Not Your Average Cocktail Party

A growing category in our store illustrates the community’s desire for alcohol-free libations

by Kailyn Reilly, Center Store Assistant Manager

Growing up, I went to AA meetings with my mom and watched her drink virgin Bloody Marys on the holidays, as well as an O’Douls every once in a while. As I became an adult, I worked with many people in recovery. My boyfriend is also sober. When I first started working at the Co-op almost three years ago, I brought home a bottle of Töst (a local sparkling white tea drink) as a little treat for a special occasion since it’s non-alcoholic. He loved it and it is now our go to celebratory drink in place of the “traditional” champagne. When I was taking a pretty harsh acne medication last year, I was instructed not to drink for the six months I was taking it. I had a few events that I would normally drink at, but instead I drank some non-alcoholic wine and yes, Töst! From what I’ve heard from friends and family that are sober, they still like and want nice/fancy drinks, just not with the alcohol.

One of the things that I’m most proud of and excited about is our non-alcoholic set. Back in May 2022, David Kelly, the Center Store Manager, and I were meeting with one of our sales reps and she showed us a non-alcoholic beer, and I immediately convinced David to jump on the N/A train. Since then, I have taken on this whole category and it’s become my baby. This category is generally growing rapidly, and I am constantly looking and trying new products to sell in our N/A set. If you’ve been following along since 2022, you’ve seen that display change a lot. I’ve swapped a lot of products out to make space for higher quality options and more variety. Right now, I think we have a pretty great spread of options ranging from spirit alternatives, wines, beer, cocktails, and mixers – but of course there’s always room to grow. Our Co-op’s top-seller, Athletic Brewing Co., is actually holding four out of the top ten N/A beers according to Drizly’s 2023 consumer data.

While these alternatives can be great for anyone who’s sober, they’re also great for everyone. Yes, everyone.

On medication that you shouldn’t drink on and you have an event to go to but don’t want to feel awkward (not that you are!)? Have a glass of Leitz pinot noir.

You’re the designated driver tonight? Have some Atmos Brewing Co. golden ale.

Have an early morning but really just want to have a fancy drink? Make yourself a. N/A cocktail with any of the Ritual Zero Proof spirits or try one of the Free AF ready to drink N/A cocktails (the Paloma is my favorite).

Just trying to be more mindful with your drinking? Take a peek at our section, and if you have something specific you’re looking for, please let me know, I’m always open to ideas and suggestions!

I have spoken to many of our customers who are just as excited as I am and so grateful for this section, and it means the world to me that I’m able to provide these alternatives. As non-alcoholic beverages are trending, and people are reaching for them more and more, I can’t wait to see what’s to come.

Not Just A Pipe Dream

The story of how a really cool small bitters company grew from idea to reality.

by Anna Monaco, Owner, TNT Bitters Co.

I’ve worked for The Berkshire Food Co-op for over 2 years now and I still love my job as much now as I did when I started. The meat, seafood, & specialty team members ensure that each day is tons of fun, productive, and as low stress as it can be. I also own a bitters company based in upstate NY about an hour and a half north of the Co-op. I’ve written so many articles for this magazine, usually highlighting my bitters since we sell my full line of products here. I’ve written about using bitters in cocktails, to provide maximum health benefits, and using bitters in your food - an area people tend to be less familiar with. Sometimes, though, I write about non bitters things. One article even went back in time to my summer camp where I decided I wanted a career in food and talked about vegetarian lasagna. What I haven’t written yet is about my bitters company itself. So here goes!

Tonic & Tinctures Bitters Company, Inc (or TNT Bitters Co as we call ourselves) started officially in the fall of 2017. I guess the idea for it started before that though. Let me paint you a picture…

My founding partner Mike and I have known each other since our high school days on the upper west side of Manhattan where we both grew up. My best friend Debra (from aforementioned summer camp) went to high school with Mike and through various birthday and weekend gatherings, Mike and I met. It wasn’t really until we graduated from college that we started hanging out regularly. Mike, Debra, and I would get together for dinner/drinks almost every Thursday for over a year. Our weekly, early 20s style evenings would consist of cheap beer, $1 frozen margaritas, and late night conversations.

Anna & Mike on his birthday (which also happens to be Margarita Day) with vials of margs for an Amtrak trip

Many of these late night convos were about me and Mike going into business together. I had just graduated culinary school and was working for the now-well-known burger restaurant company Shake Shack. Mike was working at a law firm with an impressive home bar set-up, reading as many bar books as he could get his hands on. He would be front of house, managing the restaurant, and I would manage the kitchen. It was the perfect balance.

We used to draw menu items on bar napkins and design cocktails over shots of whiskey. We would come up with restaurant concepts and names and service models. We had such grand plans but alas, we soon realized that these plans might be more of a pipe dream than an attainable one. We put it on the back burner and went back to sipping our overly sweet mixed drinks while we scream-sang to the DJ’s playlist at our local joint.

These pipe dreams were still there though, even as I moved to CT to help expand the Shake Shack empire and as Mike became a full time bartender in the East Village. I moved back to New York and started giving food themed walking tours of the city. I would end close to the bar he worked at and we quickly fell back into our dreaming pattern, this time over more sophisticated cocktails and better beer.

It was there that we started thinking outside of the restaurant box. We both wanted a career in food and beverage but perhaps in a production capacity instead of owning a restaurant - a notoriously difficult job. As both of us love bitters, we started researching how to make them and thought maybe this could be an option.

About 8 years ago, Mike and his then-girlfriend-now-wife Carly were thinking of moving out of the city. His parents had always had a house in Cambridge, NY on the VT border which seemed like a good place to start. They moved to a small town in the area and I hopped on an Amtrak train to go visit. While visiting, he proposed the idea of me moving up there as well and perhaps moving our back burner dreams front and center. I agreed and in the spring of 2017, I followed them upstate.

Anna, Mike and Debra on Anna’s 25th birthday

We quickly realized that the amount of capital needed to start a restaurant compared to a bitters business was vastly different. Bitters suddenly seemed so much more feasible. Now came the fun part; playing mad scientist in my kitchen. Time to bust out the food dehydrator and cheesecloth and get to work!

I’ve never been a recipe person. I like learning basics through recipes but I’m more of a “taste and adjust as I go” type of chef. It’s why I’m not a baker and why I can never produce the same pot of chili twice. Culinary school at least taught me the value of recipes and how to interpret them, using my pallet as a guide. Making bitters, however, was a whole different story.

To make bitters - for those of you who haven’t swung by the meat and seafood counter and been roped into a long, drawn out answer already - you put “stuff” in alcohol and let it sit for 2 weeks. Then you strain out the stuff, add some simple syrup and water, and presto chango, you’ve got bitters. The artistry is in the balance of flavors among the elusive “stuff”. We categorize our stuff into two groups; flavoring agents and bittering agents. Flavoring agents can be cinnamon sticks, citrus rinds, or fresh poblano peppers. Bittering agents are things like gentian root, birch leaf, and quassia wood chips. We spent a few months perfecting our recipes (remember, one batch takes 2 weeks from start to finish before you can taste and adjust) and eventually started actually selling product right around Christmas in 2018 with our core 4 flavors.

Alibi (aromatic + citrus), A Better Name Than Kamikaze (horseradish + ginger), Napalm In The Morning (espresso), and Pink Mist (smoked grapefruit) were our original 4 flavors. About a year later, we added Fire In The Hole (poblano) and then just before COVID hit, we launched our sixth and final flavor Sucker Punch (lime). I know I’m super biased here, but our bitters are delicious! They are much more bitter than most cocktail bitters, leaning more towards the medicinal flavor and bitter agents in them. As all bitters can do the same thing for your health, we wanted to take the cocktail side and really focus on good flavors in addition to all the good things bitters can do for you.

When COVID closed all bars and restaurants for a little while across the world, our main client base dwindled. We paused some new product development and settled into whatever 2020 was. As social justice movements began to take hold of the nation, we also decided our little, tiny, baby company should use our platform for good. We recognized, and still do, that we are two very privileged white millennials. Since then, each Wednesday, we create social media posts we refer to as #wecarewednesday posts which highlight a person, product, or business in the food and beverage world that is owned or operated by an underrepresented group. From women and people of color to the LGBTQ+ community, we want to take our flashlight - no matter how small - and shine it on others. A rising tide lifts all boats so we want to help that tide.

While we paused production of bitters, various governmental mandates were lifted/enacted allowing us to process hand sanitizer with our base alcohol (called grain neutral spirit in our world). We made lavender/aloe hand sanitizer and donated all profit from those bottles to the United States Bartenders Guild emergency assistance program. Bartenders, servers, chefs, and many hospitality support staff were out of work for a while. As our business was still more of a side project, we wanted to support our food and beverage family as best we could. We still donate annually to the Bartender Emergency Assistance Program (BEAP) which provides financial assistance to bartenders around the country facing hardships.

And that brings us to the present. Our company is just over 6 years old and we are sold at about a dozen brick and mortar stores around the country. There are restaurants around the northeast who regularly use our bitters. During summer months we participate in farmers markets and in the winters we are vendors in NYC at holiday markets. We sell on our website and ship right to your door. We are still trucking along and consistently trying to put out community focused, informative, and fun content whenever possible.

So grab a sample pack of bitters (packaged like a stick of dynamite because, with a name like TNT, how could we not!), and swing by the Meat, Seafood, & Specialty department and let’s chat about all things bitters!

Cheers!

TNT Sample Pack!

It's In Your Hands

by Kitty Kiefer, Board Member

Credit card fees – I have to admit I hadn’t really thought about them until August. I was in a Zoom meeting with other Board Members and staff from Co-ops around New England, sharing ideas and information. I asked if other Co-ops had thought about the effects and amounts that credit card companies had collected from us and other retailers. We all began to discuss what we knew, and began to realize that paying these fees was largely optional, if our consumers were aware of the fees.

Banks and credit card companies collect “swipe fees” – usually around 2.25% of the transaction. That amount is shared mostly with Visa or Mastercard, with some going to the bank issuing the card, and occasionally some going to the consumer (by an increased swipe fee) in the form of “points” or other rewards. Swipe fees are set by Visa and Mastercard. (this is from NPR’s Up First newsletter, 9/26/23)

At our Co-op, the Owners have a perk called an Owner Tab which is the reverse of a charge account. An Owner can make a deposit on their Tab with a check or cash, to by-pass the swipe fees, and then buy whatever they are getting by spending what they have on deposit. I try to put on my Tab chunks of cash – $150 or more at a time – so that when I want to grab lunch from the hot bar or café I don’t use my credit card.

Nationwide, since 2020, the amount retailers pay in fees has increased by 50%, according to Doug Cantor of Merchants Payments Coalition, a lobbying group seeking to reduce these fees. The Co-op has informed consumers that we like to make choices about the products and foods that we buy. We read labels.

I asked Jessica Bosworth, our GM, for the gross sales amount and attendant credit card fees for the last full quarters – October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023. During that time the Co-op has had gross income of $13,140,838. Attached to that gross income are $211,949 in swipe fees. I want to include, though, a thought about this from Devorah Sawyer, the editor of the Scoop and Marketing Manager for the Co-op:

Though it is thousands of dollars per quarter, and not paying that to the credit card companies would be awesome, I do also want to add that as far as credit card fees goes this is a healthy number (the average range is 1.5%-3.5%, and we're steady at 1%) and that's likely due to the number of people who use their Tabs or pay some other non-card way. I think that illustrates that Tabs do help.

So we, the informed consumers, can make choices. The more we support the Co-op and other local businesses with reducing the fees paid to credit card companies and banks, the better for our local businesses. If you aren’t yet an Owner, join us and activate your Owner Tab. If you are already an Owner, please consider using your Owner Tab, or cash or check, to pay for your purchases. This is one cost of doing business that we all can work together to reduce.

From The Board President

by Phyllis Webb

As the first few snowflakes begin to collect on the ground and the lights of the holidays burn brightly both inside and outside of our neighbors homes, it feels like the right time to slow the pace, reflect on family, friends and our amazing community! Where did 2023 go?

With my Co-op hat on, looking back on 2023, I feel so grateful to be closely connected to the Berkshire Food Co-op. I feel connected to the people who are stocking the shelves, resetting displays, offering knowledge and quality products in wellness, greeting you upstairs in The Attic, prepping and cooking to fill the hot bar, making tasty lattes, spreading the word, sweeping and cleaning, hiding the pig to delight the children (and me - I get such a kick out of finding it too). Also to those who are researching products that fit our Ends, to be the trusted source of healthful food, well curated goods and creating a welcoming space to gather for all. We are so fortunate to have the Co-op in our backyard. More than a grocery store, we are a grand community! Please take a moment to recognize and thank these hardworking people who take pride in their work to provide you with the best shopping experience – they are our Co-op family!

At home, I welcome the coziness of shorter days. My fingers are crossed for some good ole fashioned snowstorms. I’m looking forward to a staycation to kick off the year – time to clean out closets and cabinets, time to organize, reduce and recycle as well as sort through the pantry and re-stock with Co-op favorites.

Need to expand on your daily meal prep?

For breakfast, my family loves ALL flavors of Soupcon local granola in the bulk aisle and in jars in the cereal aisle. It’s made right here in GB and delish with some oat milk and just a dash of Elmhurst Cashew Milk, topped with organic banana slices fresh from the produce section.

A hot cup of Tulsi Immune Active Tea (I swear by this stuff) is wonderful. All the Tulsi Teas are wonderful, but this tea stands out for me.

For lunch, nothing beats the hot bar's fresh daily soups. Comfort food for the soul and what ails you. I also highly recommend the Flag Rock with turkey sandwich from the cafe – it is the best!

And for dinner, we just made this recipe. It was nutritious comfort food at its best! Everything you need will be at the Co-op.

From the Moosewood Low-Fat Favorite Cookbook:

Ukrainian Beet & Bean Stew

• 2 cups sliced onions

• 1/2 cup chopped celery

• 3 cups water

• 3 cups sliced cabbage

• 1 cup sliced carrots

• 3 cups chopped potatoes

• 4 cups peeled & cubed raw beets (5 or 6 medium beets)

• 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, chopped

• 2 tsp. caraway seeds

• 2 tbsp. white or cider vinegar

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained (or bulk dried and soaked overnight)

• 1 tbsp. dried dill

• black pepper to taste

In a large pot with oil, cook the onions and celery until browned. 

Add 1 cup of water, cover, lower heat, and simmer for 5 min. 

Add cabbage and carrots, stir, simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. 

Add remaining 2 cups of water, potatoes, beets, tomatoes, caraway seeds, vinegar, and salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer for 35 min, until beets are tender. Add beans & dill. 

Once thoroughly heated through, add pepper. Serve topped with scallions and a dollop of plain yogurt.

So. damn. tasty. Make it, eat it. Thank you Moosewood!

We like to serve this with Against the Grain gluten free baguettes and a mixed local greens salad topped with fresh pomegranate seeds (the poms this year, in produce, have been stellar!) and pepitas!

Enjoy, and see you in the aisles.

Annual Meeting 2023

Take a look at the wonderful event we shared in October.

Were you at the Annual Meeting and want to look over Jessica’s presentation again? Did you miss it but want to see what we talked about? Take a look at the slides below!

From the Desk of our General Manager

by Jessica Bosworth - General Manager

Welcome to the return issue of the Scoop! An entire year has passed since the last edition, and our team has accomplished many things. I have a couple of highlights to share, including something that will delight your taste buds: Todd Ranolde’s notable soup program. 

Todd is a wizard in the kitchen, conjuring up the most savory soup creations you’ve ever tasted. And what’s even more heartwarming is his dedication to giving back to the local community. Every week, Todd donates one of his wonderful soups to the Sheffield Senior Center, spreading warmth and nourishment to his hometown. It’s not just about the delicious food– it’s about serving those who need it most. This was an initiative solely of his own doing, and the Co-op is really proud to be a part of it.

Todd takes extreme pride in his craft and is very conscientious of ingredients, both in quality and simplicity. All of his soups are made fresh from scratch, starting with a combination of mirepoix, stock, salt & pepper. Oftentimes, I will get a preliminary taste of his latest vegan offering, in return for honest feedback. If I’m lucky enough, I’ll get a quart to take home for dinner– if it lasts that long!

Have you been tasting all of the new (and well-loved) varieties of soup that are offered on our Hot Bar daily? If not, I encourage you to stop in for some, and definitely bring some home for later. You will be pleased! If you have a recipe that you would like to share for us to consider in our rotation, send it to us in an email: community@berkshire.coop.

On the second floor of our building, above the Co-op, we’ve created a hidden (almost too hidden) gem– The Attic. It’s our sustainable kitchen and home goods shop, which first opened its doors in April and has been thriving ever since. If you’re passionate about eco-friendly living and trendy home decor, you’ll adore The Attic. 

Our goal is to offer, and continually refine, a curated collection of environmentally conscious products, ranging from kitchenware and home accessories to beautifully crafted local items. Not to mention fun and unique gift items for everyone on your list. We know that it’s not always convenient to make the trip upstairs, but we would love for you to experience all of our passion and hard work! Any of our staff would be happy to show you the way if you don’t know where it is—tell your friends it’s there! The best way we can make sure the Attic isn’t going anywhere is by increasing traffic upstairs.

Plans are underway for a complete refresh of The Attic as we enter into the new season. We have moved out some of our old inventory (did you get to our Tent Sale on Labor Day weekend? If not, you missed out! But don’t worry, we’ll do it again next year) to make way for fresh new items. Follow us on social media to catch the highlights of some of our favorite goods. 

Imagine a co-working space where you can be productive in a calming environment, savor some mouthwatering treats, and enjoy an inspiring view all in one place. Well, that vision is about to become a reality up above our Co-op. We’re exploring an exciting plan to transform our additional upstairs area (lovingly referred to as the Community Room) into a co-working office space. If you haven’t yet attended an event in our community room (or peeked through those giant windows), I’ll tell you a little about it. This open space overlooks a stunning vista of the Berkshire landscape that will surely ignite your creativity. It’s close to the elevator, so it’s very accessible. And the space is huge! It covers about the same footprint as our entire front seating and register areas.

We currently have two local artists painting a mural on the east-facing wall of the Community Room, a collaboration between the Co-op and Railroad Street Youth Project (RSYP). They have been working independently on their collaborative design since June. You really can’t miss it, but if you haven’t noticed it yet, take a look up into the second floor windows as you walk from the parking lot!

Curious about the development of this fantastic space? We’ll be sharing updates as planning progresses further. We’re also interested to hear your thoughts about how best we can serve the community with the addition of this co-working office. Send us an email if you have ideas.

I’m quite looking forward to autumn– cooler nights for sleeping and stunning colors to feast my eyes upon during my long gravel bike rides. Equally as anticipated are the arrivals of winter squashes, hearty greens, and local apples. Did you know that because of the intense weather this season, especially the flooding, unfortunately many of our regional apple producers lost much of their crops? Since many you-pick opportunities won’t happen this year, come by the Co-op to get your hands on what’s available.

Farewell for now, and catch you in the store!

General Manager Jessica Bosworth

What’s your Definition of Healthy?

by Kailyn Reilly - Center Store Assistant Manager

My coworker Mark, from the Wellness Department, and I had the pleasure of going to NCG’s Convergence conference this past August. Between information about specific brands, our Co-op deals programs, and even just about our fellow cooperators, there was never a moment that we were not learning something. Business aside, I would love to talk about one of my favorite sessions at the conference: “Dissecting the Definition of Healthy” presented by Gabby Davis. 

Photo caption: Mark & Kailyn, center, and some other co-operators sit around a table at one of the many educational workshops at NCG’s Convergence conference in Minneapolis. These sessions are led by experienced educators from all over the country with years of dedicated, specific experience relevant to issues and puzzles many co-ops work through.

If someone were to ask you, “What’s the definition of healthy?” what would you say? Fruits, veggies, exercise, etc.? That can be considered “healthy”, but aren’t we always saying that every body is different? So wouldn’t that mean one body would need different foods and such compared to another body? Ding Ding Ding! Yes, that’s exactly what it means.

So we looked at a bunch of anonymous stories from other people, mostly employees from other co-ops. They were extremely eye-opening. You know why? So. Many. People. Still. Feel. Judged. In. Co-ops. Yes, we’re extremely inclusive, don’t get me wrong, especially our own beloved Co-op, but there’s still judgment no matter where you go. People are judged for what they eat, for where they shop, how they feed and raise their children, etc. It makes sense that because we are a natural food store, we try really hard to sell products that contain only the most natural ingredients. But do you know what healthy ACTUALLY is? Giving your body what it needs– whether it’s for your physical well-being, your mental well-being, or your cultural well-being, your body knows what it needs. If you’ve had a long and mentally draining day and you want a brownie, eat a frickin’ brownie if your mental health needs it. If you don’t want to go for that run today because you’re tired and sore from yesterday’s workout, that’s okay too, your body needs rest. I think a big thing that we forget to do as adults is to listen to our bodies. Obviously, moderation is still important, but, there are people going through chemotherapy who have been prescribed high-fat, high-calorie diets to help them gain weight– you literally never know what another person needs in their diet, nor do we need to know. It’s actually none of our business. 

I guess the message I’m trying to put out there is that even though we take pride in our inclusivity and judgment-free zone, we’re not perfect. No one is! We are always learning and we’re always trying to improve ourselves as a co-op and as members of our community. Fortunately, I feel that our co-op doesn’t have as much judgment, and I’m proud of us for that; but again, we’re not perfect. Let’s work on that together!

What I want to ask of us as a community is try to take a second before judging another person for what they’re eating, buying, or even doing. We all know how much rising food prices has affected everyone– some more than others– but we’re all just trying to make ends meet and if that involves shopping at a conventional grocery store and buying conventional products over natural/organic products, so be it. It’s what you or your family needs right now. I do it– groceries are so. damn. expensive. So let’s not judge; let’s try to be more forgiving of one another and sensitive to the things we may never know or understand about others’ lives. We can be even more inclusive and supportive of every shopper, coworker, friend, and even stranger we cross paths with.

P.S. Eat that brownie. It’s okay, I promise.

*Cover photo by Katie Law, Wild Oats Market

Bitters for Every Course

by Anna Monaco - Founder, TNT Bitters Co.

Most people are most familiar with bitters in one of two ways: for the innumerable health benefits they provide - like helping with digestion, heartburn, headaches, and more - or in cocktails. Though these two ways to be familiar with bitters are excellent options, the third option can be even more exciting: in food!

Bitters are not just the seasoning of the cocktail world or an additive to a glass of seltzer to settle your stomach. Bitters can be added to a number of dishes to make the taste more complex and balanced. Below are recipes for every course (drinks, hors d’oeuvres, salad, entree, and dessert) that all have a little bump of bitter flavor.

So the next time you are looking to try something new in the kitchen, go to your home bar and grab your bitters! 

Cheers!

TNT Bitters’ Fancy hors d’oeuvres

1 baguette, thinly sliced

Olive oil (lots, it’s always more than you think you need for this!)

6-8 oz beef tenderloin

8 oz creme fraiche

6-8 oz prepared horseradish, strained in a dish cloth to remove excess liquid

1/2 teaspoon (or 5-6 shakes) of TNT A Better Name Than Kamikaze Horseradish + Ginger Bitters

Salt and pepper to taste

Drizzle the olive oil over the sliced baguette until all pieces are evenly coated. Sprinkle the bread with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 until golden brown and crunchy. You have now made crostini, one of the most versatile items you can have in your culinary repertoire! 

Get a pan VERY hot on the stove. You can add a drizzle of olive oil if you want but it is not needed. Season the tenderloin with salt and sear on all sides, rotating until all sides are dark brown and have developed a crust. Depending on the doneness you prefer, you can put the seared tenderloin on a pan in the oven for a few minutes to cook through. This dish is best served with the rarest meat you can tolerate!

While the tenderloin is cooling, mix creme fraiche, strained horseradish, and bitters in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. If creme fraiche is not available, you can use sour cream

Slice the beef and place a piece on each crostini. Dollop some of the horseradish cream on top and serve.

TNT Bitters’ Citrus Salad

1 bulb fresh fennel, fronds saved - the part that looks like dill

2 large grapefruit

2 oranges

1 pomelo (or a third grapefruit if unavailable)

1/4 cup TNT Citrus Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Using a paring knife, slice the top and bottom off of all of the citrus so that the flesh is exposed. Place on one cut end and using the paring knife, peel the skin and white pith away to expose all of the flesh of the fruits.

Turn the fruit on its side and slice 1/4-1/2” thick slices. Set aside.

Cut off the fronds from the fennel bulb. Remove the outer layer or clean thoroughly. Carefully slice thin shavings starting from the frond end. You can use a mandolin if you have one to get even, thin shavings.

Roughly chop the fronds and mix with the sliced citrus

Toss the shaved fennel in the vinaigrette and let sit for 30 minutes. When ready to serve, mix in the citrus/frond mixture.

Note: the fennel can be shaved up to 2 days in advance and stored in an ice bath in the fridge. When serving, remove from the ice bath and let drain on a towel to remove the excess water before tossing with the vinaigrette. The citrus can be sliced up to 3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

TNT Bitters’ Citrus Vinaigrette

Zest & juice of 1 large orange

Zest & juice of 1 grapefruit

Zest & juice of 1 lime

6-10 Tablespoons olive oil

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon (or 10 shakes) of TNT Pink Mist Smoked Grapefruit Bitters

Splash apple cider vinegar (optional)

Combine all of the zest and half of the juice from each fruit to start. Taste for balance, making sure it’s not too sweet or too acidic for you. Adjust with the remaining half of the juices. Add the bitters. This can be combined in the bowl of a food processor or in a bowl set on a towel. Drizzle in the olive oil slowly at first, then faster once it has emulsified, whisking or blending constantly. Taste and season with salt. If the dressing needs more acid, add the splash of apple cider vinegar. Store in the fridge for up to a week. When using later in the week, remove from the fridge 1 hr before use.

TNT Shredded Chicken Tacos

1 lb boneless chicken (dark works best for this recipe)

1/4 cup taco seasoning (you can make your own if you want with a blend of salt, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, ground cumin, and ground coriander but you can definitely use a store bought blend too)

1 teaspoon tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon TNT Fire In The Hole Poblano Bitters

1/4 teaspoon TNT Sucker Punch Lime Bitters

2 limes, one juiced, and one cut into wedges

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded cheese you prefer

2 cups shredded lettuce

1 cup diced tomatoes

Tortilla shells (corn or flour, warmed or grilled if you desire)

Fresh cilantro for garnish

Diced jalapenos (optional)

Combine the taco seasoning, tomato paste, and bitters in a bowl. Rub over the chicken and let it sit for at least an hour or up to 8 hours covered in the refrigerator. Remove from fridge and sear on all sides until cooked through. As soon as it is cooked, place it in a tupperware or a bowl and cover to keep the juice in. Once cool, shred the chicken and mix with the juices that dripped out as it cooled. The mixture should be wet but not drippy.

While the chicken is cooling, mix the juice of one lime and the sour cream together in a bowl.

Now it’s time for the assembly! Set it all out as a DIY taco bar or plate each taco, adding a little bit of each of the other ingredients in any order you desire. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a lime wedge.

Note: this can be made gluten free and dairy free by using corn tortillas and omitting the dairy products. 

TNT Bitters’ Shortbread Cookies

Basic shortbread cookie dough:

2 sticks salted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together in a bowl until fluffy. Add vanilla and combine. Slowly add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture until a ball of dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to firm up, about half an hour. The dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months at this point.

When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 and remove the dough from the fridge. Roll out to desired thickness (around 1/4” is standard). Cut with knife or cookie cutters and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light brown around the edges. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

While the cookies are cooling, make the icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

3-4 Tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon TNT Napalm In The Morning Espresso Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined. If too thin, add more sugar and if too thick, add more milk. Spread icing on cooled cookies. Before the icing is dry, this is the time to decorate using any sprinkles or edible decorations you desire! Allow the icing to fully dry before packing. Cookies can be stored for up to a week at room temperature.

TNT Bitters’ Mulled Wine or Cider

750ml wine or 1/2 gallon apple cider

2 cinnamon sticks

1 star anise pod

1 teaspoon whole cloves

1 teaspoon whole peppercorns

1 teaspoon (about 10 dashes) TNT Alibi Aromatic + Citrus Bitters

1 large mug (optional but recommended)

1 fireplace (optional but recommended)

Or, in place of the cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and peppercorns, you can use about a 1/4 cup of store bought mulling spices instead.

Combine all ingredients (except the mug and fireplace) in a saucepan over high heat. If using wine, add 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar and stir until it dissolves. Once boiling, remove from heat and let steep for 20 minutes. Strain, garnish with an orange slice, and serve in your excessively large mug by the fireplace!

Plastic: The Facts

PLASTIC AND CLIMATE

• Plastic is a ‘petro-chemical,’ (fossil fuels + chemicals). As we shift away from fossil fuels for energy and transport, the fossil fuel industry invests more in plastics production

• Since 2010, 333 new chemical facilities have been built in the US, mostly using fracked gas

• By 2030 there will be more CO2 emissions from plastic than from coal-fired power plants

• The amount of energy used to make 12 plastic bags is equivalent to what you use to drive 1 mile

PLASTIC PRODUCTION

• More than half of the plastics ever produced have been produced in the last 18 years

• 10 billion tons of plastic have been produced since 1950. 8-15 million tons have gone into oceans

• 44% of plastic resins are now being produced in the US for export to other countries

PLASTIC USAGE

• 42% of plastic today is intended to be single-use

• 40% of plastic packaging is for food

• Amazon generated 709 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2021

(THE MYTH OF) PLASTIC RECYCLING

• Only 5-6% of all consumer plastic waste actually gets recycled!  Most is type #1 and #2. The rest is sent to incinerators, landfills, or overseas (e.g. Waste Colonialism)

• In 2015, 51% of the world’s plastic was shipped to China (most from the US and Europe). In 2018, China stopped receiving recyclables from the US due to high contamination levels. The US now sends them to Eurasia and Africa. Shippers and waste brokers make the money while people, the oceans, landscapes and the air pay the price.  

• Only 5.5% of type #4 plastic (grocery bags, film plastic) is recycled nation-wide

• 13% of consumer plastic is incinerated (most in NY and FL), creating toxic air pollution (mercury, lead, cadmium, dioxin, acidic gasses, and carbon). Burying is better than burning.

PLASTIC AND HEALTH

• The average person ingests 5 grams of plastic every week (the size of a credit card)  

• Microplastics can build up in a person’s liver and spleen, can travel through their respiratory system and lodge in the lungs

SO, WHAT’S THE ANSWER? REDUCE AND REUSE!

Brought to you by The Co-op’s Owner-led Plastic Reduction Committee. 

To get involved, contact beginner100@gmail.com or consider taking a two-day online training by beyondplastics.org

Article by Anni Crofut, Plastic Reduction Committee member

From the Desk of our Board President

Fall is my favorite time of year! I can’t imagine living anywhere without four seasons, but fall is the best. The air dries, turning humid dog days of summer into crisp cool sweater weather. It has been a strange summer, too much rain and smoke-filled skies, too many mosquitoes. And yet so many awesome events–music, arts, theater, our great outdoors, local food, community gatherings. I am so ready for the change of seasons here in our Magical Berkshires!

This is the time of year that we celebrate our Co-op owners in a special way by bringing you together for our Annual Meeting–this year on Friday, October 20th, from 5:30 to 7pm, at the Guthrie Center. Mark your calendars now! 

Come and enjoy a unique way to kick off your weekend–mingling with your Co-op community. This year, food will be provided by our own Co-op, showcasing items from every department. You will hear about the state of the Co-op and we will highlight the importance of supporting and buying local with a special panel of speakers. There will be plenty of space open to just enjoy being together.

The Co-op’s Annual Meeting is also an opportunity to hear from our candidates for the Board of Directors. A Board of nine opens the opportunity to fill three seats every October. We have had such a great group leading the way. This year we started the nomination process earlier by using our weekly e-blast to encourage people to get more involved. We had a wonderful outpouring of interest. Interviews were set up to meet with each potential candidate to learn more about their backgrounds and to share an overview of what to expect as a member of the Board. I am thrilled to have four incredibly qualified applicants, and hope that you will take the time to learn about each one through the information available at the store or on our website. 

Voting for the new Board members starts October 10th and continues through our Annual Meeting. Owners get their say on who will best represent their vision for the future of the Co-op. I urge you to learn about each candidate and cast your votes. You can vote for three. Your voice is our heartbeat–as a Board, we represent you! Read more on our website at 

www.berkshire.coop/election.

It’s time to harvest–I have the best cucumber garden ever, and my dahlias are dreamy–but I also look forward to putting the gardens back to bed with our own compost and mulch. I don’t even mind the shorter days. We will eat dinner at a more reasonable time, soon the wood stove will warm the house, and overlooked indoor chores will be tackled.

I will miss the amazing taste of Sungold cherry, vine-ripened Beefsteak and Marzano tomatoes from local farms; the crunch of heirloom cucumbers; local sweet corn, blueberries, peaches, etc. Thankfully, we have access to high quality, thoughtfully-sourced food all year long at the Co-op. 

And, as always, please feel free to reach out any time with questions, happy news and concerns–my email is 

pwebb@berkshire.coop 

See you in the aisles!