happy feasting!
Check out the “Thanksgiving Table” section in our current order forms for more seasonal products and produce from our friendly family of local producers and artisans.
We hope your holiday table is filled with all the culinary pleasures of the region—buttery, puréed squashes, roasted veggies, fresh cranberry sauce, crusty breads, golden birds, sweet pies, local wines and craft brews—grown in neighboring soil and picked, baked, wrapped, bottled and brought to your door by hands you trust. We also hope that Uncle Seth takes it easy on the Weyerbacher Harvest Ale, that Grandma Fran will only ask you once or twice why you aren’t married yet, and that someone else volunteers for dish duty…
Thanksgiving Beer and Wine Notes
The Thanksgiving Dinner, the one holiday that completely revolves around the dinner table. Like any good locavore would do, you’ve precisely prepared your dinner menu with fresh, delicious, sustainably produced food. All your guests will be thrilled with the bounty of delicious treats and will be astonished by how much better your local, naturally raised turkey tastes than the one they usually have year in and year out. Now, take it a step further by adding some of these great beverages to your day full of feasting:
Before The Meal:
- Hume Vidal Blanc – This is a crisp white with a hint of sweetness. Serve it chilled and happily sip on this wine while you’re slaving in the hot kitchen.
- Victory Lager – a light and flavorful brew from PA, perfect for football game watching, or playing board-games with the nephews.
During The Meal:
- Breaux Viognier – The Viognier is essential for the thanksgiving dinner table. First of all, this white wine is very adaptable and adds flavor to the great variety of foods on your table, it is also something your out of town guests most likely have not had the opportunity to try before as this grape is special to VA.
- Horton Norton – For the red wine drinkers, we have another grape that people outside our region really aren’t exposed to. This wine has a spicy aroma and a taste of toasted oak that is unlike any other red-wine varietal.
- Rhino Chasers New River Pale – Produced in Ashburn, VA this is a pale ale with lots of hops, bits of citrus, and a slight sweetness that makes it a very good beer with food.
- Port City Porter – the beer with great flavor. Have some of this out of the growler with your heavy main courses.
After The Meal:
- Thibaut-Jannison Blanc de Chardonnay – A sparkling wine that is sure to please the group. Produced in the Champagne style, I’ve never known someone to bad mouth VA wines after they try this one, you’d swear it was made in France.
- Grey Ghost Adieu – Overall I would say this is Virginia’s most popular dessert wine. It is sweet, with a complex flavor. One sip goes a long way.
- Foggy Ridge Sweet Stayman Cider – A crisp and appropriate ending to your wonderful local meal.
Producer Profile: Carpe Donut
Charlottesville, VA
“We believe in real food. We believe in organic food. We believe in locally-produced food. We also believe in lots of pure cane sugar, because hey, a donut is a donut.”
Charlottesville’s own pastry entrepreneur, Matt Rohdie, began as an amateur inventor. Luckily for sweet teeth across the Mid-Atlantic, in 2007, Matt and wife, Jen Downey, decided to turn their creative minds to engineering the world’s most perfect organic comfort food: hot apple cider donuts. “We wanted to do one thing, and to do it really, really well,” Matt says. So, after countless recipe trials, sourcing the best local ingredients, and the acquisition of their 1950’s-style “Donut Robot,” the signature Carpe Donut was ready to meet the hungry masses.
Carpe Donuts are scratch-made from all-natural, organic ingredients (organic flour, organic pastured eggs, local apple cider, non-aluminated baking powder and organic sugar and spices) and are cooked in 100% pure soybean oil, which is ultimately converted into bio-fuel. The result? A decadent, yet eco-friendly treat that tastes as sweet as childhood memories of ice skating on frozen lakes and warming your toes by the fireside. Carpe’s new-and-improved American classic is steamy and cakey on the inside, delightfully crisp with cinnamon and sugar on the bite, and infused with the mellow sweetness of apple cider.
Today, Matt, Jen, their three children, Jen’s brother, Jim (“Eye Candy Jimmy”), and their trusty team turn out fresh apple cider donuts by the thousands. You can find the Carpe crew aboard Gypsy, “the little red Donut-Wagon That Can,” at weddings, festivals, craft shows and on UVA grounds.
For Matt, “it’s all about a personal connection with the community.” Well that, and making “one hell of a good donut.” The magic of the donut lies not only in the quality of the ingredients. According to Matt, "Ideally, there's a five-minute window we like to hit, from the time they're cooked until the time they're eaten."
So that you don’t have to spend your mornings chasing down Gypsy, Carpe kindly created a handy half-dozen pack of their frozen signature donuts, now available in your Arganica Crate. Just heat until toasty and aromatic in a 375 degree oven, then dip into a mug of Showalter’s Apple Cider or Foggy Ridge Hard Cider (if it’s after noon…), Trager Brother’s Coffee, or try Suzy’s recipe for an indulgent Vietnamese coffee shake with beignets à la Carpe.
Check out some shots of the Carpe Donut Shop in Charlottesville and Matt’s latest invention, “The Ex-Caliber” donut slinger, on our Facebook page!
A very happy local harvest feast to all of you!
Jessica, Brenton, Suzy, Cassy, Samantha and the whole Arganica Family
