The Vine - Summer 2022

Incredible Women Doing Wonderful Things!

Pgs. 16-23

Summer 2022 BRIARPATCH FOOD CO-OP

THE

Vine

Table of Contents

Summer Issue June 2022 - August 2022 Published quarterly by

pgs. 14-15

3-5

BRIARPATCH FOOD CO-OP

The Vine Team Director of Marketing

Rebecca Torpie

6

From the General Manager

7

From the Board President

8-9

Editor

10

Paula O’Brien paulao@briarpatch.coop

pg. 16

Art Director

Holly Pesta Contributing Photographers and Designers

Seanan Maher, Laura Petersen CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS

pgs. 20-21

Alana Lucia, Chris Maher, Laura Petersen, Rebecca Torpie

Edible Flowers Round Up at the Register

11 Apples for Gardens,

Owner Information 12-13

Snazz Up Your Meals With Delicious Homemade Dressings

14-15

The Beet Goes On

16-23

Incredible Women Doing Wonderful Things

24-25

Auburn Store Update

BRIARPATCH FOOD CO-OP

290 Sierra College Drive Grass Valley, CA 95945 (530) 272-5333 For store info visit briarpatch.coop

Recipes from the Editor

26

Rose Water Recipes

27

Upcycled Foods

On our cover: pg. 24

Flower Power illustrated by Seanan Maher

Follow us! See the latest photos and videos highlighting the best of BriarPatch!

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@briarpatchcoop

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Recipes from the Editor

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Recipes from the Editor

By Paula O'Brien, Editor

Flower Power is in full effect in the kitchen! Why not make all three of these recipes and have an amazing meal.

Fried Zucchini Blossoms Makes 4 servings I cooked on the line at an Italian restaurant that had these on the menu every year when zucchini blossoms became plentiful. I made a deal with the guy who made these all night long…that I’d get any leftovers or mis-fires so long as I’d cover for him so he could sneak in the back and drink any beer leftover from making the batter! Make sure your frying oil is plenty hot, and your mozzarella is patted dry before stuffing it into the blossoms.

12 fresh-picked zucchini flowers, with several inches of stem attached 4

12 1-inch cubes of fresh mozzarella bocconcini

12 small pieces of anchovy, about ½ inch square 1

12-oz bottle of beer (Anchor Steam or comparable) All-purpose Flour

2

egg whites Sea Salt Oil for frying, like canola

Use a soft brush to clean zucchini flowers, carefully remove inner stamen without tearing the petals.

Place a cube of cheese and a piece of anchovy in each zucchini flower, making a small lengthwise slit if necessary; gently twist the top to enclose it.

In a small bowl, add about ¾ cup flour and a pinch of sea salt. Add to the flour little by little, just enough to create a batter as thick as heavy cream,

whisking until smooth. Beat the two egg whites until stiff, fold into batter.

Heat frying oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until it reaches 375º, checking it with a kitchen thermometer.

Sprinkle more flour onto a plate. Dredge blossoms in the flour, then dip into batter until lightly coated. Hold each flower over the bowl for a few seconds so you catch any dripping batter.

Carefully lower stuffed zucchini blossoms into the hot oil in batches. Fry 2-3 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oil using a slotted spoon and drain on a plate with a paper towel.

Place blossoms on a platter and sprinkle sea salt on top. Serve immediately.

2

tsp rose water

2

tsp honey, for extra sweetness (optional)

2

Tbsp toasted pine nuts

Makes 4 servings Jallab is a Lebanese drink with date syrup (or molasses) and rose water, floral and refreshing. The toasted pine nuts floating on the top are a great flavor and textural contrast.

4-6 cups water 4 Tbsp date molasses, or syrup

Hibiscus Quesadillas Makes 4 servings When you rehydrate dried hibiscus flowers, they take on a chewy, “meaty” texture similar to mushrooms. Sautéed with onions and chiles, they make a tangy foil for the gooey cheesiness of a quesadilla. Be sure to rinse the hibiscus well to remove any grit before you start.

1

packed cup dried hibiscus

3

Tbsp canola oil

1

yellow onion, thinly sliced

1

jalapeño, seeded and sliced lengthwise (optional)

Ice Add date syrup, rose water, honey (if using) and water to a tall glass and give it a good stir. Fill with ice, top with pine nuts and serve immediately.

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Jallab

mixture is shiny and most of the water has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, set aside.

Wipe out the skillet. Divide cheese evenly among tortillas, covering ½ of each. Scatter hibiscus mixture on top of cheese, then cilantro.

Fold tortillas over, filling in halfmoon shapes, press down firmly.

Add remaining oil to skillet, heat over medium flame. Cook quesadillas until tortillas are golden brown underneath, 2-3 minutes. Carefully flip and cook 1-2 minutes until other sides are golden.

Garnish and serve immediately.

Kosher salt Ground pepper ½ tsp ground cumin ½ tsp chile powder ¼ pound Oaxaca queso, in bite-size pieces 4 large flour tortillas 1

handful cilantro leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped For garnish: pico de gallo, avocado slices or guacamole

Rinse hibiscus under running water to remove any grit. Boil 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Add hibiscus, simmer for 2-3 minutes. Strain and reserve liquid for another use (like agua fresca). Rinse and chop hibiscus.

In a large skillet over medium flame, heat 2 Tbsp oil. Add onion and jalapeño (if using) and sauté, stirring occasionally until the onion starts to brown, about 5-6 minutes.

Add hibiscus and spices, sauté until

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Community Begets More Community

By Chris Maher, General Manager

S

tudies have shown that people who prioritize spending their money on other people’s needs above their own report greater levels of happiness

It feels good to give and it’s good for us. It’s who we are. Indeed, it’s what has fueled our progress and allowed us to thrive and expand over the years.

”Studies have shown that people who prioritize spending their money on other people’s needs above their own report greater levels of happiness than those who spend it on themselves.” than those who spend it on themselves, regardless of the amount of money in question. Giving to those in need activates the areas of our brains that are associated with pleasure, social connection and safety.

What does this mean? It shows that we, as a species, are biologically structured to put others’ needs above our own when we are able to do so. In effect, we are hard-wired to cooperate, a fact that runs counter to the narrative of the “survival of the fittest” that often underlies our highly individualistic society.

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The success we experience here at BriarPatch reflects this, as it’s largely built on the idea that so many people are coming together to meet their collective and common needs. And the message of love, compassion and kindness for our neighbors is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.

We continue to respect our small, scrappy, buying club roots — the roots from which our current cooperative, collectivist thinking got its start.

BriarPatch was founded so that more

people in our community could benefit from good food. At the time that was incredibly “out there” and future-forward thinking. Now that we are a large, independent grocery store, our look may have changed, but our heart and futureforward thinking nature have not.

Our successful for-profit co-op has become something of an economic engine for mutual support initiatives in our community. Our shoppers’ dedication to the spirit of our collectivist beginnings is reflected in their patronage and loyalty to the Co-op and the values it stands for. Sales are strong and we are able to give back to the causes important to them. Now we are poised to bring this work into a new community, and it seems to me that this is an act of giving, sharing and cooperation that will uplift everyone involved. Community begets more community. I’m filled with hope and excitement for the things we can do together in the future and for the future.

By Alana Lucia, BriarPatch Board President

“N

ever waste what you can’t live without.” My grandmother told me that for as long as I can remember, and usually because I was letting the water run while I brushed my teeth. Having grown up in California, I think about water a lot. It used to be that we would spend summers at the American River — swimming, rafting and catching whatever creatures we could find. Now I spend time at the Yuba plunging into her cold waters and basking in the majestic beauty. I also volunteer for Sierra Streams monitoring some of the smaller tributaries to the Yuba.

Perhaps you have seen that we are expanding to a second store and in doing so, we have expanded our definition of local to anything within our watershed.

This is a much larger area that we are including, and, for me, a huge alteration in the way I think. It expands the area I feel a responsibility to care for.

When you think about water, it’s really one of the most shared, recycled and communal resources we have. Every drop of water here on Earth has been here since it came to be, and has been used over and over and over again. Over

time, where it has landed and flowed has shifted somewhat, with some regions getting (significantly) more or less than the patterns of the past. It’s essential that whatever precious water comes our way these days gets used mindfully, more than once (when practicable) and as gently as possible.

As a tiny individual in this grand human world, how can I care for my watershed?

Though I haven’t taken the time to measure my impact, I have many personal favorites: putting in plants that don’t require much water, taking quick showers, mulching the garden beds

have a series of them scheduled this year that you can find on the NID website.

This is an excellent opportunity to hear what they are planning and all of the things that must be considered in making their decisions. It’s also another way that BriarPatch is showing up for our community. We are voicing our opinion that water for agriculture is a priority and hoping NID allocates enough for our own farmers and ranchers before sending it to other parts of the state. We are also gaining a broader understanding of the complex politics of water in this county, this state and beyond.

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Sharing a Love for Water

“When you think about water, it’s really one of the most shared, recycled and communal resources we have. ” well, and picking up trash I find at the rivers or beaches. Everyone has their own ways of caring.

Most recently, I discovered that we are able to contribute our opinions to NID in their Plan for Water Workshops. They

Most of us share a love of the water in one way or another. I hope you are able to make it to your favorite water spot this season and feel a deep sense of peace there. And if you're so called, find a way to protect it.

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

These Flowers are Edible!

We’re not pollen your leg

Borage

Chive Flowers

Dandelion

These little blue star-shaped gems add a mild cucumber flavor some folks describe as honey-sweet with a touch of salt. Pluck the flowers completely from the stem and float in punch bowls, freeze in ice cubes to serve in lemonade, or place triumphantly atop a bowl of cold summer soup!

More than just pretty puffballs…they can add a whisper of delicate, oniony flavor to all kinds of recipes. Gently pull florets away from the center of the flower head.

Sprinkle over eggs and savory crepes, add to softened butter or cream cheese, or crumble a few into potato salad with chopped chives.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” When they’re young, dandelion flowers have a sweet, honey-like flavor. Older flowers have an earthy, nutty, bitter flavor profile. Use the vibrant yellow petals to make wine, infuse vinegar, oils and honey, or to make tea.

Marigold

Pansy

Rose

Marigold petals range from mildly citrusy to subtly spicy. Known as Cempasúchil in Mexico, its cultural importance dates back to pre-Hispanic times. Especially significant during Day of the Dead celebrations; they’re believed to lure souls back from the dead with vibrant color and powerful scents.

Create a marigold-infused simple syrup and pair with Limoncello and sparkling white wine to toast those who’ve passed on. Salud!

With a flavor sweet and grassy, and facial expression bright and sassy. Remove any stems and limit your noshing to the stamen, pistil and sepals (those little leaves directly under the flower). Sprinkle liberally over salads or use to decorate desserts. Candying is the route most chefs take because it helps preserve the flowers longer and gives them a sweeter, more dessert-like taste.

Not only are petals and buds absolutely beautiful to look at, they’re perfectly edible and delicious and pack some lovely, soothing benefits as well. Bite into a rose petal and you’re in for a range of possible flavors – from fruity to spicy – with sweet undertones. Sprinkle dried petals on top of cakes or melted chocolate for “bark” candy.

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Dianthus Most dianthus (carnations, pinks and Sweet William) have a pleasant spicy, floral, clove- or nutmeg-like taste, especially the more fragrant varieties.

Separate petals from the calyx and bitter white base of the flower. Then, decorate cakes or garnish soups, salads and even beverages.

Hibiscus A beautiful, good-for-you ingredient you can use to add a tart, cranberry-like flavor, vivid color, and an antioxidant kick to all kinds of recipes. Rehydrate the dried petals for refreshing drinks like agua fresca, or make a simple syrup to jazz up your sangria or favorite fruity cocktail.

Coarsely chop the dried petals and add to homemade granola along with dried cranberries for a fun twist!

Edible Flower Crostini Makes 24 pieces 1 baguette ¼ cup olive oil 8 oz cream cheese, softened ¼ tsp celery salt Pinch of dried dill 2 Tbsp minced combo of parsley, basil, dill, chives ¼ cup mint and dill, small pieces 1 box edible flowers, whole small ones or petals Slice baguette diagonally with serrated bread knife, to yield about 24 pieces.

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Flowers aren’t just a feast for your eyes, there are plenty you can eat (or drink)!

Always be sure to use flowers grown in a clean, unsprayed, unpolluted spot, and avoid wild flowers you’re not familiar with. Here are some of our faves.

Nasturtium Pickle young, soft seed pods for “backyard capers,” wrap the slightlybitter leaves around veggies like a hand roll, or mince the stems for a burst of “bite” to use like chives. Petals taste sweet, and a bit mustardy-spicy. Toss on top of salads for a pop of color.

Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil. Place on sheet pan.

Adjust oven rack so it’s about 2 inches from broiler flame. Turn crostini when edges start getting golden – this happens in a few minutes so stay close to the stove. Remove from oven when edges are golden on both sides. Allow to cool on a tray before assembly.

Snip ¼ cup mint and dill into small pieces, select flowers.

In a stand mixer with beater, or bowl with hand mixer or by hand with spatula, stir softened cream cheese, celery salt, dried dill and finely minced herbs.

Spread cream cheese mixture on each slice of cooled bread. Garnish with edible flowers and snipped mint and dill sprigs.

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

You can donate to a worthy community cause at checkout by just asking your cashier to round up your total payment to the nearest dollar or more. Together, in small ways, we can make a real contribution to our community!

June

Nevada County Habitat for Humanity

June SPIRIT Peer Empowerment Center

July Forest Charter August Arete Charter Academy

BriarPatch Shoppers raise $$ for Our Kids Place Preschool

Habitat for Humanity transforms lives and communities by bringing people together to build affordable homes for working families in need in Nevada County.

July Tall Pines Nursery School Tall Pines Nursery School implements a combination of art, drama, music, science, field trips and special guests in their curriculum to give the children the most vibrant and inclusive educational experience possible.

August Wolf Creek Community Alliance WCCA’s mission is to protect, preserve, and restore the Wolf Creek watershed by increasing knowledge, appreciation, stewardship and public access to the creek.

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I

n March, BriarPatch shoppers raised $1,351.56 for the garden at Our Kids Place Preschool in Grass Valley.

That’s good news for these super mom-teachers and their kiddos.

“Being connected to the Earth is really good for social and development skills,” said Parker’s mom Zianna who heads up the After School Program at Lyman Gilmore Middle School across the street.

“We want to eat what we grow,” said Mickey’s mom Ashley, a teacher at the preschool.

Why Be a Co-op Owner?

Owner Appreciation Months The Co-op announces special months during the year when owners can take 10% off one shopping trip. Check our social media or enews to find out when the next one is.

Opt into E-Receipts Sign-up: Email hellobriarpatch@ briarpatch.coop for more info.

During Covid, the preschool lost many of its parent volunteers who maintained the garden. Teachers, students and parents are ready to do what it takes to get the overgrown garden blooming again.

Vote and Become Involved

Money raised from the Apples for Gardens program will supplement a grant in the works to revitalize the garden and cover the costs of things like garden tools, garden soil, picnic tables and reinforcement of the garden’s perimeter fence.

Receive 15% off up to two shopping trips each month when you volunteer at select nonprofits.

“We want the garden to be an outdoor classroom,” says Site Supervisor Kristen Bartel. The school serves 40 children, ages 3 - 5.

Vote for the Board of Directors, run for the Board and have a say in the strategic vision of the Co-op.

Be a PatchWorks Volunteer

Text Alerts Text PATCHOWNERINFO to 888-5301949 to sign up to receive important Co-op text alerts and information.

Patronage Dividend Receive a dividend on purchases made in the store in years when the Co-op nets a profit.

Ends Policies OWNER BENEFIT! Lend a helping hand & reap the rewards!

BriarPatch Food Co-op exists so that Owners, customers and members of our community have: 1. A successful and vibrant cooperatively-owned business that acts as a leader among local businesses and food co-ops nationally and contributes to environmental stewardship through its business practices.

2. Access to high-quality, healthy products, especially local and organic food.

3. A community center where people experience a sense of connectedness,

ownership and fellowship.

4. A stronger local food system.

5. A major employer that provides a healthy, fair and considerate workplace for employees.

6. Access to education about food and consumer issues that encourages customers to make healthier food choices.

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

OWNERS ’ Info

Board Members and Meetings Board of Directors Rachel Berry, Kwong Chew, Jonathan Collier, Richard Drace, Kali Feiereisel, Mark Fenton, Katie Ivy, Alana Lucia, Deborah Yashar To contact all the Directors, send an email to: directors@board.briarpatch. coop. For individual Directors: first name and last initial (i.e. alanw@ board.briarpatch.coop). Letters may be left at Customer Service.

Upcoming Board Meetings The upcoming meeting agenda is available at least one week prior to the meeting. Owners are welcomed to attend Board Meetings, either in person in the store Community Room or via Zoom. Please contact Admin Mary Hunter maryh@briarpatch.coop for more information.

Tuesday, June 28, 2022 Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Board Committees To find out more about the Board’s standing committees, please add the following Committee names to the subject line when you email us at directors@board.briarpatch.coop.

Board Development Committee Finance Committee Executive Committee Governance Committee 11

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Let’s Play Dress Up! Here are some ideas for snazzing up off-the-rack meals with panache. Just add ingredients to your blender and blitz ’til creamy.

Swirl some Red Pepper Mango Dressing into your favorite guacamole dip for an added layer of smooth sweetness and color.

Put Creamy Curry Dressing on grain salads, like cooked farro or barley, or more traditional mayo-based salads, like chicken or potato.

Substitute ¾ cup yogurt for the Base in the Creamy Fresh Herb Dressing and use to marinate chicken.

Add Lemon-Herb Dressing to bulghur, riced cauliflower, or tabbouleh salad for a little extra tang.

DRESSING

BASE

Oil-free Red Pepper Mango (1 ½ cups)

1 red pepper, seeded and chopped

Creamy Curry (2 cups)

½ cup sunflower seeds, soaked in warm water ½ hour

½ cup EVOO

½ cup cashews or sunflower seeds soaked in warm water ½ hour

3 Tbsp hemp seeds or EVOO

Creamy Fresh Herb (2 cups)

Lemon-Herb Dressing (2 cups) 1 cup EVOO

Use Spicy Cilantro Sauce as a light dressing for an out-of-this world pasta salad, or on zoodles.

Spicy Cilantro Sauce/ Dressing (1 ½ cups)

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1 tsp tamari

4 Tbsp cashews, soaked in warm water ½ hour

S

ACID

SWEET

Juice of 1 lime

1 mango, skinned/ pitted/chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

1 apple, cored and chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

½ pear, peeled and chopped

4 Tbsp lemon juice

½ Granny Smith apple, chopped

Juice of 1 lime

½ tsp apple cider vinegar

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

alad dressing isn’t just for leaves and twiggies anymore. Great for day or evening meals, it can zhuzh up even the most tired dishes with minimal effort. The best part is you can always make it work with what you’ve got in your fridge and pantry — and a little creative thinking.

HERBS/OTHER

¼ tsp ground cumin

2 celery stalks, chopped

½ cup each, roughly chopped leaves: fresh cilantro, mint & basil

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 tsp crushed garlic

1 clove garlic

1 clove garlic

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Salt to taste

1 Tbsp curry powder

1 ½ tsp grated ginger

½ tsp ground coriander

¼ tsp powdered mustard

1 tsp salt

2-3 Tbsp water

¼-½ tsp salt

1 2 basil /8 – ¼ tsp leaves, cayenne chopped (optional)

2 dates, pitted and soaked

¼ sweet onion, diced

1 large bunch cilantro

½ jalapeño pepper, seeds/membrane removed

1 tsp garam masala 13

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

n

h T

et Goes e B e O

T

here are as many versions of borscht as there are babulyas, mociutes and bubbes, but one thing nearly everyone agrees on is that borscht is a favorite in former Eastern Bloc kitchens across Eastern Europe. Hot, cold, veggie- or meat-based, this jewel-toned soup can be transformed from summer to winter, or hearty to bisquelike with a swap of ingredients in your pantry. Inexpensive and simple to prepare, the variations are nearly endless.

Food historians concur that the beloved soup originated in Ukraine, though the dish was culturally appropriated through Russian occupation and cemented in its culture by the 1939 publication of the state propagandist cookbook The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food (gifted by the Soviet government to newlyweds), which attempted to create a national gastronomic identity throughout the Bloc. The book is still in print today. in Cyrillic, known as “borsch” in Slavic and Baltic languages, the common English spelling of borscht derives from the Yiddish transliteration, when the soup was introduced to the West primarily by Jewish refugees fleeing Eastern Europe.

Classic Ukrainian borscht is tomatobased, loaded with shredded 14

cabbage, root veggies, beets (of course!), beef or pork, and topped with sour cream and dill. It’s not unusual to see beans in many recipes as well. The spice profile is simple to nonexistent – this is about what

The word “borsch” simply means “sour soup,” derived from the Slavic word for the cow parsnip, or hogweed. Green borscht is sorrel soup, commonly served in the summer. Try the recipe!

was on hand at the time. It goes without saying borscht is a health powerhouse: beets are a good source of betaine, the phytonutrient that provides antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification properties.

The key to first-class borscht is using high quality veggies and adding a bit of acid and sweetness. In summertime, pick your best sweet beets, and during the colder months, grab your pickled beets off the shelf for a lovely winter meal.

Either way, the vinegar will add notes of sourness that add depth and interest that make this more than a simple soup.

Though the carnivorous variety is the likely primordial, there are loads of vegetarian versions, born of scarce times when people had to make do without meat.

Makes 10 - 12 servings 3

lbs of your favorite summer slicing tomatoes, chopped

½ medium your favorite cabbage, shredded 2

potatoes, diced

3

medium beets, coarsely grated

3 2 1 1 1 2 1

carrots, coarsely grated onions, coarsely grated Tbsp + 1 tsp kosher salt stick unsalted butter Tbsp flour or cornstarch Tbsp red wine vinegar Tbsp sugar Sour cream Fresh dill, chopped

This recipe can serve as a base borscht for lots of spin-offs. Add beans, pork, bacon, beef or chicken to your taste, or what’s in your fridge.

Add tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes and 6 cups of water to a stock pot and turn on medium heat. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until liquid is very hot. Add beets and carrots and salt.

Sauté the onions in butter and flour until soft, about 5-7 minutes over low-medium heat. Add to soup. Add vinegar and sugar.

Cook 20 minutes to let flavors meld.

Taste for salt and pepper.

Šaltibarščiai

(Lithuanian Cold Beet Soup) Try this lighter-than-you-think summer borscht when you’re looking for a nutritious and simple cool-me-down.

Serves 8 3

medium beets

1

Tbsp EVOO

2

cucumbers, coarsely grated

1

cup scallions, finely chopped

3

hard boiled eggs

Allen Ginsberg’s

Cold Summer Borscht Dozen beets cleaned & chopped to bite size salad-size Strips Stems & leaves also chopped like salad lettuce All boiled together lightly salted to make a bright red soup, with beets now soft — boil an hour or more Add Sugar & Lemon Juice to make the red liquid

/3 cup sour cream

sweet & sour like Lemonade

1

qt buttermilk

1

cup vegetable broth

Chill 4 gallon(s) of beet liquid —

1

8 sprigs of dill, finely chopped Salt and pepper to taste Preheat oven to 425º.

Place whole beets in roasting dish.

Drizzle with EVOO. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until tender with a fork. Once cool, peel and coarsely grate into a soup pot. Add cucumbers and scallions. Finely chop two of the eggs and add to the pot, along with sour cream, buttermilk and broth. Mix well and chill. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Slice remaining egg into thin slices. Pour into bowls and garnish with egg and dill.

Serve with (1) Sour Cream on table (2) Boiled small or halved potato on the side i.e. so hot potatoes don’t heat the cold soup prematurely (3) Spring salad on table to put into cold red liquid 1) Onions — sliced (spring onions) 2) Tomatoes — sliced bite-sized 3) Lettuce — ditto 4) Cucumbers — ditto 5) a few radishes

Serve garnished with dollops of sour cream and dill.

This soup develops flavor if it sits overnight in the fridge. Serve with rye bread (or whatever you have on hand!)

Variations Lithuanian – buttermilk, sliced boiled eggs, cucumber and radish slices to a cold version Georgian - either fresh, chopped red chili or hot chili flakes and lots of chopped fresh cilantro and dill Moldovan – uses a whole chicken for added flavor and protein (feel free to use the feet too!)

Polish - The Christmas version is a clear bright-red consommé with small porcini or wild mushrooms and sauerkraut dumplings called uzska (ears).

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Classic Ukrainian Borscht

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Incredible Women Doing

By Laura Petersen

W

e’re celebrating women and the power of the feminine. What is feminine? That’s a definition that is unique and diverse to each individual. Is it soft and pretty and nurturing? Strong and badass? Someone who can take whatever the world throws their way? We say it is all of the above.

We celebrate you all!

Sunshine Daydream — Sue Kesey dedicates a lifetime to feeding people healthy food

movement of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Young, creative idealists looking for For more than 60 years, Sue Kesey has peace, not war, wanted dedicated her life to making healthy food that was good food. for them without Fresh out of college and newly married, chemicals. The Keseys Sue and her husband Chuck Kesey found their niche founded Springfield Creamery in 1960, when in 1970 Nancy’s a company that would later become Yogurt became the the makers of Nancy Probiotic Foods. first yogurt sold in Chuck’s father helped set the young the United States to couple up in a small creamery in contain live probiotics.

Springfield, initially to bottle milk for “It was an interesting other brands.

Sue Kesey and her husband Chuck Kesey founded Springfield time. What was “We were young. We were handed a Creamery in 1960, and later launched Nancy’s Probiotic Foods. happening in society gift,” says Sue, CEO, Co-Founder and I would say, that was Co-Owner of Springfield Creamery.

Customers loved the unsweetened the start of the natural food movement,” and natural taste of the yogurt named recalls Sue. Based in Eugene, Oregon, in the after Springfield Creamery’s friendly serene Willamette Valley, the company bookkeeper who had yogurt-making now produces a full line of probiotic experience with her grandmother cultured dairy and plant-based and who also happened to answer the products distributed to all 50 states in phones, “Springfield Creamery, this the U.S. is Nancy.” Nancy Van Brasch Hamren What is considered a household and started her position with Springfield mainstream brand today owes much Creamery in 1969 and retired after of its popularity to the counterculture 44 years.

Chuck’s determination to make a probiotic yogurt with the beneficial bacteria, “L. Acidophilus" had been a dream since his college years studying Dairy Science at Oregon State University. It took a decade of selling fresh milk in glass bottles to neighbors and schools before that dream would strike a nerve with the right audience.

“When you think back you realize we were on the ground floor of a really exciting time,” says Sue who was there every step of the way.

Deadheads and Mountain People 16

Sue Kesey hard at work in 1977, and now.

In 1972, Chuck, a Merry Prankster

to this day, hopped in his van and drove to Marin County, California, to ask some old friends of his brother, author Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), if they’d play a concert to help keep Springfield Creamery stay afloat. The Grateful Dead agreed, and 20,000 Deadheads descended on tiny Veneta, Oregon for the show forever memorialized in the film, Sunshine Daydream. Posters for the concert were hand-drawn and printed on Nancy’s Yogurt labels; attendees raised $12,000.

“The band said they would come if we put up a stage. It was epic. There really were not big outdoor concerts in fields at that time,” says Sue.

At the same time, a young Michael Funk, now a Nevada County local, was getting his natural food distribution business, Mountain People’s Warehouse (today known as UNFI or United Natural Foods, Inc.) off the ground.

“His vision of all of this made it possible for us to get to market,” says Sue. Springfield Creamery cobbled it together in the early years with used equipment and lots of hard work. It didn’t hurt that Sue had a degree in Secretarial Sciences from Oregon State (where she and Chuck met) and had studied everything from accounting to business planning to economics.

“Amazing things can happen”

The word was out. Nancy’s Yogurt was there to fill the gap when most natural food stores struggled to find enough product to keep shelves stocked.

Young people everywhere were asking for Nancy’s Yogurt and eventually mainstream grocery stores like Safeway were calling.

Springfield Creamery was practicing sustainability before it was cool and continues to do so through grassroots recycling programs, a solar-energypowered plant and a commitment to support organic and sustainable agriculture.

“The band said they would come if we put up a stage. It was epic.

There really were not big outdoor concerts in fields at that time.”

Sue, a self-proclaimed multi-tasker, shrugs off wearing a pioneer hat. She says she did what she had to do, remembering long ago when it was uncommon for a woman to order milk in a male-dominated dairy world. Juggling a family and a career - kids and now grandkids – is something she has always done.

After careful consideration, the Keseys concluded that their goal was to feed healthy food to as many people as possible. Moving into bigger markets allowed them to do just that.

“The networking of Deadheads is vast.

We had these ties that helped us spread the word that we wanted to spread,” says Sue.

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Wonderful Things!

The business started small, grew exponentially and has evolved over time.

“Never underestimate what you can juggle and what you can accomplish.

Amazing things can happen,” she says.

Being surrounded by good, reliable people with shared goals and establishing relationships with people who are enjoyable to work with are the keys to success, she advises.

“You reach out to other people who have traveled the road and see what you can learn from them and always conduct your business with integrity, straight up and forthright.”

multifaceted business with a full line of probiotic cultured dairy and plant-based products, including organic and natural kefir, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt and oat milk nondairy yogurt. Sustainability and health have always been at the core since the beginning. Springfield Creamery remains a family business with over 70 employees. Now in their 80’s, Sue and Chuck (President, Co-Founder and Co-Owner) are slowly stepping back and letting the next two generations of Keseys take the reins.

Daughter Sheryl Kesey Thompson is VP of Marketing and Co-Owner alongside Kit Kesey, VP of Operations and CoOwner. Grandchildren Taylor Thompson is Director of Sales Operations, Blake Thompson is Chief Innovation Officer and Grant Thompson is Director of Business Development.

“We just keep making good food and feeding people. I think it is our legacy. It is what we do.”

Learn more at: nancysyogurt.com

Today, Nancy’s has evolved into a 17

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who comes from a long line of Quakers.

Her mother regularly encouraged her to make a difference in the world. Service is in her DNA and has always been the force that drives her. Water and land are central themes of her life.

committed herself to finding the answers.

She built a strong foundation for the organization to continue restoring ecosystem resilience, empowering environmentally-healthy communities and building capacity in the Sierra.

“I’ve always been interested in water and how it sustains the land,” she says.

These days, she is taking a break from advocacy work for a year to devote time to self-care, her family, her garden, art and music. She is recharging, playing the flute and whistle, baking pies and reading books by the river. She says creativity is the only way to confront the environmental challenges ahead; the biggest, of course, is Climate Change.

Izzy spent the first 20 years of her career as a community organizer bringing people to the sustainable agriculture and organic farming movement, from Bakersfield to Redding, pushing for the basic human right to have access to clean water, soil and food.

Fighting With Everything She’s Got Izzy Martin talks about a unique life fueled by service and justice Izzy Martin was a little tired the morning after an April event in Sacramento celebrating her 45 years working hard to save the world.

Top water policymakers from across the state traveled to throw a retirement party in honor of Izzy’s lifetime body of work fighting for social and environmental justice. Her old friend John Laird, State Senator and former California Secretary of Natural Resources was Master of Ceremonies.

“It’s a unique life I’ve gotten,” says Izzy, who retired in 2021 from her post as Chief Executive Officer of The Sierra Fund from 2004 to 2021. Her resume is a dizzying list of state and local leadership posts and awards and honors, including the James Irvine Foundation Award in 2017.

For 44 years, Martin has stayed true to her path as environmental advocate, fighting for basic rights like clean soil and water in the California communities where she’s lived. From rural farms and forests to the state capitol, she has secured millions of dollars for conservation in the Sierra Nevada.

“My core is environmental and social justice. You can’t separate them.

It’s justice. We must fight for it with everything we’ve got,” she says.

A life of service Growing up on a walnut farm in Concord, Izzy is a fifth-generation Californian 18

A voice for migrant farm workers from San Diego to the Central Valley, Izzy has held the titles of Associate Director at Community Alliance with Family Farmers and Development Director at California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. For two decades, she grew organic vegetables for BriarPatch on a 33-acre farm in Penn Valley with her ex-husband.

Themes of water and social justice weave throughout her professional life. In the early days, when a child was sickened from pesticides, water was contaminated or a bird was deformed, Izzy would get the call.

“I’ve been trying to work on this my whole life. I have always been working on water. You can’t farm without water,” says Izzy, who has never been afraid to go after big corporations or federal and state institutions. “I’ve never questioned why I was on fire like this.”

But even though she is enjoying this quieter time, planning for her daughter’s wedding and welcoming her son back to California from his travels abroad, people continue to seek her out to thank her for her contributions, expertise and inspiration that have changed so many people’s lives.

“It’s so empowering to empower people.

My favorite thing is seeing the light wake up in people, that kind of waking up, of leadership, in people. I think one of the most important characteristics of leadership is bravery, being brave enough to believe in yourself, have good ideas and go to other people for help.”

Learn more about The Sierra Fund: sierrafund.org

In 1999, she helped win Wild and Scenic status for the South Yuba River and that same year became a write-in candidate for Nevada County Supervisor. That’s when she began to take note of the huge toxic legacy of gold mines in the Sierra Nevada. Izzy had opened Pandora’s box when she started asking questions. Mercury was everywhere. Where did it come from and what can we do about it?

“I was really concerned about the cultural blindness of what happened during the Gold Rush and what to do with all these abandoned mines,” she says.

For the next nearly 20 years, at the helm of The Sierra Fund, Izzy

Izzy in 2017 on sabbatical in Bratislava, Slovenia.

Izzy retired from her post at The Sierra Fund in 2021.

Since then, she has followed all things delicious — from her time in Italy learning to raise pigs, making cheese, wine and rustic Tuscan food to cooking in restaurant kitchens and managing a butcher shop in her native San Francisco.

She founded Heart of Willamette Cooking School a few years ago connecting a community to their food and empowering a new generation of chefs.

Now she’s taking her passion for food and community a step further with the creation of a new nonprofit, Marigold Cooking Collective.

A dream for a more equitable food system is driving Gracie Schatz to turn her cooking school into a new nonprofit.

Locals know Gracie Schatz from her time working in Nevada City restaurant kitchens and interning at Sierra Harvest’s Food Love Project before she settled into her digs in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

Immersing herself in food culture is a path she’s followed since her days at the University of Oregon Urban Farm where she learned to grow and cook organic vegetables.

“It was just breathtaking to me that

“Women are so much more powerful than we are shown to be in our portrayals in mainstream media.” private corporate groups for teambuilding. The money raised will be used to pay instructors a fair wage and support charitable causes.

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

such simple food could be so delicious,” she recalls.

At a time when there is great division in the world, Gracie dreams of a more equitable society and economy. She hopes to get there by helping people from all cultures preserve and share flavors and traditions while providing a safe space where everyone feels nourished and inspired.

“I believe that food is a great connector, that the dinner table is the perfect place to build bridges and have radical conversations that can lead to true changes in society,” she says.

The cooking school will be absorbed by the cooking collective. Classes will remain central to the offerings — in person and virtually, and on a sliding scale to individuals and available to

Gracie trained as a cooking instructor at 18 Reasons Cooking School in San Francisco and says the programs and mentorship she found there influenced everything she does.

Now, Gracie is inspiring others and encouraging them to keep trying, no matter what adversity they encounter.

She has an especially poignant message for fellow women.

“Women are so much more powerful than we are shown to be in our portrayals in mainstream media, in the cultural conditioning we are all exposed to. When we realize it, when we own it, we can absolutely change and transform oppressive systems,” Gracie says.

You can learn more and follow Marigold Cooking Collective by visiting, marigoldcookingcollective.com.

To read more, check out the digital version of The Vine online.

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

ago, while living in Oakland, when she realized her path.

“When I was younger, I ate a lot of junk like everyone does in college. Then it wasn’t working anymore. I started reading Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma and Joel Salatin. They were all talking about pasture-raised meats and I said, ‘wait a minute that’s what we do on the ranch.’”

Doing the right thing Meet Carrie Richards of Richards Regenerative On a 6,500-acre ranch in Yuba County bordering the Yuba River, UC Field Station and State Parks, Carrie Richards, a mother of two, is on a mission to do what’s right for the land, the animals and the people.

What if the beef you ate could heal the environment? That’s a question that guides Carrie’s work and the business model for Richards Regenerative (formerly Richards Grass Fed Beef).

Carrie is a 4th generation rancher who runs the business with her siblings Noelle and Tom. “I manage everything until the cows get on the truck,” explains Carrie, giving a tour along bumpy dirt roads through miles and miles of green pasture where happy-looking cattle grazed as she deftly steered the wheel of a Polaris Ranger. This was back in April, when green grass was everywhere, and cotton-like cumulus clouds moved fast overhead. A snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountain range could be seen on the horizon.

Carrie spent her childhood between two worlds - Sacramento with her mom and summers on the ranch with her dad. It wasn’t until a few years 20

The Locavore movement was going strong in the Bay Area, and soon friends were asking if they could buy a cow. The traditional cattle market was no longer a viable income to sustain the ranch, so Carrie and her siblings hatched a plan to sell animals directly to customers.

That’s when the siblings knew they were onto something big. They started out scrappy in 2012, selling beef out of the back of their car to friends and book club members. And, by 2013, Richards Grassfed was selling wholesale beef to grocery stores, restaurants and butcher shops across the San Francisco Bay and greater Sacramento areas, and direct through their online store.

In 2016, with the growth of the business, Carrie, her husband Daniel and their two kids moved from Oakland back to the family ranch to manage the property with Carrie's father, Tom. After about a year, Carrie and Daniel transitioned their 350 cows and 150 sheep to a regenerative approach using the “soil first” techniques Carrie learned studying through The Savory Institute’s holistic management program for ranchers and farmers. The three-pronged series of classes teaches finance, grazing management and land management.

“When I learned about holistic management and ranching regeneratively, that's when my mind was blown and I began to do everything differently,” she said. It wasn’t easy in the beginning and was a crash course trial by fire.

Carrie’s dad needed some convincing that these innovative ideas were better than the traditional model. “He really didn’t understand why I didn’t want to buy fertilizer,” said Carrie. What she wanted to do was use what they had available, like compost and animal inputs (fancy jargon for manure).

“When I learned about holistic management and ranching regeneratively, that's when my mind was blown and I began to do everything differently.”

The thing they fought about most was hay. Carrie’s dad wanted to continue purchasing feed, but the cost of alfalfa has risen in price from $200 to $500 per ton in a few short years due to drought and fuel costs. Yet, the ranch was located on 6,000 acres of rolling oak woodlands and grassy open space. Food for cows was under their feet. Now they only buy hay for a Fall supplement. Animals are fenced in smaller spaces for shorter time periods, as a method of giving other parts of the ranch a chance to “rest.” The first year, pastures near the barn got a rest for the first time in decades and grass grew waist high. When the soil is healthy, the grass has more nutrition and the cows are healthier, too. During hot summer months, animals go to a cooler, highelevation property to feed on irrigated pasture. Now her dad makes comments that the land “looks really good.”

The journey is captured beautifully in the documentary film, Kiss the Ground.

Watch the film here: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=Cki3e7uYJ_I Every year, the land grows healthier.

Yearly data is collected for things like water infiltration, carbon sequestration and the biodiversity of plants and wildlife.

Carrie is a collaborator and connects with other women ranchers all over the country.

“There’s more of us every year. If we’re going to make this work, we must work together,” she says.

Carrie is an ace multi-tasker. Her young family lives in a home in town (Nevada City) and grandparents help watch the

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Carrie Richards with her husband Daniel and children Lucy and Lincoln on the family ranch. Learn more about Richards Regenerative at richardsgrassfedbeef.com. kids — Lucy, 7 and Lincoln, 10 — while Carrie and Daniel shuttle back and forth, an hour-long drive to the ranch. Carrie juggles a complex schedule of land and fiscal management, while Daniel tends to the animals and fieldwork. The two prioritize family time.

“If I can’t take care of myself, how can I take care of anyone else?”

“I am a stickler about down time in the evening,” says Carrie, who always sits down to a meal with her family and turns off the phone and computer after an 8-hour day.

Business has grown much in a few short years, and from their Bay Area warehouse they distribute to larger grocery markets and are expanding to schools and hospitals throughout California, Nevada, Washington, Arizona and Oregon. Carrie continues to network and expand Richards’ producer group to ensure they are sourcing the best cattle for their customers.

“That’s probably what saves me from insanity.” She also makes a point to carve out time for self-care.

Carrie sees the work she is doing as a land manager as critical to protecting California rangeland and wildlife

corridors, open space that is continually threatened by land hungry developers.

She regularly receives mail from prospectors. If she does her job, the land she is caring for now will be here long after she is gone. She has moments of doubt and challenges when broken water lines or a missed delivery might frazzle her but at the end of the day, she knows she is on the right track.

“I just feel like I’m doing the right thing for the land, the animals and the regenerative movement,” she says.

Learn more at: richardsgrassfedbeef. com.

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Mary O’Brien of Project 1100 is helping to defend native bee species in the West.

1,100 native bee species among the four Colorado Plateau states (Arizona leads with 1,300 species).

Did you know there are 1,600 native bee species in California and not one of them is a honeybee?

Throughout her long career in conservation, Mary has used her knack for finding alternative solutions to a problem to protect and defend some of the Earth’s most vulnerable ecosystems.

For her, an activist is someone who looks at something differently and takes action to stand up for what’s right. For some people, this takes courage, but for Mary it comes naturally.

“It’s the most species of any state in the union by far,” says Botanist Mary O’Brien who serves pro bono as the Director of the nonprofit organization she started, Project Eleven Hundred.

In 2020, Project Eleven Hundred, based in the Colorado Plateau, was established to focus on ending the permitting of apiaries on national public lands, and to ensure that native flowers, pollen, nectar and habitats are available to support the diversity of native bees on public lands.

Why 1,100?

There are approximately 1,100 native bee species in Utah, and an average of

22

“I like always thinking what could be done that would be good for people and the world,” she says.

Shortly before retiring from her 17-year post as Utah Forests Program Director for Grand Canyon Trust, she got a call from an alarmed bee biologist.

The nation’s largest honeybee company (Adee Honey Farms, headquartered in South Dakota) had requested a U.S.

Forest Service permit to park 4,900 hives filled with millions of nonnative European honeybees for several months on the Manti-La Sal National Forest in central Utah.

“They absolutely swamp out the native bees.” Mary equates the scenario to a hundred people swarming in on your picnic. Honeybees living in crowded conditions and shipped all over the Northwest are also known to carry diseases.

Mary holds a Master’s and Doctorate in Pollination Biology and is a legend among botanists for her pollination studies in the San Bernardino National Forest of Southern California. She was aware of how devastating the honeybee hives on public land could be to native bees. Soon she was teaming up with the

Mary soon discovered that the practice of bringing non-native honeybees to public lands had been going on without oversight for 40 years. Wild bee species were in trouble, so as she entered retirement, she started Project 1100.

Native bees worldwide are in decline because of pesticide drift, habitat loss from development and climate change.

One-third of all native bees have specialized relationships with one species or genus of flower. When that tight connection is disrupted, bees struggle to survive. Mary started asking questions that no one else seemed to be.

“When honey is labeled as wildflower honey then you’ve got to wonder, are those wildflowers from public lands?”

Born a Changemaker

poorest countries in the world, and spent a decade with Hells Canyon Preservation Council in Eastern Oregon and Western Idaho.

Even though she jokes that she has lived a hundred years, she doesn’t appear to be slowing down. She uses her gentle approach balancing kindness, fairness and justness to finding alternatives and making the world better every chance she can.

“I've practiced this my whole life. It's kind of like I don’t know what else to do,” she says.

For many, climate change and the threats to species biodiversity can be a heavy doom and gloom subject. But Mary says that we don’t have to put our heads in the sand, feel helpless or carry a burden all alone. Instead, we can come together, collaboratively, as a community.

Mary grew up in East Los Angeles, the daughter of a minister of a small Protestant Church and a social worker on Skid Row. She remembers being “pretty poor” but every summer, her family stayed in a tent cabin on the Kings River in Kings Canyon that her father had access to in exchange for preaching.

“Everyone can play a part.

Right now, things are so troubling in the world – it's kind of all-hands-ondeck. All species around the world are in trouble with climate change. We need to think, ‘how can we do things differently?’”

“I like always thinking what could be done that would be good for people and the world.”

Easy things YOU can do to help native bees:

“I just lived for those two weeks every year,” she recalls.

• Source your honey

“The meadows and bears and mountains and glacial polished rocks. I became hopelessly in love with public lands.”

Before coming to the Land Trust, she worked on alternatives to aerial herbicide spraying in the Oregon and Washington forests with Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides. She cofounded Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, working in some of the

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Center for Biological Diversity to prevent the issuance of that permit.

Learn more about Project 1100: projectelevenhundred.org Note: Mary’s youngest son, Zeke, is married to our Editor, Paula O’Brien.

• Don't use pesticides • Plant native plants.

Bees love ‘em!

• Find great resources with our local Redbud Chapter of California Native Plant Society — chapters.cnps.org/ redbud • Build a native bee hotel: nationalgeographic.org/ media/build-your-ownbee-hotel

Help native bees by building a backyard bee hotel.

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Say ‘hello’ to Mia and Gabby

By Laura Petersen

Mia Narell Mia is a Project Manager and Owners Representative, focusing on non-profit and community-centered real estate development projects. She began her career building exhibits for science and art museums around the world.

She has overseen the construction and renovation of schools, community centers and spiritual centers. When not at work, Mia is in her garden learning to grow food and medicine.

What is your role with BriarPatch Food Co-op's second store in Auburn?

I am serving as BriarPatch Food Co-op’s project manager, which means I focus on the project and oversee design and construction so that BriarPatch staff can keep focusing on their job, which is to run an awesome cooperative grocery store.

The Co-op has been such an important part of my family’s life – we do 100 percent of our shopping at the Grass Valley store. It’s also where we bump into friends and get unexpected hugs and have sweet interactions with random strangers. I’m excited for more people to have access to such a special community resource and to enjoy all the high-quality food that BriarPatch sources.

What do you love about your job?

I love the teamwork it takes to build something. Working with a diverse group of people, making sure all voices in the room are heard, and coming up with innovative solutions to problems together as a group – that collaboration is what I love about construction. None of us could possibly accomplish it alone.

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

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Gabby Rosi Gabby is our project manager specifically for the design and decor of the space, and she acts as a liaison with Blend, the design firm we hired, to create the interior decor, signage and style. She is helping to bring the fun BriarPatch community-based vibe to life in the interior of the store.

Gabby is the Chief Retail Maven + Advisor of The Gabby Collective, an award-winning design executive. She has more than 20 years of experience in the retail and foodservice industry; almost all of that with Whole Foods Market, where she designed and opened more than 70 stores in the western U.S. and Canada! She was awarded Top Women in Retail Design 2018 by VMSD Magazine for her accomplishments, mentorship roles, and body of work.

BRIAR PATCH FOOD CO-OP

- AUBUR N

What are you most excited about with this project and what do you hope to bring to it?

I am most excited about supporting a local business that has a huge impact on the way people eat. I love food, retail and community, and this project combines all three. Also, I hope my experience can support this new store to be as successful as possible.

What do you love about your job?

I love the variety of clients I work with.

Each team I meet is excited about their projects. That passion energizes me to find innovative ways for the brands to stand out in their respective markets, all while having a little fun along the way.

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Rose Water: So Much More Than Skin Care!

W

hat does rose water have in common with cilantro, durian, escargot and black licorice?

For most folks, either you love it or you hate it. Some people adore its floral, fragrant flavor in traditional dishes like baklava, while others feel like they’ve just taken a swig of perfume.

Rose water is a liquid distilled from rose petals with steam, and dates back to ancient Persia and Greece. In the Middle Ages it came to Europe via treats like

Turkish Delight and marzipan, and then later came to the American Colonies where it was the most popular flavor before vanilla hit the market in the late 1800s.

add it ¼ tsp at a time and taste as you go. A little goes a long way, and it can quickly become overpowering and you’re left with something that’s more like potpourri.

The key to rose water is using a goodquality product— nothing synthetic or diluted. You can often find it at Middle Eastern or Indian grocery stores; BriarPatch also carries it in the Wellness section. And, use it sparingly.

When you apply heat to it, rose water gets less potent because its delicate flavor molecules evaporate, so you may need a little more to get the desired “rosiness.” Also, the flowery essence mellows out when baked or roasted, and you’ll get notes more similar to vanilla with a fruity and more subtle aroma.

If you’re putting rose water into something you aren’t heating, like whipped cream,

Homemade Rose Water Makes about 1 cup

If you have some heirloom roses in your yard, they’d be perfect for this!

Use fragrant roses, free of pesticides, preferably organic. Be careful of hot steam when opening up the lid at the end of the process.

Blossoms from 8-10 roses Water Ice cubes Remove rose blossoms from stems and rinse to clean.

Put a small bowl (that holds at least 2 cups) at the center of an empty saucepan.

Add rose petals around the bowl, making sure no rose petals are in the bowl. Add

Razzle-Dazzle Rose-Berry Cocktails Makes 4 servings

Prepare syrup:

Raspberries, rose water, sugar and gin are all you need to make this flowery, fruity and fabulous refresher. Leave out the gin and make it a mocktail!

Over medium heat, combine raspberries, sugar, rose water in medium saucepan.

Simmer 8-10 minutes, mashing raspberries with a spatula until sugar has dissolved and raspberries are very soft. Strain through fine-mesh strainer into a mason jar, do not press solids to get out more liquid. Cool to room temp.

Rose-Berry Syrup 6 oz fresh raspberries, plus extras for garnish ½ cup sugar 6 oz rose water Cocktails 6 oz Rose-Berry syrup 6 oz gin 6 oz rose water 26

For each drink, fill cocktail shaker with ice and add 1 ½ oz each of cooled syrup, gin and rose water. Shake vigorously and strain into serving glass with fresh ice. Repeat ‘til you’ve got all four.

Garnish with additional raspberries.

enough water to cover petals, bring heat up to a simmer. Put cover on saucepan, upside-down. The cover will help catch rose water.

Add ice cubes to top of upsidedown saucepan cover. As ice melts, keep adding more. This helps with condensation of evaporated rose water.

Keep repeating this step for about ½ hour. The rose water should have condensed into the bowl in the middle of the saucepan.

Carefully remove the hot bowl from the pot; pour the rose water into a clean container and store in a cool, dry place.

Rose water can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 months.

ant to create something yummy instead of sending wilted or bruised fruit or veggies to the compost pile?

Maybe you reach for the banana bread recipe when your ‘nanners get too brown and gooey for the usual peel-and-eat.

But what about re-purposing on a food industry-wide scale?

That’s where “upcycled food” comes in.

Says the Upcycled Food Association, “Upcycled foods use ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption, are procured and produced using verifiable supply chains, and have a positive impact on the environment.”

Upcycled food takes what would have been incinerated, composted, used as animal feed, or thrown into a landfill, elevating it into new high-quality products. Reducing food waste is said to be one of the top solutions to climate change. Eight percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions come from food waste and loss, and 28% of agricultural land goes to grow food that’s never eaten!

Upcycled ingredients can be included in animal feed, pet food, and cosmetics. Some companies make flour from spent grain used to brew beer or dehydrated fruit and veggie scraps.

Leftover juice pulp becomes popsicles and dog treats.

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

UPCYCLED FOOD Deliciousness with a Purpose W

Several actually make beer and ale from surplus bread.

Check out these products using upcycled ingredients at BriarPatch Wtrmln Wtr The folks at World Waters take tons of watermelons not “pretty enough” for supermarkets, and press them into juice.

Sir Kensington’s Vegan Mayo Sir Kensington’s partners with a chickpea processor that uses the chickpeas but not the water from cooking them, or aquafaba. This liquid makes their mayo creamy and smooth.

Barnana Snacks Peanut Butter Banana Bites, Chocolate PB Banana Bites, Plantain Chips Barnana makes snacks from bruised, overripe or otherwise imperfect bananas and plantains usually left to rot on plantations. They’ve “rescued” over 20 million tons of fruit so far.

Uglies: BBQ, Sea Salt and Salt & Vinegar Kettle Chips Uglies Kettle Chips feature potatoes with slight imperfections - too large/small, discolored or with the wrong sugar content. Due to grades and standards for fruits and vegetables, about 26% percent of U.S. produce gets discarded for cosmetic reasons.

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BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

New Location at the Pine Creek Shopping Center!

Saturday

by JcPenney

Tuesday

8am– 12:30pm

by Jamba Juice

9am- 1pm

First U.S. Home Loan Solutions Why look further than your local Credit Union for great rates on home financing? First U.S. has the diverse financing options you need and the savings you deserve.

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Low rates No points and low fees Unique loans not found at other financial institutions

Call one of our real estate specialists and we can help you find the right loan for your needs and the right rate for your budget: (800) 556-6768

Grass Valley’s Financial Co-Op 28

2100 Nevada City Hwy. Grass Valley, CA 95945

firstus.org

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

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We are ready to help...call now!

Your neighborhood real estate company since 1973

For Sale Buying or Selling...Let us take you home! Give us a call.

"Dr. Kris" Van Oeveren, DC Your realtor that moves you!

916.712.1797

drkris@recrealty.com

Laura Thorne Something amazing is about to happen!

530.263.1913

laura.thorne1@yahoo.com

Let’s Get Back To Working On You! Co-op Discount For BriarPatch Members

Nevada County’s Premier Health Club

130 W. Berryhill Dr., Grass Valley | 530-272-7676 | www.southyubaclub.com 29

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

join us under the ponderosas!

Old Crow Medicine Show • Seun Kuti & egypt 80 • Monsieur Periné

B a t t l e O f S a n t i a g o • B o m b i n o • C h a Wa • K e a l o h a • L a D a m e B l a n c h e • L a M i s a N e g r a Meklit • Martha Redbone • Red Baraat • Vox Sambou • Albino Mbie • Lyla June • Niki J Crawford El Dub • Electropical • Fulamuse • SambaDá • Fula brothers • MaMuse • Island Of Black & White Brightside Blue • Honey Of The Heart • Elijah Badua • The Gold Souls • Red Dirt Ruckus • Maria También Banana Slug Strings Band • Neptune • Izzi Tooinsky • Bear Fox • Blue Mountain Tribe • Danza Mexica/ Tolteca/ Otomí (Aztec Dancers) K a Ha le Hula O P ilia lo ha o k a la ni O Hilo • Lil & Lo co • M a nk ille rs & Frie nd s • P hillip M o o re Richie Le d re a gle • S a cra m e nto P o w W o w D a nce Gro up • Wa la n A m a na

July 14-17, 2022

Tickets on sale now !

TICKET S AT WORLDFEST.NET PRESENTED BY THECENTERFORTHE ART S.ORG

CCL# 710908

10%onOFF LABOR first service call (530) 388-0086 mjpplumbing.net Remodels Kitchens Bathrooms Additions Renovations

KVMR News Team

L-R, Felton Pruitt, Joyce Miller, Claudio Mendonça, Steve Baker, Kelley Rees, Suzanne Calkins

New Construction Tankless Heaters All Size Jobs Residential Commercial

Local News:

Mon - Fri 6-6:30pm & locally-produced public affairs 6:30-7pm

The KVMR Arts Calendar: Mon - Sat, 9am & 5:57pm

Emergency Coverage:

Breaking news & top-of-the-hour reports during emergencies

The Future of Journalism: The KVMR Youth News Corps

Local News on 30

kvmr.org Nevada City

JOIN OUR CSA!

MOUNTAIN BOUNTY FARM

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

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MountainBountyFarm.com info@mountainbountyfarm.com (530)292-3776

31

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

o Guidance for exploring e n d -of-life options o T r ai n e d End - o f - l i f e D o u l a s & D e a t h w o r k e r s o Normalizing c o n v e r s a t i o n s a b o u t d e a t h o Non - m e d i c a l h o l i s t i c s u p p o r t o Co - c r e a t e E n d - o f - L i f e c a r e p l a n o Family - l e d Ho m e Fu n e r a l g u i d a n c e o Education and public events 5 0 1 ( c ) ( 3 ) n o n p r o f i t ~ www.fullcirclelivingdyingcollecti ve.com ~ “ L e t’ s h a v e a c o n v e r s a t i o n . ” ( 5 3 0 ) 2 7 0 - 9 8 3 9 a k h i l a @ f u l l c i r c l e l i v i n g d y i n g c o l l e c t i ve.c o m

o Guidance for exploring end-of-life options o Trained End-of-life Doulas & Death workers o Normalizing conversations about death o Non-medical holistic support o Co-create End-of-Life care plan o Family-led Home Funeral guidance o Education and public events 501(c)(3) nonprofit ~ www.fullcirclelivingdyingcollective.com ~ “Let’s have a conversation.” (530)270-9839 akhila@fullcirclelivingdyingcollective.com

Briar Patch members receive a $300 Briar Patch Gift Card for going solar with us!

We offer complete solar systems including battery storage options.

Contact Us! 32

149 E. Main Street Grass Valley, California

info@cal-solar.com www.cal-solar.coop

(530) 274-3671 CSLB #779624

BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2022

Spring Sale 20% Off! THROUGH JUNE 15, 2022

Extraordinary Oriental Rugs • New • Antique • Classical • Tribal

Fine Oriental Rugs Since 1980

408 Broad Street Nevada City, CA 95959 (530) 265-9229

Save Land Build Trails Encounter Nature

www.themagiccarpet.biz Hand-Knotted Masterpieces • Cultural Survival Rugs • New Shipments Supporting local charities, free education, health and meal programs in rural India, and cultural sustainability projects in rug weaving communities.

bylt.org

BUYING • SELLING • WASHING • RESTORING • CONSIGNING • APPRAISING • RUG PADDING

A NEW ROOF FOR A SAFER FAMILY AND NO WORRIES!

12-Months Same-As-Cash.

Class-A fire rating the highest available.

Rain & Moisture does not penatrate the roof decking.

UV blocking granuals minimize shingle degradation.

ThatsByers.com/BriarPatch

530.272.8272 Financing available on credit approval with the installation of a new Byers roof.

Offer expires 8/31/2022. Visit URL for details.

CSLB #518784.

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Sign up to receive emails BriarPatch.coop/auburn

Tune in for the BriarPatch Food Co-op Farm & Agricultural Reports at 8:22 am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Newstalk 830am KNCO.

Chris Gilbert

Moe Howard Tom Fitzsimmons

Dave Bear

Paul Haas 33

BriarPatch Food Co-op

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID BRIARPATCH

290 Sierra College Drive Grass Valley, CA 95945

This paper is made from 30% recycled paper

Congratulations

to our newly elected Board Members

Kwong Chew

Katie Ivy

Deborah Yashar