Posts

Strawberry Shortbread Sandwich Cookies (Vegan)

Local strawberries have arrived at the Co-op and the possibilities for scrumptious strawberry desserts are endless. We decided to make these adorably delicious sandwich cookies using freshly sliced strawberries and vegan ingredients so everyone can have a bite. Serve them for dessert or as a sweet treat on a sunny afternoon

 

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cups powdered sugar
1 ¼ cups softened vegan butter (unsalted)
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 T water

 

For the filling:

½ cup vegetable shortening or soft vegan butter (unsalted)
2 cups powdered sugar
1.2 tsp vanilla extract
½ T water
10-12 thinly sliced strawberries

 

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 325°. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, add your flour and powdered sugar. Mix them to combine.
Add your softened vegan butter and vanilla.

Mix the dough with a hand mixer on medium speed until the dough is blended together. It will be
crumbly but just barely stick together.

Add your tablespoon of water. This will help prevent the dough from crumbling too much when you roll it and cut out your cookies.

Roll out your dough into a ¼ inch thick sheet. Make sure your rolling pin and surface are floured well to keep the dough from sticking. You can also roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper if desired.

Use the cookie cutter of your choice to cut out your cookie shapes. Place your cookies on the prepared baking sheet.

You may continue rolling and cutting out cookies using the leftover dough. Depending on the size of your cookie cutter, you should have about 24 cookies. Make sure you have an even number of cookies to sandwich them in the final step.

Bake the cookies for 14-16 minutes, or until the bottom of the cookies are slightly golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool for 30 minutes.

While your cookies are cooling, you can make your filling.

In a medium sized bowl, add your powdered sugar, vanilla extract and water.

With a hand mixer, mix them on low speed until combined. Set aside.

Slice your strawberries and set them aside.

To assemble your sandwich cookies, spread about a tablespoon of frosting on the inside of each cookie. You can do this using a butterknife or a pastry bag.

For half of the cookies, place 2-3 slices of strawberry on top of the filling to create a layer.

Gently press another cookie on top of the cookies with strawberries inside. The filling will create a glue to hold the cookies together and keep the strawberry in place.

After you’ve assembled your cookies, place them in the refrigerator to help the filling set.

These cookies will hold up for 24 hours in the refrigerator if made ahead. Enjoy!

Meating the Needs of Our Community

During April and May, many meat processing plants in the United States temporarily closed or slowed their processing speeds due to COVID-19. This caused concerns that we could experience a nationwide meat shortage, impacting how we feed our families.

These closures and delays have shed light on issues in the commercial meat supply chain, as many farmers can’t get their products to consumers despite steady demand for meat. We spoke with our local vendors, Polyface Farm and T&E Meats, about how they’re serving their customers during this time, as well as how the locally-based supply chain gives them an advantage over large-scale agribusiness.

 

In a telephone interview, Daniel Salatin of Polyface Farm in Swoope, VA, discussed how the farm has changed operations to meet customers needs. “We used to have a 30/30/30 model before the outbreak. That was split between restaurants, retail from our farm or grocery stores, and our neighborhood drops.” Mr. Salatin told us that at the beginning of the pandemic, Polyface Farm was concerned about losing business, as many restaurants began cancelling large orders. “Then, everything else went crazy,” he said, “Retailers and grocers like the Friendly City Food Co-Op, our online and on-farm sales went through the roof.” Mr. Salatin told us that these changes didn’t present many problems to Polyface’s ability to provide meat to their customers, other than trying to meet the drastic increase in demand.

 

Mr. Salatin explained that being a locally-oriented farm gave them freedom to change direction when they needed to. “Because our supply chain is small and local, it’s flexible,” he stated. “The commercial meat supply chain is like an aircraft carrier. When you load it up and it takes off, it’s going to take awhile to reroute it. The commercial food industry is built around packaging huge amounts of food for public spaces like restaurants and cafeterias, but now people are eating in very different places. Our local supply chain is like a kayak. We can change course easily without so much resistance.”

 

This statement from Mr. Salatin brought our attention to an issue in the commercial meat supply chain which has caused supply shortages in the previous months. The equipment used to process livestock in commercial meat processing plants is very specialized. This machinery is designed to package products in a specific way, often in packages holding large amounts of meat. These quantities are meant to be sold to restaurants, commercial cafeterias and other foodservice industries that need lots of product to stock kitchens and feed large amounts of people. With many Americans staying at home, demand for these industrial quantities of meat has almost disappeared. However, demand for smaller amounts of meat, such as those found in grocery stores, has skyrocketed. Many of these plants weren’t designed to package smaller quantities of meat and can’t convert their processing lines to package it. This means they can’t get meat to market in amounts people and families want to buy.

 

Mr. Salatin told us that Polyface Farm sends its animals to T&E Meats, a local processing facility in Harrisonburg, VA. He stated that T&E Meats has been able to process and package their meat at quantities they need in order to sell to grocers and families in the Valley. Joel Salatin, a co-owner of Polyface Farm, has had a business relationship with T&E Meats since 2008, when he and Joe Cloud purchased the processing facility from it’s previous owners.

 

We spoke with Joe Cloud of T&E Meats through email to find out more about how they’re adapting to meet the needs of they’re customers. His customers are local farmers, who send their animals to T&E Meats for processing. Mr. Cloud also discussed the issue of specialized packaging in commercial plants and compared his business to theirs. “We have a number of packaging options, which give us flexibility for either retail or wholesale type of sales,” Mr. Cloud wrote. He told us that as a small-scale processor, T&E Meats doesn’t use the type of expensive equipment found in most commercial processing plants. “As a small local meat processor, we can not afford those types of investments, but in fact still do most of our work by hand, including putting individual cuts of meat into packages by hand.”

Mr. Cloud explained that because T&E Meats processes products by hand, they’re able to be flexible when packaging products and aren’t forced to package specific quantities every time. This means they can adapt to the needs of their customers, such as Polyface Farm, to package products for grocery sales or to families through on-farm stores. Mr. Cloud told us that initially, T&E Meats experienced the same concerns about restaurant sales in the beginning of pandemic. “When the COVID initially hit Virginia back in mid-March, there were a few days when it looked like it was going to have a major impact on our business, as farmers saw an overnight plunge in restaurant orders.” Those concerns were soon met with an “explosion” of demand for processing, as farmers were seeing an increase in sales from groceries and families.

 

In his interview, Mr. Cloud discussed another issue the commercial meat supply is facing due to COVID-19 that impacts farmers as well as customers. The specialized equipment at commercial processing plants may seem innovative, however, Mr. Cloud stated that “because the lines involve a fair amount of robotics, each hog has to almost exactly all the same shape and size, which accounts for why we hear about so many hogs in the Midwest being slaughtered and disposed of. Because after growing just two or three weeks longer due to a delay in processing, they can no longer pass down that meat cutting line.” Unlike small-scale farms, most commercial farmers depend solely on commercial plants to process their animals. When these plants close, they can’t sell their animals once they’ve reached the sale weight or size. Because the specialized equipment used at these plants can’t process animals over a certain size, they may be euthanized if farmers can’t sell them for processing to commercial plants in time.

 

Mr. Cloud told us that this hasn’t been an issue for T&E Meats. “We may only be able to break down 30 or 40 hogs in a day,” Mr. Cloud stated, “but each one of those hogs may be a different breed, a different size, and they may each be cut to a different set of instructions.” Because T&E Meats processes animals by hand, they don’t have the same size limitations or requirements as commercial meat processing facilities. While T&E Meats has not experienced the same delays in processing that commercial plants have, they have needed to limit the variety of cuts or products they produce in order to keep up with demand. However, these changes are done to ensure that customers and families can receive popular or staple products that are in high demand during this time, not due to a lack of supply.

 

Many are concerned that they’ll struggle to put meat on their dinner table in the coming weeks. The success of our small-scale suppliers demonstrates that issues in the commercial supply chain are causing meat shortage concerns, not a lack of livestock on American farms. Small farms aren’t constrained by the demands of the large-scale, commercial industry and supply chain. In our supply chain, animals go from farms, small-scale processors and arrive at the Friendly City Food Co-Op.

 

The ability of the local supply chain to be flexible and meet the needs of our community stands out during this time. You can trust us and our local vendors to keep high-quality proteins on your family’s dinner table.

.

 

 

LOCAL FOCUS White Oak Lavender Farm

White Oak Lavender Farm is just one of over 150 local vendors the co-op represents. Here is their story.

By Guest Blogger- Kaitlin Fee

The White Oak Lavender Farm is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and provides a variety of goods and services to the local community. While visiting the lavender farm, you are surrounded by a plethora of events and activities. The farm embodies a relaxed atmosphere that anyone can enjoy. The farm offers lavender classes such as wreath making, aroma 101, wreath and wine, and wands and wine. These classes are listed on an updated schedule featured on the website. The classes cover topics such as incorporating lavender into everyday life and providing instruction for creating crafts using lavender.

 

The farm was established in 2005 by the Haushalter family. Julie Haushalter enjoyed experimenting and working with lavender as a hobby, and eventually grew it into a family practice and business. The Harrisonburg community adapted very well to the opening of the farm. The community loves to discover new products on the farm as well as participate in the practices offered.

 

“I know and work with many people that have anxiety and I wanted to find a natural way to help them cope with it, Haushalter said. “Lavender serves as a stress reliever and is a very natural way of healing.” The farm holds over 100 products, but the most popular are the 100% essential lavender oils, lavender linen sprays and lotions and soaps. Haushalter’s favorite part of the job is meeting new people in the community.

 

The White Oak Lavender Farm welcomes all to come out and enjoy the essence of lavender and the atmosphere of the farm. On the farm they also have a variety of people-friendly animals that visitors can interact with. Haushalter hopes that through interaction with customers, she can emphasize her business serves to help.