Wondering how to celebrate Mom this year? On Mother’s Day, Sunday May 12 from 8 a.m. – noon, treat Mom to a special brunch made fresh in our Deli. We’ll be rolling out white tablecloths and flowers to beautify the dining area, too. And pick up a floral bouquet; we’ll custom wrap it for you from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Expect a wide variety of prices on plants and mixed bouquets – something for everyone!

Stop by the co-op from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 4 for our Mother’s Day Preview Event. Browse local & fair trade gifts, sample carrot cake from our bakery, and find the perfect greeting card. Also during the preview event, look for product demos from Honeyglow candles and Organic Prairie bacon.

Welcome to spring! At Seward Co-op, we are very proud of our Bulk foods department. Bulk has been a keystone of the co-op from its earliest days, and it continues to be one of our greatest successes.

Whether shopping in bulk is a new prospect or you’ve been shopping bulk exclusively for decades, we have a rare treat for you: a 10-percent-off sale on all bulk items on May 1! All day — for one day only — everything in the Bulk department (even including sale items) is 10 percent off.

Please join us Wednesday, May 1, in the Bulk department, where extra staff and product vendors will be on hand to answer questions and assist you in shopping the best way possible — in bulk!

Throughout the day, enjoy samples of bulk products like May Day trail mix, Barsey’s almonds and Rishi chai. Also, visit with a handful of our suppliers, including: Peace Coffee, Equal Exchange and local grain producer, Whole Grain Milling.

(The May 1 bulk sale does not include: reusable glass and plastic containers; items sold per pound in other departments, such as Produce; and Wellness soaps/shampoos.)

From the City Pages:

Seward Co-op hits the sweet spot between luxury grocery store and health-food shop. Its aisles are neither dusty nor cramped, but no space is wasted. The spacious produce section is full of mostly local and/or organic items, easy to navigate but not lacking in DIY charm, often featuring handprinted signs pointing out the best seasonal buys, such as particularly tasty parsnips this winter (they really were!). All the bulk foodstuffs you’d expect are here, but so is a fully stocked meat and fish counter. There’s a large selection of poison-free body-care products, and all the semi-healthy packaged snack options you could hope for. And then there’s the deli: Seward makes a delicious salsa and an impressive banh mi, among other house-made sandwiches, salads, and entrees. And that’s before you get to the ever-tempting pastry case. Cooking classes, tastings, live music, and events such as the annual CSA Fair dot the co-op’s schedule, enticing neighbors to shop and stay awhile. And the store is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, so whether you’re picking up a prepared lunch or doing the full family grocery run, Seward has you covered.

Get creative this spring holiday season with natural egg-dyeing using bulk herbs and spices. Read below for more, and check out this natural egg-dyeing guide from Frontier Co-op.

Ingredients (per each color)
4 cups of water
2–4 Tbsp. ground herbs and spices (see below for suggestions)
1 Tbsp. white vinegar
4–6 hard-boiled eggs

Method
Bring water, vinegar and herbal-dye ingredients to a boil. Add eggs and reduce water to a simmer. Cook about 15 minutes, then cover and let sit another 15 minutes or until the color is as deep as you’d like. Remove eggs, gently rinse and let air dry.

Color Suggestions
Turmeric — gold
Hibiscus flowers — lavender
Coffee — brown
Tea leaves — sepia
Chili powder — reddish brown
Paprika — orange
Dill seed — soft brown
Curry powder — pale orange

Have fun mixing and matching colors, or experiment with other bulk herbs and spices to create your own unique hues.

The co-op is even greener this weekend, as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Look for special St. Paddy’s features around the store.

• Irish cheeses: Irish Harp cheddar – Maple Leaf Co-op, Monroe Wisc.; Dubliner cheddar – Kerrygold, Ireland; Cahill’s Irish cheddar with whiskey – Ireland; Cahill’s Irish cheddar with porter – Ireland
• Meat & Seafood: find corned beef and cabbage in the meat case. Call ahead with your order (612-338-2465), since this is a popular item!

  

• Bakery: Irish whiskey cake, soda bread and Irish cream cream puffs

Sunday, March 17, the Deli hot bar will feature a special St. Paddy’s Day-themed menu
Corned beef
Garlic mashed potatoes with poultry gravy
Smoked salmon potato cakes
Toasted barley pilaf with portabella mushrooms
Greens with turnips, rutabaga and almonds
Colcannon
Mustard braised cabbage

Friday, March 15 – Sunday, March 17: Look for special demos throughout the store, featuring our Bakery’s own soda bread and Irish cheeses from the Cheese department.

Do your bananas support small scale farmers? If you purchase them at Seward Co-op, they do! In 2012, consumers purchased 11 million Equal Exchange bananas. These purchases have tangible impacts on the livelihoods of courageous banana farmers in El Guabo co-op, located in Ecuador, and CEPIBO co-op in Peru. They’re making history for themselves, and quite possibly for the entire banana industry, with their organic, fair trade product.

The first months of the new year offer occasions to gather with family and friends without the pressures of preparing big holiday meals. In other words, it’s party time! As winter progresses, it brings several snacking opportunities, with the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards and March Madness. When planning your party, aim above the bag of chips, and consider the following ideas from our staff:

The caramelized onion dip from the Deli, spread onto a Rustica baguette (cut into small disks and toasted in the oven), is wonderful. Top it off by adding a sliced grape on top. Sweet and savory, fatty-rich and fresh! — Ian O.

Avocados are a classic snack food for a reason — guacamole is delicious. Find everything you need for a big boisterous bowl of it in our Produce department: silky ripe avocados, zesty limes, cilantro, jalapeños and garlic. Serve with yellow or blue Whole Grain Milling tortilla chips. They’re sturdy, tasty and locally-made from high-lysine, non-GMO corn and with non-hydrogenated oil — so much better than the rest. — Hannah B.

From the co-op’s Deli, look for prepared chili and pizzas freshly made with local ingredients. Serve to guests in small cups and mini-slices for optimum snacking. Our three-bean vegan chili is especially hearty and thick; you’ll enjoy the spice and sustenance. — Allison

Swing by the co-op’s Meat & Seafood department for prepared bites that require only some simple baking time in the oven: sausage-stuffed mushrooms, jalapeño poppers, bacon-wrapped scallops. — Chris D.

So, call up a few friends, put on some tunes and enjoy appetizers and locally produced snacks from the co-op when you’re hosting a get-together.

Great Gifts

No matter how you celebrate the holidays or what favorite items your family and friends enjoy, look to the co-op for locally sourced delights. The grocery aisles are brimming with unique local products for the food lovers in your life. Share your favorite delights with friends and family by gathering items together in a gift basket! Try a pound or two of fair trade coffee, soothing tea, decadent chocolates and candies, and warm and cozy hot chocolate!

We’ve highlighted some staff favorites from around the store.

For more gift ideas, see the list to the left and our Pinterest gift board!

Gift of Membership

If you’re simplifying and trying to purchase less “stuff,” consider co-op membership as a gift. Giving a membership to Seward Co-op is giving your family or friends an investment in our community. As member-owners of Seward Co-op, they will be able to take advantage of member specials throughout the store all year long. In profitable years, members also receive a patronage refund proportional to their spending. And with a 10 percent discount off the total of one shopping trip four times per year, they’ll quickly realize a return on your $75 investment. Perhaps most importantly, members of the co-op participate directly in the local economy by supporting local farmers and producers, and other co-ops, as well. This season, give the gift of cooperation!

A Gift for any Occasion

We also know that shopping for gifts can be overwhelming, so if you can’t decide among our classy housewares, fair-trade chocolate or local body care products, choose a Seward Co-op gift card. With it, you’re guaranteed to have picked the right gift.

Thank you to the 10,872 customers -more than 50%- who contributed $3,012 to the Community Development Foundation (CDF), which will help in the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. Seward Co-op will donate an addition $1,000 to the CDF.

Internationally, there are an estimated 750,000 cooperatives that serve 730 million members. And throughout this year, we have an extraordinary opportunity to inform people around the world of the robust, human-scale, cooperative business model. The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has proclaimed 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives. Yearlong observances such as this have been regularly declared by the UN to promote awareness of important political, social, cultural, humanitarian or human rights issues. The 2012 resolution, titled “Cooperatives in Social Development,” recognizes the diversity of the cooperative movement around the world and the role cooperative businesses play in achieving economic stability, while also contributing social and community benefits.

At Seward and other food co-ops across the United States, we’ll be highlighting the economic and social benefits of co-op grocers in a variety of ways. Throughout the year, expect special events and activities to raise awareness of co-ops and celebrate the mutual commitment consumers and their local co-op grocers have demonstrated to each other.

One of these activities is an online video series hosted by Kevin Gillespie, co-owner and executive chef at the Woodfire Grill Restaurant in Atlanta and sixth season finalist on the Bravo TV series “Top Chef.” Gillespie takes viewers through farm fields and grocery aisles nationwide showing the unique role co-ops have in building local food systems and their impact in their communities. In late January, we hosted a group of cooperators in Seward Co-op’s classroom to view the first episodes — one of which featured our co-op. Subsequent videos will be released throughout the year and can be viewed at www.strongertogether.coop.

Throughout 2012, we’ll have demos and samples from P6 co-op producers, displays of co-op products, and information in the store about the International Year of Cooperatives.