Mark your calendars, the Christmas Walk is Sunday, November 29th.
"The onion is the truffle of the poor."  ~ Robert J. Courtine

Featured Vendor / Producer:   Kick Salsa, LLC
Ilia has been working on the perfect salsa recipe since 2005. After that she studied at West Virginia University Tech where she started sharing her salsa, and it helped her pay for her textbooks. Everybody that tried Ilia's salsa said that there is just a perfect "kick" to it, thus naming the salsa Kick Salsa. 

Soon after graduating with an Associate of Science in Dental Hygiene, Ilia moved to the Buckeye State with her husband and their two kids Etienne and Iliana, where she later started sharing the flavorful salsa with co-workers, parties, church and at their kids school. Thanks to the help of her supportive husband, Jose, helping in the kitchen to make the flavorful Kick Salsa, more people could enjoy the delicious and healthy treat.

Kick Salsa is a fresh salsa and can be found in the cooler at Harvest.
What's new in the store?

Honey with Pecans
From Waldo Ohio Apiaries
Just two simple ingredients - honey and pecans.  Eat it straight from the jar, over ice cream, over pancakes, tossed in a stir fry, mixed into a vinaigrette...the possibilities are abundant.  Stop in and get yours today!  

Food Facts

Honey

Honey bees have been around for millions of years and are the only insects that produces food eaten by humans.  Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water; and it's the only food that contains "pinocembrin", an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.  

The average worker bee produces about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime. A entire hive will fly the equivalent of three orbits around the Earth to product 2.2 pounds of honey.

Raw Honey - Honey that is sold as raw contains all the pollen, enzymes and other micro-nutrients that are usually filtered out or destroyed by heat when the honey is processed. Traditionally commercially sold honey is heated and filtered so that it will remain liquid much longer. Raw honey will crystallize quickly due to the fact that it is unfiltered. Many people believe that raw honey contains additional health benefits over processed honey.

Uses - Honey has been used for everything from skincare to mead (honey wine). Honey is widely preferred as a sweetener because it is also a flavor enhancer. The wide variety of flavors available from different honeys makes honey a gourmet's delight.

Many years ago, honey was regularly prescribed for health treatments. Today, honey is used for diaper rashes, stomach ulcers, burns, and even e. coli. Honey and bee pollen also helps with seasonal allergies, although the honey you are taking must be from the same area that you live to be useful in this manner. Do not use bee pollen for allergies if you are allergic to bees. Honey has antibiotic properties that cure many wounds with infection. Honey has long been known to help relieve sore throats when mixed with lemon juice.

Using a jar of organic honey, you can treat your acne. Forget all those high priced acne cleansers and creams at the store. Nothing compares to the natural, curing honey treatment. Simply spoon some out into your hands, hold a few seconds to get it nice and warm and coat your face. Wait at least five minutes, and rinse with a soft, warm washcloth. In no time, you are sure to see the difference! If you want to just spot treat your acne, you can add a dab of honey on your blemish, place a bandage over it, and let it set for 30 minutes. Pretty simple, right?

Do you have dry skin? Rubbing honey on your dry skin leave on for 30 minutes and gently wash away with warm water.

Storage - If properly stored, honey will not spoil: A pot of honey found in an ancient Egyptian tomb was proved to be as wholesome as fresh honey. However, honey will ferment if it is diluted by moisture from the atmosphere or by other liquids. Prevent fermentation by keeping honey containers tightly sealed before and between uses.

Immune System Warning - Honey should not be consumed by infants under one year of age or those with a compromised immune system.

Substituting Honey for Sugar - Replace 1 cup of sugar with 3/4 cup of honey and reduce the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup. Add a pinch of baking soda to recipes that do not call for sour cream or sour milk, so as to reduce the acidity of the honey.

Cook jellies and jams at higher temperatures when you replace sugar with honey.

Beat honey candies longer, and seal them more tightly when storing them to keep the honey from absorbing atmospheric moisture.

Baking Tips
  • When baking with honey, lower the oven temperature by 25° to 30° F to prevent over-browning.
  • When measuring honey, first coat the measuring utensil with a small amount of oil so the honey will not stick.
  • Store honey at room temperature rather than in a refrigerator. Keep it tightly covered and in a dry place.
  • If honey granulates, place its container in hot water until the honey re-liquefies.
  • Honey, because it is hydroscopic, tends to keep foods moist and tender. Therefore, if you are baking goodies for kids away at school, service members overseas, or friends out of town, always bake with honey to ensure freshness.
Granulation (or crystallization) - Is defined as a natural occurring process of honey that changes it from liquid to solid. Some people think the honey is spoiled as it crystallizes but crystallization in honey occurs when the honey molecules are at optimum temperature. It then begins to crystallize. This has a lot to do with how you store you honey. If you store your honey above 60 degrees Fahrenheit (or in a certain containers the optimum is 57 to 58 degrees) it will crystallize. Levulose and dextrose levels affect crystallization also, so typically the one with the higher dextrose will crystallize more quickly.

Also larger quantities will crystallize if they are stored on a concrete floor and the cold temperatures are drawn up into the container. If the honey re-crystallizes very quickly it only means that the honey did not get properly liquefied which means that the sugar crystals did not get dissolved. So if you place your honey in a pan of water and heat it slowly making sure you dissolve all the crystals you can slow crystallization or it will re-crystallize within just a few days.

Other Bee Products (Fresh Royal Jelly, Bee Pollen & Propolis) - Honey is not the only thing bees produce for food and use in the hive, they also produce fresh royal jelly, bee pollen and propolis. Fresh royal jelly is a super food produced by the bees and fed to the queen her entire life. Normal worker or drone bees just eat honey, but the fresh royal jelly allows the queen to grow much larger than a normal bee and live 50 times longer. Bee Pollen is a super protein rich food that bees feed to young maturing bees so that they can grow fast. Propolis is produced by the bees to help them clean the hive and kill bacteria. All of these products have been shown to have healthful benefits to humans.

Oat & Honey Bites

Ingredients:
  • 1/3 cup - honey*
  • 1 1/2 cups - rolled oats*
  • 1/2 cup - sliced almonds
  • 2 tablespoons - chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup - 72% dark chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup - dried cranberries, roughly chopped
  • 2/3 cup - natural peanut butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon - vanilla extract

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, add oats, almonds, chia seeds, chocolate and cranberries into the bowl.
Stir all ingredients together until combined.
Add honey, peanut butter and vanilla extract to a medium bowl and mix all ingredients together until combined.
Add peanut butter mixture to oats mix and stir until combined. Be sure dry ingredients are coated.
Place mixture into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, as this will allow it to harden and make it easier to work with.
Shape mix into one-inch rounded balls and place on a platter or cookie sheet.
Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container up to five days.
You can also freeze and take out as needed.


*These ingredients can be found at Harvest
Upcoming Events

Get out and explore what's happening around Knox County



 
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Woodward Opera House
is situated in the heart of Mount Vernon's Central Business District. This national landmark invites you to step back in time to the mid-1800s and experience history!
While viewing the Woodward, imagine what it must have been like to perform here.
Take in the 19th century architecture, admire the original paintings still hanging
on the walls, and if you listen closely and quietly, you may even hear a
fiddle or banjo picking out a familiar tune.



Harvest @ The Woodward

Harvest is pleased to announce that as part of our Local Foods Initiative that we will begin offering various classes to the public allowing you to learn more about your food and where it comes from.  Some classes may focus on helping you grow / produce / cook your own food, while others will focus on educating you on how the food that you purchase is grown / produced and brought to harvest.

Classes can be paid for by cash, check or credit card unless otherwise specified.

Upcoming Class List:

Making Ricotta Goat Cheese Class
Information:  Learn how to make ricotta cheese from fresh goat's milk
Cost of Class:  $10 prepaid
Date:  November 23, 2015 (Monday)
Time:  6:30-7:30 pm
Location:  The Place @ The Woodward, 120 South Main, Mt. Vernon
Presented by:  Amy of Dutch Creek Goat Farm
How to Register:  Register at Harvest @ The Woodward


Christmas Walk - Sunday, November 29, 2015
Harvest Store Hours:  1:00 - 5:00 pm
Shop & Enjoy Downtown Mt. Vernon

*Newly Organic sampling personal care items and doing a give a way.
*Tricia's Sweets sampling her products
*Reach for the Jars sampling jams/jellies
*Lazy Acres Ranch sampling fruit butters
*Winnie's Wonders sampling granola and/or noodles
*Nellie and Maggie's sampling gluten free items

During the Christmas Walk, Historian Aubrey Brown will be inside Harvest selling Cat's Meow Village Keepsakes of the Knox County Infirmary as a fundraiser to purchase an Ohio Historical Marker to commemorate the poorhouse.   Learn more...

Harvest will have a booth at the Mt. Vernon News for the Secret Santa Workshop for the kids to make purchases for those on their Christmas List.

*vendors participating may be subject to change*
Guarantee Your Egg Nog Purchase!
If you want to guarantee your egg nog purchase, you need to contact the store (phone, email or in person) at least one week prior to when you want it.  Deliveries for Hartzler Dairy are made to the store on Thursdays.  Those customers who request a "hold" for egg nog will have product put aside for them and should ask for it.  All other customer's purchases will be subject to availability.  The egg nog season is short and fleeting - don't let it pass you by.  If you've not tried Hartzler Family Dairy's egg nog, then you don't know what you're missing!
Clint A. LeVan, Store Manager | Harvest @ The Woodward 

Store Hours:  Mon-Fri 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sat 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Sun - Closed

You can also sign up by text!  Simply text LOCALFOODS to 22828



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