Wood Burning

One of the many ways Rick Stewart makes me Hometown Proud is by serving on the board of the California Grocers Association. Through CGA, Rick gets an opportunity to: 

• Meet with Legislators during Grocers Day at the Capital.
• Encourage young people working for us to apply for scholarships funded by the CGA Foundation.
• Participate in educational seminars. 
• Stay up to date on just about everything related to our business.

The final Board meeting for this year was held in San Diego, always a pleasure in December, I didn't wanna miss that. For year end meetings CGA hosts a spouse's event that is always awesome. Last year we all went to see Trans Siberian Orchestra and the year before we went to the Silverado Culinary School and made delicious food. I learned at the cooking event that thinly sliced Fuyu Persimmons are incredible on salads, a new staple in the winter for me. This years activity was wood burning and cheese board design. Some of you might remember the wood burning kits of the 60s, my brother had one, there is no way on earth I would give a 9ish year old a wood burning kit today but everyone did back then. I was excited to try this...as an adult. 

Since I have no measurable talent when it comes to arts and crafts I was hoping they had a failsafe way to make our boards cool. They did. In the center of each table were very rustic cutting boards and a power strip with several wood burners plugged in. For the folks like me they had stencils, pencils and carbon paper.  I can't draw but I can stencil like nobody's business! I chose a sweet little cursive 'blessed'. Carbon side against the board, stencil on top, I traced onto the board over to the side so it would remain visible when the  I set up my cheese. Then the fun part, slowly going over the pencil marks repeatedly until it was burned into the wood. I gotta say it came out really nice! This seems like a really fun group activity for anytime. Plus you can set up a fruit and cheese board YOU made. The instructor said to feel free to use pineapple fronds or herbs or berries and fill in all the blank spots to make your display really pop. 

I think I'll use my board for New Year snacks! UPDATE~I gave it to my kids for Christmas, just like all those projects they have given me.

Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for supporting all of us at Susanville Supermarket this year as we do what we love, bring food to our community!

About CGA from their website~ "For more than 120 years, the California Grocers Association has served as the voice of the state’s grocery community. A nonprofit, statewide trade association, CGA’s membership is comprised of over 300 retailers operating more than 6,000 brick-and-mortar stores, and approximately 150 grocery supply companies.
The Association is recognized as the leading resource in the areas of government and industry relations for California’s food industry and its customers while also providing continuing education opportunities for industry employees and their children."

LoCaL Gift Guide~

Spoiler alert~ I'm a big fan of LoCaLLy owned and operated business. This last week before Christmas is a nice time to show them all a little love. Soooo... maybe you're looking for a last minute gift idea or two like I know I will be. Here's a few of my standbys~

Arlin Billington's Ace Hardware has THEE absolute best stocking stuffers. Especially for the men in my life. Cool things, mini flashlights, multi tools, gadgets galore. I always scan the checkout area for good stuff. 

Sherry McBroome's Sierra Jewelry offers WAY more variety in gifts than most would think. I go in and tell them my price range for a gift and get lots of options. From costume to custom they have it all.

Melissa McCoy's Every Blooming Thing is a year round gift scavenger hunt! Not only are the gifts fantastic, scarves, cake plates, decor, BUT I also love the bathroom soaps (lavender is my fave) for when guests come. 

Patti and Sam Glass' Milwood Florist is my go to for ornaments. So many trees. So many choices. I could wander around for hours. Pick up some gift wrapped truffles as a gift (for myself sometimes :) too. 

David Teeter and Margie's Book Nook have books for all ages and you can even pick up a LoCaL author's SIGNED book. Plus toys, stuffed animals and some LoCaLLy made gift items. 

Scott Johnson's Johnson Shoes has Uggs. Need I say more. Okay they also have Vans, Birkenstocks and socks, good wools socks. Love it. 

Mark Zaengle's Carpet One Floor and Home. I know, it doesn't sound like a 'gifty' place but it's not just furniture and floor. All those trendy wood signs, centerpieces, pillows, tons of cozy cute stuff and bonus points cuz an actual decorator can help you choose. 

I know there are lots more, this is just off the top of my head. Of course if you're still stuck you could always get a Rick and Anna Stewart's Susanville Super gift card :) Who wouldn't want that? Wall to wall freshness and The Best Donuts on the Planet!

Wishing everyone a safe and very Merry Christmas! Thank you for all you do to make us all so Hometown Proud!

Iron Saddle Chicken Thighs

For, I don't know how many years now, we have held our Susanville Super Christmas party at the Elk's Lodge. The place is amazing and just screams Christmas tradition to me. Our crew loves it there. Every employee wins a door prize, we close the store early so all may attend, the decorations are festive, the vibe is super festive.. and the food. The food is sooo good. 








We always have the same menu~
Tri Tip
Chicken
Green Beans with bacon
Baked Potatoes
Green Salad 
Rolls
We bring a cake, cuz we make the BEST :)

This year when Susanville Elk's Secretary Mark Soloman came to my office to go over the menu he asked how many people will want chicken, I in turn asked him if Greg Sella was cooking, if he's making HIS famous chicken thighs then EVERYONE will want chicken. Now this is probably the only time and place and cook that you can say that about. Such an easy, crowd pleasing dish, I had to ask Greg if this was a secret recipe, he told me he shares it all the time. You can't believe how easy it is, 3 ingredients. Rick and I had a bbq for a friend this summer and Rick tried his hand at making Greg's Chicken Thigh recipe. Perfect, it was a huge hit! IDK about you but I grill year round, why not? Less dishes, no pots and pans, no greasy stove top, not all the lingering smells... it had me at less dishes. You might even try it as a baked dish? It could work. But. Who needs the mess..


Greg Sella's Grilled Chicken Thighs
Boneless skinless chicken thighs
Chef Morito Chicken Seasoning
Yoshidas marinade
Orange juice

Season thighs liberally with Chef Morito (Greg says he covers them with it), let sit 15 minutes. Marinade chicken in 1 part Yoshidas and 2 parts orange juice for 24 hours. Grill.

I know it sounds too good to be true, or too easy to be good BUT they are phenomenal! Let me just put in a bit of a plug for Greg's business in case you want the man himself to prepare this and lotsa other deliciousness, Iron Saddle BBQ co. will come to you. Greg built the grill himself. Nice. Second generation born and raised in the Ville. Both Greg and his wife Lynn are retired from Richmond School. Greg had 26 years as Facility Manager and Lynn was a Special Ed teacher for 32 years! Serving our community and serving great food is what Iron Saddle BBQ is all about!

Thank you Greg for offering us a little cooking simplicity to get through the busy Holiday Season!

Back Country Security

Getting lost can be fun. Just as an option though. That being said, in 2006 all the stars aligned for Rick and I. We had been racing our tandem bike for a few years and had built up the courage (or insanity had set in) enough to register for a race called the Terrible Two. 200 miles, temps over 100*, 16,000 feet of climbing, steep climbing, steep descents with what they called 'decreasing radius' turns and a time limit of 16 1/2 hours. Let's face it though, just the name should have been enough to dissuade us. It wasn't. When we showed up at O dark thirty to the start line, racers began saying "you’re gonna do this on a tandem?!?". This did NOT inspire confidence. Climbing is tough anyway and on a tandem you're hauling the weight of the bike plus two bodies. AND did I mention this ride has strict cutoff times? All day we were under the gun, people were literally laying by the side of the road cramped up or crumbled up from crashing on the hairy descents. Then the navigator, that would be me, took a wrong turn. We added a mile or two to this 200 miler. Fortunately we still made the cutoff time with a whole ten minutes to spare. Getting lost is not always fun but certainly always an adventure. 
  
So when I go out in the woods, whether on roads or trails, I like to leave a trail of breadcrumbs. Virtual breadcrumbs, virtual cuz I don't want anything hungry following us! I use an app called Scenic Map Western USA. Recently I discovered this app includes the South Side trail (which runs parallel to the Bizz) AND all those cool trails out in Susanville Ranch Park. I know cuz I got lost and whipped out my Scenic Map. BAM. All the trails. No cell signal? No problem. The app is run on GPS. I'm sure there are a lot of programs out there to use, Rick prefers an app called Gaia. Whatever works best for you, I highly recommend having some program. It is so fun to try to connect roads and trails to get where you wanna go, especially without a time limit :). 

(Sheriff Growdon in one of the best Halloween costumes EVER!)

The most important thing we carry is a personal locator beacon. I happen to know even Sheriff Growdon uses one. The beacons are GPS driven so no cell service required, you can send a text to someone if needed or hit a button to send an SOS to emergency services with your EXACT location. With winter's below freezing temperatures it's  critical to have a timely rescue should it become necessary. We try to be careful out there, but accidents happen, why not be just as prepared as you can? Then if you still wanna take the ‘get lost’ option, you can. 

So much Hometown Happiness to be found in our woods. Be safe out there~