PLUS, River Valley is donating the event proceeds to us – the Monadnock Community Market Co-op!  We are so very thankful – and we invite you all to head on down “South” for this great event.  Call River Valley Market at (413) 584-2665 for more details.

6th Cooperative Principle: Co-operation among Co-operatives
This is an annual fundraiser that River Valley Market does to support other start-up food co-ops across the country. Last year’s proceeds went to the New Orleans Food Co-op in Louisiana.  This event is just one example of the endless ways that Cooperatives cooperate!

Please be on the lookout for news from us about a groundbreaking party in early spring to help us break free from the winter and celebrate this important next Co-op milestone.

In the meantime, stay warm, and may your February be healthy, happy and prosperous.

1 tbsp./1 packet active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. sea salt
¼ cup oil
1 cup bread flour/ high-protein flour
2 cups whole-wheat flour
Cornmeal for dusting

Method:
In a large shallow bowl mix yeast, warm water, salt, oil and honey until bubbles begin to form. Add bread flour and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Slowly add whole-wheat flour until a ball of dough forms. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Roll out dough until it’s about ¾ of an inch thick and cut into discs using a cup or a biscuit cutter. Place discs on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal and allow to rise, uncovered for 1 hour. Heat large skillet (cast iron is best) over low heat until warm. Place muffins, cornmeal side down into skillet and cook for about 7 minutes on each side, keeping the flame very low so they don’t burn. Serve warm or split and toasted.

From Benefits of Honey Blog

By Liza Drew, Keene State College Dietetic Intern

Flavorful Fact: Over the past fifty years, honeybee populations have declined drastically worldwide. Though the cause of this colony collapse is still unclear, pesticides, pathogens, and genetic modification of crops likely contributes. Small-scale beekeepers are essential for maintaining the genetic diversity needed to sustain the bee population, which is a crucial aspect of our food system.

Honey is one of the sweetest natural substances, even sweeter than table sugar. It also dissolves more easily into liquids and imparts a unique and distinct flavor into foods and drinks.

During the winter months when days are short I often yearn for something sweet to brighten my day.  A spoonful of honey stirred into a hot cup of herbal tea works well. This time of year I also feel like baking, perhaps to make up for the hot summer nights when a cold salad for dinner was all I could muster, or perhaps just to raise the temperature of the kitchen a few degrees. Either way, nothing will warm you up like the smell of baking bread.

Lately I’ve been baking lots of bread, from pita to pretzels. However, my favorite bread I’ve made so far isn’t baked at all, and is one of the easiest to make. English muffins are hardly kneaded and the dough only requires one rise. The trickiest part is cooking them on the stove, only because it requires 15 agonizing minutes of patience before you can split them with a fork and spread them with butter and honey. Don’t forget your cup of tea.

Try this Recipe:

English Muffins

In his announcement of the IYC, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated, “Cooperatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.”

Cooperatives are businesses that are owned and democratically controlled by their members, the people who use the co-op’s products and services or are employed by the business.  Cooperatives are united by a shared set of principles and values that guide business decisions based on member need and community benefit.

Around the world, an estimated 1 billion people are members of co-ops.  According to the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), co-ops also have a dramatic impact at the national level:

• There are nearly 30,000 co-ops in the U.S., serving more than one in every four Americans;
• Co-ops operate in every industry of the economy, from food co-ops to farmer co-ops, worker co-ops to credit unions, housing co-ops to healthcare, and insurance to energy and utilities;
• Co-ops in the United States operate 73,000 establishments that provide over 2 million jobs.

Co-ops are also important to local economies. For example, the Neighboring Food Co-op Association includes more than 25 food co-ops and start-ups with over 90,000 members and $185 million in annual revenue.  Together, these co-ops employ over 1,400 people.  An independent study found that the members of NFCA purchased more than $33 million in local products annually.

In the Monadnock Region, the Monadnock Community Market Co-op is celebrating the International Year of Cooperatives by opening its doors in late 2012.

“We aim to meet our community’s needs by providing a source for local and sustainably produced food while operating an environmentally and socially responsible business,” said General Manager, Michael Faber.

For more information about the International Year of Co-ops, please visit: www.nfca.coop/iyc.

The Neighboring Food Co-op Association represents more than 25 food co-ops in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut working together toward a shared vision of a thriving regional economy, rooted in a healthy, just and sustainable food system and a vibrant community of co-operative enterprise.  For more information: www.nfca.coop.

MCM Co-op General Manager, Michael Faber, accepts a check from Jamie White, SCS Development Associate

Southwestern Community Services (SCS) hosted a lunch to celebrate their first payroll deduction program, helping their employees become founding Member-Owners of the Monadnock Community Market Co-op.

SCS presented a member equity check to the MCM Co-op, represented by Joe Marks and Michael Faber.  Thirty-one SCS staff people participated in the payroll deduction program to become MCM Co-op member-owners, for a total investment of $6,800.

The MCM Co-op is grateful to have SCS as an outstanding community partner!

Many of you have asked for details about our upcoming ground breaking celebration and when construction of the Monadnock Community Market Co-op building will begin.  We can’t wait to get started either!

As the Monadnock Community Market Co-op finishes up the design process for the store, we have come to better understand the total cost of the project.  Some additional costs have unexpectedly arisen that now make the current building design unaffordable based on our original construction cost estimates.  The board and management are working diligently to reduce the cost of the project to what we can afford.

The board is committed to moving forward with the project, but not until the expense is within our means. We have a responsibility to bring a downtown food co-op to Keene that provides maximum value to our member-owners. That requires a thorough review of construction costs which is taking a little longer than anticipated.

Thank you for your patience.  We are as excited as you to see a thriving downtown, community-owned food co-op.

Sincerely,

Finance and Facilities Committee (Paul Pezone, Ed Guyot, Joe Marks) & General Manager, Michael Faber

Monadnock Community Market Co-op
Locally owned. Locally grown. Locally eaten.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 16,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

filling
1/2 cup whipping cream
8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons crème de cassis (black currant-flavored liqueur)

candied cranberries
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 12-ounce packages frozen cranberries, unthawed
1 cup sugar

Method:
For crust:


Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and cut in, using on/off turns, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 1/2 tablespoons water, egg yolk and vanilla. Blend until moist clumps form, adding more water by 1/2 tablespoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill at least 2 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Let soften slightly before rolling out.)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13- to 14-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Cut dough overhang to 3/4 inch; fold overhang in and press, forming sides that extend 1/4 inch above top of pan. Pierce crust all over with fork. Freeze 15 minutes. Bake crust 15 minutes. If sides of crust fall, press up with back of fork. Bake crust until beginning to brown, about 15 minutes longer. Cool on rack.

For filling:


Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth; whisk in liqueur. Pour filling into crust. Refrigerate until filling is firm, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

For candied cranberries:


Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Rinse cranberries in cold water, toss in sugar while still wet. Arrange on pan and place pan in freezer until firm. Bake for ten minutes.  Cool on sheet 5 minutes. Spoon berries atop filling; drizzle with syrup from sheet. Chill 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.) Sprinkle with additional tablespoon of sugar before serving for added sparkle.

Adapted from: Bon Appetit, December 1999