Prepacked Bags For People, Dogs and Cats

You've probably noticed the prepacked grocery bags at our stores.  These bags are full of nonperishable foods.  Two different bags have food and supplies for dogs and cats.

Our Helpful Harvest program, available in each of our stores, offers customers the opportunity to provide a direct food donation to their local food bank.  Our complementary program, Helping Paws, does the same with bags for either cats and dogs, with the bags purchased going to local animal shelters.  Customers can read about each of the organizations receiving their donations from information  we've placed on the bags.

Since the program began about eight months ago, over 2,500 bags have been delivered.  At this time, dog donation bags are leading cat donation bags, but of course, donation bags for people top both!

We have all noticed the ever-growing numbers of hungry people in our communities.  If you can make a difference by purchasing a Helpful Harvest or Helping Paws bag, it will go to make life a bit easier for those in need. 

We also are pleased to help our local food banks by making daily and weekly donations of food and product for their clients.  Regular donations to community charities who serve meals on the street are also part of our commitment to feeding the hungry.  We hope you can join us.

This old-fashioned favorite is often paired with salmon, but it's great with almost anything.  It's even tasty if you drain the liquid and add it to a hearty sandwich.

Ingredients

• two English cucumbers, peeled, seeded and sliced thinly
• half a white onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons sea salt
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• sesame seeds, caraway seeds or chopped fresh dill

Steps

1. Mix together the salt, vinegar, sugar and pepper.
2. Pour over sliced cucumbers and onions in a shallow, non-metallic bowl, making sure to cover all the cukes.
3. Refrigerate several hours, or until the cucumbers and onions are soft and the puckery flavor has penetrated the veggies.
4. Serve at room temperature and top with your choice of sesame or caraway seeds or chopped fresh dill.

Stores Support Relay for Life Gatherings

If you've had a family member or friend or coworker who has been affected by cancer, you are likely familiar with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

Relays are community gatherings where many people join to fight cancer.  Teams of people camp out for 24 hours, taking turns walking or running around a track or path.  Beyond the symbolism of being on the track 24 hours, since cancer never rests, the teams compete to raise money.  The money supports cancer research, services, advocacy and education.

When the sun goes down, hundreds of luminarias light the way to remember those who lost to cancer, those fighting cancer and those who have defeated cancer.  The ceremony of light symbolizes the hope and perseverence with which we fight this dreadful disease.  Listen to the roll call:  you may be surprised at familiar names.

Our stores have long been supporters of Relays in their community, and this year is no different.   We will be participating in some Relays, donating refreshments and also raising money in our stores.  You can help us defeat cancer by donating $1 or $5 at our checkstands to purchase a sun or moon card.  The money goes entirely to the Cancer Society, and you are encouraged to write down the name of someone affected by cancer.

Our store teams have been raising money through a variety of ways, and will be present at Relays this summer.  If you're in the area, please stop by.  Like all of us, you will be moved by the community effort, by the faces of your friends and neighbors, and the determination to make a difference that characterizes the Relays.

Our Relay participation this year includes:

Grant/S. Adams County:  Moses Lake Food Pavilion   May 29

Skagit County:  Mt. Vernon/Sedro Woolley Food Pavilion  June 6

Lynden:  Lynden Food Pavilion   June 19

Whatcom County: The Market, Cost Cutter, Food Pavilion   July 10

Selah: Selah $ave-On-Food$   August 1

To learn more about the work of the American Cancer Society and the Relays, go to www.cancer.org

Competing to be the Top Dog

It may have escaped you, but there is a hot dog war raging in the world of food.  Two, maybe three purveyors of nationally-know hot dogs are duking it out to see who stands alone at the pinnacle:  the hghly coveted number one hot dog sold in America.

The winner, I suppose, will be the company selling the most hot dogs.  I do wonder, however, if they are going to look at the entire year, or just the summer months.  I usually don't eat hot dogs until baseball season begins, and toast opening day with a simple grilled dog in a plain white bun.

In Chicago, they make fabulous hot dogs from little stands that are loaded with hot peppers and that unique-to-Chicago acid green relish.  I think they put onions on theirs, too, but I've never noticed them beyond the peppers that zap my taste buds.  The buns there are, befitting the tradition of Chicago deep-dish pizza, kind of thick and chewy.  A satisfying dog, to be sure.

I would be remiss if I didn't recall the pure satisfaction of a New York City street vendor's boiled hot dog.  It's skinny and if you want anything like ketchup, mustard, mayo or onions, you construct it yourself.  Very basic bun, very cheap, and easy to eat a couple at a time, good to grab on the run.

When I'm grilled hot dogs at home, I like them pretty sizzled on both ends.  I add yellow mustard and if I'm feeling energetic, some chopped Walla Walla sweet onions (almost in season).  I never heat the bun, and never add cheese, but I know people who do.

Growing up in the midwest, we ate a lot of sausage in buns. From bratwurst to Italian hots, boiled in beer, these were the quintessential summer dinner.  If you added some hot German-style potato salad (potatoes fried in bacon drippings), you had a hearty feast.

But I'm about the simple, and the best hot dogs I remember were the ones eaten outside, over a campfire or barbecue, with the mustard dripping and the (real) dogs begging for a little bite tossed their way.  So I don't know who I'd vote for in this hot dog competition, but I'd definitely vote for hot dogs!

If you have a few morsels left of sweet, rich lobster meat, you might want to assemble a lobster roll sandwich.  These are popular East Coast treats that stand back and let the flavor of freshly-cooked lobster come through.

Ingredients

• Cooked and chopped fresh lobster meat
• Mayonnaise
• Shredded lettuce
• Hot dog buns

Steps

1.  Split the buns in half, longways, and spread with mayonnaise.

2.  Top with the lettuce and lobster.

3.  Eat immediately!

(Options:  try different bread, different sauces beyond mayo, vegetables, cheese...endless variations on a very simple, basic, delicious recipe!

The forecast is calling for a very bike-friendly day tomorrow. It's time to lube the chain, pump up the tires and get your bike ready for cycling season. May is bike month and tomorrow is the big day for biking to work, school or wherever it is you're going.

Check out The Mount Baker Bike Club Web site for more information on the locations of celebration stations and goings on around Whatcom County.

Also check out Everybody Bike Web site.

Have fun out there and be safe. Remember to wear a helmet and obey traffic laws and signals when riding in the street.

Whether you're regularly preparing meals for just one of you, or you do it occasionally, you probably run up against the same problem, which is sameness. 

There is an ease in preparing the same foods on autopilot:  when I'm on my own, I invariably make a chopped salad.  It's pretty quick, it cleans out the produce bin, and it's filling, especially when I add things like artichoke hearts, salumi, yesterday's chicken or grilled salmon, some tiny piccoline olives and chunks of eggplant I prepared earlier in the week.  I mix up a basic vinegar and oil dressing with some lemon juice to sub for the vinegar and a good sprinkle of sea salt, and voila:  meal for one.

I would like to mix it up a bit, and think sometimes, why not a great grilled cheese panini sandwich, some ahi tuna or an anything-goes stir-fry?  It may be a laziness factor of always preparing the same food when it's just me, but shouldn't we treat ourselves at least as well as we do the others we regularly prepare food for? 

A new dish, served at the table, rather than eaten at the counter, with a big chunk of artisan bread and a nice glass of wine or sparkling water with a slice of cucumber in it doesn't take much longer, and it's a fine little reward at the end of the day.

When you're cooking for one, what's your go-to meal?  Or, is it always something different?  And, if it's always the same dish, is that your true comfort food?

These are hearty enough for a main course, quick to fix for an evening snack, and as decadent or as healthy as you wish.  Experiment with different types of potatoes, such as Yukon Gold or Russian Blue, to tweak the overall flavor.  You can make them even richer by adding some cream cheese or dollops of butter.

Ingredients

• 4 large potatoes, baked
• 1 cup shredded cheese, cheddar, mozzarella or your choice
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup chopped cooked bacon, well-drained
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 3-oz. can chopped jalapeno peppers
• salt and pepper to taste

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice potatoes in half (longways) and scoop out the filling.
3. Lightly coat the potato shells with olive oil and place on baking sheet.
4. Bake five minutes or until crispy.  Let cool.
5. Mix together potato filling and all other ingredients.
6. Stuff each potato shell and reserve a bit of cheese for topping.
7. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through.
8. Serves eight people for snacks or four really hungry people.

If you tend to favor salty foods, you will appreciate this easy salad.  Like most salads, it adapts to whatever is available.  It is surprisingly satisfying.

Ingredients

• Red or green leaf lettuce, chopped
• Red onion, sliced and diced
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• Ripe avocado, sliced
• Big handful of Kalamata olives, pitted
• Crumbled feta cheese, to taste
• Salad dressing of your choice (try Annie's Woodstock or Goddess; or else make your own with one part lemon juice, two parts olive oil, pressed fresh garlic and a generous handful of sea salt)

Steps

1. Carefully wash and dry lettuce.
2. Top with onion, tomatoes, avocado, olives.
3. Toss with salad dressing.
4. Add the feta cheese.

New Store Opens Its Doors in Birch Bay Square

The eagerly-anticipated  Market at Birch Bay will open Wednesday, May 13 at 9 a.m. 

The all-new store, located at Birch Bay Square just off Interstate 5 at the Birch Bay-Lynden Road, is a community market for great food and value.

Visit the store and you'll discover it's unlike any other store in our area.  Some of the features include a service meat and seafood counter, with certified tender beef and pork, guaranteed.  Bulk frozen seafood makes it easy to stock up on convenient products. 

The Produce Department highlights the freshest, local produce.  We are a Washington State Department of Agriculture certified organic retailer.

The store features many choices for quick meals.  DaVinci's Classic Subs are made fresh for each order.  The Hot Wing Bar with several sauce choices and the Cheese Kiosk features selections from around the world.

Italian food and Italian-inspired products are all in one place.  Gusto d'Italia makes putting together an Italian meal simple and fun.

The Money Board is a touch screen that prints out instant coupons on the spot, another great way to save money at The Market.  Rent a DVD for only $1 while you're shopping.  If you haven't already, sign up for Pump Perks and save on gas, too.

The Market at Birch Bay is all about the prices you want, the quality you trust and the variety you love.  Come see how great food and value is for everyone at our new Market at Birch Bay.

Are mothers and food (almost) synonymous?

Mothers take on all sorts of roles in a family's life, but certainly purveyors of food are tops on the list.  Although many dads are equally adept, involved or active in food prep for their families, since Mother's Day is upon us, I'm going to talk moms and food.

Think of your mother and the food she served you and your family.  In my home, it was meals she learned from her own mother, sturdy, hearty foods that included meat, potatoes and something green.  Meals were simple and predictable:  if it was Sunday, it was pot roast.  Friday was the fish fry.  The (dreaded to me) meatloaf emerged mid-week, along with the ubiquitous chicken and the chicken-casserole-leftovers following. There was usually a pressure cooker full of chili or a vegetable soup in there, too.

Desserts were for special occasions, and featured made-from-scratch lemon meringue pies, a peach-stuffed pastry and a sheet chocolate cake, loaded with double the chocolate buttercream frosting.  She made almond-flavored cookies we called pink ladies, due to their pink frosting, that disappeared within a day.

In the summer, we would pick cherries, can peaches, put up other fruits for the long, snowy winter ahead.  Sometimes, Mom would get an inspiration, and we would eat something far distant from our Midwest table:  say, an Asian-themed noodle dish.  Once, she and a neighbor spent the better part of a day cooking up bubbling pots of Italian "gravy", or what we know as the Italian red sauce.  It simmered all day, and we ate the gravy atop all kinds of dishes well into the following spring.

This brings me to my question:  what kind of food did your Mom cook for you?  Another question:  what are your memories of the kinds of food associated with your mother?  Finally, if you will be with your mother this Sunday (hint: Mother's Day), what will you feed her as a small thanks for all the care and feeding she's done for you?  (I'm cooking for my family, and it will be grilled fish, a green salad, homemade sweet potato fries, some broiled garlic asparagus, and perfect oatmeal cookies.)

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried chickpeas or 16 oz. can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans.
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oil for frying

We recently had a customer wondering what the difference was between our Washington grown and “southern grown” poultry. And we admit, “southern” is a bit vague. Here’s the low down. Our southern grown chicken comes from a handful of Southeastern states, including Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia and Texas. The southern farms include Sanderson Farms, Pilgrims’ Pride, Tyson, Wayne Farms and SmartChicken. These farms produce quality poultry at great prices. We also offer Washington grown chicken, usually from Draper Valley Farms. Draper Valley, although no longer locally owned, is locally operated – shortening the trip from the farm to your shopping cart.

If you’re looking for a great, locally grown chicken – go for the Draper Valley option. If you’re looking to stock up on chicken at a great price, choose our southern grown chicken. Many of the southern growers, such as SmartChicken offer hormone-free, organic and certified humane chicken.