Grape Stomp at Orfila on Saturday

Orfila Vineyards and Winery is having their annual “Grape Stomp” this Saturday, August 23 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.  In addition to the traditional grape stomp, they will have wine tasting, dancing, live music, a dinner buffet, and winery tours.  Last years’s event sold out. Tickets are $75. Give them a call at (877) 727-9463 or (760) 738-6500 for reservations or before you attend to make sure they have tickets left.  Although we won’t be there because we’ll be in Old Town for the Fifth Annual Taste of Slow Food San Diego event that evening, you can pick up a copy of the Spring and Summer issues of Edible San Diego while you are there stomping grapes!

San Diego Green Drinks at the La Jolla Brew House

I have wanted to go to a San Diego “Green Drinks” event for quite awhile.  It seems like every time I put it on my schedule something else comes up – so – this Thursday, August 21they are meeting at The La Jolla Brew House (another spot I have never visited) and I’m going to try and make it.  This will also serve as a fundraiser for Outdoor Outreach, a local non-profit that has programs for at-risk and underprivileged youth.  It starts at 6:00 p.m. There is never a shortage of worthwhile activities in our community, and we can’t make them all……but it sure is fun to try!

Sea Rocket Bistro and Ballast Point Beer This Weekend

 

Our friends at the Sea Rocket Bistro, Dennis and Elena, will be featuring beers from Ballast Point this weekend.  On Friday they will have Ballast Point’s James Murray, Lead Brewer and Assistant Distiller along with Chris Grundy to talk about the featured Ballast Point beers on draft, and Saturday Chris will be back again with John Maino, another Brewer. Sea Rocket plans to feature their Wahoo Wheat, Yellowtail Pale Ale, Calico Amber Ale, and Black Marlin Porter. This is a great opportunity to check out one of San Diego’s newest restaurants that features food sourced from local producers and growers AND meet the people from one our finest local craft brewers! Did I mention “local” is featured!  As always, they will offer both 4-taster flights and full pours, as well as the suggested pairings to go with each item on the menu.  I plan on getting down there early on Friday and enjoying the good company and cozy atmosphere of the SRB. Saturday Edible San Diego will be at Old Town taking part in the Fifth Annual Taste of Slow Food San Diego where the Sea Rocket Bistro will also be represented.

 

 

 

 

 

Slow Food San Diego Event this Saturday!

The Fifth Annual Taste of Slow Food San Diego will be held on Saturday, August 23^rd, 2007 5-9 PM at the PLAZA OF OLD TOWN SAN DIEGO HISTORIC STATE PARK.

 

    Scott Wagner, Executive Chef for ChileCo Catering, will be working with a team of outstanding local chefs, farmers, and food purveyors to create dishes inspired by the food cultures of early San Diego. Guests will taste their way through various food stations, sampling dishes featuring fresh, seasonal organic produce, artisan meats and cheeses. Local wines and beers will be available for tasting. 2 glasses of beer or wine included in ticket price: $65.00.

 

Participating Chefs include  Dean Thomas, Jim Phillips and Duncan Firth Barona Casino ♦ Bernard Guillas, Marine Room  ♦ Tom McAliney, Brandt Beef  ♦ Katie Grebow, Café Chloe ♦ Timothy Au, Molly’s ♦ Antonio Friscia, Dish  ♦ Scott Wagner, ChileCo ♦ Jeff Massey, Stone Brew World Bistro & Gardens ♦ Margarite Griftka, Starlight ♦ Christy Samoy, Sea Rocket Bistro ♦ Leah Di Bernardo, Delytes Catering ♦ Ray Kau, Whole Foods ♦ Javier Plascencia, Restaurante Romesco, ♦ Margarita Salinas di Carrillo, Don Emilianos’s ♦ Mrs. Trimmer’s Restaurant ♦ Berta Utreas, Berta’s ♦ Geoffrey Yahn, Currant, ♦ Bob Gibson, Pasado Del Paseo ♦ Jeanne Ferrell, Cold Stone Creamery ♦ Elizabethan Desserts ♦  Mario Montes, El Agave ♦  Samantha Hanan, The Market ♦ Café Coyote ♦ Acapulco ♦ Connie Puente Miller, El Fandango ♦ Jason Knibb Nine Ten ♦ Victor Jimenez, Cowboy Star.

 

Purveyors and Farmers include: Brandt Beef ♦ Hamilton Meats ♦ Gina Friese, Venissimo Cheese ♦ Michael Antonorsi, Chuao Chocolate, Barry Logan’s La Milpa Organica, Phil and Juany Noble’s Sage Mountain Farm, Sweet Tree Farm, Helene Beck’s La Vigne ♦ Jackie Anderson’s Jackie’s Jams ♦ Debra Katz, Sadie Rose Baking Co. ♦ Ana Salcedo’s Old Town Ice Cream ♦

 

Local Breweries and Wineries include: Stone Brewing Co ♦ Port Brewing Co ♦ Alesmith Brewing Co ♦ Hacienda de las Rosas Winery ♦ Salerno’s ♦ San Pasqual Winery ♦ Twin Oaks Valley Winery ♦ Woof’n Rose Winery.

 

Proceeds from this joint fundraiser will benefit the projects of Slow Food San Diego and The Old Town San Diego State Park.  Scott Murray, President of Slow Food San Diego will host a produce booth from the farm at the San Pasqual Academy, a residential home for foster teens in Escondido. There will be a silent auction to benefit the projects of Old Town San Diego State Park.  

 

For more information visit www.slowfoodsandiego.org/home.htm

 

Purchase tickets at   brownpapertickets.com/event/35925

Composting Booth at the Hillcrest Farmer’s Market

Aaron provides composting information at the Solana Center booth

OK – I was wrong – there were no “worms in action” at the Home Composting Booth at the Hillcrest Farmers Market today as I promised.  However, Aaron, Steve, and Wendy were on hand to provide some really useful information about home composting – and – they were almost as exciting as the “worms in action.” I think that if they become regulars we COULD convince them to bring some worms so we can observe them in action.  All three of them are “master composters” – so they underwent a 5 week course at the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation and agreed to volunteer 30 hours a year. One thing they all agreed on was that everyone should “understand the importance of composting.” Steve also mentioned that “being visible” to the community was a critical requirement in getting people interested in composting.  Steve and Wendy are both teachers, and it showed!  They couldn’t stop themselves from explaining the benefits of composting. A cheerful and engaging team, while I was there they interacted with people who had a variety of questions, as well as differing levels of interest in their programs. They also had one of the composting bins on display that are available from the Solana Center which are sold at a reduced, and very reasonable price.  The price depends on where you live in San Diego County (some areas receive subsidies).  For more information about compost bins or free compost workshops visit http://www.solanacenter.org.  I also picked up the “Guide to Backyard composting” while I was there, which is a very handy quick reference guide.  Contact Rachel Borgatti at 760-436-7986  Ext. 216 or email rachel@solanacenter.org for questions about composting.

 

A Busy Weekend

Wow!  What a busy weekend this could be as summer nears its end (I know, that sounds really depressing doesn’t it?)  But, there are a lot of wonderful events going on this weekend to celebrate the mid-point of August. I can’t make them all, but here are a few that I’m going to try and attend after I visit the new location of the Vista Farmers Market on Saturday morning.  Check our website under “Events” for even more.

 First of all, Stone 12^th Anniversary Celebration and Invitational Beer Festival is tomorrow, Saturday, August 16 on the CSU San Marcos campus.  The second session for the afternoon is sold out, but there are still tickets for the first session that goes from 11:15 a.m. – 2:15 p.m. The lineup of breweries participating in this worthwhile charitable event is impressive.  Great beer in support of charities – hard to go wrong with this one.  Hope to see you there! www.stonebrew.com/12th

 Saturday evening “The Real Dirt on Farmer John” will be shown at the Joyce Beers Community Center, 3900 Vermont St, San Diego 92103 (Hillcrest Uptown Shopping Center).  Admission is free and the start time is 6:00 p.m.  This movie will turn every idea you’ve ever had about what it means to be an American farmer, or an American dreamer, on its head.  Meet Farmer John, the incredible human being whose inspirational story of revolutionizing his family farm and redeeming his own life has won accolades and awards at film festivals around the world. Presented by San Diego Roots and Slow Food San Diego, and sponsored by Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market. After this film, five pairs of tickets to the Jack Johnson concert on August 30 will be raffled off. http://www.sandiegoroots.org/

 On Sunday, the nine days of the first annual Edible Cities Celebration draw to a close with two events. The first is at the Hillcrest Farmers Market where you can check out their Compost Info Booth and learn about composting the right way.  There will be a vermin composting bin on hand and you can “watch the worms in action.” Later in the day on Sunday at Bierney Elementary School (University Heights) you  can take part in a hands on Compost Workshop with master composters from the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation from  2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Both of these events are sponsored by Food Not Lawns of San Diego as part of the Edible Cities Celebration.  http://www.sdfoodnotlawns.com/ecc2008/

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you out there!

Edible Los Angeles Hits the Streets

One of the benefits of being a member of the Edible Communities is getting copies of all of the other Edible magazines.  It seems like one arrives in the mail almost every day! We received our copy of the new Edible Los Angeles a week or so ago and I had not had much of a chance to go through it since we are in the middle of production for the fall issue of Edible San Diego, have been on vacation, had family visiting from out of town, and the list of excuses goes on and on.  Anyway, I now have had a chance to read (and enjoy it) from cover to cover. First of all, the cover is beautiful, as is the layout and design.  Some terrific articles, including some that highlight the diversity of our culture and particularly Los Angeles.  As you would expect, there are some great recipes, one or two that I have already picked out to try before summer is over.  Finally, I really enjoyed the humorous and thought provoking piece on sustainability by Sam Fromartz www.chewswise.com – getting beyond the buzz words and mantras that it’s so easy to toss around and into the real meaning of a philosophy that connects people with their food.  In some ways it reminds me a lot of Jay Porter’s Blog on “The Opposite of Universal” thelinkery.com/blog/the-opposite-of-universal/ where he tackles the concept that “local isn’t the goal.”  Thoughtful is the word that always comes to my mind when I read these types of articles.  Edible Los Angeles is available at the Hollywood and Santa Monica Farmers Markets, as well as all 22 Whole Foods stores in the L.A. area. You can also read the entire magazine online at www.ediblelosangeles.com/content/. 

The LA Times’ Blog, Daily Dish published a brief piece introducing the new magazine to its Los Angeles readers at latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2008/08/an-edible-of-ou.html

 

 

 

La Milpa Organica Saturday Potluck, August 16

 

New Wood Fired Pizza Oven

 

La Milpa Organica Farm hosts a ‘third Saturday’ (the 3rd Saturday of each month) potluck and movie.  That’s this Saturday, August 16. It’s a free open house that allows the community to visit the farm, see where their food is grown, meet like minded people, sit down and eat a meal together, and then gather for a film under the oaks in the Cinema Paradiso outdoor theater.  Potluck at 5:30 p.m. Please bring something edible to share.  Movie as dusk turns to dark.  La Milpa Organica Farm is an edible paradise located five miles north of Escondido, CA. This Saturday Barry says they will be inaugurating their new wood fired pizza oven that was on display in July but not ready to use (see photo) www.milpaorganica.com.

J&J Grassfed Beef in San Diego

J&J Grassfed Beef

Focused on providing healthy and high quality all natural grass-fed beef, Jay Shipman and Jack Rice are a new source of grass-fed beef in San Diego. J&J Grassfed Beef started community supported agriculture (CSA) program deliveries in North County during August according to Jay Shipman.  They are also offering grass-fed beef through other local CSAs. Both of the ranchers grew up on cattle ranches and attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo majoring in Agriculture Business Management and Crop Sciences.  Later they partnered in writing a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant proposal for an organic beef production and marketing project which was approved in 2003. Their experience, combined with their love for the ranching life, sustainable ideas established at Cal Poly, and confirmed by their SARE grant, led them to them to create J&J Grassfed Beef in 2006. Using an Angus base group of cattle, their animals are primarily a cross between two or three meat breeds like Angus, Herford, Charlois, or others. Using ” the ideal pasture conditions of the northern coast during the summer months”  and in the Imperial Valley during the winter months. These animals are 100% pasture fed and they are never confined to feedlots, given antibiotics, or growth hormones.  Expanding sales through farmers markets and meat distributors in San Diego is part of their plan in the future. To subscribe to the J&J Grassfed Beef CSA, contact Jay Shipman directly at jay@rangelandbeef.com

J&J Grassfed Beef

785 Tucker Road

Suite G #185

Tehachapi, CA 93561

661 301 1043

http://www.rangelandbeef.com/

Edible San Diego Joins In

Posted by Jeff

Every day it seems like I meet someone or I am engaged in conversation or email exchanges, with someone who has information that I want to share.  Some of the drawbacks to being a quarterly publication are that some information is time sensitive, or there simply isn’t enough room in the print version of the magazine to tell all the stories or share all of the information that we would like.  Mary and I had always envisioned that at some point we would provide a website with useful information about resources (farmers markets, community supported agriculture programs, recycling programs, etc), events, and links to important groups and people in the community that share the same values (local Slow Food Convivia, San Diego Roots, etc) in addition to the print version of the magazine.  While we are still working to improve it, we have made some progress on the website.  Finally, the point of this post is that Edible San Diego has now joined in with our own blog.  Here we hope to share information about people, events, and resources that will be useful to our readers and connect them more closely with their food.