The fall harvest is in full swing! Now that we have finally settled into our new space, our crew and local producers are ready to grow! 

Help us share the local love!

So many people are benefiting from meal kits deliveries, but we still need to spread the word that there is a local option out there — us! And the truth is, we’d rather give back to our loyal customers rather than spending money on social media ads and marketing.

So… here is our exciting new offer! 

Now until the end of the year, we are DOUBLING REFERRAL CREDIT! 

You will now automatically get $20 credit (for every friend referred!)
Your friend(s) will get 20% off with code: Fallfriend2020

We will keep track of referrals, maybe even make a leader board. 🙂 We will have weekly prize drawings of $25 gift certificates and/or Free Bakery Kits which we will annoyance every week. And at the end of the year, our top referral customer will win a grand prize! 

Please consider joining us in spreading the word to your friends and family, and help strengthen our local food community together. Delicious Food, Supporting Local, All Delivered.

Your friends will love us! 🙂

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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED MEAL KITS INCLUDE:

ACME KIDS BOX HALLOWEEN SPECIAL!

ACME KIDS BOX – HALLOWEEN SPECIAL!

Help get your kids in the Halloween spirit with these fun Halloween snacks and meals. When they don’t get to make Halloween crafts and cooking projects at school, why not bring the Halloween fun at home?!

This week’s Halloween KIDS BOX special includes:
Halloween Pasta, Halloween Mummies, Spooky Kiwi Monsters, Apple Monster Mouths, Roasted Pumpkin Slices, Spider Web Pancakes, Pumpkin Oranges, and Pre-made Pumpkin Patch Shortbread Cookies for a treat!

Support local, while enjoying some Halloween fun!
(Fun for all ages! – you don’t have to be a kid to order!)

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Thank you for supporting local with us!

~Your Acme Family

40 Minute Meal, 40 Minute Bake Time
Serves 4
Vegan

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb Japanese eggplant, trimmed
salt
1 lb zucchini, trimmed
1 lb yellow summer squash, trimmed
4 roma tomatoes cored
–
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, peeled + diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 roma tomatoes, cored and diced
salt + pepper to taste
2 tbsp basil, minced
1 tbsp oregano, minced
–
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp parsley, minced
2 tbsp basil, minced
1 tbsp oregano, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
salt + pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:
Slice the eggplant into rounds about 1/8 inch thick (a mandoline or very sharp, serrated knife works the best for this) and place in a colander. Toss the eggplant with about 1/2 tsp salt, set the colander in the sink, and let the eggplant drain for about 1/2 hour. Slice the zucchini, squash, and 4 roma tomatoes into rounds the same size as the eggplant and place in piles on a baking sheet. Save the ends of the tomatoes to add to the sauce.

Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet set over medium-high heat and add the onion and bell pepper. Sauté until soft, about 6 minutes, then add the 3 cloves garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Stir in the vinegar and diced tomatoes (including the reserved ends), reduce heat to medium, and simmer until the tomatoes have broken down into a thick sauce, about 10 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper, remove from heat, and stir in the basil and oregano.

Preheat oven to 375F.

While the sauce is simmering, make the herbed oil. Stir the final 6 ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

Next, assemble the ratatouille – be patient, this takes a bit of time. Placing the vegetables directly on top of the sauce in the skillet and alternating slices of eggplant, zucchini, tomato, and summer squash, create a tight ring around the inside of the pan. Create a second, smaller ring inside the first, then fill in the remaining space in the center with as many more vegetable slices as you can. You should end up with a colorful bulls-eye pattern, with bits of sauce poking up through the vegetables in places.

Spoon the herbed oil evenly over the vegetables. Cover the pan with foil and slide into the oven. Roast for about 30 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to roast until the vegetables are very tender, the top is brown, and the whole pan is bubbling beautifully, about 40 more minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving, preferably with lots of crusty bread. This dish is just as good, if not better, served the next day, either at room temperature or gently reheated. Enjoy!

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Could this recipe become a new Acme favorite?
Please try out this meal and let use know what you think!
Use code RATATOUILLE$5 to get $5 off this meal.


{Recipe inspired and adapted from https://tasty.co}

THIS WEEK’S ACME MEALS THAT PAIR DELICIOUSLY WITH FIRELY KITCHENS FRESH + FERMENTED KIT

Try out the Fresh + Fermented Kit this week and let us know what you think. Use code: FERMENTED$5 to get $5 off! Comment below and let us know what meals you tried with these ferments. We would love to hear from you!

Want to learn more about gut health and the benefits of Fermented foods?

Check out these articles that give a more extensive look at all the benefits our bodies get from probiotics. And be sure to find Julie O’Brien’s book Fresh & Fermented to discover more recipes to enjoy with Firefly Kitchens delicious krauts.

The Outstanding Benefits of Fermentation – for Gut and Immune Health

5 Reasons to Add More Fermented Foods to Your Diet

Our Acme family is growing! Meet our new hub owner Jordan Bebee and his beautiful family! We have just opened up a new hub in the SODO neighborhood which allows us to serve Tacoma, Federal Way, and Kent. We are also expanding to Snohomish County where we’re aiming to build up new memberships so that we can open up a neighborhood hub there in the Fall.

The reason it’s so important for us to open up new hubs is to be closer to the communities we serve. We can’t wait to be more involved in the neighborhoods and spend more time making connections and building relationships with our farmers and local producers. This also helps us expedite any trouble shooting which will make deliveries and corrections quick and easy.

We couldn’t do this without you! You are the ones supporting our local food community with us.  If you have friends in these areas, please let them know. You are our most effective way of getting the word out. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell everyone! And remember, when you refer a friend, you receive a benefit of $10 off your next order. 

Win Win!

Thanksgiving may be fast approaching, but don’t forget about Friendsgiving! It’s the perfect excuse to get together with your closest friends and start new traditions during the holidays! It’s also a brilliant way to have that dinner party trial run before the actual Thanksgiving day. You can make it as fancy or as casual as you want.

Throwing a Friendsgiving, or let’s be honest, any dinner party, can be stressful. But we want to make it as easy for you as possible! Each week this month we will be giving you dinner party ideas through the meals we offer. This week we have a handful of meals that pair well together and can make planning a dinner party quick and easy!

For an Asian cuisine Friendsgiving consider ordering these meals this week:

• TERIYAKI SALMON BOWL WITH BABY BOK CHOY
• TERIYAKI TOFU BOWL WITH BABY BOK CHOY
• THAI PORK BURGERS
• THAI SHRIMP CAKES WITH CILANTRO LIME SLAW
• CHINOIS SALAD

Double or Triple a Meal, easy peasy this week!

Do you want a quick meal you can throw in the oven for Friendsgiving? Order 2 or 3 of our BLACK BEAN + SWEET POTATO ENCHILADAS (they are so delicious!) and ask your friends to bring the side salads. Just don’t forget the margaritas!

If your needing a new baking dish for this meal (mine is looking a little old these days) our chef recommends these Pyrex Baking Dishes. They transfer heat really well, you can see through them to make sure you aren’t burning your food, AND they are cheaper then ceramic dishes!

Soups on!

Another pairing of meals on the menu this week is soup! Soup season is here, and come on, everyone loves soup! Take a look at these soup options for your Friendsgiving! The sliders in our Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Sage Pork Sliders would be a perfect appetizer before the main soup course. We have them as Gluten Free Sliders, but we are also offering Slider Buns as an add this week, for those of you, like me, who crave bread. 🙂

• POTATO LEEK SOUP
• TUNISIAN CHICKPEA STEW
• ROASTED CAULIFLOWER SOUP WITH SAGE PORK SLIDERS

How about Breakfast for Dinner?

Who doesn’t love Breakfast for Dinner?! Enjoying a hearty breakfast with friends in the evening can be a really fun new tradition! We normally only offer one breakfast meal a week, but this week we have three on the menu!

• BISCUITS + MUSHROOM GRAVY
• HUEVOS CON CHORIZO HASH WITH SWEET POTATOES
• SHAKSHUKA

My cast iron skillet is my best friend when it comes to making Shakshuka. If you don’t have your own cast iron, here’s a Lodge Cast Iron that our chef highly recommends!

All in all, whatever you decide to do for Friendsgiving, remember that the most important part is sharing a meal together with friends you love.

When you cook with love, the food always tastes better. 🙂

Pies with especially wet fillings like quiches and custard pies as well as pies to be filled with pre-cooked fillings (such as chocolate cream pie) require the pie shell to be baked prior to filling. You’ll often see this referred to as “blind baking”. 

The process is pretty straightforward and simple and only requires some advanced planning and extra time worked into your baking process.

GENERAL PIE DOUGH TIPS

If your dough has been refrigerated, let it sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes to make it more workable. Frozen dough should be thawed in the refrigerator over night then at room temperature for 15-30 minutes. 

If you start rolling your dough and it cracks, let it rest longer to warm up a bit. If your dough seems too soft, pop it back in the fridge for a few minutes. 

TO BLIND BAKE A PIE SHELL

Roll your pie dough out into a circle about 1/8″ thick on a well floured surface. Fit into your pie plate.

Using kitchen shears or a sharp paring knife, trim the edge of the pie dough to be about 1″ to 1.5″ bigger than the outer rim of your pie plate. Tuck the overhanging pie dough under so that there is a double layer of dough at the edge.

Crimp the edge all the way around using the thumb and forefinger on your left hand and thumb on your right hand (or vice versa if you’re a lefty).

Using a fork, “dock” or pierce the pie shell all over the bottom and sides. The holes created allow steam to escape and will help prevent the pie dough from puffing up as it bakes. 

Refrigerate your crimped and docked pie shell for at least an hour. Don’t be tempted to skip this step – it is crucial to the pie shell maintaining its shape and lovely crimped edge when baked.

Line your pie shell with parchment paper and fill to the top with dried beans, rice or ceramic pie weights. (Beans or rice can be used over and over again as pie weights. Let cool after use then store in a jar for the next time you bake a pie.)

Bake pie shell in a 350F oven for 20-25 minutes.* Carefully remove the parchment paper and the weights. Return the pie shell to the oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before filling.

*Or bake according to your specific recipe. 

We know how valuable your time is and we want to do everything possible to make it easier for you to both shop AND cook local. We are going to lay out a plan to turn your Locavore Box into quick weeknight meals.  With a little planning and prep, you can make weeknight cooking quick and easy.

The first thing you need to do is gather the supplies you’ll need to prep + store your veggies. If you are truly committed to cooking from scratch {which is great to strive for} then definitely invest a little money to buy the tools and supplies that will make your life easier.  Next week we will post a list of our staff’s favorite kitchen tools and where you can buy them. Check back!

Things you’ll need to prep this week’s box:

An awesome knife
A large cutting board
A rolling pin
7 – 32oz Ball jars or similar
2 – 8oz Ball jars or similar
1 – 4oz Ball jar or similar
Cheese Grater
Vegetable Peeler 
Clean Dish Towel

Step 1:  Pull out your potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and leeks. Wash, dry and set next to your cutting board.

Step 2:  Prep veggies

     Cube red potatoes and place in a 32oz jar, fill jar with water
     Peel and cube yellow potatoes and place in a 32oz jar, fill jar with water
     Cut leeks in half lengthwise, slice and place in a 32oz jar
     Peel + dice carrots. Add 1/2 to one 32oz jar and 1/2 to a second 32oz jar
     Peel two yellow onions, finely dice, then add to both 32oz jars with carrots
     Peel red onion, reserve half for another use, and finely dice the remainder and add to an 8oz jar
     Dice celery and add to one jar with carrots + onions

Step 3:  Pull out your kale, thyme, rosemary, and garlic. Wash, dry and set next to your cutting board.

Step 4:  Continue to prep veggies

     Peel and mince 5 cloves of garlic. Add 3 cloves to jar with red onion, and 1 clove to each jar with carrots
     Remove and discard stems from kale, coarsely chop leaves and place in 32oz jar
     Pick 3 tsp of leaves from thyme. Place 2 tsp in jar with carrots, onions + celery and 1 tsp in jar with carrots + onions
     Chop 1-2 tsp of rosemary and place in jar with red onions

Step 5:  Pick through garbanzo beans, place in 32oz jar and fill jar with cold water. 

Step 6:  Grate cheese and place in 8oz jar 

Step 7:  Put everything away and you’re now prepped to cook for the week.

If you know next week is going to be crazy, consider taking your prep one step further.

Cook Your Smoked Salmon Chowder:
This chowder is even better on day two so it’s the perfect “make ahead” meal. You’ll also love it for lunches!

Cook Your Soaked Beans:
Soak the beans overnight. Drain the beans, put in a pot and cover with cold water by at least 2”. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until tender. Drain then refrigerate. 

Alternatively, you can power soak your beans! Bring unsoaked beans to a boil, simmer briskly for two minutes, remove from heat and cover. Set aside for 1 hour.

Partially Cook Your Shepherd’s Pie:
Follow your menu to make both the mashed potatoes + meat filling. With those two things done, all you need to do is assemble + bake!

Partially Cook Your Quiche:
Get a head start on your quiche by cooking up your leeks and rolling out your pie dough. If you have space in your freezer, you can even freeze the dough in the pie dish.

Reserve your cutting board trimmings for stock:
Whatever you do, do not throw away all those veggie trims and pieces. Toss them with leftover herbs, a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast on a sheet pan for 30 minutes. Or, simply cover with water, bring to a simmer and cook for about an hour. Use your homemade veggie stock in this week’s Shepherd’s Pie or freeze in 16oz containers for future use. Looking for more tips + tricks for stock? Check out this blogpost over at The Kitchn.