I get so excited when these fruits comes in our stores; it is without a doubt the best fruit available in our area. The first shipment looks beautiful and tastes great, I measured the Brix (sugar content) on a Peach that I tasted and it measured 12; our standards are 11 to 13 while an ordinary peach usually measures 8 to 10. The Prima Sweet is very juicy and sweet, my next one to taste was a Nectarine and just as the Peach it was delicious.

Last week some fellow colleagues and I tasted some wonderful wines from the Kermit Lynch Portfolio and fell in love with the quirky Vin du Bugey-Cerdon Non Vintage sparkling wine.  What a fun summer wine!  A very interesting wine from the Savoie region of France, on the border with Switzerland, it is a blend of Gamay and Poulsard which makes for a delicately sweet wine that is extremely vibrant and full of wild strawberries and watermelon…it reminds one of liquid jolly rancher candy in a very pleasant way.  Perfect paired with strawberry shortcake or as an aperitif or simply a fun picnic wine. Retail in Ohio is currently $20 while on the west coast it is $25

This salad is huge in the Southwest! I do admit to having lived in Oklahoma for a couple of years and this was at every party, BBQ and potluck I went to. Not only does it taste great on tortilla chips it’s a natural relish for grilled chicken or fish. Think of it as an alternative to salsa. Another bonus is that black eye peas are full of fiber plus serious flavor!

We have had a couple of people wanting to know if this new salad had any caviar, fish or other strange items in it! There is no fish of any type in this bean salad! I did a little research and found out that Texas Caviar was popularized first by Helen Corbitt, the famed 1950s food consultant and cookbook author, who directed food service at Neiman Marcus in Dallas.

So grab a bag of our new blue corn tortilla chips and scoop up the big taste of Texas and the Southwest!

We also offer a DLM Hot 18 ” or 10 ” pizza it is only available at the springboro store, you talk about the best pizza in town, weve got it! Just give a call ahead (937.748.6800) and we will have it ready for you! We will also par bake this pizza so you can finish baking it at home for more of a crispier crust.
Enjoy!

 At our management meeting this past week, we wanted to make sure everyone (70 associates!) tried the fabulous local produce that we currently had available. My choices that day were the sweetest strawberries and beautiful bright green asparagus both from John Branstrator’s farm in Clarksville Ohio. I sliced up the strawberries and quickly blanched the asparagus, until just al dente and placed them over a bed of baby spinach. For the dressing, I tossed together a little finely diced red onion, sugar, poppy seeds, white wine vinegar and some canola oil.

To finish off the salad, I sprinkled on some fresh goat cheese crumbles from our Specialty cheese department and a handful of toasted slivered almonds. Everyone loved the combination and it was the hit of our meeting. Come in just to smell those strawberries. One bite will tell why you local is the way to go!

What are some of your favorites ways to eat our local fruits and vegetables?

Imagine your own individual deep dish pizza made with our highest quality ingredients, ready to bake up fresh and hot in your oven! Being from Chicago, I admit I am pretty picky about pizza. I love that our crust for these has the combo of both chewy and a little crunchy that I’ve been missing.

Stop by and pick up a couple of our new take and bake Deep Dish Pizza. We have  4 varieties - Pepperoni, Cheese, Vegetable and Sausage and Pepperoni. They bake up beautifully in a 400º oven in about 25 minutes. You can’t find a better pizza in town and at $4.99 each it’s a super value. You’ll find them going fast in our pizza case.

On May 25, Laura’s Cookies will be celebrating its 9th anniversary with Dorothy Lane Market. Laura was an administrator with Miami Valley Hospital when she decided she was tired of the daily rat race. She began looking for a different career and decided to do something she really loved- baking cookies! Laura brought a sample of her soft, sour cream-based sugar cookies that she hand-rolls and decorates to Scott Fox, DLM Bakery Director. The rest is history…these beautiful cut-out cookies with their unique almond-flavored frosting are available exclusively through Dorothy Lane Market. They are perfect for any occasion and can be ordered for any special event, such as a wedding or baby showers. Congratulations Laura —and on behalf of all of us and our customers, we wish you many more years of continued success!

The first fish of the season will be landing in our stores tomorrow morning (Saturday 5/16 ) by 10:00 a.m. Get here early and be one of the first in the Dayton area to sample this great fish. The weather for the first “opener” (a twelve hour period set by the Alaskan Fish and Game) was perfect. The only problem was someone forgot to tell the fish to show up! The total catch was only 28% of the projected amount, so not everyone got the fish they wanted. DLM managed to buy all the King Salmon our fishing co-op caught and the fish was flown by chartered plane from Cordova Alaska  to Anchorage and then overnighted to us. Stop “swimming upstream” and stop by DLM for some of this great fish! When it’s gone it’s gone. Limited Quantities!

I’m Going Home! It sounds like a song from American Idol but it’s the tune being played by Mother Nature beckoning the return of the Copper River King Salmon to the headwaters of their birth. These fabulous eating fish have spent year’s at sea gorging them selves for the long journey home to spawn. Once reaching the Copper River Delta near Cordova Alaska, the fish must wait till the tides are right and start their journey up 300 miles of pristine, glacier fed rapids and huge vertical ascents twisting through the  Wrangell and Chugach Mountains.  Because the Copper River salmon’s journey is so long, they must store extra fat and oils in order to survive the long trip. This high fat and oil content is why Copper River salmon are recognized as some of the world’s best eating salmon. There are several species of Salmon that return to the Copper River but it is the King Salmon (Chinook salmon) that is the noble royalty. Look for the first Copper River King Salmon showing up this Saturday. 

The first fishing period begins tomorrow at 7:00 a.m . for 12 hours. Most of the fish are caught during the ebb tide (around 1:00 p.m. for the Prince William Sound)  so the fish can be flown by chartered plane to Anchorage and overnighted to DLM for Saturday morning delivery. The weather forecast looks good and the ice is out of the river. All the stars seem to be aligned and we are hoping for a great season.

 Wishing all the fishermen a safe and successful season and we will celebrate your harvest!

Ladies and Gentlemen…..start your grills!

Our Alaskan halibut fisherman Captain Thomas Tumrdle phoned in last night on the Sat-phone to give us a Halibut fishing update. He and the crew of the Cape Spencer anchored up last night to get out of the high wind and they were “baitin up” as he put it, getting ready to leave early morning for the open, deeper depths of the Gulf of Alaska to drop some gear. he should be back just in time to get his catch to Anchorage and out on a plane for our Saturday delivery!

Captain Tomrdle gave his position as 59° 50 minutes North 147° 33 minutes West and issued the challenge to DLM customers to find his location and the name of the land mass he is near.  First customer to correctly do so wins 2 free lbs of Halibut fillets.  Get those maps and charts out and send in your answer!