In this Issue

	DIY Cheesemakers: Using Direct Set Cultures
	Friday Tasting: Tuscan Wines
	Compost those Tubs!

Featured Item

Pannocchie "Waves of Grain" Pasta is hard to describe and delicious to eat. It's a wavy, dense pasta that grabs any sauce that comes near. Thick, thin, red, white -- no sauce can escape the Pannoccie! Enjoy it baked, smothered with a simple tomato-kale sauce and topped with cheese (with a nice glass of Rosso di Montalcino perhaps?) or break it into smaller pieces and add delicious substance to a simple, brothy vegetable soup. However you decide to use it, we think you'll really like it!

DIY Cheesemakers: Using Direct Set Cultures

If you’re interested in making cheese at home and want to learn a bit more about it, join our Do It Yourself Cheesemaking group. The group is very casual and gets together every few months to discuss techniques and resources. On Wednesday, November 4th, group member Gayle Starbuck will demonstrate basic soft fresh cheesemaking techniques using direct set cultures . She’ll discuss equipment, sources, and using herbs and flowers to decorate and flavor fresh cheeses, along with using cultures to make Fromage Blanc, crème fraiche, Fromagina, mascarpone, and more. The class will run 6:30 – 7:30pm. It’s free and no reservations are required. For more information, call the shop at 503.284.1157.

Friday Tasting: Tuscan Wines

When the weather turns cool and blustery I start to crave food and wine from northern Italy. Don’t you? There’s something magical about enjoying a bowl of pasta with a hearty meat sauce and a glass of Brunello while the wet wind slaps at the trees outside. Or coming in from the cold night air to smell a simmering white bean & sage stew and hear the cork slip out of a bottle of Chianti Classico. Tuscan wines just seem so right when we’re sliding toward winter! If you’d like to test this idea, stop by the shop on Friday, November 6th from 4:30 to 6:30pm , when Elaine Testa from Casa Bruno will be offering tastes of four delicious Tuscan wines: 2008 Corte alla Flora IGT Giuggiolo Bianco, 2005 Castelli Martinozzi Rosso di Montalcino, 2006 Felsina Chianti Classico, and 2003 Centolani Brunello di Montalcino . Perhaps a reason to look forward to dark and stormy nights?

Compost those Tubs!

We’ve recently started working with Portland’s business composting program at the shop, which means that all our food scraps and much of our paper waste stays out of the landfill. We’re also switching to sustainable materials for as much of our packaging as possible. At this point, all of our tubs for olives, dried fruits and nuts, plus sandwich wrappers, soup and salad to-go containers are compostable. If you like, you can help extend our efforts by disposing of them in your green bin at home when you’re finished with them. Thanks!