Good Week to Make Chili

Now that the temps are well below 80 degrees again, with evenings in the 50's, heating up the kitchen isn't going to cause any complaints from the family, especially if you are making something they love!  Now is the time to use some of the garden veggies you have been accumulating, or head off to the farmer's markets in Granville or Mount Vernon to get fresh veggies from another local garden.

Homer Village Market just received freshly ground steakburger, which is very flavorful and lean.  This ground beef makes great hamburgers on the grill and also is excellent for making chili, stuffed peppers, or stuffed cabbage.    In addition to the beef steakburger, we have the following ingredients on hand for your cooking pleasure:

• Poblano peppers (great for roasting, grilling, stuffing, sautéing - love them in chili)
• Local Zucchini
• Jumbo white onions
• Vine ripened tomatoes
• Cans of whole roma tomatoes and cans of diced tomatoes (quick solution for chili)
• Jars of roasted red peppers
• Jumbo sweet potatoes
• Jumbo heads of cabbage
• Broccoli
• Fresh lemons
• Fresh Blueberries
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (first press) imported from Italy
• Wedges of parmesan cheese
• Cheddar, mozzarella, and hot pepper cheeses
• Large variety of commonly used dried herbs and spices if you do not have an herb garden

My all-time favorite chili recipe (adapted from Alice's Restaurant) calls for about 3 pounds of fresh garden tomatoes (or substitute canned),  a couple of chopped/sauteed green bell peppers, a large chopped/sauteed onion, fresh garlic, tomato paste, kidney beans, water, and spices (salt, pepper, basil, cayenne pepper, cumin, paprika, and bay leaf).  I love to serve it over a little brown rice and top with chopped onions and cheddar cheese...sometimes sour cream too.

Zucchini is another favorite of mine for cooking.  It can be delicious very simply prepared baked or grilled, or you could hollow out the center and stuff with a rice/veggie (meat optional) mixture held together with a little egg and bread crumbs and cheese and roast then broil to brown tops.   My grandmother used to grate the large zucchini (first peeled and seeded) using a box grater to get long thin strips.  This she sautéed in butter and oil with chopped onion.  Then after about 10 minutes, when it was almost tender, she added  a sauce made with salt and pepper and a mixture of sour cream, freshly chopped dill weed, paprika, and a dash of vinegar.  If the sauce is too thin, you can add a little water with flour; and if it is too thick, just add a little water and reseason to taste.  I enjoyed eating this dish warm with mashed potatoes or even cold all by itself.

If you have a lot of zucchini, bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes, even if you do not have any eggplant, you can make a tasty recipe of ratatouille.  This vegetable stew can be served over rice or by itself as a nice vegetarian meal or as a side dish with a meat entrée (especially good with lamb).   I will let you find your own favorite recipe for this dish.  It is so much fun to experiment.  This is one of my favorite summer meals because it is healthy, uses up a lot of veggies, and looks extremely interesting and colorful on the plate.  I like to top mine with freshly grated parmesan cheese if I'm in the mood for Italian, or with feta cheese if I'm in a greek sort of mood.

Whatever you decide to make, take advantage of these nice cool, late-summer temperatures to fire up the oven and range! 

Graeter's Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Pints

Have you enjoyed Graeter's ice cream yet?   This one is my all-time favorite!   Once known as "Double-Chocolate Chip," it is now called Chocolate Chocolate Chip.  It is a rich, chocolate ice cream with huge semi-sweet chocolate chips.   Graeter's is based in Cincinnati but has several stores in the central Ohio area and also ships their ice cream nationwide.

The list of ingredients for this flavor is simple:

• Cream
• Milk
• Cane Sugar
• Cocoa
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Graeter's uses a small-batch, French pot method of making this rich ice cream and then hand packs it into the pints.    If you lift one of these pints and then lift a pint of any other brand on the shelf, it seems twice as heavy as the other brand!

The ingredients, process, and the hand-packed container make this ice cream about twice as expensive as the usual brands, but you will know it is worth every penny once you taste it!   It is so rich that you will only want to eat about a half cup to satisfy your craving! 

So if you are looking for a special treat or wanting to impress that special someone, stop by for one of these pints!    Let me know how you like it!

Hartford Fair (Croton, Ohio) - Sunday, August 3 thru Sunday, August 10

It's that time of year again!   The kids have mixed feelings about this!  They look forward to the Fair all summer; but they know that once the Fair is over, the start of school is very close!

This is the 155th year of the Hartford Fair, an independent fair in Licking County, Ohio.   One of the most popular events, the truck and tractor pull, will be at 7:30  p.m. on Tuesday, August 6, this year.

Some of the fun actually begins on the day before the Fair begins.  On Saturday, August 3, the fairgrounds are open mainly for the entry of livestock and registration/set up of exhibitors.  There are some scheduled meetings, crafts and games, retrievers' demonstrations, and a flower show, all leading up to the official Opening Ceremony at 6 p.m. followed by a parade at 6:30, musical entertainment at 9 p.m., and fireworks at 10 p.m.   Many families will set up camp at the fairgrounds and stay all week while exhibiting their livestock or other agricultural entries in the Fair's competitions.

Judges will oversee contests of showmanship and quality among various breeds of animals including horses, cows, goats, rabbits, poultry, sheep, and swine.  The fair is home to many other types of fun contests including:

• Rooster Crowing,
• Ice Cream Eating,
• Kids' M&M Cookie contest
• Cherry Pie contest,
• breads contest
• pedal tractor pull,
• school bus and pick-up truck races,
• antique tractor pull,
• turkey-calling contest,
• frog "jump-off",
• wild game cook-off,
• sweets and greens cook-off,
• harness racing,
• motorcycle racing,
• motocross racing
• goat obstacle-course contest,  
• demolition derby

In addition to contests, there are demonstrations by coon dogs, retrievers, craftspersons making paper with seeds, safety demonstrations about guns, archery, and fishing.   There are also activities such as canoeing, kayaking, creeking, and mining for gems.

Exhibits, exhibits galore, and all will be judged!    Animals, fruits and vegetables, baked goods, gems, classic cars, crafts, insects, you name it--you can find it at the Hartford Fair.   

Traditional attractions including food vendors, games, rides, and musical entertainment mingle with the exhibits all week long  

Besides being so much fun, the Fair can be educational as well.  You can learn about recycling, organic gardening, composting, pollination, attend a church service, and donate blood, all in the same week.Hartford Fair Website

In the Store Today

I am always excited to let everyone know about new "fresh" items arriving in the store, for a couple of reasons.  They don't stay "fresh" for very long, and my prices are very good!   The prices are very good because I want you to come in and buy while it's still fresh!  

STEAKS!

Back by popular demand, USDA Choice grade ball-tip sizzlers! From grain-fed, western beef, these are 6 ounce sirloin steaks, wet aged for tenderness, and available 4 for $15 or $3.99 per steak.   We try to keep these in stock every week that calls for some sunshine!  They are fresh, not frozen.

These steaks are great on the grill, in stir fries, or even on a shish-ka-bob.  Ball-tip sizzlers are flavorful and tender enough so you don't need to marinate them.  They are vacuum packed one per pack, so it is recommended you remove the vac pack about 5 minutes before you are ready to grill them. 

If you want a whole box of 32 steaks, order by Thursday morning for pickup on or after the following Tuesday.    Beef prices vary weekly, so call for the current price.  Case discount varies.

PRODUCE!

During the summer starting about mid-July, we receive deliveries of local produce purchased from the local produce auction North of Mount Vernon.  This week we have green bell peppers, red tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, candy onions, and green cabbage.   We also have a box of California cantaloupes that are nice and ripe offered two melons for $1.50!

If your garden is no longer producing some of these items or hasn't started yet....or if you don't have a garden this year, you can still enjoy fresh, garden tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, cabbage, and onions grown locally!    If you want a box all to yourself, just call by Monday so I can make sure we get enough for you at the auction on Wednesday.   If the prices on an item seem to high, based on supply and demand at the auction, our supplier will just pass on the item.   Therefore, we cannot guarantee we can get the item you desire.

Will the Rain Ever Stop? Stop by for an Ice-Cold Soda!

We got through a soggy Fourth of July holiday that fell on a Thursday of a rainy week.  The holiday weekend was almost nonstop rain and clouds....until Sunday, July 7.   Sunday had quite a bit of sunshine until late afternoon.  Although the day was muggy, it was still quite a pleasure to see sunshine after all the rain and clouds.  

On Sundays, Homer Village Market is closed.   This past Sunday felt like a lazy day of rest.   There were still chores to catch up on, but the pace was a lot slower than on a "work day".     I was around the back rooms of the store almost all day until venturing out early evening.

Sometime during Sunday night, thieves vandalized the Pepsi machine out front of the store, with the intent of forcing entry to get the money inside the vending machine.   They must have visited during the rain storms or maybe a brief lull in the rain.  They left behind a muddy handprint on the store beside the vending machine, and took the cash box from inside the machine.

All's well that ends well.  The thieves probably won't try that again.  Risking getting caught in the act for such a small monetary reward! 

On Monday, July 8, Pepsi sent a repairman within an hour of getting my call about the problem.  They replaced all the damaged parts, installed a new cash box, and tested it to be sure it works again.

So please stop by for an ice cold can of pop from the Pepsi machine for the price of 75 cents!    The machine is kept well-stocked and in good repair.   The area is well lit and close to the parking lot. The flavors currently available in 12 ounce containers are:

• Pepsi
• Diet Pepsi
• Mountain Dew
• Diet Mountain Dew
• Dr. Pepper
• Diet Dr. Pepper
• Orange Crush
• Mug Rootbeer - No Caffeine
• Sierra Mist - All Natural - lemon lime - No Caffeine
• Aquafina Water - 12 ounce bottle

Enjoy the summer!

Something "Cool" to Drink....What about Calories?

Have you tried the Starbucks Iced Coffee?  When I have a cup of hot coffee in the morning, or anytime of day,  I like it black.   Yet, there is something about this iced coffee with 2% milk and just a little bit of sugar that tastes so good to me in the afternoon!  It's a little bit like having dessert!

 For those of you wondering about calories, black coffee is zero calories, the 13.7-ounce bottle of  Mocha Frappuccino is 260 calories, and the 11-ounce bottle of  iced coffee is 110 calories.   That doesn't seem too bad for a little treat of iced coffee midday!

 If you are a fan of Mountain Dew to get your day started and to keep your day going, this 12- ounce "Throwback" bottle is fun to drink and is 170 calories, same as a 12-ounce can of Mountain Dew.  This bottle of Dew is sweetened with sugar rather than corn syrup.  

 If you like sweet tea and need to quench your thirst, the 18.5 ounce bottle of Lipton Pure Leaf sweet tea is only 160 calories.     Of course the same size bottle of unsweetened tea quenches your thirst for zero calories.   If you like sweet tea but not the calories, you could get unsweetened tea and add your own low-calorie sweetener, or purchase a bottle of diet iced tea.  I'd much rather drink unsweetened tea so I can splurge on an  ice cream sandwich too!

Speaking of ice cream, if you are looking for the lesser of evils when it comes to calories, sherbet has no fat (110 calories per half cup), and neither does a fudge bar (130 calories) nor a popsicle (90 calories).  The ice cream sandwich tastes satisfying with both fat and sugar and only 190 calories compared to a Klondike bar (290 calories) or a Snickers Ice Cream bar (280 calories).    If you buy a pint of vanilla ice cream and eat the whole pint, you would be consuming 760 calories.  Don't do it!!!

We Will Be Open on the Fourth of July!

If you are out and about on the Fourth of July and find yourself near Homer, stop by the little store for a snack and something to quench your thirst!   For all of you local customers, I hope you will be enjoying your holiday and celebrating with family and friends!

We will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 4 and will resume regular hours on Friday and Saturday, open 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.    We have freshly ground steak burger for the grill, plenty of lamb chops,  fresh blueberries, lemons for making fresh lemonade, and plenty of ice, bread, milk, and ice cream.  If you are looking for sides or desserts or appetizers for your picnic, please stop by for a nice selection including many new items this week at special prices!

Hope to see you soon!  Have a great holiday weekend!