We hope you all weathered the storms of the past week ok, it was a doozy! I hear there are folks out in West Sonoma County that might not get power back for a week or more. We are all in realitively good shape and getting ready for the greatest distraction of all, the 49'ers in the Super Bowl. Our family are life-long 49er fans and are looking forward, nervously, to a better outcome than 2019!

Valentine's Day is just one week away and now is the time to get those orders in. Nothing says I love you like a great meal and we are here to help! We have a ton of options for your romantic dinner for two and all the expertise to help you pull it off.

We call the beautiful Ribeye in the picture a Sweetheart Steak for hopefully obvious reasons. It is just the right size for two and super quick to prepare. We also have a great deal on our Vic Farms Surf 'n Turf with Ribeye or Filet Mignon and Maine Lobster Tail, pleanty of Lamb Noisettes, and a wide variety of steaks chops and seafood if you want to create your own version!

But you don't have to go with premium cuts to make a beautifully romantic meal. Laura's favorite meal I make when I want to spoil her is Chicken Marsala. Just order up some of our Chicken Cutlets, pick up a bottle of Marsala wine and some of your favorite mushrooms, and you likely have the rest of the ingredients in your fridge and pantry. Check out how I do it HERE!

Other budget friendly options are widely available. Remember my Holiday newsletter when I talked about the ACT of preparing the meal was what everyone will remember (not how it turned out)??? That applies even more when you are cooking for the one you love! A great way to make it easy on yourself is to keep it simple. Here is a great example. Instead of picking up a couple of Filet Mignon steaks, try one of our killer Bistro Filet and pair it with a half dozen Sea Scallops. Or how about a couple of Petrale Sole filets with Sautee'd Green Beans dressed up for the occasion with crispy Pancetta? Lots of ways to say "I love you" without breaking into your 401(k)!

My favorite part of my job is talking to customers and helping them sove a problem. It might be talking them through our Vic Farms Meat Box options, or finding them a proper substitution when we don't have exactly what they wanted. But my fovorite challenge is helping a Meathead cook an amazing meal that they didn't think they had the kitchen chops (see what I did there???) for. So if you want to show your love through food but are nervous about preperation, gimmie a call!

I find that a lot of our customers would love to give new things a try but are too nervous to pull the trigger. Lamb is a great example of this. I talk to folks at the butcher counter all the time that love lamb but tell me they don't know how to cook it. This is the easiest problem to solve! It's just red meat and is cooked just like beef. The only difference is that lamb is typically cooked to a lower temperature as most folks like it rare to mid-rare. So it all comes down to having a decent meat thermometer. If you don't have one, check out our Vic Farms Swag page and add one to your order. If you have one, make sure you check how accurate it is. All you need to do is get a pot of water to a rolling boil and remember your 6th grade science class. Water boils at 212 degrees, so if you put the business end of your thermometer into boiling water and it reads 215 you know you are 3 degrees over and can adjust accordingly!

That beautiful Lamb Noisette in the picture can be seared on all sides on the stove top and then finished in the oven until its 125 degrees in the middle. Let it rest for 5-7 minutes before slicing and it will be a perfect medium rare. It's as simple as that!

We are running a couple of promotions in February that will add our own "show of love" to your order. Any retail orders over $150 will get a free pack of one of our incredible Sausages. The flavors will be random, but guaranteed delicious!

In addition, anyone who signs up for a 6 month subscription to any of our Vic Farms Meat Boxes from now through the end of February will get a free Breakfast Box added on! This has proven to be super popular as we have signed up a bunch of new subscribers in the last month. That's a dozen eggs, a pack of our Traditional Bacon and a pack of our incredible house-made sausage. That's a $180 value just for signing up! Ok, on this one there is some fine print. Well, not really fine as I'm not going to change the font and make you go get your glasses. Sign up for whatever subscription and frequency fits your world best and we will add on 6 Breakfast Boxes. If you need a monthly subscription, then you will get a Breakfast Box each month. If you need a biweekly box you will get one for the first 6 orders and then you can choose to keep it coming or cancel the breakfast box by email and continue your subscription as ordered. Simple enough?

Adam & Laura

This is a story we put out just before New Years Eve. We don't promote personal issues very often here but when it comes to kids, all bets are off.

Rob & Deb Royer are lifelong friends and their family is going through a special kind of hell right now. Their grand-daughter Paisley, 22 months old, was taken to the hospital the day before Christmas and ultimately diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. She is in for a long fight, but is blessed with a large extended family and friends who will go to the ends of the earth for her. Her dad Jacob is a single father of three daughters under the age of 5. I've known Deb since I was a kid at 4-H camp. She is a nurse and PE teacher and an incredible member of our community. Rob is a SF Police Officer and I worked with him on the coaching staff at Analy High School when our boys played football there. His service to his job and his local community are second to none.

There is a gofund me set up for support and you can access it by clicking the button below. We have also set up a DONATION BUTTON on our website and if you are able to use that they won't have to pay the gofundme fees. I hope it goes without saying that 100% of the money donated through our website will go straight to Paisley and her family. Every little bit helps! And if nothing else, sharing this newsletter far and wide mught be just the ticket to getting them the support they are going to need.

Did You Know... It is roasting season (that's actually year 'round for us)! And the best part of roasting season is that you can save a TON by using less expensive cuts that are packed with flavor. It's easy to grab a chuck roast or a pork butt, and there is certianly nothing wrong with those. But challenge yourself to try something new like Lamb Neck, Ox Tail or Osso Buco. Your tastebuds and wallet will thank you!

Did You Know... You can save a TON of money by subscribing to one of our Vic Farms Meat Boxes? For as little as $54 per month you can get one of our standard boxes (Family, Premium or Alternating) and since we get to pick what goes in it you save 25-40%! And if you know exactly what you want you can save 15-20% off our retail prices by subscribing to our Custom Box. Check it all out on our Vic Farms Meat Boxes page!

Did You Know... We now deliver all over the Bay Area, to the door of your choice, for only $15? Or we can ship almost anywhere in the Western US for only $30?? Or we can ship anywhere in the country for either $65 or $95???

We are in the process of making some improvements to our Vic Farms Meat Boxes sign up page and it is under construction for a few days. If you are ready to order one or have any questions, please give Adam a call at 707-332-4605 and he will be happy to get you all set up!

If you have questions about our Vic Farms Meat Boxes you can find a ton of info on our Meat Boxes page. But nothing beats a real conversation so don't hesitate to give Adam a call at 707-332-4605. Never too busy for his favorite topic!

On the topic of new subscribers we are instituting a MeatHead Referral program. It's super simple. If you refer a friend and they sign up for a new Meat Box subscription, you both get a $10 credit to your account! Just have the new subscriber put in the order notes "Steve Smith Referred Me" and that's all it takes (make sure they use your actual name!). Thanks for helping spread the word!

We have recently made it much simpler to sign up for all our Vic Farms Subscription Boxes, and that particularly applies to the Vic Farms Custom Box. Check out the Custom Box FAQ's and the Custom Box Setup Instructions for all the details. You might even find a nice discount in there!

We also have Vic Farms Gift Certificates and will be setting up some super cool Meat Packs in the next few days. Nothing says "remember that amazing gift I got from {fill in your name here}" like a year long subscription to one of our famous Vic Farms Meat Boxes!

Order Up!

Here are some helpful tips on navigating our ordering system

• BE SURE TO LOG IN FIRST! 99% of the time when a customer calls with problems ordering it is because they either haven't registered or logged in. Just click on My Account in the top right of the home page and you will be all set!

• We currently have a 3 day window on all retail orders. For example, if you want a home delivery to the East Bay-Wednesday route, you need to place your order by the previous Sunday.

• You will pay a deposit when you order (unless you're a subscriber!) and we will charge the balance to your card on file when we pack your specific cuts.

• Check out Ordering 101 for the basics of ordering with us!

• Check out Delivery & Shipping FAQ's for step by step instructions!

• Only use Overnight Shipping if you live outside the Bay Area or in a super remote area of the Bay Area!

HOME DELIVERY ZONES

• North Bay & Napa - Tuesdays
• East Bay & Marin - Wednesdays
• San Francisco & South Bay - Thursdays

While it is much easier for our staff if you can stay within our normal ordering parameters, we understand that last minute changes in schedule will happen. If you need an order filled outside of our windows, feel free to email adam@vicfarmmeats.com and we will do our best to accomodate. 

#itsaTUFFlife

#fullTANK

#PEARLSofwisdom

The holiday season is tough (pardon the homonym) on the dogs. The furniture is rearranged, there are a million decorations that look like chew toys, and boxes with pretty paper keep getting added under the tree. And all that is juuuuuust out of reach behind the fence!

Nobody hates dressed up animals more than I do, but Tuff may be a close second! Laura and Molly take great pleasure in torturing both of us around this time of year.

But no matter what, cuddles on the couch smooth everything over. Tank sure loves naptime!

FARMERS MARKET SCHEDULE

Effective October 18th 2023, we will no longer be attending any farmers markets. Please call 707-332-4605 with any questions!