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Next Fresh Thing: New Products at HL (Saratoga)

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Check out these new and fabulous products coming down the pike!

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PRODUCE:

Conventional White Asparagus – White asparagus is quite different from green or purple asparagus – it is grown in total darkness so that it does not develop chrlorophyll and has a distinctly different texture and flavor – a pleasant bitterness usually firmer texture. The outer layer is tougher than green asparagus, and the stalk is more brittle, so it is recommended that you peel it by keeping it flat on a surface and drawing the peeler or knife down its length.  After the asparagus is peeled, it is usually boiled and then served with butter and lemon.

Organic Maitake Mushrooms 3.5oz Hokto Kinoko Co. – AKA Hen of the Woods mushrooms, Maitake are incredibly nutritious and delicious.  Mushrooms are a vegetarian source of B vitamins, and are naturally high in Vitamin D, worth noting in our Northern climate!  Mushrooms are an excellent source of nutrients, particularly for those that eat a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Organic King Trumpet Mushrooms – 9.5oz Hokto Kinoko Co. – This is the largest species in the oyster mushroom genus pleurotus.  They have a large stem and relatively small cap.  They are an incredible vegetarian substitute for scallops – seared in oil they mimic the texture splendidly.  King Oysters are a great mushroom for just about any other application – they have a chewy and dense texture that holds up when sauteed or included in sauces.

Organic Brown Beech (Bunashimeji) Mushrooms – 3.5oz Hokto Kinoko Co. – Brown Beech mushrooms are so called because they often grow on fallen beech trees.  They have a nutty, buttery flavor and firm, crunchy texture.  They should be cooked because they are easier to digest and a bitterness that they have when raw disappears completely once cooked.  Bunashimeji are very popular in Japanese cuisine. They hold up well in stir-fried dishes, and are suitable for soups, stews and sauces.  The stem and cap are both used, only the very ends need to be trimmed before cooking.

Organic Whole Shiitake Mushrooms 3.5oz Mother Earth – We’ve carried shiitake for some time, we’re just adding organic whole packaged to our sets.  In VT we will still have local eco-grown shiitakes in bulk, and in both stores we now always have sliced organic shiitakes.

Organic Blood (Moro) Oranges – Moro blood oranges are the ones we’ve been looking for – they get their dark color from anthocyanins (those again!) and so have more antioxidants that your average orange.  In my opinion, they are slightly more bitter than very sweet Cara Caras or regular Navels. This makes them perhaps more suitable for culinary applications because they have a depth of flavor that is usually overwhelmed by the tons of sugar present many citrus varieties.

Organic Ataulfo Mangoes – These mangoes are smaller, usually yellow, and differently shaped than the large round Atkins/Kent mangoes you most often see.  They are also sometimes called Champagne mangoes, which I think does a better job of calling out how good these are.  The flesh is soft and very juicy, with less fiber than an Atkins mango.  Sometimes they can be very sour.  They are ready to eat when they yield to gentle pressure, though some prefer them once the skin is slightly wrinkled and very soft, I like them before they reach that point.

Organic Broccoli Bunches – We’ve traditionally carried only organic broccoli crowns and conventional broccoli bunches, but since we discontinued conventional broccoli bunches in both stores some time ago, it’s time to try the organic ones out! Broccoli stems are great for many different applications, they are not something to be discarded! Try them steamed on their own, or chopped in cheddar broccoli soup.

Taylor Organic Chopped Salads – Organic Asian Ginger Chopped Salad – 11oz, Organic Toasted Sesame Chopped Salad – 10.4oz, Organic Sriracha Ranch Chopped Salad – 10.4oz

Organic Bartlett Pears – Bartletts are far and away the most popular of the pear varieties.  They are ripe when they yield to slight pressure near the stem (or neck) when pressed.  All Bartletts start out as green and then ripen to either yellow or red.  Red Bartletts and even “Red Sensation” pears were originally “sports” of the Bartlett – meaning the variety is the result of a random mutation a tree that was recognized for its value and propagated to maintain the color.

Organic Formosa Papayas – Formosa Papayas are sweet and ready to be eaten when they are green and yellow striped. A very healthy fruit variety, one large papaya contains up to 150 percent of the recommended intake of Vitamin C, has high levels of antioxidants, beta-carotene, lycopene, and papain.  Papain is an enzyme that breaks down protein and can support digestive health!

Organic Graffiti Eggplant – This is a pretty variety of eggplant, very similar to the regular large Italian (dark purple) eggplant, though it is a little smaller.

Organic Buttercream Fingerling Potatoes 2# – This is a small, new type of potato that is super starchy, so it is very fluffy when cooked. It has golden skin, yellow flesh, and is 1 to 2 inches in diameter with a smooth buttery flavor.  They are excellent boiled, steamed, or baked – though they are not for use in salads because they are so fluffy – they are too soft!  Being small and consistent in size makes them easy to cook, no cutting required to make them the same size (and cook at the same rate).

Organic Russian Banana Fingerling Potatoes 1.5# – This is an excellent variety of fingerling, it’s yellow with a super rich, buttery flavor.  It has a texture that is lends itself to being baked, fried, or used in salads due to a lower starch content.  You wouldn’t want to mash these but you would want to pan-fry them then toss them in herbed butter (yum).

Organic French Fingerling Potatoes 1.5# – This type of fingerling has smooth, pinkish-red skin and yellow flesh with streaks of pink.  It’s creamy-smooth and nutty, great for baking, roasting, steaming, grilling, frying and sauteeing (everything but boiling, essentially).

Organic Girl Supergreens Salad – 5oz – This salad has baby arugula, baby red chard, and baby spinach, which makes it Organic Girl’s most nutritious salad. It’s triple washed and ready to go in the salad bowl!

Organic Girl 100% Baby Kale – 4oz – Baby kale may be better than big kale, just sayin’. Ready to saute or juice, this bite sized kale is sweet and is even super clean.

Organic Girl Sweet Pea Salad Mix – 4oz – This mix has baby romaine leaves, sweet pea shoots, and tango

Last but not least, we got our High Mowing Organic Seeds in for the season! They are $2.75 a packet this year and we have 144 varieties in each store.  They include tomatoes, peppers, flowers, herbs, kales, chards, lettuces, eggplants, okra, squashes, cucumbers, pumpkins, corn, alliums, cruciforms, and root vegetables of all types.

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GROCERY:

Flax 4 Life –  New gluten-free line of muffins and mini brownies. muffins: apple cinnaamon, carrot & raisin, wild blueberry, chocolate chip
chocolate, cappuccino, & toasted coconut brownies

K’UL Chocolate – They combine an array of super foods with dark chocolate to make a unique, energy bar type experience. 5 flavors total – endurance, stamina, power, electrobar, and marcona almonds. All are 70% dark chocolate

Matt’s Cookies – All are soft chew, and very addictive. 6 flavors total – chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, cranberry walnut, double chocolate chip.

Imagine Hearth Bone Broth – It contains a combination of chicken, beef, and turkey bone broths.

Zest Tea – These are high caffeine teas and come in 4 flavors – blue lady black tea, pomegranate mojito green tea, earl grey, and cinnamon apple black tea.

Cucina & Amore – Pasta sauces are new for the pasta sauce set. 3 total – tomato basil, puttanesca, formaggio.

Curts Classic organic raw nut clusters – Find them in line with the other Curts Classic Raw Food Central items.

Pizootz peanuts – 3 flavors total – baja taco, habanero, and sea salt & pepper.

Back to Nature – 2 new organic products, and 2 new gluten free products on the shelves. organic extra virgin olive oil, and organic rosemary and olive oil crackers. Gluten free black bean lime cracker, and gluten free adzuki bean cracker.

WELLNESS:

Badger – New Mama line: nursing balm, belly butter, belly oil. Plus 2 face oils: argan & sea buckthorn (coming soon)

Schmidt’s Deodorant – Award-winning line of natural deodorants (that actually work). Started in a kitchen in Portland Oregon on 2010.
In these scents: Bergamot Lime, Cedarwood Juniper, Lavender Sage, Rose Vanilla, Fragrance-free and a new Sensitive line without baking soda (Vt only): Geranium, Tea tree, Ylang Ylang, Fragrance-Free. And travel sizes, not yet available from Select

Tera’s Whey – New MCT coconut oil splash – Simple, pure and convenient way to incorporate MCTs into your diet. Encourages energy production and healthy weight management. Supports a healthy metabolism and encourages calorie burn. Mix in coffee, smoothies, shakes, cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, etc.

Rad Soap – New size for Hempstile liquid soaps, 4 scents. 16floz for a lower price point of $9.99.

Lather Bar – Felted castile bar soap

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REFRIGERATED:

Yucatan Organic Guacamole Singles – Finally available through Albert’s. I think this is a great option for people who like to have there guacamole fix, but want to ration it out. You get 6 singles in a pack. The picture shown here is for the non organic ones. We will be doing the organic ones.

Kevita Tonics – A couple of line extensions to our EDLP line. These are in the tonic category of their product line. There’s an Elderberry, and Ginseng Mandarin.

Melt Organic Probiotic Buttery Spread – Dairy Free Soy Free, good for digestive health and the immune system. Made with virgin coconut oil. Claims to deliver active cultures more effectively than yogurt. We sell the regular Melt, it looked a little lonely down there; it now has a friend.

Stonyfield Organic Double Cream Yogurt – Great for cooking. I’m seeing this in a lot of stores. Now it’s in ours. Thick, rich double cream is the ultimate cooking yogurt. Great as a substitute for oil, mayo, buttermilk, butter or sour cream in your favorite recipes.

New Barn Organic Almond Milk – This is another one I noticed at a lot of stores. Now in ours. I don’t believe we have any almond milk that’s organic.

Califia Farms Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk – A line extension to an already great performing brand.

Stonyfield Organic Whole Milk Smoothies – Stonyfield has jumped on the whole milk train like a lot of others. Apparently these new smoothies are doing well for them. We’ll give them a try and see how they do for us. 2 flavors to choose from; Peach and Strawberry.

Uncle Matt’s Organic Juice with Probiotics – A couple of new single serve items that are pretty tasty and I think will do well for us. There’s 2 flavors: Orange Turmeric & Probiotics, Orange Coconut & Probiotics.

Natalies Blood Orange Juice – This is really good stuff. We’ll be doing the quarts in VT and the pints and quarts in NY.

Nasoya Organic Tofu Vegetable Dumplings – These were really tasty when I tried them. Great source of protein and organic.

Distance Farm Free Range Eggs – A local Egg from Fort Anne. Seems like a very good local line. Let’s see how they do for us. Here’s a link if anyone is interested about what they do.

Nadamoo Non-Dairy Ice Cream – A few line extensions here. We’ll be adding the Vanilla, Chocolate and Mint Chip. A coconut milk based non dairy dessert that tasted pretty decent when I was in Orlando. We have other flavors at both locations. Check them out.

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BEER:

Founders All Day IPA 19.2 fl oz

Ballast Point – Manta Ray DIPA

Ballast Point – Red Velvet Nitro Stout

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