The 2013 Spring General Membership meeting will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2013 from 3:30 - 6 p.m. in the Community Room at PEP (Programs Employing People) located at 1200 South Broad Street (Broad & Federal Streets), Philadelphia, PA 19146.

The agenda for the meeting can be found HERE. Apart from getting updates from the various committees (including real estate site selection!), elections for six board members will occur at the meeting. You can see the list of nominees and get other voting information HERE.

Not able to make it to the meeting on May 19th? Fret not. You can vote by absentee ballot. Click HERE to download the ballot. Please note, however, that your ballot must be received in the mail by  5:00 p.m. Friday, May 17, 2013 to be counted. Send absentee ballots to:

Election Committee
South Philly Food Co-op
PO Box 31506
Philadelphia, PA 19147.

For those of you able to make it to the meeting, light refreshments will be made available. As always, there will be community spirit and friendliness to spare. Come on out on May 19th for a couple hours of community, updates, voting, and overall growth of the South Philly Food Co-op.

 

Celebrate the Co-op and the success of our 75 day membership drive that began February 15. Find out how many members we've gained (hint: it's more than our goal of 75) and meet fellow member-owners.

Admission of $7.50 goes to the Co-op's efforts to open our community-owned grocery store. You'll receive a wristband for drink specials from Fountain Porter, as well as a raffle ticket toward door prizes from many our great local businesses. Plus, you'll receive one additional FREE raffle ticket for each member you've referred during the 75 in 75 campaign!

Event: 75 in 75 Celebration
Date: Tuesday, April 30, 6-9pm
Location: Fountain Porter, 1601 S. 10th Street at Tasker
Cost: $7.50 to be collected at the door (No RSVP required but feel free to let everyone know you're going by joining the event on Facebook.)

Congratulations to Hayden N. who gets a gift card to The Expressive Hand (a Shop South Philly partner) for taking the Co-op's member survey! After joining the Co-op our members receive a phone call from one of our board members welcoming them and asking them whether there is anything the new member would like to ask about or suggest. We follow that up by emailing a brief survey to get to know new members better and to ask for their feedback in a few key areas.  It is absolutely one of the easiest, least time consuming things a new member can do to help the Co-op. Our board values the insights they get from the members since, after all, the members own the Co-op and have the ultimate authority in how it is and will be run. These are just a couple of the ways that the board reaches out to hear from members. (The general membership meeting - May 19, 2013 3:30pm - 6:00pm, PEP Community Room, 1200 South Broad Street - is another.) Have you taken the survey yet? Keep an eye on your inbox for the survey link. We'll be sending out an email to members with the survey link. And even though helping out the Co-op is its own reward, we're also offering everyone who completes the survey additional chances to win prizes from other Shop South Philly partners (including one of three $10 gift certificates to Wishing Well!)

Programs Employing People (PEP) will having upcoming spring plant sale Wednesday May 1 through Saturday May 4th 10 am -  6pm.

Featuring: leading consumer GMO expert and author Jeffrey Smith Location: Old First Reformed UCC Church, 151 N. 4th (at Race Street) Philadelphia, PA, 19106 Date: Earth Day, Monday, April 22, 2013  Time: 7 pm. Doors open at 6 pm.

There are still some tickets left for the Eat & Greet at Miss Rachel's Pantry on April 17th.

This is a great opportunity to meet other co-op members and learn more about our efforts to bring a community based grocery store to the South Philly area. Plus, there will be amazing vegan tapas from Miss Rachel's.

Reserve your tickets at our ticket leap site. The cost is $10 for adults and $8 for children (10 and under). Ticket sales go directly to Miss Rachel to pay for the cost of food.

Here are some of the details:

• What: Vegan tapas (bruscetta, mini tacos, caramelized onion tartlets, mini cupcakes and more)


• When: Wednesday, April 17th from 6:00-8:00 pm.


• Where: Miss Rachel’s Pantry 1732 W. Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19145

Listen.  I planted a lot of seeds.  I always do.  And when they first start sprouting, they all look the same.  So I don't have much news to report other than:  more things have sprouted!  You'll just have to take my word on what all these are.

Hey, little green things!  This is romaine lettuce.  Mmm mm.

Look at these green things!  These are lettuces too, only bibb this time.

I planted these a few weeks after my first seeds so that's why they're all so small.  But below are my mustard greens, which are actually starting to look like mustard greens:

Cute.  And now, the bean that's grown like a foot since last week.  Just a couple more weeks, bean, and you'll get to go outside!

Crazy one, that bean.

If you're reading this, and you're like, "Really, just another kale salad?" then feel free to go on with your day. You know kale salad. I don't need to tell you. Otherwise, this is for you. I realize I've written about kale salad plenty of times before, and I also realize that if I posted a spring mix salad with tomatoes, and then another spring mix salad with cucumbers, you'd think I didn't think much of you and your creativity. That's not the case. But kale salad needs a voice.

I made this salad last week for a friend's family's holiday dinner. I had made something similar the year before and resisted writing about it, but this year when I made it again for many of the same people I realized there was a serious need out there to continue discussing kale salad publicly. People wanted the recipe because using kale instead of spring mix or romaine or whatever still isn't the norm for a lot of folks. So I continue in my kale salad advocacy campaign.

This is my go-to winter kale salad. I know it's April, and we're all excited about the brand new veg that are on their way. Go ahead and make a kale salad and add those veg. But even without the bright green goodness that spring and summer bring, this is a pretty mean salad. To read about my conversion to kale, please click here. To read about an awesome kale salad for summer, please click here. Otherwise, let's add some tangy dried cranberries and some onion and make this salad happen.

Destem your kale.

Wash your kale. If you placed your onion and cranberries on top of your unwashed kale for a photo, wash them too.

Thinly slice your onion. I rely on a mandoline for this, but if you're handy with a knife, that works too. I think thinly sliced onion is salad's best friend, kale or otherwise. Greens that have spent quality time in the fridge with thinly sliced onion don't need much in the way of dressing. They're ready.

Get some salt. This is kind of a lot of salt. I used a little more than half a teaspoon for a bunch of kale (two hearty servings). This gets drained so you're not ingesting all of it, but you need a good bit to start with. I prefer to use sea salt or other coarse salt - this is "fine," but it's coarser than table salt.

Get some vinegar or lemon juice. I usually go with lemon juice, but last week I tried vinegar and it worked really well, so I'll bring that into the rotation. About two tablespoons.

Add that to your salad. This salad is in a clear bowl, but I think it looks like it's levitating. Kale salad is wonderful, but perhaps not magic.

Now massage it. The vinegar (or lemon juice) and salt will tenderize it. With your bare hands - checking first for papercuts and hangnails, what with the vinegar and all - tear it up, twist it, wring it out, and generally mush it around. Spend 3-5 minutes on this per bunch of kale (last week's four-bunch salad required a tag team effort).

As you're doing this, green liquid will pool at the bottom of your bowl, as illustrated in the blurry photo below. This is your friend. Rub the kale into the liquid. Wring out the kale. Rub it into the liquid again.

Your kale will radically decrease in volume. Your fingernails will turn green.

Add in your cranberries (a cup or so per bunch) and onions (a quarter of a red onion, sliced very thin).

Toss that together and stick it in the fridge. Let it chill with that green liquid for at least an hour, but overnight is really best.

After a while in the fridge the kale will be more tender, the onions will be more mild (and greenish), and the dried cranberries will have plumped a bit and be softer. Drain off the remaining green liquid.

You can serve it as is, or dress it like any other salad. I like to use strawberry balsamic dressing and candied walnuts.

This recipe is cross-posted at SaturdaysMouse.com where I’m working on making food out of food.

Cranberry Kale Salad

• 1 bunch kale


• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced


• 1 cup dried cranberries


• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice


• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Wash and destem the kale. Add salt and vinegar and massage for 3-5 minutes, tearing the kale as you go. Kale will decrease in volume and green liquid will gather in the bowl.

Add cranberries and onions, toss vigorously and refrigerate for at least an hour, overnight is best.

Drain and serve, as is or dressed.

Serves two to four.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Wait time: at least 1 hour

Is your wish for a delicious vegan dish?

Whether you’re a member or just want to learn more about the South Philly Food Co-op, you are invited to join us for a specially prepared feast of vegan tapas at Miss Rachel’s Pantry

Here are the details:

• What: Vegan tapas (bruscetta, mini tacos, caramelized onion tartlets, mini cupcakes and more)


• When: Wednesday, April 17th from 6:00-8:00 pm.


• Where: Miss Rachel’s Pantry 1732 W. Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19145


• Why: To say hello to old and new members or to find out more about the South Philly Food Co-op
  


• How: Reservations are required. Go to our ticket leap site to make a reservation.


• The cost to attend is $15 for adults and $8 for children (10 and under) which will be paid at the door.


• Please note that this is not a fundraiser for the South Philly Food Co-op. All money collected goes to Miss Rachel’s Pantry to cover food costs.