Wednesday, April 22, Seward is sponsoring the Beez Kneez Second Annual Dandelion Honey Pastry Chef Challenge.

This tasty annual event is a local foods pastry chef competition, judged by some wonderful local celebrities like Zoe Francois and Brenda Langton of Spoonriver, and best of all, our own Bakery Supervisor Mary Vorndran will be competing! But it’s also a celebration to raise awareness of bees’ plight. Amazing food, music, celebrity judges, words from Dr. Marla Spivak and a new call to action for Healthy Bees, Healthy Lives.

Please join the swarm and buy tickets.

(Want to help bees and butterflies this spring? Consider planting a pollinator garden. Details here.)

Sensible Organic has issued a voluntary recall of Nourish Organic Argan and Rosewater Face Lotion and Nourish Organic Argan and Pomegranate Face Cream due to mold. No illnesses have been associated with these products. Please see below for more detail about the products.

The issue came to Sensible Organic’s attention as a result of communications we received from consumers. The manufacturer immediately conducted an investigation into the issue and determined the scope of specific products affected. Extensive root cause analysis revealed the most likely source of the problem is that the affected products may have become contaminated with mold. The identified molds are not considered to be significant threats to humans but rather are common environmental molds. However, out of an abundance of caution, Sensible Organic is undertaking this voluntary recall.

Seward Co-op sold these items from March 16-April 2, 2015. All lot numbers are affected. Recalled product has been removed from the shelf. We will return the item to the shelf as soon as non-recalled product is available. These items were on sale during the second half of March, and were featured on displays. If you purchased these items, please do not use them. Recalled products will be fully refunded at our Customer Service desk.

Nourish Organic Argan and Rosewater Face Lotion, 1.7oz, $20.99, UPC: 66738310904

Nourish Organic Argan and Pomegranate Face Cream, 1.7oz, $21.99, UPC: 66738310903

Saturday, April 4, 10:30 am-12 pm

In this class, we will learn healthy cooking techniques for beans, greens and beef rooted in East African cultures with Shegitu Kebede of Flamingo Restaurant in St. Paul.

NOURISH 101 CLASSES ARE FREE

Interview with Shegitu Kebede, Flamingo Restaurant, Saint Paul (via Peter B. Meyers on Vimeo)

Star Tribune: Interview with Shegitu Kebede co-owner of Flamingo Restaurant

Nourish 101 classes feature basic scratch-cooking techniques and recipes that feed a family of four for under $10.

Please preregister for classes at Customer Service. Payment must be made at time of registration. To ensure a refund, cancellations must be made 48 hours before the class date. Classes may be cancelled by Seward Co-op (for a full refund) if there is an insufficient number of registered attendees.

There are some great jobs available at Seward Co-op right now. More details at Seward Co-op Careers page (you can sign up for email Job Alerts there too).

Front End Manager, Full-Time, posted until: 04/01/2015
Purpose: Lead department staff, manage physical and financial assets, and follow Seward Co-op processes in support of Seward Co-op Ends and department goals. Support the growth of the Co-op through participation on the Store team.

Packaged Foods Merchandising Coordinator, Full-Time, posted until: 04/06/2015
Purpose: To work with Marketing and Merchandising Managers to ensure consistency across all of Seward Co-op’s signage and visual marketing program. To develop design strategy for promotions, advertising, and the Seward Co-op brand. To supervise signage coordinator.

Chef, Full-Time, posted until: 04/07/2015
Looking for a Chef with a passion for food to lead our farm-driven, scratch kitchen in the creation and operation of our new Co-op Creamery Neighborhood Café. Chef will create ever-changing menus that highlight seasonal, organic-focused, hand-crafted dishes that promote the Seward’s commitment to quality ingredients and sustainable food ways.

Design Supervisor, Full-Time, posted until: 04/06/2015
Purpose: Lead department staff, manage physical and financial assets, and follow Seward Co-op processes in support of Seward Co-op Ends and department goals. Support the growth of the Co-op through participation on the Store team

Dishwasher, Limited Part-Time, posted until: 04/07/2015
Purpose: To maintain clean dish area in the deli and to efficiently pack prepared foods for grab and go case; to maintain a clean and organized work environment and to perform duties in accordance with Health Department guidelines, and to maintain displays on sales floor.

Produce Staff, Part-Time, posted until: 04/13/2015
Purpose: To stock and display fresh produce while providing prompt, friendly, helpful customer service to help meet department goals for sales, margin, labor productivity and customer service.

Carmel Food Group today issued a voluntary recall of certain Rising Moon Organics frozen Ravioli items (Spinach & Cheese Ravioli) because of possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes. To date, no illnesses have been associated with these products.

Consumption of products containing Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections, endocarditic and arthritis.

Product Affected:

Rising Moon Organics Spinach & Cheese Ravioli, 8 oz. for $4.79 each.

UPC Code: 7-85030-55561-3
Lots Codes: 122215, 123015, 123115, 010216, 011916, 012016
Sell By Dates: DEC222015, DEC302015, DEC312015,
JAN022016, JAN192016, JAN202016

Recalled product on Seward Co-op shelves has been removed and destroyed. If you purchased the above product, do not consume it. Recalled products will be fully refunded at our Customer Service desk.

More info at the FDA website.

Round-up and give at our registers this weekend and we’ll match you!

We’re serious about our goal of raising $20,000 for the Sabathani Community Center Food Shelf by the end of march. So serious that we’re going to match our customers dollar for dollar this weekend.

Right now, Seward Co-op shoppers have rounded-up to the tune of $16,356.19 in SEED money from 36,317 customers since March 1. That’s impressive and very generous!

But in our goal to get good food to as many people in need as possible via our friends and new neighbors at Sabathani Food Shelf, Seward Co-op will match ALL customer donations this weekend till Sunday night! We want to cut a great big check to Sabathani, a powerhouse non-profit that feeds 25,000 people a year in South Minneapolis.

So if you were going to visit the big green co-op anyway (maybe you’re coming to Seward for the egg-dying demo on Saturday or buying up before the upcoming holidays next weekend), we strongly urge you to round-up and give a little extra at the register for your neighbors in need.

Let’s send $20,000 to Sabathani Food Shelf!

* Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

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.

This Saturday, March 28, we’ll be showing you how to make natural dyes for eggs at Seward Co-op. Pop by the store any time from 1-4 p.m. and see how to make great dyes from onion skins, coffee, turmeric, and tea!

We’ll have a recipe for natural egg-dyes in the recipe rack by the Customer Service desk, too, so be sure to grab one, or take a look at the article on egg-dying below.

If you want something a little less DIY, pick-up a Natural Earth Paint’s Natural Egg Dye Kit located on the display island by the Deli Hot Bar. This kit isa set of food based powdered dyes that are incredibly easy to use. Because the dyes are free from the petroleum derivatives and carmine that are found in conventional dye kits, they can also be safely used as a food coloring for baking projects.

New this year, check out the Wooden Egg Craft Kit, a great vegan option for egg dying! These kits include 6 wooden eggs, which are handmade in the Pacific Northwest from sustainable FSC certified wood, and 6 colors of natural earth paints.

Planning on a lamb or ham feast this weekend? We have great specials in the Meat Department that you’ll want to take advantage of! Local heroes Pastures a Plenty, the Lambe Shoppe, and Blooming Prairie will have all your favorite roasts, ribs, and lamb cuts for the big family get together. Let’s hope for grilling weather!

An article on egg-dying from the April/Mary 2014 issue of Sprout! newsletter:

“Celebrate Spring”

It comforts me to imagine that hunting and gathering colored eggs might be one of humanity’s oldest traditions, a way to celebrate our survival of another winter.

I don’t have much evidence for this. Egg painting can be connected to many cultures via folklore and mythology, but there’s no slam-dunk proof that any spring egg-hunt cults are terribly old. One custom, pysanky egg decorating of Ukraine, is more than likely ancient in origin. In excavations of Neolithic and Bronze-Age Ukrainian graves, cultic eggs have been found whose etched patterns are strikingly similar to pysanky “Easter egg” designs (pictured above).

Maybe. Or maybe I’m just feeling sympathy for my cold-climate ancestors after this harsh winter of 2014.

Watching my kids paint and gather eggs, I imagine that I see ancient, first-farming parents, emerging from another brutal Northern Hemisphere winter, keeping their parents’ hunter-gatherer ways alive by teaching kids how to gather wild multicolored eggs in the surrounding grasslands and woods. You know, just in case this new-fangled farming thing doesn’t work out.

How to Make Natural Egg-Dyes

Ingredients: Any number of hard-boiled white eggs
One pot per color of dye
1 Tbsp. white vinegar per cup of strained dye liquid (optional)
Bowls or egg cartons for drying dyed eggs
Paper towels

Don’t be too precious about this process. It’s meant to be fun for you and your kids, so proportions aren’t exact and don’t need to be.

1. Shop …for the veggies and other items that you’ll use for creating your dyes.

Some of these items can be gathered over the days running up to your egg-dying extravaganza. Red cabbage (blue, almost-indigo dye) Red onion skins (lavender or red) Yellow onion skins (orange or gold) Ground or cut turmeric (yellow) Red Zinger tea bags (lavender) Beets (pink; more of a brownish red the longer you leave eggs in this dye) Err on the side of more veggie matter rather than less when creating your dyes.

You can use juices and beverages for dying, too. Grape juice Old red wine Leftover coffee Juice from pickled beets Rule of thumb: If you’d freak out upon spilling a certain liquid on a white shirt, then it’s going to make a decent dye. We mixed some of these veggies to great effect, too. Eggs dyed in turmeric + yellow onion skins were bright gold. I want to try Red Zinger tea + red cabbage next year.

2. Chop …your veggies and prepare your dyes. We found that chopping fine, but not too fine, worked best. We used roughly 4 cups veggie matter for 4–6 cups water. Drop the veggies into the water and bring to a boil, turn heat down to low and simmer, covered, for 15–30 minutes. The dye is ready when it reaches a hue a few shades darker than you want for your egg. Add white vinegar now.

3. Pop …your eggs in the dye. There are two approaches here and both work well. A) Strain the veggie matter out and set your hard boiled eggs in the dye for several hours (or even over night); or B) Set your fresh eggs in the boiling water with the veggie matter and hard-boil them in the dye as it’s being created. The first way will give you clean, solid colors.

The second way is a little more haphazard, but it makes for fun and interesting patterns. After removing eggs from the pots, try draping wet onion skins over the eggs for an hour or two to take advantage of the onion skins’ cool patterns. Ditto red cabbage.

You can experiment also with different amounts of vinegar, too. More vinegar will leave a thick film on the eggs that you can leave on and let dry, making them look gnarly and wonderful (my kids called them “dinosaur eggs”). Or you can rub the film away with a paper towel to find interesting patterns beneath, as the veggies and vinegar will soak into different parts of the egg. Caution: Leaving eggs in too much vinegar overnight will make them rubbery. (Which also might be fun, but not if you plan to eat the eggs.) Dry your eggs in bowls or eggs cartons over night.

* Top photo by Elizabeth Brooks Barnwell

* Pysanky egg photo courtesy Wikipedia.

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.