Artists in Residence and a whole lotta painting going on!

Karen and Jim joined in the painting this weekend. Karen had already been priming with me during the week- thanks guys!

Benji trying to get to Jim to check out the paint job in the bathroom.

Myles, in his job as mini-foreman, checking out mine and Karen's work.

Alison and my good neighbor, Sandie, checking out the colors and deciding where each will go. Teagan put her two cents in as well!

It's been a busy week! We started with our resident artists picking out our colors and deciding how it would all play out at the store. Bob had to grin and bear it- no- we weren't going to paint all the walls some shade of white! Our colors are amber, eggplant, a brick-like red, green and yellow. And so far the store looks great. After we are done with the walls, Ali and Sandie will move in and do their murals- should be sometime next week. Meantime we have had people stopping in, wishing us luck and wondering when we will be opening. At one point we had a line of cars facing the store and people sitting in them watching us paint. Guess it was a slow day for some... Our website is now up and running- http://www.naturesgrocervernon.com/ -check it out! I will post some more pics later of the finished walls.

Taking a break while the work continues-GF travel

We decided that now was a good time to get away- since there really wasn't much that we could do except to continue to watch and wait. So we went to where the sun shines- Turks and Caicos. I have always loved the Caribbean , but this was my first time going to an island on a GF diet. The grocery store proved that apart from outrageous prices- there was absolutely no trace of GF anything. I had brought food and snacks with me and dinners we planned to eat out. I had to ask the usual questions regarding ingredients and found that the simpler the better as far as eating safely. It was a great excuse to order grilled lobster on more than one occassion in an effort to avoid dishes that were not GF or had cream in them.


Anyways we took our little general contractor to check on the store today and he seemed to be pleased with the progress.

Here is Myles checking out the sheet rock throughout the store.


Teagan came along as well, because we were going shopping afterwards and shopping is quickly becoming her favorite activity. Check out the headband- how cute is this child????

On the islands we found the real deal- a place called Da Conch Shack. Truly a place for the locals with a real community feel - can Nature's Grocer become a local stop too? I hope so!

Here's the beach at Grace Bay- 12 miles of beautiful white sand.

Cabinets soon to be installed.....

So we're back, we're tanned and ready to go. With a little luck we may be painting this weekend. And with a snow storm coming tomorrow, we'll just remember the sun, sand, and get geared up for the work to come.

We have walls! (and snack recipe to follow...)

We have walls- finally! Myles continues to oversee this operation and make sure that things are going along as they should. The space is starting to be defined and the ceilings should be up next.

On another anote, I made these roasted spiced pecans- great snack for those of you who can tolerate nuts. Here it is!

Roasted Spiced Pecans

2 1/2 cups pecans

2 teaspoons canola oil

1 cup sugar (I used organic cane sugar)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoons coarse salt (I used sea salt)

1 teaspoon GF vanilla extract

1/4 cup water

Put the pecans on a baking pan and pour the oil over them and stir together until all the pecans are coated. Bake in the oven at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Keep stirring and checking to make sure that they don't get too dark. Remove from oven and cool.

Next, stir together sugar, cinnamon, salt and water over medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Using a candy thermometer boil to 236 degrees and then remove from heat and beat in vanilla. The mixture will be creamy. Add pecans and stir mixture. Turn mixture onto waxed paper and spread pecans out using a fork to separate the nuts. Cool and enjoy!

We have been munching on these and they are great for the sweet tooth- always my downfall!

Happy Holidays to all!

Back on track

This is our new logo- thanks to Alison. Some very special people actually have this on a t-shirt.

Benji has made it clear that he wants his food to be like ours- so he took charge- since the rest of us didn't move quick enough and picked out his own pancake!

GF potato pancakes!

Here's big Jim Decker taking some pointers from Myles

on the store plans. Maybe we should make him the head of this building project?????????

I haven't reported in awhile as not much has been happening with the store renovation. But... the sub floor is now in with promises that the work will continue. I hope so. I have been watching a house being built down the road and although it was started recently, (a few months ago) I'm willing to bet that the occupants will be in before we are! I hope I'm wrong. Meantime, we continue to work on the ordering and recipes.

We had a gluten free Hanukah- delicious potato pancakes and sweet potato pancakes using white rice flour. We also had a Sunday brunch and made blueberry scones- gluten free- they were delicious. Family members ate and we didn't tell them until after that they were gluten free. My mother snagged some scones to take home- supposedly for her breakfast the next day, but they didn't last that long. And Bryan, my son-in-law- who if you tell him something is gluten free- will push it away and eat ANYTHING else- actually scarfed down gf waffles and later on at Hanukah chowed down on the potato pancakes. So we are making converts- one at a time!

Let's hope progress continues...

Restaurant Tip!

Last night we stopped at Carrabba's restaurant in Manchester based on a list established by GIG (gluten intolerance group). For those folks who are able to eat anything- there are lots and lots of choices and there is a separate menu that is gluten free. We enjoyed it- nothing gourmet, but a good place to stop for a quick meal- especially when you have a young guest- we had Myles with us. I am usually very apprehensive and will only eat at a few select places- but I am glad that I gave it a try. Clearly, they understood the gluten free options and I did not get sick from cross contamination as I have at so many other places. Anyways- good recommendation for those who need it!

Construction has begun!

Finally! The workers arrived yesterday and started to frame the walls- yeah!!!! As you can see, Myles is very interested in this process- he's sure to be a good little helper. People have been stopping by, asking questions- wondering what exactly is "Nature's Grocer"? Now we're hoping that we may be able to do a little painting when the Thanksgiving crew arrives- hope some of you will be up for it!

Nauture's Grocer is coming soon....

Here's the banner that we hung up at the store front weeks ago- and now we're waiting for the construction to begin. Meanwhile we are behind the scenes leaving flyer's and providing goodies to a preschool family night and to a "No Rules" art show down at Jennie's. Response has been very positive- people can't wait to have a natural foods store this side of the river. At this point, we are thinking we will open in mid- January. Meantime I am looking through catalogues, talking to vendors and searching out locals who have a good product to sell. So far we have on board South Main Soaps and honey from Tolland. That part of the store I would like to continue to grow. I also plan to keep this updated as progress moves along. "Till then....