Weekend, here we come!!

So I think I'm finally acclimating to less warm temps, and the yellow glow emanating from everything is looking too pretty to be melancholy over our descent into Fall.  Go up and hike the Falls at the Huyck, then drop in for a warm sandwich - it's looking like it's going to be a lovely weekend!

A light order this week - everyone is buckling down for the transition to school, I guess.  I did find a few new things for us to try - I have a counter display of Alacer's Emergen-C shots coming in this week.  (Incidentally, this was prompted by someone asking for Emergen-C Ester C, which I can't seem to find.)  Both those awesome Raw Revolution Bars, as well as the always popular seaweed snacks were out of stock this week.  I did snag some cypress, fir and cedarwood essential oils by Aura Cacia, though.  And, we have some new 6 oz Brown Cow yogurts to try - cherry vanilla, strawberry and vanilla.  The maple is a favorite around here, and the prices at the moment are fantastic.

I restocked the Cafe Altura Italian Roast, but, sadly, it seems we are unable to reorder any of the low acid Puroroast coffees.  I'm looking into an alternative, but if there isn't, I'd thrilled to bring in some new Jim's or Cafe Altura, or another customer recommended brand.  Newman's has sauces on sale, so I got us two more varieties - 5 cheese and Alfredo, as well as more Sockarooni.

I swallowed hard and reordered that black brick of Vermont cheddar again - the price floors me, but you all assure me that it is amazing cheese.  Look for it in the produce cooler, though - there's a bit more room for it there.  I also restocked us with all of the Yummy Earth hard candies - my apologies for whoever has been asking me for the Root Beer ones!  They'll be in tomorrow!

Albert's is sending several new Macrovegatarian dishes - we needed a break from the Hunans!  We're going to try the sun-dried tomato dumplings and the Tokyo Buckwheat Soba.  Plus, Chris's sending some Mel's Gourmet to try, too - a chicken one that sounds amazing.  Plus, we finally have the avocados back in!  We've got full salad fixings ready in the produce cooler, including Romaine hearts, mushrooms, green peppers and carrots.  Lot so tofu and tempeh and a selection of salad cheeses, including an organic feta and a fresh mozz.

Gillette Creamery stocked us all up, and claims they can get Ben & Jerry's cheaper than UNFI, so we're all over that - plus maybe they'll have better luck with the butter pecan that someone wanted.  There's been requests for Perry's or Hershey's, too, because they have the 1/2 gallon size and they're reasonably priced, so we're working on that.

The catering menu is done!!  A bit behind schedule, but going out today!  We've got 3 different breakfast platters - a danish platter, with Geldner's rolls (of course!), a breakfast roll platter and a fruit platter.  We're offering a wide selection of deli meat platters, as well as small sandwich platters.  Plus, I've included  a few munchies platters - cheese and crackers, and antipasto platter, a veggie platter and a cookie platter.  Tried to keep all of the prices really reasonable, but I'm sorta winging this, so I'll definitely work with you on the price.  I've been talking with the local institutes, and have a package going out (finally!) to schools and businesses, but really word of mouth is the best, so spread the word for me.

Lastly, we are tentatively planning for fall events - I'm calling it Saturdays at the Store.  Again, I'm not an event planner, so this is new territory for me, but having fun things with kids is old hat, so I'm hoping for the best.  If you want to run a funshop, for kids or adults, drop me a line - I was hoping to not charge anything, but if you want to charge a small fee and the donate the proceeds to the Hilltown Resource Center or another local group, I think they could really use the funding this year.  Paul Rosenberg, who's that amazing guy who does the contra dances all over the Capital District, would do a program down our way too, if there's any interest.

Anyway, enough for now!  Have a lovely weekend!

Sweet summer, blissful autumn...

So we have crashed into fall.  From 90's and sunny to days of clouds and chilly drizzle!  But who doesn't love soups and hot chocolate?  And we're the place!

We had a lovely UNFI order in yesterday - Susan, from Morning Fog Farm has been gently pointing out that we don't have a very good selection of canned soups - so I got a selection of Wolfgang Puck soups in (no, I've never heard of them either!) - from New England clam chowder to some hearty lentils.  All on sale!  We also got a ton on freezer stuff in, despite the fact that we had no room before, so you're really gonna have to dig now.  But so worth it!  We've got three varieties of Ben and Jerry's, some So Delicious dairy free desert tubs in vanilla, and more Julies's ice cream.  Oh, and some of you have tasted those amazing brownies we had in from Boston's Dancing Deer - well, I got more and picked up some of their chocolate chip cookies, too!  I love getting people hooked on good stuff!  Plus some more of the gluten free Udi's breads, and, because it breaks my heart that so many of you can't even try the Dancing Deer, I got the Udi's chocolate muffins, too.  They look amazing!

Janet was looking for some bread worth eating, but tasty enough for her son's PB&J, so I found a lovely round artisan loaf from French Meadow Bakery.  Hoping it tastes as good as it looks!

For fresh, we have bananas back!  Plus lovely tomoatoes - lots of local ones from Kropp's Crops, as well as Deeproot from Vermont.  We have tons of romaine hearts, as well as baby carrots, green peppers and portabella mushrooms.  I did forget to reorder our avocado this week though - sorry - so no guacamole till next week.  Lots of fresh tofu, too - and, for Katherine in Westerlo and all of you other members of the Hunan dumpling revolution - both types of Macrovegatarian dumplings.

We did get the 1/2 gallon milk in glass from Byrne dairy, too - I need some feedback.  We don't think the chocolate is as good, but on the other hand, I did make some tasty cottage cheese from their whole and 1 percent.  I'll continue to get the gallons in for sweet Jen M. and her family, and requests for anyone else who asks.

And we'll have the New York Times, starting tomorrow!  Took four months, but Jason did it!  We do need some idea of how many folks want, though.  I love the Times, but I don't want to end up with a whole bunch of them in the evening, yk?

Soups will start beginning of October - after some careful considered debate with our postmaster (after all, Janice will have to smell soup all day long!), we have a lovely list of requests.  Now to get bread!  We might (!) be able to get Bread Alone bread, and I am still getting my home kitchen Ag and Market certified as well, so we have a back up plan.  (At least one of you ( David!) seems to think I should still bake!)

We lost our deli staff this week, though thankfully it's been quiet for the last few days.  We loved having Tiffany here and are sorry she decided not to stay through the fall.  But we have a big mailer going out to schools and businesses about our catering and lunch delivery, so we're going to need help.  We can't offer benefits, other than the sheer wonderfulness of being in Medusa, and the pay isn't going to make you millions, but it is fun and satisfying!  If you know anyone, send them over!

Oh, and don't forget - we are selling amazing cookbooks to support the Medusa Firehouse, and the amazing Kathy Wank (see also her Hilltown Professional Organizing on Facebook!) dropped off a food donation box for the Hilltown Resources Center.

And computer repair, computer repair, computer repair!  Upgrades, virus removal and Jason specializes in refurbishing old systems with a Linux makeover!  Spread the word - I don't have any posters or cards yet, but we are in business!

Love to you all - and see you soon!

Labor Day!!

Last blissful days of summer are upon us, folks - although that also means, for my family, that we celebrated Perin's second birthday today!  (For those of you that aren't familiar with our little ones by name, he's the smallest, though only in stature, blond haired boy child of ours, recently of Facebook fame for mooning Angela's guests!)  It should be a lovely weekend, with temps dipping back down, and lots of reasons to come stroll through Medusa!

We have all of the new sandwiches under control - sweet Will claims that our Philly Cheese Steak is the best he's had!  Wow - we're still beaming!  And the lovely newest artist in residence at the Huyck Preserve has been down several times, too, to enjoy the Medusa Cobb!  What a week!  Boar's Head is arriving tomorrow, just in time for lots of fresh stuff for a long, leisurely Labor Day weekend!  They've been bringing us Tortellini salad, which is really good, and some new potato salad, too.  (I hated the last one - really sweet - potato salad shouldn't be sweet, right?  Maybe it's me...)

United Natural Foods and Albert's Organics arrive tomorrow, too!  I've restocked all of our spices, for all of my picklers and grillers - and I'd love to offer Newman's steak sauce, if UNFI ever has it in their warehouse!  I am bringing in Primal Strips - a slightly healthier version of those beef jerky products so many of you love.  Also - !! - we're finally getting our Cliff Bar display, *and* some amazing Raw Revolution bars, and   Dancing Deer brownies!  (If you've never come across Dancing Deer - they are this amazing company out of Boston, making all sorts of great cakes, cookies and brownies, with great, fresh ingredients!  I'll have to check and see if they are doing any gluten free products.)

I brought in more Tazo iced teas, since those seem to be popular, and restocked us with both the Lakewood fruit garden fruit juice and the Blue Sky sodas - everything is marked down, so you'll be getting a great price.  I am aching to try a new coffee/tea cold beverage with herbal boosters in it - good-for-you coffee and tasty - hopefully we can get that in for next week!  Oh, and the Thai coffee is in - and Tiffany declared that it's like a coffee version of Yoohoo - and I have to agree.  Come in and decide whether we're nuts :)

We've got fresh cider in from Indian Ladder, as well as their fresh plums, and we are using their apples on the deli.  I'm planning another trip down next week for apples - and would be willing to pick up extras for folks who can't or don't want to make the drive.  Just drop in and let me know what you're looking for...

We're trying to get more options on the loose tobacco - I know it is costing everyone a ton of money to smoke these days.  And we're trying to get more ice cream options, too - there have been a bunch of people who've suggested either Hershey's or Perry's in the 1/2 gallons, so we're working on that, too.

We are so close to getting the New York Times I could scream.  Will keep you posted.

Phew.  I think that's it.  Can't WAIT to see you all this weekend!