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Horrified With Factory Chicken Farms? Learn to Make Your Own Eggs
by Susie Wyshak CUESA is taking a stand to define humanely raised chickens beyond the catch phrases free-range and cage-free–which does not necessarily translate to chickens tap dancing in fields of green, ala Foghorn Leghorn. They point out that “The USDA does not regulate “cage-free” and “free-range” egg production. These hens are typically kept in large barns or warehouses, often thousands of hens per building. Outdoor access, if there is any, is generally limited to a small, enclosed yard at one end of the building that goes mostly unused by the hens and offers little or no vegetation.” Take Back the Eggs ! CUESA is only allowing pasture-raised eggs at…
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How to Make Killer Lemon or Orange Marmalade – A Happy Girl Kitchen Workshop
by Epicurator Susie Wyshak What bliss to learn how to make lemon, orange, and / or grapefruit marmalade at a mini 2-3 hour workshop with Jordan Champagne, the girl behind Happy Girl Kitchen, in the oldest farmhouse in Oakland, California. At once point Jordan called out “Would you pick a lemon from the back yard?” This was music to a new Bay Area dweller’s ears. “I’m from Massachusetts,” she explained. “Seeing cactus growing outside a window is totally new to me.” Then again I remember my glee upon seeing blueberries growing right there out of the ground in Maine. While I’m a Californian, turning the bounty of citrus into edibles…
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My Real San Francisco Layover Food Stop, Candy Fix Included
San Francisco is all a-twitter over Anthony Bourdain’s San Francisco layover show on where to eat when you’ve got a short stop. What a perfect time to share my own SFO layover (or 8 hour delay) recommendation: Step 1: Find the airport shuttle to the Best Western Grosvenor hotel in South San Francisco. Step 2: Cross the street and walk 1/8 mile to Costco South San Francisco. A non-native might beeline for the pepperoni pizza. The insider San Franciscan / Costco regular will direct you to the brown rice sushi, conveniently packed in a giant plastic clamshell for your carry on bag or for a tacky yet delicious in-airport-dining experience.…
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Cheap Tickets on Virgin + the Good Food Awards = Be in SF in January
Whether you’re in the Bay Area or So Cal, if you’re into food, plan a trip to the Good Food Awards Reception (January 13) and Marketplace (January 14) at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Virgin has some great airfares right now, and the Epicuring team would love to meet you. You can meet the winners and taste the food and drink crafted by the people redefining ‘good food’ all around the country. New to the Good Food Awards Marketplace this year is a dedicated Beer & Spirits Garden with small pours of winning brews and spirits (straight and mixed). Also new for 2012, there are a few tickets on…
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Beverly Hills Insider – 5 Spots for Adventuring Epicurators
By Susie Wyshak, a former Angeleno I stumbled upon a 2010 Sunset Magazine article Beverly Hills for the rest of us, about how to live large on a budget in this legendary city. It has fabulous tips for places to stay, eat, and gawk. Here are a few more insider tips for So Cal epicurators on the hunt for unique experiences: 1) Richard Simmons’ aerobics studio. When was the last time you said “aerobics?” He hasn’t changed locations since opening and you can still work out to the oldies! A bunch of friends and I did, making the moves back when leg warmers weren’t ironic. It is on Little Santa…
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Learning Wild Fermentation at an Oakland Market
It was cool enough that the Phat Beets farmers market in North Oakland had a free Fermented Ginger Beer making class, using Sandor Katz’s Wild Fermentation book. But this weekend they’re at it again with a Pickled Root Vegetables class, free! The market is tucked in a parking lot, easy to get to if you’re coming off highway 24 or off of Stanford (the Powell Street exist on 80). The interactive ginger beer teacher invited us to take part in the making. She gave us bottles and my beer is sitting in the fridge after two weeks fermenting. (We had to swear that we’d store the bottle in a sock…
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Thanksgiving Food Volunteering…and Thanks !
This Thanksgiving, the Epicuring team is thankful to see so many great small food businesses and farms creatively engaging and teaching people about good food! If you are able to donate time or food this year, here are some resources: Thanksgiving Day Volunteer Match lists opportunities to serve food on Thanksgiving Day across California. Feeding America lists statewide food banks. Yelp members share their suggestions. Please add more to our Facebook page! Check for needs at local churches too, before and after Thanksgiving. Spotted on Craigslist: Philanthropic Gingerbread Cookie Making Like to make cookies? The Gingerbread Project Needs You! (dublin / pleasanton / livermore) Tri-Valley Haven is looking for volunteers…
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Convivial Cocktails at CUESA Recap
Laiko and I were delighted to meet a bevy of cocktail loving, food event craving CUESA supporters who trudged through the raging snow storm to brave…oh wait no it was a beautiful warm fall night. So anyway, they braved getting to the Ferry Building and were not disappointed. Two long rows of interesting craft cocktails and appetizers delighted a couple hundred people. At only $35, be sure to come to the next one! Here’s who was there. It was fun to learn the Hotsy Totsy–which was a long-time fave dive bar–is now serving up craft cocktails. At this event they made a ginger apple concoction topped with a candied California-grown…
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San Francisco’s Sweet Shops Guide
We were asked by the Style editors of the SF Chronicle to co-curate a selection of our favorite places where a big kid might find tasty treats for Halloween. We were game–and narrowed down our favorites which are featured in Sunday’s Chronicle. Click here to read the story. Halloween may be over but the artisan chocolatiers, bakers, and dessert makers and shops we discovered for the San Francisco Chronicle are treat for visitors and locals to visit year round. Here’s the skinny: Cow Hollow: American Cupcake 1919 Union Street This is the only sweets cafe we can think of that really celebrates Halloween. They’ll have candied and caramel apples; pumpkin…
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Buddha’s Hand Citron (fingered citron) and Finger Limes
By Susie Wyshak, Epicuring I’m posting this as a backgrounder for anyone interested in this citrus which we recently highlighted at the St. George Spirits tasting and tour we hosted. Buddha’s Hand Citron (fingered citron) Grown at Lindcove Farm by John Kirkpatrick, supplier to St.George Spirits. The trees are very cold-sensitive, and require an almost frost-free location. Harvesting is tricky,because the fruits can’t be processed on a standard packing line, need to be cleaned by hand, and tend to develop mold quickly. In China the Buddha’s Hand citron symbolizes happiness and long life, because its name, “fo-shou”, has those meanings when written with other characters. Chinese like to carry the…
