Quality Source: Ezra Cox Distillery

Late this summer, HH and I took a short trip south on I-5 to hit up a nice fabric store a few towns down.  While we were heading back home, we decided to stop at the Ezra Cox Distillery for a quick tasting. 

While tasting the samples, we found out that they would be changing their name, which was a bummer for me because I happen to really like the name.  To me, it sounds very old-timey and perfect for a small distillery.  I was just about to ask where the name came from when another, very loud/chatty patron brought up the subject.  Apparently, Ezra Cox is/was a partner in the business who was no longer interested in being involved, or something along those lines, so the remaining partners would need to come up with a new name.  That may not be entirely accurate, as the alcohol was likely working its magic on my brain at that point, but you get the gist.  Anyway, they are now Blind Pig Spirits which is not quite as catchy to me, but I'm sure the booze still tastes good. 

My favorite item was the peach pie shine, and HH liked the apple pie shine.  We thought they would make excellent additions to either summer or winter adult beverage concoctions.  I don't think either of them are for sale yet, but we are keeping our eyes/ears open so we can buy some when they are available. 

Before leaving, we decided to buy some vodka, and we got a free shot glass thrown in. 

That night, I whipped up some nectarine/vodka beverages which were good, but would have been better with the peach pie shine.  

Quality Source: The Asian Market

Walking in to an ethnic market or grocery can be intimidating.  Often times the first language you hear spoken will not be English and reading signs or packaging can be impossible for the monolingual.  In my experience though these places are hidden gems and more often than not the staff is incredibly helpful in explaining what items are used for and pointing out things that are worth trying.

LJ and I were feeling adventorus one weekend so we decided to check out the Arirang Oriental Market and we were not disappointed.  It was all a little overwhelming and we wandered up and down all the aisles a number of times looking for things that caught our fancy.  I was specifically looking for rice seasoning (see below) but couldn't pass up the bag of extra course sea salt.  It has been excellent for using in cookies and I can't wait to try it on salt bagels.  LJ found a packet of our favorite curry mix at an excellent price and we picked up a couple of cans of coconut milk for popsicle season.

I was looking for rice seasoning, which I didn't even know what it was called before I found it.  In college a group of students from Japan made rice balls one evening and sprinkled a seaweed flake mixture on them before we devoured each ball.  I do enjoy rice so I figured this would be a good way to spice it up.  The market had easily 20 different varieties of rice seasoning and after at least 10 minutes of contemplating my choices I settled on the simplest choice which contains sesame seeds and seaweed.

I'm looking forward to making a return trip to pick up seasoning options for my first attempt at kimchi.

Quality Source: Buying spices in bulk

LJ and I first lived together in Ellensburg, which is a nice little college town in the middle of the state.  Ellensburg has a wonderful natural foods store that we use to frequent because it had cheap bulk ingredients and was a short walk from our first apartment.  This was my first experience with buying spices in bulk and I haven't gone back to the supermarket's overpriced aisle of spices since.

It is nearly impossible to over emphasize the price savings when buying spices in bulk.  Since you are buying in bulk you are paying for the spices buy the pound or ounce instead of by the container.  Most spices are incredibly light so you can really stock up without too much of a cost.  I'll never forget the first time we bought bay leaves in bulk.  The ten or so bay leaves were so light that they didn't even register on the scale when we were checking out.  The cashier looked at us and asked, "How does 20 cents sound?"

In the Olympia area we buy most of our spices in the bulk section at Winco Foods.  The selection and prices at Winco are excellent but when I'm in need of a more unique spice I go to Buck's on Fifth Avenue.  We found Buck's recently when we were wandering around downtown on a Saturday morning.  I saw a bunch of random jars in the window of a small shop and started to read the labels when I realized we'd stumbled upon a pretty awesome store.  This place has almost anything you'd want and if they don't have something they will do their best to find it and order it for you.  They also have no minimum amount so if you need just a small amount of something for a new recipe you are trying you don't have to buy a whole bottle.

Shopping for spices in bulk can be a bit intimidating the first time.  Each store has it's own procedures with how you scoop and measure the spices so it is a good idea to ask the staff the first time you visit.  Once you try it though it is hard to go back to buying spices in such an expensive way at the supermarket.

On our first trip to Buck's I picked up Bengal curry powder (which was amazing in dal) and black mustard seeds (which will be featured in an upcoming post where I made my own brown beer mustard for brats).

Quality Source: Fresh Eggs

I recently found out that my mentor at work raises chickens, and is quite happy to dole out her extra eggs by the dozen to anyone willing to take them.  All she asks in return is a mere couple of dollars to help cover costs, or in our case, fresh or dried fruit or homemade baked goods to barter.  Now that she knows that HH and I are willing recipients, she automatically brings me a dozen anytime we have a meeting.

Fresh eggs from chickens that are raised outdoors with access to a more natural chicken diet are said to be healthier than eggs from industrialized operations.  Of course, they're also more expensive to buy if you don't have a sweet hookup like we do.  But the biggest difference, in my opinion, is how delicious they are.  HH often cooks up some eggs, bacon, and toast or hashbrowns for lunch on the weekends and it is obvious when the eggs are fresh because of how tasty the meal is.  (Although, that could also have something to do with the bacon.)

Quality source: Colvin Ranch

When I posted about my wonderful results making hamburger buns I briefly mentioned Colvin Ranch as the source of my beef.  I had been interested in trying grass finished beef since reading Michael Pollan's books, in which he makes the point that "We are what we eat, but also we are what we eat eats."

Nearly all cows in the U.S. are fed corn to fatten them up more quickly and use up the surplus of corn that is being grown.  Since cows don't naturally eat corn they have a difficult time digesting it and often become sick.  The cows are then given medications so they can survive until they are large enough for slaughter.  This all seemed quite silly to me, but since it is done on a large scale it allows for beef to be produced at a lower price.  Since raising cows on grass alone takes longer the cows need a larger grazing area and not as many cows can be managed at the same time.

Price is the main reason you can't find all grass fed beef in most grocery stores.  On average the price will be two to three times higher for the grass beef.  However, after making a hamburger out of grass fed beef, the extra cash is worth the extra deliciousness in my opinion.

If you are interested in finding a source of all grass fed beef in your area or learning about how much more nutritious grass fed beef is, Eat Wild is an excellent resource.  You can use their mapping tool to find ranches and farms in your local area.  Some ranches only allow you to buy beef in large quantities (like quarter or half beefs) but many have stocked freezers where you can purchase the cuts of meat you prefer.

Visiting the farm directly can be a bit intimidating but realize that these farms list their contact information because they want you to try their product.  I've visited Colvin Ranch twice and both times it couldn't have been a better experience.  I set up a meeting time with Fred Colvin via e-mail, drove to the ranch, and rang the door bell on the office door.  On the first visit I was greeted by Fred and on the second by his wife because Fred was out with the herd.  Each time they showed me what they had in stock in their freezer, walked me through a chart to explain the different cuts, and showed me a few of the packages to make sure I was happy with what I was getting.

Like I mentioned before, the meat is a little more pricey than what you might be use to in the grocery store (I paid $6 per pound for the ground beef) but at least I knew I wasn't getting any pink slime.