Good morning! Conspiracy theories surround today's notable historic events. On November 24th, 1963 a Dallas, Texas nightclub owner named Jack Ruby shot JFK alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald on live television! Oswald later succumbed to his injuries. Ruby claimed that his grief over President Kennedy's murder motivated him to shoot Oswald but many believe that it was to prevent him from providing authorities with a larger conspiracy surrounding the President's death. Ruby was charged with first degree murder and sentenced to death but his death sentence was overturned for several reasons and he ended up dying (still incarcerated) of lung cancer in 1967.
But there's another possibly even larger mystery linked to today's date and that has to do with the disappearance of the infamous Dan "D.B." Cooper who hijacked a Boeing 727 in 1971, extorted $200,000 in ramsom and then parachuted out the back somewhere between Seattle and Reno, never to be seen or heard from again. Some FBI agents think that Cooper could not have survived the descent but no parachute or remains were ever found. In 1980 a young boy found some of the bundled ransom cash in the sand along the Columbia River, near Vancouver, WA. Did Mr. Cooper survive the jump and live out his days a fugitive or did he perish? Nobody knows. The case remains the only unsolved case of air piracy in the history of commercial aviation.
If you love meat then today is your lucky day because there's a whole lot of it in our newsletter. We'll circle back to that in a minute. But first, let's tell you about some incredible new dumplings from Vancouver's House of Yee. We're talking premium handcrafted dumplings that are free from gluten and MSG and come with the sauce included (also gluten-free)! Choose from Golden Dumplings filled with coconut red curry, spinach and chickpeas in a turmeric wrap; Jade Dumplings filled with ginger miso tofu with edamame in a spinach wrap; or two kinds of Premium Dumplings: braised shiitake mushroom with chicken or braised shiitake mushroom with pork. Yee-umm!
While we're talking about things that are gluten-free, we should mention that the amazing Laughing Daughters Gluten Free Foods Inc. has come through once again by offering their Graham Cracker. Yes, the label says "cracker" as in singular but rest assured, there's more than one in the bag. Maybe it's like when you're talking about more than one moose or more than one beer. You might say, "Hey, look at all those moose." Or, "I drank five beer last night." Wait, that's beside the point. What's important is that these locally-made and tasty graham cracker are made with several types of flour, butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and best of all...love!
There's nothing like a cold glass of milk to wash down those graham cracker but if dairy-free is more your style then why not have a glass of fresh, hand-pressed nut milk? New Nutmeg Mylk is made right here in BC (Vancouver) using various kinds of nuts with flavours that include Creamy Brazil Nut - a super creamy mylk with almonds, cashews and Brazil nuts lightly sweetened with vanilla and maple, Blue Coconut - creamy coconut cashew mylk with blue algae, cinnamon and maple, and Silky Cacao - a chocolatey blend of almonds, cashews, raw cacao, cinnamon and maple. These delicious nut milks are made with raw, organic, simple and nutrient-rich ingredients without using any preservatives or chemicals. And since the owner's name is Meg, the product name should make more sense!
Another new plant-based beverage that's also gluten-free and that has a very short list of ingredients is Earth's Own Naked Oat Milk. Made with only Canadian-grown oats, water, sea salt and natural enzymes this oaty potation also makes a mean latte!
Now that the weather has turned colder and the rain has further dampened our spirits, warming up with a hot cup of tea sounds pretty splendid. Kettle and Hive make unique herbal tea and lemon concentrates that you simply spoon out of the jar into a mug of hot water! We have numerous flavours but our newest is the Kettle and Hive Elderberry and Cinnamon Herbal Tea Mix. Elderberries have a high vitamin C content so you can stave off scurvy while staving off the winter blahs!
Alright, we said there would be meat and by golly here it comes! Our Meat Manager started the ball rolling a couple of weeks ago by adding those new patés, rillettes and terrines (which completely sold out by the way but are now back in stock). And now he's really done it by adding a ton of other new items! First up is Funks Premium Quality Sausage from Abbotsford, BC. With five varieties of gluten-free and lactose-free ready-to-eat sausages, you can choose from Beef Farmer Sausage, Beef Farmer Sausage with Garlic, Pork Farmer Sausage, Pork & Beef Farmer Sausage and Turkey Farmer Sausage! Man, great sausage is just so satisfying! Fire up the BBQ and get the Funks out!
Two scrumptious sausages that don't require any refrigeration are Freybe Dry Spanish Chorizo and Freybe Swiss Farmer Sausage! Both are also lactose and gluten-free and the chorizo is about a medium heat for those who like things a little spicy.
How about Freybe Mennonite Style Farmer Sausage? This fully cooked pork sausage is prepared with minimal spices, is nicely smoked and also contains no gluten. Or, if a coldcut style sausage sounds great on a sandwich or meat and cheese platter, Freybe Chorizo Sausage should do quite nicely. It's a traditionally air dried and sliced sausage that will make your charcuterie board really kick!
You wanna know what's da bomb? Continental Gouda Bomb Sausage Ring is, that's what! It's a pork sausage ring stuffed with gouda cheese that'll provide a flavour explosion in your mouth when you take a bite! Seriously, sausage and gouda together? That's one kooky combo!
And as if all that wasn't enough, John went ahead and added the universal favourite meat of all time since the history of people and pork: bacon. But it's not just any bacon. It's Klondike Bacon, maple smoked and sugar-free in all its glory, just like the miners liked it (that last part is not verified). And it's priced right, too.
Though this may not sound like an item from the Meat Department, it is, because it's now part of our fresh pasta lineup. Taste Republic Gluten-Free Lasagna Sheets are made with brown rice flour and can be used straight out of the package and into the pan (no boiling required). Taste Republic says they're on a mission to revolutionize gluten-free food. Join the movement!
That'll do it for another week, folks. Hope you enjoyed this newsletter as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you! As always, be nice to your fellow human beings and, until next week, take good care!
Pepper's Foods