Yacht Rock: Summer Cocktails of the Farmers Market rocked the Bay, with cocktails made from Ferry Building Farmers Market fruit blended with incredible alcohols from around the world, with a smattering of karaoke from Digital Underground to Kenny Loggins and the Epicuring team’s horrible rendition of the Love Boat theme song. The yacht attire costume contest inspired sustainable cocktail lovers to don their reds, whites, blues, and top siders in a festive event topped off by perfect weather. Be sure to stay tuned for the next CUESA cocktail event in November. It was a really fabulous party! Easy Lounge in Oakland – Farmers Market cocktails [slickr-flickr type=”gallery” search=”sets” set=”72157631321357412″ items=”25″…

by Susie Wyshak Have you been taking cooking or food craft classes and got the bug to start a business? (Or even a business using bugs?) Well, this summer is your chance to hear from the Bay Area’s best artisan food companies who are sharing their knowledge to help future entrepreneurs get started. Just a few events you should look into — perhaps making a special trip if you’re really eager to learn as they are all near each other — include: La Cocina Food Entrepreneur Conference August 20, 2012 in San Francisco Renaissance Center’s Successful Women in Business Speaker Series: Lessons from the Foodies August 22, 2012 in San…

By bagel-loving Susie Wyshak Imagine being banned from making bread because you’re Jewish. So goes the story of how, around 1610, jews in Poland took bread dough, formed cirles with a hole in the middle, boiled it THEN baked it to get around the “no bread” dictate. We can thank these good people for the bagels you now spread, chew and love. Another story goes that the circular shape represents the circle of life. It does for me! At Saul’s Deli in Berkeley, the small team at San Francisco Schmendrick’s Bagels — who operate pop up bagel sales while making their bagels at a kitchen in Portrero / Mission —…

The Bay Area is legendary for its Earth Day celebrations. The food community has got the food events going on in 2012, with some find we just had to share — and all kid friendly and many free: ECO-SF – Apr 22nd. FREE intro session to Natural Building Workshop Series and a good old fashioned potluck community gathering. The oven will be blazing and we’ll provide the dough so bring some pizza toppings, or some other local, seasonal fare to share and compare at our ultra-local potluck. On Saturday, April 21st, CUESA is hosting a number of events at the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market all day and for free! Including…

Laiko’s wish this year was to learn cheese making. and thanks to the Artisan Cheese Festival in Petaluma. So we headed north on a rainy day and enjoyed learning these the simple cheese making process and recipes from Mary Karlin, who just came out with a beautiful book. A big help is the cheese starter kits from The Beverage People to so making the brin d’amour, chèvre and ricotta we learned about at home will be as easy as…cheese. Happy cheese making indeed! April 14 at Cakebread Cellars, you too can learn about cheese making from Mary. Meanwhile a Cheese-filled Culinary Competition and Wine Tasting was Brewing… Nearly 50 chefs…

by Susie Wyshak When Amy Sherman suggested going to Oliveto’s annual Whole Hog Dinner in Oakland, I wasn’t sure, not being a whole-hog meat eater. However it was in the hood and it looked to be a convivial event. How right she was. Seated upstairs overlooking College Avenue, almost at the same level as the BART tracks and freeway, we enjoyed a warm evening warmed by tender pasta, melt-in-your-mouth pork, and a crunchy pear walnut strudel laced with pork fat. Better yet, the rooms hummed with dim lighting and the soft buzz of fellow sustainable, good food lovers including Mac Magruder, producer of at least some of the pork we…