Jeni’s Ice Cream has issued a voluntary recall of all their flavors of ice cream because of possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes. To date, no illnesses have been associated with these products.

Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals infected by Listeria may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, infected pregnant women can suffer miscarriages or stillbirths.

Product Affected:

All flavors of Jeni’s Ice Cream sold at Seward Co-op between January 21, 2015 to present:

85316900200 ICE CRM, ASS’T FLAVORS
85316900201 ICE CREAM, DARK CHOCOLATE
85316900209 ICE CREAM, PISTACHIO HONEY
85316900216 ICE CRM, GOAT CHEESE CHERRIES
85316900240 ICE CRM, UGANDA VAN BEAN
85316900253 ICE CRM, ALMOND BRITTLE
85316900262 FROZEN YOGURT, MANGO LASSI
85316900265 ICE CREAM, BUCKEYE STATE
85316900290 ICE CREAM, BRAMBLEBERRY
85580200324 FROZEN YOGURT, GRAPEFRUIT
85580200352 ICE CREAM, BLACK CAT ESPRESSO

Price: $9.99 each. On sale for $7.99 each, from February 4-February 17.

More info at the Jeni’s Ice Cream website and at the FDA website.

Amy’s Kitchen, Inc. is voluntarily recalling frozen food products containing spinach. This recall was issued after notice came from one of Amy’s organic spinach suppliers that Amy’s may have received organic spinach with the possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes.

Seward Co-op has removed the following products from our shelves.

Vegetable Lasagna, 9.5 oz. (269g), $5.29
UPC code:0-42272-00032-6
Four possible affected lot codes/ship dates:
LOT CODE: 30-A215 Jan. 21 2015
LOT CODE: 30-A305 Jan-30-2015
LOT CODE: 30-B115 Feb-11-2015
LOT CODE: 30-C045 Mar-04-2015

Spinach Pizza, 14.0 oz. (397g),$6.99
UPC Code: 000102 0-42272-00102-6
Two possible affected lot codes/ship dates
30-A285 Jan-28-2015
30-B105 Feb-10-2015 $6.99

Brown Rice & Vegetables Bowl, 10.0 oz. (283g), $5.29
UPC Code: 000161 0-42272-00161-3
Lot code/Ship date: 30-A205 Jan-20-2015

Vegetable Lasagna, 9.5 oz. (269g), $5.29
UPC Code: 000933 0-42272-00032-6
Lot Code/Ship date 30-A305 Jan-30-2015

Tofu Vegetable Lasagna, 9.5 oz. (269g), $5.29
UPC Code: 000033 0-42272-00033-3
Lot Code/Ship Date: 30-B135 Feb-13-2015

Recalled products will be fully refunded at our Customer Service desk.

For more information, see the FDA wesbite.

We plan to be ready to begin food production at the Creamery in late June: Deliveries to the Franklin store will start in July (then to the Friendship store in October). The café will open in July.

New windows recently went in on the Franklin and 26th Avenue walls, which is probably the most visible update that owners may have noticed. Meanwhile, construction continues on the central production kitchen and Co-op Creamery Neighborhood Café. Throughout May and June, site work and landscaping will continue, equipment will be purchased, and finishing touches will be added.

We’re still planning for completion of the store in early October. The building’s exterior will be finished by early summer, and landscaping and paving will take place throughout the summer. Work on the interior will begin in the spring and continue into the summer, when the store’s fixtures will be installed in the months leading up the opening of the store.

If you drive past East 38th Street and 3rd Avenue South, you’ll notice that the Friendship construction site is really beginning to take shape. About the time the roofing is finished, the underground rough-ins for plumbing and electrical will begin. Once complete, in early May, the concrete floor will be poured.

The exterior of the building will be finished by early summer, and the landscaping and paving will be completed throughout the summer. On the inside, the rough-ins will occur in the spring; the interiors, mechanicals, and finishes will go up in the summer; and the store’s equipment and merchandising fixtures will be installed in the two months leading up the opening of the store.

At this point, we are tentatively planning the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 7.

The Seward Co-op Deli is voluntarily recalling its Green Split Pea Soup sold from the Deli Grab and Go dated 3/18/15 and 3/19/15 due to small metallic bits found in soup by a customer.

If you purchased Deli-made Green Split Pea Soup from our Grab and Go on these dates, check for the following PLUs and prices:

20382800 PLU 595 (12 oz.) for $2.59 each.
20091405 PLU 994 (32 oz.) for $5.99 each.

Recalled products will be fully refunded at our Customer Service desk.

Meet the local producers who bring us fruits, veggies, flowers, and meat throughout the local season by visiting their farms on the 2015 Eat Local Farm Tour!

Take the kids, meet friends along the way, or bike to local urban farms near you on Saturday, July 18. The 2015 Farm Guide booklets are available here or at the Seward Co-op Customer Service Desk.

Twenty-one local farms are opening their doors to the Eat Local Tour this year:

10th Street Farm & Market

Big River Farms/Minnesota Food Association

Buttermilk Falls CSA & Folk School Retreat

East Henderson Farm

Garden Farme –

Gardens of Eagan

Growing Lots Urban Farm

Humble Pie Farm

Shepherd’s Way Farm

Simple Harvest Farm Organics

Singing Hills Goat Dairy Farm

Star Prairie Trout Farm

Stone’s Throw Urban Farm

The Beez Kneez

Thousand Hills Cattle Company

Whistling Well Farm

Women’s Environmental Institute

The tour is free and there’s no need to register! Just decide which farms you’d like to visit, note when they’re open for visitors, and drive there or “caravan” with family and friends. (The co-op is not providing transportation.)

To find when farms are open, get a copy of the 2015 Farm Guide and check the farms’ listings. Visitors are welcome to show up during these times.

Your Twin Cities-area food co-ops support the annual Farm Tour. For more information:
2015 Eat Local Farm Tour Facebook Page

And follow the hashtag:
#‎EatLocalFarmTour

Significant progress has occurred over the past couple of months, and we’re excited to share these updates with you.

Friendship Store

Friendship Store is taking shape! We are now five months into what we estimate to be a 12-month construction schedule. After a delay earlier in the winter due to utility relocations, we have seen considerable headway in the past few weeks. The two-story frame of the building is beginning to take shape (see pic above). The steel structure of the building should be completed this week. READ MORE

Welcome, Raynardo Williams

Seward Co-op has hired Raynardo Williams as the store manager of the new Friendship Store. As a former entrepreneur, Raynardo is accustomed to the work required to bring a vision like the Friendship Store to fruition.

“I’m used to being very hands on,” he says. “I like getting my hands dirty on projects.” READ MORE

Co-op Creamery

Work on the Co-op Creamery at 2601 E. Franklin Ave. continues. In late January 2015, co-op administrative staff moved into the Creamery Building’s second floor offices from the Franklin store. This move has helped to alleviate space constraints at the Franklin store offices. The staff at the Creamery will support all Seward locations. READ MORE

Welcome, Chad Snelson

Creamery Cafe Production Manager: Seward Co-op has hired Chad Snelson as director of operations at Seward Co-op’s Creamery Kitchen and Co-op Creamery Neighborhood Café. At this point, with the café still under construction, it’s been a lot of planning and forecasting for Chad.

“Planning is fun,” says Chad, “but actually doing it is way more fun.” READ MORE

This is Valentine’s Island. It’s a beautiful place located just offshore the Seward Deli Hot Bar and due north of the Frozen Section.

Sure, about a month ago it was Christmas Island and a month forward in time, it will be Mardi Gras or St. Patrick’s Day Island.

But right now it’s the place to find sweets for the sweet.

For example, you’ll find a great deal on Yum Earth Organic Lollipops over on Valentine’s Island, $8 per bag of thirty. It might sound odd but these really are the yummiest lollipops ever, and that’s without taking into account the 100% daily recommended allowance of Vitamin C. You’ll also find 30 Valentines Day cards included in each bag which sets up your kid is for Valentine’s Day at school. (Plus? Don’t panic, they’re organic…)

There are two great recipes over on Valentine’s Island, too. The Avocado Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe might sound strange but because avocados are so fatty, they make surprisingly delicious treats (avocado ice cream is absolutely wonderful). Also, check out the Browned Butter Cookie Bars using Cordillera chocolate (chunks of Cordillera chocolate are located right there by the recipes).

Boxes of chocolates from Seattle’s Chocolates (below left) are on sale from $4.99 to $19.99 per heart-shaped box, and pretty Fair Trade earrings from World Finds are on sale too, ranging from $9.99 to $14.99.

Get your calendar out and start planning for January.

Upcoming Seward Classes

LaDonna Sanders-Redmond, Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Seward Co-op, visited KARE-11 recently with a terrific winter soup recipe: Crock Pot Chicken Gumbo.

Gumbo is actually pretty easy to make; it just has a lot of ingredients and a number of steps, so people sometimes get intimidated. Just remember LaDonna’s Important Gumbo Tip: Don’t walk away from the roux! You have to keep stirring it. If you’re patient and tend to it, you’ll have the base for a thick, delicious batch of gumbo. (Look how syrupy and thick that completed Gumbo is!)

Watch the video to get all the steps right, then follow the recipe below. Much thanks to KARE-11 and LaDonna for this video and recipe!

Crock Pot Gumbo (Recipe serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup flour

• 1/3 cup cooking oil

• 3 cups chicken broth

• 12 to 16 ounces chicken sausage, sliced about 1/2″ thick

• 2 to 3 cups diced cooked chicken

• 1 1/2 cups sliced okra

• 1 cup chopped onion

• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper

• 1/2 cup chopped celery

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• salt, to taste

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

• hot cooked rice

Instructions:

· For roux, in a heavy 2-quart saucepan stir together flour and oil until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat for 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for about 15 minutes more or until roux is dark reddish brown. Let roux cool.

· Add chicken broth to a 3 1/2 to 6-quart slow cooker. Stir in roux. Add sausage, chicken, okra, onion, green pepper, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours, or HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.

· Skim off fat. Serve with hot cooked rice.