October!

I am sending you a little of the info that will be going up on the (currently being created) website! Including the menu for October! Wohoo! I am ready to take on a few more customers, so feel free to spread the word!





For those of you who don’t know…Apothocurious is my dream: The CSCA, a variation on the theme of the Community Supported Agriculture veggie box, a popular food sourcing model in the Bay Area in which local farmers supply our communities with tasty, local veggies. Apothocurious, a Community Supported Culinary Adventure provides you with a weekly (or bimonthly) supply of freshly made spreads, sauces and salads to fulfill your nutritional needs, and dazzle your tastebuds!



In each delivery you receive 4 products: a hummus, a pesto (or other equally delicious dip), a salsa, and a salad. Each week will feature a different selection of the spreads ranging from Honeyed Hummus to Peach Salsa to Arugula Pesto to Sweet Potato Avocado Salad.



The ingredients are selected by season and as local, as organic and as sustainable as possible. Apothocurios creations will not include meat, often include nuts, and occasionally include dairy. However, special dietary restrictions will be accounted for.



In the future we will include other local artisan goods such as a variety of baked goods, kombucha, and even local yogurt!



Here is how it works.



its like a combo milk man & CSA box, a Hummus Chick...Pea...if you will...



Once a week (or every other week) you receive four beautiful jars filled with a variety of gourmet; locally, organically, and personally inspired food.



each week will come with:

16oz of uniquely flavored hummus

16 oz of seasonally inspired salad, often vegan and/or raw

8 oz of decadent pesto

8 oz of wild salsa



All you need to provide is a secure and cold location for your deliveries each week.



Most customers have an off street space with a cooler, a basement, a gate between the street and the front door, etc. Each household is different, and we will work with you to provide you the easiest delivery possible!



The cost is a sliding scale of $25-$35/wk with a $14 jar deposit.







Jar Deposit



This is where the milk man comes in, each week I will deliver 4 jars to your house and pick up 4 jars from the previous week. The $14 is for four 16 oz jars and four 8 oz jars and makes for an easy jar swap each week! At the end of your service you can either keep your jars or receive your deposit back.





Probably the motivation to read through the whole e mail:



What’s cooking this month



October Week 1:

Polenta Hummus

Watermelon Heirloom Salad

Cucumber Salsa

Cilantro Pesto



Week 2:

Basil Hummus

Heirloom Salsa

Broccoli Salad

Red Pepper Pesto



Week 3:

White Bean Hummus

Roasted Zucchini Salsa

Beets and Carrots Salad

Basil Pesto



Week 4:

Sept Hummus

BNS Salsa

Tabouli Salad

Cranberry Pesto



If you are interested in subscribing please get back to me quickly, the spots tend to fill up fast and I hate saying no to friends!



Smiles,

Rose

Apothocurious@gmail.com

Apothocurious.blogspot.com

apothoCRAZY:)

So I totally spaced on taking a picture of the fleet this week and the deliveries are done. But they looked oh so beautiful. And I could have made it a group shot because I had two amazing helpers this Monday. And whooooo did it make things run smoother. My awesome roommate brad washed dished the entire time, it just goes to show how many dishes there are to be done. Elisa helped with the jarring and pesto perfecting. Next week maybe max and ruby will be my Sunday crew!

It is great to have a lively kitchen, friends fed, fresh food being creating into magic, and the power to explore, learn, and practice! This week we had honey hummus (my secret (not so secret anymore) favorite) capRAZY salad (vegan, with grilled zucchini), garbanzo bean salsa, and arugula pesto, which was a a little bitter, but can be heated up to tone it down. Brainstorming on the menu for next month and how to take it to the next level, both in service and quality! Wohoooo!

the apex of apotho

wooohooooo

I have the slightest hint of internet through my windows in my apt and it makes me so happy to be able to connect. I have been reading up in the blog world these days, yay for blogs! right? Its friday, im in between week 2 and week 3. getting the feed back, dreaming about the future and mashing on some surplus hummus and salsa:)

to be honest i am feeling like this project is way bigger than i am, and its a crazy amount of responsibility. the demand is unbelievable. i think i could sign up 15 new customers today if i wanted to. and i want to, but i cant. i don't have the fridge space. that's my first limiting factor. its also crazy to think about the risks involved with feeding people. i started this because i love it, but i think i would stop immediately if i ever got anyone sick. i am using my best practices, washing things every time i use them, washing hands, table tops, everything, as much as possible. but its still crazy. it makes me think about going vegan, perhaps that would eliminate some risks? the third issue is quality. it is just so much harder to make a slamming hummus that has to reach out and make 13 customers happy! So im working on it. my PR bestie is encouraging me to keep track of ingredient, but i am just not that diligent (she knows it, thats why shes pushing so hard. if you really want the details, this week, to attempt to increase efficiency i am going to jar as i make instead of storing in a larger container and then storing morning of. i will see if this affects freshness, and will douse with olive oil to ensure.

this weeks menu is exciting!!

Honey Hummus and Arugula pesto are two things i am so stoaked about! also a caprazy salad, a variation of the standard capreezy salad that is just gunna get a little crazy, and it gives me the freedom i thrive on! this is where i hope no one actually reads this, because i am going to make roasted corn salsa and i have never made it before! wish me luck! (or send recipes and tips!)

my other job with the after school bike program isnt really happening this week and is very part time till oct, which is a blessing for getting apotho of the ground, but im excited to go back. even though i sure have been enjoy my really really under employed life style.

today i will cook some lunch with some buddies, check out park(ing) days (if i was really good, i would link that to a website so you could learn more about it-but like i said earlier i really dont think anyone reads this) and hopefully get a chance to volunteer for a gala i wish to attend tomorrow!

Smilesssss
rose
i hope you find your dreams in your days.

Wowzers. Never have I ever made a gallon of hummus, but yesterday I did! And what a joy it was! I made ½ gallons of pesto and salsa and another gallon + of cucumber salad! I am looking forward to all of the learning I get to do while working on this project! So far people are stoaked about it! I have 12 customers, I had about 4 oz of extra hummus this am, and I am going to deliver all of these tasties in a bit, amongst other fun errands!

I wrote that mid process on Tuesday morning. Monday was my cooking/prepping day, Tuesday my jarring and delivering day. The process was successful. I managed to make all 9 deliveries (some customers are add ons and every other weekers) and feel great about having 11 folks to get to next week! The menu next week is exciting! A wild rice salad, ginger hummus, peach salsa and a tziki sauce.

I am feeling great about the future of this and being able to juggle it with my other job. So I am figuring out publicity, website stuff, and where to go from here! But I suppose I should wait and see how week 2 goes…

Dreams do come true. Oh yeah.

As you read in my newsletter, hummus is all I can think about these days! My wonderful friends have been helping with the foodie brainstorm, experimenting and taste testing, and they don’t seem to mind. I currently have 10 “families” signed up. I am at my max, my original goal for the trial period was 5, but I really didn’t want to say no, so everyone who signed up with the in first 24 hours of the announcement got a yes! And YES, I am excited!

I have been experimenting with hummus this week. Polenta, honey, wasabi, and spices have all been dancing in my cuisineart. Week one is pretty standard, Flavor Slam Hummus, Basil Pesto, Cucumber Salad and a Heirloom Salsa. I am going to buy 10lbs of dried chick peas, 20 bunches of pesto, gosh maybe 20 big heirloom tomatoes, maybe 15+ cucumbers. Luckily I know that if I have extra I will just feed myself (and my friends) for the week, but it’s crazy to buy so much food! I LOVE it! I love shopping for food, navigating where it is coming from, how it was grown, the right price, etc. and then, even more, I love preparing it! And that’s what I will do next. I think I will spend a little time on Monday making the pesto and the salsa. They both have olive oil in them and time will not affect their flavor, only enhance it. on Tuesday I will make the hummus (Monday evening I will soak the beans) and the cucumber salad. If all goes well I will start my delivery route by 1 pm on Tuesday and with a 3 hours break between 3 and 6 pm, I will hopefully visit everyone by 9 pm! I am so excited! I cant believe how much stuff needs to be done, I gotta find the best jar sales in SF, get my bike all set up for the delivery, work out the logistics with folks about the delivery and get all of my ingredients.

Oh yeah ingredients, this is the most exciting part. I am so jazzed to be able to have a full hand, head and community supported distributor (me!) in the mix of creating a PURE business model incorporating the fair treatment of others, buying Local, Sustainable, Healthy and happy vegetables! I have found a. organic USA source of chick peas at Rainbow (the local co-op), they also sell local (ish (napa)) olive oil and other good ingredients, so I will stock up there with my dried goods. I will continue to look for a more local chick pea source too! If I can get my act together I will do it on a Wednesday or Thursday so I can get 20% off!

Every Sunday there is an awesome farmers mark four blocks to the east of me. This Sunday I will do my huge shopping there. I am excited to make more connections with my local farmers as I preparing to buy in bulk from them for the next four weeks, and hopefully longer!

This project is feeling great! I am hoping these four weeks go well because I have huge dreams for where this could go. I have talked to so many friends who make awesome (local, organic, PURE) artisan goods. It would be so fun to support their dreams and promote their talents by having a section on my website where people can check a box and order whatever good they want that week. I have very talented bakers interested, a friend who is working on a milk source to make raw yogurt, a co-worker to who makes amazing chai in wine bottles, and the doors keep on opening more! But I gotta take it one day at a time, and week 1 is looking good! Whoooo hoooo.

My Dream!

This is a dream I want to share with all of you!





Please contact me with interest, questions and curiosity! Feel free to share this with others who might be Apothocurious.
Best,
Rose Johnson
Apothocurious@gmail.com
I am Apothocurious! Are you?