Local Provisions For A Delicious Thanksgiving 

November 21, 2023 – Finding reliable sources of anything these days seems fraught with peril. Try getting homeowners insurance in the Santa Cruz Mountains or water out of the tap in Boulder Creek.  But one place you can count on for top notch groceries and service to match is Shopper’s Corner. It’s the people who know all the right people. 

As store manager Andre Beauregard says, “Shoppers is a great spot to get all the goodies, because we are so deeply rooted in the community and have many long-time relationships with local farmers, wineries and vendors.” He knows how fortunate they are to have these bonds, especially when bigger entities try to muscle in with their volume buying power. Says Beauregard, “These vendors are always good about taking good care of their oldest customers like us, so when things get scarce, they make sure to take care of us before the chains. They know that we are here to support them, so they do the same in return.”

Quick to rattle off some of the local organic supplies of produce, he names Brussels sprouts from Rodoni, plus winter squashes (including butternut, acorn, spaghetti and delicata), along with bunch carrots, celery and leeks from Pinnacle Farms. 

They’ve also got glorious green displays of kale, chard, romaine, redleaf and butter lettuces from Lakeside Farms. “If you can get it local, then it always tastes better, plus it feels good to know you’re supporting a local business,” says Beauregard. 

Chris Laughlin from Sea to Sky Farms says her red garnet sweet potatoes are at Shopper’s right now and her orange Covingtons will be there next week. Wild Roots in Felton has both varieties, as well as her little creamer potatoes, and Haas avocados are arriving this week. “It was a good year for avocados and sweet potatoes, and the Hachiya persimmons are almost ripe,” Laughlin told us. The Fuyu trees she planted after the CZU fire will need a few more years to produce. 

The cold wet winter and spring was a farmer’s blessing wrapped around a curse. “We had zero Blenheim apricots and maybe a dozen peaches, and a fifth of the normal amount of blueberries. The apple season was good and the dry-farmed tomatoes turned out great. We could not plant row crops until June, so everything was way behind on other veggies.”  A year without fires, though, is something to be thankful for. 

Beyond local produce, Beauregard loves to support products from local makers. He enjoys walking down the condiment aisle, laden with hot sauces, BBQ marinades and mustards. 

“I’m always trying my best to promote the little guys because I know it’s not easy competing with all the corporate conglomerates. The thing that they are missing is the passion that all these little guys put into their craft. They aren’t simply making a product, but living out their dreams and putting all their hopes and livelihoods on the line. We love to help out on that!”

One of those makers is Peggy Dillon of Twins Kitchen. She started making jams with one of her twin daughters when the California Cottage Food Act (AB1616) was signed into law in 2012. “I was the first business to sign up!” she says. 

Although her daughters are off pursuing their own careers now, she is busily making at least 8 flavors of jams and 4 different mustards, many of which can be found at Shopper’s Corner, New Leaf and Wild Roots. “I’ve got tennis elbow and carpal tunnel, and when I’m standing over a hot stove and it’s 100 degrees outside, stirring a big pot of jam, what keeps me going is the way people react when they taste my jams! I do this because I love it!” She also does it to support all the farmers and orchardists who labor to provide the freshness of the beautiful fruit she preserves in each jar. “Start with the best!” she says. 

At present, you can find these Twins Kitchen jam flavors at Shopper’s: Strawberry Jalapeno, Strawberry Balsamic with Rosemary and Black Pepper, Heirloom Apricot with Sage, Raspberry Vanilla Lavender, Blackberry Pie and Foglifter Fig with Orange and Cardamom

Her mustards include French Dijon, Champagne Herb, Horseradish with Onion and Garlic and Spiced Bavarian. You can meet Peggy and buy her wares at Bargetto’s Art in the Cellar on December 2 and 3, where she will feature her seasonal Apple Cranberry Chutney. She’ll also be sampling at New Leaf Capitola, Dec. 9, 11am—2 pm. Taste to believe!

Among the many local wines Shopper’s carries are Beauregard, Mount Eden, Soquel, Storrs, Sante Arcangeli, Bargetto, Farm Cottage, Alfaro, Aptos Vineyards and Windy Oaks. 

Other local vendors that Shopper’s takes pride in carrying are cheeses from Cowgirl creamery and Cypress Grove, Gizdich Ranch and Beckmann’s pies, Glaum Chicken Ranch eggs, Clover Sonoma Dairy products, Beckmann’s bread crumbs, Meeks honey, Belle Farms and Wild Poppies olive oils, and coffees from Santa Cruz roasting, Verve, Cat and Cloud, Alta Organic, Java Bob and 11th hour. Local bakery favorites include Beckmann’s, Companion, Sumano and Kelly’s, all of which are baking up a storm right now.  

If you want to get in on the baking action, Companion Bakeshop offers a sourdough class on Thursday, December 7th, 5:30pm-7:30pm. They’ll cover the process of baking bread at home, beginning with the care and keeping of a sourdough starter, followed by the process of mixing, fermenting, shaping and baking a delicious rustic loaf. You will go home with a sourdough starter, a basket, and a loaf ready to be baked off in your oven after class. 

Manresa Bread is offering two cool baking kits you can gift to friends or family, including a cinnamon roll baking kit ($149), with everything needed to make six pillowy-soft Christmas morning cinnamon rolls. Owner and founder Avery Ruzicka’s technique of scalding the flour and milk mixture in advance is the secret sauce. There’s also baguette baking kit, complete with video instructions, for $159.