It’s a unique baked cheese named Juusto™, and is locally produced by Pasture Pride Cheese in Wisconsin. The full name is juustolepia, a Finnish word meaning “bread cheese.”

Juusto™ is a buttery-flavored, flat and squeaky cheese with a baked caramelized crust. The traditional and best way to serve this cheese is to warm it slowly in a skillet until the crust glistens. You can also use a microwave or toaster oven. Cut the warmed cheese into strips or cubes and serve as is or dipped in a complementary sauce.

Valley Natural Foods carries four tasty varieties. After warming the cheese, try some of these serving suggestions from Pasture Pride Cheese:

Juusto Plain – Drizzle  with maple syrup, berry jam or honey for dessert or breakfast. (Try it with Lucille’s Pepper Jam!)

Juusto Italiano – Dip into your favorite pizza sauce or marinara.

Juusto with Jalapeno Peppers – Dip in salsa or your favorite bean dip.

Guusto™ (made with goat’s milk) – Eat as is for a special treat, drizzle with maple syrup or pair with a fig chutney.

LOOKING FOR A COUPON? Save $.75 on one package with an online coupon. Coupon good through January 3, 2012

Are you looking for something stunning and tasty to serve at a New Year’s Eve gathering? Check out Lucille’s Kitchen Garden website recipe page! Our cheese buyer, Lily prepared the Garlic, Brie and Raspberry Pepper Jam appetizer recipe last week and sampled it out to Valley Natural Foods customers. Sure enough, this cheese and pepper jam combo was a hit! Roasting three heads of garlic seemed like a lot at first, but roasting garlic mellows out that sharp pungent flavor, making the amount absolutely perfect for this recipe.

If you don’t have time to cook, try Lucille’s MN Mead Jelly poured over a wedge of your favorite blue cheese. Or create your own combination of a favorite cheese and pepper jam—the possibilities are endless! These recipes can be served with any kind of cracker or flat bread. Party-goers are sure to be impressed with such a unique appetizer.

Look for more Lucille’s Kitchen Garden recipes—printed out for your convenience—at our display of Lucille’s Jams and Jellies in the cheese area of our deli department.

Valley Natural Foods Holiday hours reminder: We will be open on Saturday, December 31, until 6:00 p.m., and will be closed on January 1st. Normal hours will resume on Monday, January 2, 2012.

Andrea Huggenvick, Residential Life Coordinator at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin has shared with us her delicious gluten-free cracker recipe. This recipe starts out as a basic one, but there are endless possibilities for variations, so you can use your imagination! Thank you Andrea for blessing Valley Natural Foods with your recipe!

Andrea’s Gluten-Free Crackers

Serve crackers with:

• Holy Land Hummus
• Brie topped with Lucille’s Kitchen Garden Pepper Jam
• Cheese Slices
• Deli Dips
• Tapenade
• Avocado Slices
• Cranberry Salsa

Thanks for your patience over the last couple of weeks! Several of you stopped by Valley Natural Foods looking for one specific item that everyone else seemed to be looking for at the same time, so we ran out quick! Our buyers have since placed a large order, making sure for those of you who missed out last week, can now find the Dufour Pastry Kitchens Puff Pastry Dough stocked in our freezer again. Find it in Trail no. 7, freezer door 6.

So, what’s the big deal about puff pastry dough? It’s all about the butter! Soon after StarTribune’s 2011 Holiday Cookie Contest Almond Palmier recipe was featured, Puff Pastry Dough from Dufour Pastry Kitchens was recommended because it’s made with all-butter (no shortening) for lighter and flakier results!

One Valley Natural Foods staff person can hardly wait to make this contest-worthy recipe! (She’s just waiting for the other item everyone else seems to be after—the almond paste of course!) Be on the lookout for almond paste in Trail no. 5, due to arrive this Thursday, December 22nd!

This week, R.W. Knudsen Sparkling Juice is our “pick of the week!” In a lively group vote, Valley Natural Foods staff voted for the sparkling stuff! Packaged in attractive champagne-like bottles, there are six delightful flavors to choose from here at the co-op. These non-alcoholic bubbly juices are pleasing to serve at holiday parties, family gatherings or as part of a festive holiday punch. Or how about including the kids in a celebratory toast with something both “grown-up” and kid-friendly in their glasses!

The best part is the price—they’re on sale for 2/$5.00 through January 3rd. We stocked up on Cherry, Blueberry, Cranberry, Pear, Pomegranate and Grape Sparkling Juice. All flavors contain 100% juice, with no added sugars, preservatives or artificial colors. Serve straight from the bottle in champagne glasses, or mix and match two or more flavors together!

For a festive punch idea, use your imagination! Here’s a fun idea to get you started:

Place a combination of chilled thin orange, lemon and lime slices into a small punch bowl. Add some frozen blueberries, fresh or frozen pomegranate seeds and bite-sized pieces of fresh  green apple. Add about 32 ounces of chilled pineapple or apple juice, 2 bottles of chilled Pear Sparkling Juice, and 1 bottle of any red sparkling juice (Cherry, Cranberry or Pomegranate.) Add a little fresh lime juice to taste and you’ll have a delicious, healthy, colorful punch! To keep it cold and bold with flavor, freeze a a few ice cube trays with apple or pineapple juice, and dump into the punch just before serving. Feel free to change it up a bit by adding other frozen fruits or try mixing other juice flavors together!

Impress your holiday dinner guests with a Crown Roast of Pork, available right now at the Valley Natural Foods meat counter! Our pork is raised locally and naturally by Hidden Stream Farm in Elgin, MN. We are happy to assist you with choosing the right size crown roast for your guests. This is a delicious and impressive dish to serve!

Crown Roast with Bread Stuffing Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place foil-wrapped roast into large roasting pan. Add 1 inch water to pan, then cover top of roast with foil. Cover pan with foil or lid. Bake up to 4 hours, or until meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees (inserted diagonally through the foil and down into center of meat), Place roast on serving platter, and slice between each pork chop before serving.

Bread Stuffing
2 Bags Valley Natural Foods’ Stuffing Croutons
3 stalks celery, chopped medium/fine
½ large yellow onion, chopped medium/fine
1 stick butter, melted
1 Tbsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
½ C. canola oil
1 C. organic chicken broth
2 14.5 oz cans Health Valley Organic Cream of Mushroom Soup

Combine the first nine ingredients and mix well. Stir in mushroom soup and mix well again. Good for stuffing crown roast or poultry. May also be baked in a pan at 350 degrees until golden on top.

Look for other holiday favorites, freshly displayed at our meat counter.

• Grass-Fed Standing Rib Roast – great for making prime rib! Get a great recipe
• Pork Loin Roast
• Lobster Tails or Crab
• Smoked Hams
• Wild Rice Stuffed Chicken Breasts

LOOKING FOR COUPONS? Save on selected meat department items with online coupons!

Whether it be Fair Trade or local, one-of-a-kind gifts are great to give. We carry unique items in our general merchandise area, across from the wellness department.  Look for great gift ideas for kids, teachers, the man or woman in your life or a fun stocking stuffer for anyone on your list. Many gift items can be found for under $20.00! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Just Me, Geralyn and Glass

Not only does Geralyn create beautiful glass vases, platters and necklaces, she makes one-of-a-kind glass ornaments as well! Artisan glass creations from Just Me, Geralyn and Glass are as local as you can get—Geralyn also happens to work here in our co-op deli!

AndesGifts

We have a wide variety of colorful AndesGifts Fair Trade items available for the holiday season and beyond! The quality of the alpaca wool used for these hand-knit hats, scarves and gloves is outstanding! AndesGifts are perfect for keeping heads, necks and hands warm throughout the long Minnesota winter.

Maggie’s Functional Organics

Maggie’s Functional Organic’s offers Fair Trade Certified™ apparel products made with organic cotton! We carry a nice variety of Maggie’s socks. The tie-dye socks are especially colorful, and no two pairs are alike! Looking for a great stocking stuffer? Stuff  ‘em with socks!

Chocolate!

Don’t forget the Fair Trade Chocolate! Go for a simple and tasty gift that’s sure to please just about anyone. Select several kinds of Fair Trade chocolate bars from Divine Chocolate, Green & Blacks Organic, Equal Exchange or Theo Chocolate, stack them and tie up with a colorful ribbon, or wrap in a holiday cellophane bag.

LOOKING FOR COUPONS? Check out our online coupon page and save money on selected gifts items and chocolate bars!

You don’t have to be from southern climes to enjoy collard greens! While the traditional (and delectable) way to serve them in the southern U.S. is with black-eyed peas and cornbread, they can be used in place of other leafy greens in recipes, too. Rich in nutrients and easy to prepare, collard greens are tempting additions to soups, served as a side with meats and poultry (like smoked turkey), and added to cooked bean or grain pilafs or salads. You can even substitute these broad mildly-flavored leaves for seaweed in homemade sushi.

What to Make: Spicy Collard Greens

You can find this recipe located in our produce department, in the December 14  Co+op Deals flyer and Stronger Together website.

Looking for a coupon? Save on some of the ingredient for Spicy Collard Greens with online coupons! Coupons good through December 27, 2011.

Here are some rockin’ prices in our produce department! Prices are good through Saturday, December 24th, 2011 While Supplies Last.

Organic Local Russet Potatoes 5-lb bag
Sale Price $3.99/each

Organic Local Red and Yukon Potatoes 5-lb bags
Sale Price $5.99/each

Organic Yellow Onions 3-lb bag
Sale Price $2.50/each

Organic Jewel and Garnet Yams
Sale Price $0.99/lb

Organic Fresh Herbs 3/4-oz Clamshell Packaging
Sale Price $2.50/each

Also available, while supplies last…

Chestnuts, Clementines, Jumbo Oranges, Apples and LOCAL Cranberries!

LOOKING FOR COUPONS? Save on selected produce items by checking out our online coupon page!

Nature and local producers collaborate to bring us fresh succulent green and red gifts this month. Even after we have been gifted with a moisturizing blanket of pure white snow, local producers still deliver FRESH & LOCAL, including lush deep green upland cress, crisp bright green and white bok choy, crinkly red bib lettuce and juicy rich red vine-on tomatoes.

Look closer at the bunches of upland cress (the hydroponic version of native watercress and also called winter cress) in the produce department and you’ll notice long white roots have grown in water rather than soil. Hydroponics is the official name and it’s a splendid way for us to be gifted with fresh local produce through our winter. Michele Keller, owner of LaBore Farms of Faribault, Minnesota, has been growing chemical-free hydroponic greens since 2004. Her co-op and restaurant customers are amazed and satisfied, proclaiming these water-loving winter veggies, including her upland cress and red bib lettuce, to be crisper, fresher, tender and sweeter.

Read more including ideas for healthy holiday eating…