Spring Wine Sale is Coming!: The Beet, WSM's E-Newsletter

Link to Weaver Street Market's Home Page

Farm Tour: 6 New Farms!
St. Patrick's Day Specials
SV Easter Activities
Fashion Show Fundraiser

March Madness Shopping!
WCOM Fundraiser
Carrboro Farmers' Market
Opens Saturday!

St. Patrick's Day Specials
Open Easter Sunday

Spring Wine Sale is Coming!
By Peg Conway, WSM Wine Buyer
Our spring wine sale is coming!! We first decided to hold a wine sale back in the fall and it was an amazing success. We brought in wines we loved and priced them at incredibly low prices. Because you responded with such enthusiasm and made it such a success, we've been able to secure even better prices and quantities for our spring sale. We have over 40 wines, up to 43% off, as low as $4.99/bottle AND it's being held in the fourth month of the year! Well, that sounds serendipitous to me! And the best part? Read more...

Weekly Produce Specials

Recipe: Ribollita

Spring Wine Sale is Coming! (continued)

You don't have to take any risks at all. Join us at one of our wine shows and taste ALL 44 wines before you buy them. Wine shows are Saturday April 2, 1-5 pm in Carrboro, and Saturday April 9, 1-5 pm in Southern Village. Our wine shows are being held as a benefit this year. Tickets are five dollars and can be purchased at either store. A portion of the proceeds of ticket sales will benefit the Women's Birth and Wellness Center. The Wine Sale runs from April 1 through April 17.

Weekly Produce Specials

	Apple-o-Rama Organic Granny Smith Apples	3 for 98¢	Lowest Price Ever!
	Apple-o-Rama Organic Pink Lady Apples	2 for 98¢	Super Low Price!
	Organic Lady Moon Cherry Tomatoes	2 pints/$4.00	Delicious!
Read more about other Weaver Street Market Specials.

Caroleena's Tuscan Kitchen Recipe: Ribollita

Local chef and cooking instructor, Carol Barrow, resided in the center of Florence and in the province of Tuscany for ten years where she learned regional cooking from the masters: restaurant owners, farmers, family and friends. She owned Ristorante Vien under the Volta dei Peruzzi in Florence for four years. Caroleena cracks the mysterious code of Tuscan cooking and translates her very special language into easy, delicious and healthy recipes. She will be sharing recipes and tips with us from time to time. Caroleena is available to cook for you in your home. Call her at 960-8875.

Ribollita (Twice-Cooked Soup)

Ribollita means re-boiled. It used to be a soup made out of leftovers, but everyone likes it so much that it is made fresh by all and eaten that day. It does taste best though, if you make it in the morning, let it rest all day and eat it for dinner. Anyway, (I am digressing), this is a real Weaver Street Market recipe! I never saw Lacinato Kale before I came here. Florentines call it "Black Cabbage" and it is one of their favorite vegetables because you eat it in a soup with cannellini beans (which is another Florentine favorite). This recipe is typically Tuscan and it is delicious. If you are vegetarian, use vegetable boullion. If you only eat chicken, use chicken stock. Beef stock, beef and chicken stock; fresh, canned or from a boullion cube - you decide. I use a beef and chicken stock from dark meat chicken (skin and bones) mixed with beef (meat and bones of any kind), carrots, celery, onions, salt and pepper. Let's get started. . .

Ingredients

One bunch lacinato kale chopped
1/2 small savoy cabbage chopped
3 cups cooked cannellini beans
one carrot finely chopped
one stalk celery finely chopped
one big onion finely chopped
3 quarts broth
extra virgin olive oil
fresh, hand-grated parmigiano cheese
2 tbl salt and pepper to taste
day old ciabatta or Country bread

In a soup pot, start by sautéing the onion, carrot, celery with salt and pepper in about 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Add the kale, and keep stirring. Add the cabbage and keep stirring. Add the broth and turn the heat up. When the soup starts to boil, add about a cup of the cannellini beans. Cover and simmer. About an hour later, add another cup of beans. These should be thickening up your soup by now. After 2 hours, taste the "black cabbage" if it is soft and tender then your ribollita is cooked. If not, keep cooking until it is tender. When your soup is done, add the last handful of beans. Serve this in a bowl with yesterday's bread broken up into pieces on the bottom. An Italian would never eat soup without a starch in it! Sometimes it is rice, sometimes barley, most times it is pasta, but the Ribollita is served over old bread. Add a thimble full of extra virgin olive oil on top before serving. You may also add some freshly ground pepper. Last, but not least, add as much fresh, hand-grated parmigiano cheese as you like, and stir (I use about 2 tablespoons). This will not be a soupy soup. It will be almost solid.

Buon Appetito!
And remember - cook with love AND DON'T BE CHEAP!



10th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour Coming Soon! 6 New Farms!

Celebrate Earth Day this year by touring area small farms. The 10th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour will be held this year on Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24. Farms will be open both days from 1pm to 5pm. This year, thirty farms are on the tour! All proceeds benefit the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. Advance buttons are $20 for all farms. Buttons and maps will be available starting March 21 at Weaver Street Market locations. We will feature a new farm here each week until the tour. Cane Creek Farm: Handcrafted Hogs By Cat Moleski, Features Editor Eliza Maclean is raising the cutest hogs on her eleven acres in Orange County. Three baby squealers rushed out to drink their morning milk before diving headfirst back into their bedding to sleep. Large mama hogs lingered outside the barn door, waiting for their grain. Picture-perfect pink, spotted, and brown piglets came running from several fields when they spotted Eliza with the feed bucket. Farming is never easy, but a small production hog farm can be profitable, according to Eliza. She's been working her farm for two years now, growing her passel of hogs from five to fifty. With the spring farrowing, the number had jumped to 200, but she's already busy marketing them. Hogs can farrow twice in a season, so by July she expects another batch of babies. Eliza's decision to raise hogs as naturally and sustainably as possible is a recent one. However, her love of animals began when she was twelve, working for the local vet as a kennel helper. Many years later, as a vet herself, she studied the seals in the waters off San Francisco and became concerned about the large number that were dying of cancer, which led her to Duke University to study toxicology in animals. After her own children were born, she volunteered with both the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) in Pittsboro where she first learned about rare breed hogs. It was then she decided to raise a rare breed of hogs from Ossabaw, a small island off the Georgia coast, where the conditions are similar to North Carolina. The ALBC has identified the Ossabaw hogs as a critical rare breed, with fewer than 200 annual registrations and less than 2000 pigs worldwide. Her ability to raise and market these pigs successfully will ensure the survival of the species and their genetic heritage. The hogs on Ossabaw are descendents of Iberian pigs that escaped from the early Spanish settlers. Later, English settlers planted live oak trees, inadvertently creating the same environment the pigs enjoyed at home in Spain, where they foraged for acorns and lived on grass. These pigs are highly prized for the taste of their meat and the quality of their fat, which has more monounsaturated fat and omega 3 oil (the good oils found in olive oil) than other breeds. The challenge in marketing the pork meat is that the fat breaks down quickly in transit. By cross breeding the Ossabaw to an American hybrid, the Farmers Hardy, Eliza hopes to create a unique hybrid that retains great flavor, good quality fat, and is more stable during transport. Ossabaw hogs are also a good choice for sustainability. The herds are rotated from field to field, allowing the pigs the best forage, while allowing the land time to recover between visits. There's no need for a waste lagoon, as the hogs' waste is manageable with field rotation. They also have big litters which they are good at caring for, making the farmers' work easier and more productive. This specialty pork is in high demand; Eliza sells to markets as far away as New York City. You'll be able to visit Eliza's Cane Creek Farm on the Piedmont Farm Tour this month to see her pigs and other farm yard animals. You can taste her very own hybrid Ossabaw pork raised without hormones or antibiotics, at Panzanella Restaurant. Chef Peter McCloskey says, "it's very tender and tasty meat. You can taste the quality."
Read more about other local producers.

St. Patrick's Day Specials! - Last Week!

Holidays are what make life special. The anticipation of special times and special treats makes them all the sweeter when they're here and the memories all the better. My annual favorite is the Pastry Bakery's Irish Oat Scones. I try to eat one everyday, knowing that they are here only a short time. Others swear by the Bread Bakery's Famous Irish Soda Bread and Dubliner Cheese paired with O'Hara's Celtic Stout Irish Ale or Highland Brewery's Gaelic Ale. Our meat department is already stocking Wellshire Farms Corned Beef Uncured Brisket for those traditionalists out there. Don't feel like cooking? Head over to Panzanella and enjoy Shepherd's Pie and $2 Guinness Stout. In addition, Panzanella Chef, Peter McCloskey, has delved into Ireland's culinary history to create Fisherman's Stew, a shellfish stew traditionally made by boiling oysters, mussels, clams and shrimp in an iron cauldron with seaweed and served with Irish Oat Bread. Chef McCloskey and Weaver Street Market Bread Bakery Manager, Brian Cook, will be collaborating to bring this very special dish to Panzanella for St. Patrick's Day. Erin go bragh! Specials Irish Oat Scones - 99¢ Irish Soda Bread - $3.25 each Dubliner Irish Cheddar - on sale $6.99/lb O'Hara's Celtic Stout - on sale $9.49 6-pk Highland Brewery's Gaelic Ale - on sale through St. Patricks's Day $6.99 6-pk Wellshire Farms uncured Corned Beef Brisket - $5.99 lb.

Southern Village Easter Activities

Eggs-cellent, Eggs-citing, Eggs-travaganza! Sunday March 20th, on the green in Southern Village 12:30 pm Egg Races, Egg Hunt, Surprises, Easter Fun! The egg hunt is open to all children under the age of 12. Sign up at Bloom for all the fun.

Fashion Show Fundraiser

Plan on attending "A Local Window to the World" Fashion Show at Panzanella in Carr Mill Mall on Monday, March 21, 2005 from Noon until 1:30pm. See the latest spring offerings from around the neighborhood and around the world: Designer Clothing Wearable Art Fine Fabrics Outdoor Gear Jewelry Accessories This popular annual event will benefit Cornucopia House this year. Cornucopia House provides support to cancer sufferers and caregivers in our area. The presenters (all Carr Mill Mall merchants) this year include: Fleet Feet Jewelworks Mehera Shaw Mulberry Silks Original Ornament Painted Bird Sofia's Townsend Bertram & Co. Wootini Doors open at 11:45. $25 per person which includes lunch and the show. Seating is limited. Tickets are available at Weaver Street Market's Customer Service Desk. Sponsored by The Chapel Hill Herald, Weaver Street Market, Panzanella and Carr Mill Mall.
Read more about the merchants at Carr Mill Mall.

March Madness Shopping List!

Sick of the same old, same old for game night? Why not dress it up a bit? Make your cheese plate outstanding with anything from tangy goat cheese to Smoked Gouda; toss on some Country Mix olives and tart cornichons to keep it lively and pair it with a Giacomo's Italian Salami Sampler. Our produce department is chock full of avocados, tomatoes, peppers and tomatillas to make your own fresh guacamole and salsa. Why not whip up a big batch of tri-colored popcorn from our bulk department? Top it with brewer's yeast, fresh grated Parmesan, sea salt, or skip the calories and eat it plain. Don't forget the chicken wings. We've got plenty of drumettes just waiting for your secret sauce.

WCOM Fundraiser - ¡Que Noche!

Join us on Saturday, March 19 for ¡Que Noche!, a Latin dance party at the Carrboro Century Center with live music by local band Saludos Compay. Jane Tuohey will teach a beginners' Latin dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. and the band will start playing as soon as she's through. During band breaks, Sonido Boomgo (DJ Candido) will spin discs and banda singer El Tremendo de Jerez will perform. Our emcee for the evening will be WCOM Saturday evening DJ Berkeley Grimball. Come on out and join the fun. Even if you don't dance, you can have a beer and a snack (food donated by Jade Palace and other local eateries) and support WCOM. We'll be raffling off donated treasures, selling WCOM T-shirts, and generally having a good time. Tickets are $10, available only at the door. The Century Center is located at the corner of Greensboro and Weaver Streets in downtown Carrboro.
Learn more about WCOM on their website.

Carrboro Farmers' Market Opens this Saturday!

The Carrboro Saturday Farmers' Market opens March 19 and will be open on Saturdays from 7am until noon. The Carrboro Wednesday Farmers' Market starts April 13 and will be open from 3:30pm until 6:30pm. The Southern Village Farmers' Market begins Thursday, April 14. Hours are 3:30pm until 7:00pm.
Read more about the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Farmers' Market.

St. Patrick's Day Specials

Specials include: Shepherd's Pie, Fisherman's Stew, and $2.00 Guinness!

Visit Panzanella's website to view all menus (lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch).

Panzanella Open Easter Sunday

Panzanella will be open Easter Sunday, March 27, for brunch from 11:00am until 2:30pm and for dinner from 5:30pm until 9:00pm. Specials and the regular menus will be available. Reservations are recommended for parties of 6 or more. Call 929-6626.