Thyme Mashed Potatoes

INGREDIENTS

1.5 lbs thin-skinned potatoes, scrubbed (peel if desired)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup cream
1/8 tsp ground pepper
2 tsp fresh thyme, removed from stem

DIRECTIONS

Cube the potatoes and place in a pot with the salt. Cover potatoes with water, cover the pot, and bring to a boil. Lower heat slightly and boil until the potatoes are cooked, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and add the cream, pepper, and thyme. Mash to combine, using a light hand so the potatoes don't turn gluey.

Adjust seasoning to taste and serve hot.

For a delicious variation, mash in a couple of cloves of roasted garlic too.

3/50 Project: Adhesif Clothing

We've posted before about the 3/50 Project to support local businesses. We'd love it if Green Earth Organics' members would send us information about their favourite local, independently-owned stores and restaurants. If you would like to share your hidden gem, please email info@greenearthorganics.com with about 200 to 300 words, including their address and their website if applicable, and let us know what name you'd like on the article. We deliver as far out as North Vancouver, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, and all points in between, so please feel free to share your favourites outside of Vancouver too.

Adhesif Clothing by Melissa

The Adhesif Clothing Company store is a bit off the beaten track, being a couple of blocks below Broadway on Main Street (at 2202 Main), set apart from both the SkyTrain traffic and the boutiques that populate south of Broadway. But if you're an eco-conscious fashion-lover, or have one on your Christmas list, this is a place to check out.

Melissa Ferreira, the Vancouver designer behind the label and store, was inspired through her work as a buyer in the vintage clothing industry. Melissa takes vintage clothing and re-makes them into eye-catching creations. All of these one-of-a-kind items are produced in Vancouver, making them ecologically and socially sustainable.

I went into this store to find a birthday gift for my sister and found lots to choose from. With the help of the very nice lady behind the counter (who realized very quickly that I am out of my element when it comes to fashion), I selected a reversible "suit wrap" scarf, made of suiting material. Other items that I considered included an adorable hat that was aviation-inspired, some fingerless gloves (a big seller for them), and some very unique jewelry pieces.

You can get some idea of what they make by looking at the website, but I think seeing the pieces in person was much better. Since most items included multiple fabrics and incorporate techniques such as applique, the textures of the pieces was part of the charm for me.

Since each item is unique, sizing will vary. I think that if I wanted to get anyone one of the sweater-jackets, I'd probably go with a gift certificate. If you are buying for someone else, the accessories are a safer bet. Either way, Adhesif is a nice way to add some eco-friendly fashion to a loved one's closet, or to your own.

Creamy Yam Soup

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 small celery stalks, chopped
1 medium leek, sliced (white and pale green parts only)
1 large garlic clove, chopped
5 cups cubed, peeled yams
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups cereal cream
2 Tbsp maple syrup
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped celery stalks and leek, and then saute for about 5 more minutes. Finally, add the garlic and saute 2 minutes.

Add yams, vegetable broth, cinnamon stick, and nutmeg to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes, until the yams are tender.

Discard the cinnamon stick. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth, working in batches if necessary. Return blended soup to the pot.

Add the cream and maple syrup and heat at medium-low, stirring constantly. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Serves 6 to 8.

Help us Help BC Children's Hospital this Holiday Season

Yup, it really is time to start thinking about the holidays already! At least, it is if you're thinking about helping out the kids who will be spending their holidays in the Children's Hospital. We've teamed up with BC Children's Hospital in years past to bring gifts to kids who aren't able to go home for the holidays, and we're happy to be doing it again this year. Want to join in?

From November 21st to December 16th, your Green Earth Organics drivers will collect your donation when they drop off your bins. Go ahead and leave the donation in your empty bin or have it ready for your driver at the door.

There are some important guidelines for donating gifts: all gifts have to be new and they can't be wrapped. BC Children's Hospital already has an overabundance of stuffed toys, so they're asking us to take a look at a suggestion list they've drawn up and purchase items from there. Youth (ages 12-17) tend to be a little neglected in donations, so if you're feeling inspired to give to some teens, do so!

Take a look! If you have any questions, please call us at 604-708-2345 or send us an email at info@greenearthorganics.com


Infants and Toddlers:
Plastic washable infant toys (rattles, toys that light up, teethers)
Washable mobiles
Baby crib "Aquariums," small baby rattles, infant musical wind-up toys, especially with wind-up (not battery operated) music boxes.
Baby board books with photos of real babies
Washable crib-mounted mural books
Shape sorters
Cars and Trucks

Toys and Games (washable)
Thomas the Train (or other) trains
Mr. Potato Head
Small Cars and Trucks (Hot Wheels)
Lap tables for children to use in bed
Fisher Price toys: small "family" dolls with moveable parts, household furniture, cash register, medical kits, etc.
Small sets of Lego building kits with instructions (more complex for older kids)
15-20 piece wooden puzzles and 30-100 piece thick cardboard puzzles (ages 3-4)
Washable 6-10" baby dolls, with clothes and blankets
Barbie clothes
Washable small vinyl play mats (3-4') for use at bedsides
Board games - assorted - for all age groups. Guess Who, Connect Four, Taboo, Trouble, Memory Games
Mind games, like Rubik's Cubes, or other hand-manipulated mind games
Bop-it, Etch-a-Sketch
Decks of cards
Playmobil play sets
Polly Pocket Sets
Window Clings
"I-Spy" books, "Where's Waldo" books, Disney themed "Seek & Find" books
Sand table with permanent cover
Water table

Youth
CD's - pop, rock, country, relaxation music, compilation albums, Top 40
iTunes gift cards
Paintable items like picture frames, T-shirts, terra cotta pots and boxes, canvasses
Magazine subscriptions (Teen People, Snowboarding, Tony Hawke, fashion, health and fitness)
Beauty Products - nail polish, hair accessories, bath products, travel size shampoo, conditioner and creams, etc.
Board games - Risk, Cranium, and mind games, etc.
Beading supplies including hemp, clasps, crimp beads, stretch plastic lacing and tools
Books on CD
Gift certificates for Blockbuster or Rogers movie rentals for our movie nights
Small denomination gift certificates for Future Shop, HMV, etc., for gifts/birthdays/transition to adult care gifts
Big craft projects that take time to build

Electronics
iPod touches (with gift cards for apps store and iTunes)
iPod touch chargers
Blackberry chargers
Nintendo DS and games (especially Mario games, racing games, and "Lego" games)
PS3 games (rated E for Everyone)
iPod players
iPod docking stations
Nintendo Wii and games
Sony Playstation 3s
Headphones
Adolescent DVDs (rated only as high as 14A) - especially new releases
Children's DVDs (G or PG ratings)
X-box 360s and games
Digital cameras and small HP printing stations for each unit (10)
Talking books
Portable DVD players
Snoezelen accessories (available through Flaghouse website)
Gift cards for Future Shop, Chapters, etc.

Music/Musical Equipment
Children's music CD's - i.e. Lullabies; "sounds" like ocean, rain, etc.; instrumental; Sharon, Lois, and Bram; Raffi; Bobs & Lolo; Puntamayo; Kinder Musik
Bass guitar and amp kit
Beginning piano and guitar books

Craft Supplies
Unlimited quantities of such things as: Pony beads and plastic lace (lots!); craft kits - i.e. small simple bead or paint kits; wooden/ceramic paintable craft items; wooden picture frames; artist's quality watercolour or sketching paper; charcoal, and real sketching pencils; Crayola markers for the younger children
Small plastic paint palettes for mixing paint colours
Big foam stickers
Children drip-proof paint pots with lids and paint brushes
Small craft kits with all supplies needed included in the package
Children's scissors (both straight and patterned edges)
Crayons, felts, pencil crayons, feathers, pom-poms, sequins
Glue-able or peel-&-stick shapes, letters, holiday-themed shapes
Glitter glue, glue sticks, card stock paper
Stamps/patterned hole punches
Scrapbooking supplies (acid free paper, glue sticks, acid free stickers, albums, etc.)

Where Our Mandarin Oranges Come From

We're excited to have delicious 4 lb boxes of mandarins on sale this week. These mandarins are grown on Lishu Farm, which is located in Baoningqiao Village, Mengquan Town, Shimen County, Hunan Province, China. That's a long ways away! For many people, mandarin oranges epitomize the taste of winter. Lishu Farm is 100% organic and sends us these tasty treats from November through December. Enjoy them while they're here!

Minor Change to Logins

On Friday, November 4th, we did some website upgrades. Most of the changes will be invisible to our members, though some of you did spot some odd little occurrences where certain standing orders briefly disappeared from orders or where the "Save Bin" button would delete the entire order for a couple of hours on Monday. We do apologize for these quirks and we think we've got them all sorted out. If you do think something on your account isn't working correctly, please let us know. We can be reached by phone at 604-708-2345 or by email at info@greenearthorganics.com.

One change that will be permanent is a minor change to our login system. Previously, the email address field was not case sensitive, so if you entered your email address as Info@greenearthorganics.com or info@GreenEarthOrganics.com, it wouldn't have mattered; the website would recognize those both as the same as the email address on your account (in this case, info@greenearthorganics.com). However, for better security, this will no longer work: in order to login, you will have to enter your email address exactly as you entered it when you signed up. If we entered your email address for you, we would not have capitalized anything, so you will want to make sure to use all small letters when logging in. If you entered your email address yourself and do not remember how you entered it, please give us a call or email and we can check for you.

No passwords have been changed during this transition and we have not deleted any accounts, so if you are suddenly unable to login in to your account, this change to how email addresses are handled is probably to blame. If that's the case, the "Forgot your password?" system will also not work for you; it is also case sensitive now.

We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause, but it is in the name of having proper security on every aspect of our website. If you have any questions or concerns, or if you are having any trouble with your login, please let us know.

Stuffed Roasted Pears

INGREDIENTS

Filling:
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp honey
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp grated orange rind

Pears:
4 large pears
1/3 cup honey, divided
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp orange juice

DIRECTIONS

Filling: In a bowl, blend the cream cheese, the two tablespoons of honey, the egg yolk, and the orange rind until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut the pears in half lengthwise. Trim a thin slice off the skin-side so the pear halves are level. For each half, remove the core and enough of the centre to make 1 and 1/2 inch wide by 3/4 inch deep groove, being careful not to piece through the bottom or sides of the pear. Place the pears cut side up in a well-greased 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish.

In a small pot, heat 1/4 cup of the honey, the butter, and the orange juice until melted. Stir well and then brush all over the pears.

Turn pears cut side down. Bake, basting every 10 minutes, for 30 minutes. Turn pears over and baste again, then bake for another 10 minutes.

If there is any liquid pooled in the pears, pour it into the baking dish. Fill the groove in each pear with a generous tablespoon of the filling.

In a bowl, stir together the remaining honey and 1/3 cup of boiling water. Stir into the syrup that's forming in the baking dish. Bake the pears, basting once, until the filling is puffed and the pears are golden and tender, about 30 minutes. When serving, spoon syrup from the baking dish over the pears.

Apple-Cinnamon Coffee Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
5 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup homogenized milk
1 medium apple, peeled and sliced
1 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the egg until blended. Add one third of the milk, followed by one third of the flour mixture, beating until just combined after each addition. Continue alternating in this way until everything is blended together.

In a small bowl, mix remaining sugar with the cinnamon.

Pour half the batter into the baking dish. Lay the apple slices on the batter so they just cover the batter, overlapping if needed. Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon-sugar mixture, reserving a teaspoon or two. Spread the rest of the batter over the apples and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar on top.

Bake the cake for 25 minutes or until it is golden brown and the apples start to bubble at the edges.