As autum arrives, is there any better place to nest than in the kitchen? Barbara-Jos Books to Cooks is hosting a series of events that not only make you want to curl up with a good cookbook, but will also inspire you to head into the kitchen.. Highlights include Festa Lida, with chef Lidia Bastianich presenting her new book, Lidias Commonsense Italian Cooking while the Vancouver Opera signs arias from Tosca and the Luna Rossa Banda with Patricia Coletta will get everyone dancing. Its October 28 at the Italian Cultural Centre. Tickets are $65, which includes the cookbook. On Sept. 19, Sweet Potato Chronicles bloggers Ceri March and Laura Keogh will offer ideas from their book, How to Feed a Family. The $39 cost includes a personalized copy of the book. Enjoy an evening of poetry in the kitchen when Danny Peart reads from Ruined by Love while musician Luis Sojo plays classical guitar. Books to Cooks will provide the provide and pour the wine. Its $25; $40 includes a signed copy of the book. If some of your family members cant tolerate gluten, Seattle author Shauna Ahern is teaching tips from Gluten-Free Girl Every Day on October 19. Lively conversation, good food and a copy of the book are promised with the $105 fee. A master class with Raghavan Iyer is on the plate for October 27. The cost is $75 and theres a 15 per cent discount on his book, Indian Cooking Unfolded: A Master Class. After a summer of baking for farmers markets, on October 29 and November 26, Chris Brown shares why he loves Ken Forkishs book on the fundamentals of artisan bread and pizza. The $115 includes a light supper (with very healthy serving of bread) and a copy of Flour Water Salt Yeast. Mollie Katzen is a gardener and a chef, and the two are closely entwined. On November 12, the Farmers Apprentice Restaurant will host a dinner for her and 24 guests. The $135 cost includes dinner, wine and a personalized copy of Katzens The Heart of the Plate. Details are available or can purchase tickets by calling 604-688-6755. You might want to do that soon dinners with Vancouvers Bocuse dOr chef Alex Chen and the chef behind the successful Seattle restaurant Lark have already been sold out.
1789 was a historic year start of the French Revolution, a mutiny on a ship called Bounty and George Washington being sworn into office. Chef Daryle Ryo Nagata and third-generation fisherman Paul Puratich are hoping that 1789 is also an auspicious number for their new restaurant, Seventeen89 (which is at 1789 Comox.) What we share is a love of delicious, unfussy food made with the very best ingredients we can find, says Nagata in a press release. He brings his culinary experiences from his travels around the world born in Alberta, trained in Switzerland while Puratich has a deep knowledge of the bounties of the sea. As well as its fresh-off-the-boat seafood menu, Seventeen89 offers vegetarian and gluten-free options. It is open for dinner at 4 p.m. every day except Monday, for lunch on Friday, and for brunch Saturday, Sunday and long weekends. It will soon also add a traditional afternoon tea.
Take 1,500 pounds of fresh fruit from Picker Shack in Naramata. Gather 60 volunteers around a group of long tables at Rainier Provisions in Gastown. Let the conversation flow as the volunteers pit the fruit. As a way of saying thanks, give them a dinner and a bag of fruit to take home. Then ask your chefs who are grateful they didnt have to pit all that fruit themselves to transform all that fruit into compotes, jams and desserts for all the restaurants in the Heather Group. That, in a pitshell, is Pit for Your Supper. A few weeks ago, it was peaches. Next up its pears. If you want to join in, email [email protected]
Chefs who have been honing their craving for chocolate are invited to take part in the Chocolate Challenge thaf offers a shopping spree at the Gourmet Warehouse as a prize. There are two categories: Home Cook and Culinary Student. Recipe entries must be received by Sept. 19 and the winner will be announced at the Oct. 10 gala emceed by CTVs Jill Krop. Gala tickets cost $50 and monies raised will go towards the Strathcona Community Centre Backpack Program, which delivers backpacks of food to deserving children on weekends. Call the Gourmet Warehouse at 604-253-3022 for tickets and go to GourmetWarehouse.ca for competition details.
Tell local farmers and producers how much you love them with a poem. Haikus, ballads, odes and limericks are all welcome in the first Ode To A Farmer Poetry Contest in honour of Farmers Appreciation Week Sept. 8 to 15. The contest, sponsored by the BC Association of Farmers Markets, is open to all BC residents and submissions will be accepted until September 8 at midnight. A winning poem will be selected from each region. .
