The Little Shop That Could

Name: The Little Shop That Could
Address: 98 Commonwealth Avenue, Concord, MA, 01742, US
Telephone: (978) 274-2656

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The Little Shop That Could

A retailer's love affair with community and food. A real romp! Life, business and darn good recipes. Hilarious and thoughtful.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by our shop in West Concord. https://www.facebook.com/debrasnaturalgourmet/

03/10/2022

Oh no! Who knew there could be such a difference in sesame seed flours? Kevala sesame seed flour is much drier than the brand we carried before (unavailable now). That means you have to DOUBLE the amount of tahini, increase it to 1/2 cup if using Kevala sesame seed flour when making the sesame seed cookies, the recipe in our February store newsletter. If you don't, your dough and cookies will be crumbly. I will rerun this notice in our April store newsletter. Goodness gracious! Debra

02/25/2022

Yes, it's snowing. We're open. Our intrepid crew met the trucks and we've fresh produce, groceries, and milk and eggs. We will stay open unless things get dicey later on. For all you hardy New Englanders, enjoy the humor below (from 2004)! Debra

The official New Englander Temperature Conversion Chart
50F (10 C)
Californians shiver uncontrollably
New Englanders plant gardens

35 F (1.6 C)
Italian Cars won’t start
New Englanders drive with the windows down

32 F (0 C)
Florida water freezes
New England water gets thicker

0 F (-17.9 C)
New York City landlords finally turn on the heat.
New Englanders have the last cookout of the season

-60 F (-51 C)
Mt. St. Helens freezes
New Englander Girl Scouts sell cookies door-to-door.

-100 F (-73 C)
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole
New Englanders pull down their ear flaps

-173 F (-114 C)
Hell freezes over
The boston Red Sox win the World Series

01/10/2022

Make your own vanilla extract. I did this for years. I got excited when the Boston Globe ran an article about the same.

Yes, we have organic vanilla beans, and I always use less than the Globe suggested. I also let mine "age" for 6 months.

Here's what I do: Snip 6 vanilla beans into 1" pieces. Put them into a quart of 80 proof vodka. Put cover back on bottle. Store bottle in cool dark cupboard, shaking gently once a day. Liquid will start to turn dark before too long.

Many folks don't snip the beans. Bean DO look prettier when put into a bottle whole. But they give up their fragrance more easily when snipped. Many folks use pretty bottles. They pour their vodka into those. I've always taken the lazy way out.

The photo shows someone who used whole beans and pretty bottles. It's up to you, tootsie pies.

Yes, you can use bourbon, rum or brandy, but watching the vodka turn color is so much fun.... Let me know if you make your own vanilla. If you don't, make sure you use the real deal and we have wonderful vanillas from Madagascar and Tahiti that are fair-trade, organic and use no sugar.

12/16/2021

The amazing Bariani extra virgin olive oil is back! This year's Mission and Manzanillo olive crop has been picked, cold-pressed using traditional Italian methods. The oil is raw, certified organic. High in antioxidants. (Their Early Harvest oil is highest in antioxidants -- nice and bitter. A great finishing oil.)

The flavor of the oil differs slightly from year to year, and the supply of oil each year is limited too.

Once the oil has been squeezed out of the olives, "the leftover olive paste, which is highly acidic, is spread in the orchards, around the trees, where it acts as an herbicide. After a few months, the paste mellows out and becomes an excellent organic compound–rich in nutrients–which the olives absorb as fertilizer. Even the pits find a use. Currently, they are being fed into a furnace to heat their facility and provide hot water, and the family is experimenting with burning the olive pits for use in pellet stoves and smokers, " wrote Sarah Singleton in the Midtown Monthly some years back.

12/12/2021

Established in 1912, Oasis Date Gardens, the oldest organic date farm in the US, is now a part of Woodspur Farms, the largest, integrated organic date farming operation in the US in acreage and volume.

We received the first new crop dates on Saturday, 4 # boxes of Medjool dates -- a gift fit for the gods! Four pounds of Medjools for $39. Elsewhere, two pound gift boxes of organic Medjools go for $38 -- double the price. Hmmm. Guess where I'm getting my date boxes????

Exotic Zahidi and Halawi dates arriving this coming week.

Oasis and Woodspur are proud they respect ancient wisdom. They thin regularly, because “more space between trees means more sunlight and more efficient water usage. The results are stunning: • Larger, fleshier and sweeter fruit; • Abundant crops each and every year; • Reduced need for water and fertilizer.”

12/10/2021

From Alex. It takes a village. A truck driver went out of his way to get veggies to us. He took a load off of another struggling truck and raced it to us so we all could eat. We appreciate his kindness.

Produce report: Currently, problems getting green cabbage as odd as that sounds. The much loved honeynut squash is done. Delicata has been spotty but is picking back up. Citrus is coming in beautifully, and the new crop pears are arriving. Seckel pears, soon!

Persimmons, pomegranates and grapes winding down. Berries limited, but we have nice blueberry pints galore. Strawberries, on the other hand, are too expensive.

Back to kindness. Thank you to you all for your kindness, acceptance and compliments. We'll pass your kindness on. See you soon. Alex

12/03/2021

Peace Cranes. We had a 1,000 peace cranes hand-folded by Daphne Costa flying in our store window after 9/11. Daphne and her family still fold cranes in memory of the story of Sadako Sasaki who died of leukemia. Their company is Peace Craft.

According to Japanese legend, cranes live for a 1,000 years, and a sick person who folds a 1,000 cranes will become well again.

Sadako folded cranes throughout her illness. The flock hung above her bed on strings. When she died at the age of twelve, Sadako had folded 644 cranes. Classmates folded the remaining 356, so that one thousand were buried with her. Sadako wrote,"Peace Crane, I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world."

This year, we have them for sale because it suddenly seemed so right. Peace Craft donates to organizations that work to relieve children's suffering. They are on beautiful Japanese papers each with a Swarovski crystal.

11/19/2021

"Produce the week before Thanksgiving. Our shop update. Winter squash is plentiful. We have purple potatoes and lots of pears (see Debra's recipes using those in Discover Concord Magazine's Gift Guide!). Navels and satsumas are trickling in.
Persimmons, pomegranates, mangoes, and sweet limes (oh my gosh, delicious!) are here. Meyer lemons arriving today. Raspberries and strawberries tight -- it's all about the weather. Plenty of blueberries. Today, at least.

The usual suspects are also plentiful, the supply chain is holding -- broccoli, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, carrots, kale, chard, mushrooms and lots mores! So, come on in. Shop early, shop often. Say hi. See you soon, Alex"

10/22/2021

Debra's Natural Gourmet celebrates our 32nd birthday party and Discover West Concord Day this Sat, Oct 23, 10-2. YIPPEE. Come. Ain't it great to be in the neighborhood, in person....

It won't be the crowded buzzy blast it normally is with vendors squeezed in like sardines, but 10 wonderful companies, who will be out on the sidewalk, weather permitting. (If the weather is awful, we can move the 10 inside safely.)

You'll get to taste a wonderful new yogurt custard called The Sweet Spirit Frui-ish, Blue Ox Blueberries, Caulipower's new buffalo chicken pizza (and more Caulipower), Equal Exchange chocolate & coffee, Fat Moon Mushrooms in a quinoa dish made by our kitchen, Good Foods Seed mixes, Halvah Heaven halvah, Olympiana's Mediterranean products, Papa’s Catch wild salmon and Sweet Tahini's baked goods.

Our kitchen will serve birthday cake cupcakes and ice cream. We'll have a choice of cake and ice cream. If you're vegan, we've got your back. If you need gluten-free, dairy free, we've got you. Want dairy ice cream? Whole grain cake. Yep.

09/27/2021

Robin, Roxanne and I are just home from Natural Products Expo East in Philly. We went with trepidation but came home exhilarated. This was the most heartfelt, human and humbling show I can remember. Though we were small in numbers, we were there. Together. We had all made it through two difficult years. We met new little companies with soul, moxie, and products that have terrific ingredients. So stay tuned about new products that will be coming in -- we hope --- before too long.

Enjoy the two photos. One at the Caulipower booth and one with Robin and Roxanne with bags on their heads the day it poured! Debra

09/02/2021

Debra here: I have four free tickets to the Lowell Summer Music Series. Tickets good for any concert in September. Tickets are courtesy of New Hope Natural Media, the wonderful folks who put on our trade shows like Natural Products Expo East. (There's a live, in-person show coming up in Philly in a couple of weeks. We are wildly excited!)

If you want two tickets (first come, first serve) pop into the store Saturday morning and ask for me. May the early bird get the worm....

07/05/2021

Building permit granted and in hand. Halleluyah! Now it's full-steam ahead on Debra's Next Door. Hopefully about three month's time until we can move our kitchen and zero waste/bulk department next door. Three months until we get some breathing room in our current shop.

We're thinking about what kind of sign to post on the building. Here's a fun tongue in cheek blimp by my brother, David Stark, who's down in Asheville, NC and doesn't know about the town sign by-law!

Address

98 Commonwealth Avenue
Concord, MA
01742

Telephone

(978) 274-2656

Website

http://www.debrasnaturalgourmet.com/

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