21st Annual MLK, Jr. Day Event – Keeping the Dream Alive!

Monday, January 21, 7 pm
Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship (New location!)
1207 Ellsworth Street
Free. Everyone welcome.

In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Community Food Co-op hosts Keeping the Dream Alive! On this evening, we celebrate Dr. King’s notion of a “Beloved Community,” with ceremony, song, presentations, and community sharing. King envisioned the Beloved Community as a society based on justice, equal opportunity, and love of one’s fellow human beings.

As this annual event continues to evolve, we are excited to move to Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship to better accommodate presenters, musical performances, informational tabling, and increased attendance.

As always, we invite the community to share a poem, story, or song focused on diversity, human rights, or related issues. Please limit your presentation to three minutes or less, to leave time for others to share. Contact karlm@communityfood.coop to sign up.

We are extremely grateful for all the talented and inspirational people participating in this year’s event.

Host Amanda Grelock

Amanda is the Co-op’s Equity Diversity and Inclusion coordinator, a position designed to assist and enable the Co-op to make healthy food accessible to all and to create a more inclusive community hub. Her passions include waging peace through a combination of creative thinking, community building, conversation, social justice standing, and more.

Opening Song – Joshua Olsen

Joshua is from the Nooksack Nation and works at the Co-op bakery. We are fortunate to have Joshua share the Nooksack Honor Song with us tonight.

Welcoming Presentation – William L John (Xwelwelat’se)

William is a Lummi Elder, storyteller, and retired Lummi language teacher from Ferndale High School and Northwest Indian College. He will share a cross-cultural experience welcoming all to the territory of the Coast Salish people.

Special Musical Guest – Checo Tohomaso

Checo Tohomaso has previously toured with Motown legend Marvin Gaye playing keyboards, percussion, and singing background vocals. He has performed with Lionel Richie and the Commodores, Celine Dion, New Kids on the Block, and Reba McEntire, among others. Checo keeps busy as the musical director of the Vancouver Outreach Community Sweet Soul Gospel Choir and the Victoria Soul Gospel Choir. He is spirited, authentic, and true to the music as he pursues his talents. His current focus is to communicate the positive, healing qualities of soul music to as many people as possible. Checo has a goal of uniting people of different cultures and beliefs to deliver a message of love, joy, peace, hope and healing through singing. Checo selected four well-known songs to sing with audience participation —Everyday People, Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around, People Get Ready, and Love Train. We are extremely grateful for his contribution to the progression of this event.

Keynote Presentation – Terrance Morris

Moving Diversity Forward: How to Go from Well-Meaning to Well-Doing by Terrance Morris, diversity advocate, founder of A Connection, co-facilitator of Black Lives Matter Bellingham, and Whatcom Human Rights Task Force Board director. Terrance is passionate about leading conversations about diversity and inclusion. You can see his work in action with the Bellingham Juneteenth event and the Unity Ball on January 19. He brings community together by diving into hard conversations and willingness to lean in.

Open Mic Community Sharing

Share a poem, story, or song focused on diversity, human rights, or related issues. We look forward to continuing this traditional part of the evening. Presentations limited to three minutes or less, to leave time for others to share. Contact karlm@communityfood.coop to sign up.

Other participants – Peter Ali, Native American flute; The 60-voice Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship Chalice Choir; and Peace and Justice community information tables.

The Community Food Co-op would like to thank event co-sponsor, Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship’s Social & Environmental Justice Committee.

Dazzle ’em! Simple Hors d’Oeuvres & Delicious Cheese

by Rachel Horton, Cordata Specialty Cheese

October 2018

brie covered in divina sour cherry spread

Feeding a crowd? Dazzle ’em with simple hors d’oeuvres and delicious cheese!

My suggestion? Bring a smile to everyone’s face with a round of Ile de France Brie, topped with Divina Sour Cherry Spread, and paired with La Panzanella Gluten-Free Oat Thins.

This simple yet posh dish brings so many flavors for a few minutes of work, plus it won’t break the bank!

Feeding a crowd? Let them nibble on these irresistible morsels.

If you’re anything like me, you love the holidays! We enjoy getting together with friends and family. But, when you really think about it, we love the holidays because we love to eat. The holiday recipes that seem too fancy for everyday living make us all feel like we are gourmet chefs in the kitchen. It’s a chance to impress your family members while trying something new.

you’ll supply the amazing hors d’oeuvres

This year, the specialty cheese department is here to help excite you and all your friends with delicious easy-to-prepare treats. Let the family gourmet chefs prepare the main courses; you’ll supply the amazing hors d’oeuvres!

My suggestion? Bring a smile to everyone’s face with a round of Ile de France Brie, topped with Divina Sour Cherry Spread, and paired with La Panzanella Gluten-Free Oat Thins, as pictured above.

This simple yet posh dish brings so many flavors for a few minutes of work, plus it won’t break the bank!

Ile de France is a mild brie and great for anyone just starting to try soft ripened cheeses. It has a slight mushroomy scent with a tangy aftertaste that pairs perfectly with the sweet and sour cherry spread.

The new Gluten-Free Oat Thins from La Panzanella in Seattle is a great option if you are trying to please everyone’s palate and consider various dietary needs. La Panzanella has long been a best-seller at the Co-op and their new gluten-free crackers don’t disappoint.

hors d'oeuvres platters with cheese pastrami figs olives figs

Building a cheese tray?

A basic serving suggestion is 1 to 1 1/2 ounces of each cheese per person; round down if you are serving three or more cheese varieties, round up if serving only one or two cheeses.

Another great option when feeding the masses is a cheese tray.

grab something for everyone and fill your platter with salamis, cheeses, olives, fruits, and crackers

Grab something for everyone and fill your platter with salamis, cheeses, olives, fruits, and crackers. The Co-op has some approachable and affordable suggestions.

A great starter cheese tray would look something like:
(see descriptions of each selection below)

Comté
Brie du Pommier
Pérail Papillon Sheep’s Milk Cheese
Bennings Mild Goat Gouda
La Panzanella Artisan Crackers
Divina Castelvetrano Olives.

Simply add your favorite meat and fruit, and enjoy!

STEPHANIE SAYS

giant cheese wheel and slices with community food co-op deli worker

by Stephanie Willard, Downtown Specialty Cheese

The cheese case can be overwhelming. Don’t know where to start? These selections offer something to please everyone.

Benning Goat Gouda

Popular Dutch cheese with a pleasantly mild, fresh taste and pure white color. It is made from light, fresh goats’ milk, formed into classic Gouda-style wheels and aged to a rich yet mellow flavor and a creamy smooth texture. It’s a great “beginners” goat cheese.

Uses: Texture is firm enough to slice or cube, but also melts beautifully in anything: omelets, pizza, or quesadillas.

Fromager d’Affinois

Mild, buttery flavor reminiscent of a silky triple-crème. The texture is a thick, nearly whipped spread of tangy, milky goodness. A flawless rind adds flavor to the sweetness of the cheese.

Uses: Popular on cheese platters with a sweetness that pairs well with champagne and fresh fruit. Smooth and gooey when warm from the oven: serve with crackers or toasted crusty French bread slices, topped with Divina Sour Cherry Spread, or wrapped in phyllo and baked for an impressive Brie en Croûte.

Comté

Creamy texture with nutty, earthy flavors that range from stone fruit to brown butter. Captures the essence of a raw-milk, mountain pasture-fed cow’s milk cheese.

Uses: Super versatile and fairly firm, it can be sliced, cubed, or grated. Great eaten by itself, or used in cooking. Those nutty flavors work well melted into everything from fondue to Croque Monsieur—or jazz up a bowl of mac & cheese, sprinkle over veggies, or fold into a plate of eggs.

brie cheese wheel and gruyere cheese slice

Pérail Papillon

Melt-in-your-mouth, buttery, full but mild flavor, with notes of sweet grass and wildflowers. A thick, creamy disc of fresh sheep’s milk with a fudgy center and downy velvet rind. The sheep graze lush floral pasture on the Causses, a group of limestone plateaus rich in minerality in the South of France.

Uses: At room temperatures, it gets almost unctuous and runny, making it perfect to spread on crackers or a baguette with sour cherry jam and toasted nuts on the side.

pommier cheese and spread with jam on cracker

Brie du Pommier

Classic bloomy rind and soft paste with earthy and vegetal aromas that intensify as the cheese ripens. Full-flavored and mildly funky, with flavors that range from milk and sweet cream to mushroom and cauliflower.

Uses: follow suggestions for Fromager d’Affinois

green olives and divina orange fig spread

Divina Spreads

Delicious shimmery spreads from Divina are customer and staff favorites all year long, but particularly popular during the holiday entertaining season.

Uses: Serve one of these spreads on the side or generously spread over a rich brie or smooth goat cheese to instantly elevate your appetizer plate. Choose from sour cherry, fig, and orange fig.

Castelvetrano Olives

These olives were my gateway olive. Never having liked olives in the past, I was encouraged to try these. I was not disappointed. Castelvetranos upon first glance stand out because of their lively, pale shade of green. They are firm and meaty with a mild and buttery taste that’s both salty and sweet. They appeal not only to olive aficionados, but also to those who shy away from stronger, brinier varieties.