Happy New Year! Our Deli is bringing in 2022 with a traditional Southern good luck soup called Hoppin’ John. This stew is made with black–eyed peas to represent coins, collard greens to represent paper money, and tomatoes to signify health. It is customary to eat it with “golden” cornbread and to leave three black-eyed peas in one’s bowl to bring good luck. The co-op is offering a version with pork as well as a vegan option, pictured. You can find it in the grab-and-go section today and in the hot soup bar on New Year’s Day. Enjoy!  

Do your holiday shopping at the co-op! From scarves, hats and stress-relieving bath and body care items to organic stocking stuffers, mulled wine and smoked salmon, you can find holiday gifts for everyone on your list. Here’s a peak at some of the gift ideas we have for you.

Wellness and General Merchandise

Give the gift of relaxation with bath bombs, bath salts, exfoliating sugar scrubs and other products meant for pampering. Other gift items you can find at the co-op include diffusers, salt lamps, cashmere scarves, stickers, holiday cards, hats, local bags, local candles, puzzles and more!

Floral

Festive bouquets, poinsettias, mistletoe and plants in decorative planters are excellent ways to bring the colors of the season inside. Whether you’re decorating your own home or bringing them to a friend, these flowers are sure to spread the joy of the season.

Grocery

Yum Earth candy cane pops and candy canes, Fairtrade chocolate bars, Oregon-made toffee and Seely mint patties are some of the tasty treats your friends and family will love to find in their stockings! Local coffee from Sleepy Monk Coffee Roasters and Columbia River Coffee Roasters, co-op made granola and local honey are other great gifts to savor.

Wine & Beer

Skol! It’s that time of year to warm up with a sip of Glögg, a traditional Scandinavian mulled wine and Glühwein, a mulled wine with history that dates back to the Romans. You can get these hard-to-find libations at the co-op! Your friends will also enjoy the gift of seasonal beers from local brewery Fort George. And get ready for New Year’s Eve with Acinum Prosecco, on sale from Dec. 14 to Jan. 4.

Deli 

Our deli’s cheese and charcuterie board is sure to be a hit at your holiday get together! Our deli is offering three different options for you to pre-order by Dec. 17 at astoriacoop.square.site to pick up on Dec. 23 or 24. You can also pre-order a variety of other menu items, including lasagnas, cornbread stuffing with cranberries, winter salad, mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables agrodolce, panettone, cardamom pumpkin morning buns, cinnamon rolls and a breakfast pastry sampler. You only have a few days left to order, so don’t wait!

Meat

Our meat department is offering some specialty holiday items you can reserve now in the store or by calling 503-325-0027. These include standing rib roast, leg of lamb, rack of lamb, ham — spiral & boneless, and beef tenderloin. Or, you can pick up canned and jarred seafood to give as a present, including herring, smoked salmon, caviar, holiday themed oysters and local tuna.

Gift Card

And of course, you can always give a co-op gift card so your friend or family member can treat themselves to a shopping trip for all these local, natural products and more.

Happy shopping and happy holidays!

Our meat department is offering standing rib roast, leg of lamb, rack of lamb, ham — spiral & boneless, and beef tenderloin. Reserve it today to pick up in time to cook your holiday meal! Ask for the meat department when you call 503-325-0027 or ask your cashier for an order form. Happy holidays!

Our deli and bakery have some great menu items planned for your festivities! You can pre-order them now in the store or at astoriacoop.square.site to pick up between 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Dec. 23 or 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m. Dec. 24.

Start the holiday with cinnamon rolls, cardamom pumpkin morning buns, or a breakfast pastry sampler with assorted muffins, scones and spiced coffee cake. Our bakery is also offering panettone, a traditional Italian Christmas bread.

Any holiday gathering is an occasion for a cheese and charcuterie board! The Nice and Easy board includes a selection of three cheeses – Cheddar (Tillamook), Chevre (Cypress Grove), Brie (Presidente/D’Amir); dried fruit and gluten-free Crackers. The Co-op Classics board offers a selection of four of the most popular Co-op cheeses – Cana de Oveja, Midnight Moon, Roquefort, Manchego; dried fruit; seasonal fruit and gluten-free crackers.

The third board is the Northwest Celebration with a selection of five cheeses from our favorite northwest creameries – Sleeping Beauty, Sawtooth, and Glacier Bleu from Cascadia Creamery; cheddar curds from Beecher’s; and Humboldt Fog from Cypress Grove; dried fruit; seasonal fruit; housemade focaccia and gluten-free crackers. To any board, you can add Olympia Provisions soppressata salami or chorizo navarre salami, housemade focaccia, or sustainable American caviar.

For the main entree, our deli is planning two options of lasagna: a classic meat and cheese lasagna with pastured beef, pork sausage, ricotta-spinach filling, mozzarella and parmesan; and a vegetarian mushroom lasagna with assorted mushrooms, balsamic-braised swiss chard and mascarpone-bechamel.

The sides are all vegetarian and gluten-free and include winter salad with chicories, kale, walnuts, olives and citrus vinaigrette; roasted root vegetables agrodolce; classic mashed potatoes; and cornbread stuffing with cranberries.

Deli and bakery pre-orders close after Dec. 17, so put in your order now!

If you’re planning to cook your own main entree to go with these sides, you can separately reserve meat items by calling the meat department at 503-325-0027 or asking your cashier for a special order form. Offerings include standing rib roast, leg of lamb, rack of lamb, ham – spiral and boneless, and beef tenderloin.

We will also have dessert options available in the store that do not require a pre-order.

Happy holidays!

We’re giving away coffee beans and a tumbler from Café Mam! Comment on this post for a chance to win by Dec. 14, and try it while it’s on #freshdeal at $2 off/lb. (reg. 11.99) in our bulk section. Café Mam is committed to sourcing fair trade, shade-grown, organic coffee by indigenous farmer cooperatives. 

Astoria has a rich history of cooperatives, including a plywood mill, a cannery and of course, our Astoria Co+op grocery store. Watch the video about it on our YouTube channel.

We have lots in stock, fresh, and at a great price. We’re open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day this week except for Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Beaujolais Nouveau Day, and the co-op has wine for you to join in the festivities!

This holiday lands on the third Thursday in November when the wine is released at 12:01 a.m., in accordance with French law. In France, wine enthusiasts are celebrating the first wine of the season with parties, festivals, music and fireworks.

The wine was first produced about 100 years ago as a way to celebrate the end of the harvest season, only a few weeks after the grapes were picked. A controlled designation of origin was established for the Beaujolais in 1937 and after World War II the wine was sold beyond that area. Beaujolais Nouveau day became a national holiday in France by the 1970s.

“It’s a fun and tasty wine, goes great with turkey dinners (a must in my opinion,) and is relatively affordable,” said Meagan Young, the co-op’s operations manager and wine and beer manager.

The co-op carries an Old World style with Georges Dubeouf from Beaujolais and a New World style with Division Winemakers from Oregon. Pick up a bottle and celebrate today!

Pearl Hodges, head of the cheese department and a baker at Astoria Co+op, is excited about the fun cheeses in stock during the holiday season, including baked brie, cheese-making kits and marzipan. 

“The holidays are fun, it’s a chance to put out tasty treats for yourself and your loved ones,” Hodges said. “We have a nice selection for a cheese board, which is wonderful for a party.”  

“Or just spoil yourself and eat an entire block of cheese, it’s fine,” she added. 

Hodges majored in theater arts in San Diego. Her now-husband was living in the Astoria area, so she came up to visit him and ended up moving here and getting married.  

Hodges worked at Home Depot for a while before she decided she wanted a change. A previous manager at the co-op suggested she give the deli a try. 

“I really love it here,” Hodges said.  

After working at the co-op deli for about two years, Hodges began feeling sick. Eventually, she was diagnosed with lymphoma and had to leave work for eight months of chemotherapy and isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.  

“The co-op was really supportive during that time and I really appreciate it,” Hodges said.  

She continues to have more mild treatments over the next two years and has a good prognosis. She was able to return to the co-op last spring. 

“I’m back! Alive!” Hodges said. “It’s been nice to be a person again. I missed being here.” 

She feels she came back at a good time, when the co-op’s salad, burrito and hot bar reopened after months of COVID-related restrictions.  

The pandemic has caused supply issues across many industries, including cheese, but some of her favorites are becoming more available now.  

Some of her local favorites come from Skamokawa Farmstead Creamery, Little Island Creamery, Briar Rose Creamery and Cascadia Creamery.  

“We are able to supply very local products that you’re not going to get out of a bigger market,” Hodges said. “And we’re able to meet the needs of allergy restrictions. We’re able to be transparent with everything we have.”  

She added it’s nice to work in the kitchen, as she enjoys cooking and baking, and has a good relationship with her local suppliers.  

“You know who produced it, transported it and stocked it,” Hodges said.  

In her free time, Hodges enjoys drawing and painting surreal and abstract art, writing fantasy, hiking and exploring the beaches in the area. She and her husband are currently working on a novel together.  

“Being sick definitely makes you want to get things done,” Hodges said.