FALL 2013 FOOD EVENT PICKS

Check back here for updates & Facebook last minute picks

Every Saturday: CUESA Kitchen Demos feature local chefs and authors sharing tips and recipes.

Looking for stuff coming up sooner? See our early Fall finds.

Oct. 21, SF, Sugar Skull Making Class at 18 Reasons

Within the traditions of the Dia De Los Muertos, sugar skulls play a meaningful role, representing deceased loved ones who living celebrants want to honor.  Learn how to make your own sugar skulls at this hands-on workshop with Michele Simons from the Sugar Skull Gallery. See some of Michele’s work on this short documentary “The Making of Sugar Skulls” from KQED’s Kitchen Sisters.

Oct 23, SF, A Talk and Tasting:  Inside the California Food Revolution: the Female Pioneers at 18 Reasons

Celebrated cookbook author and former chef Joyce Goldstein has traced the development of California cuisine from the 1970s to the present. Joyce was struck by the major and important role that women played in forming the palate and development of this now iconic cuisine, and realized that this was a part of the discussion few were having. Moderated by Bi-Rite’s Sam Mogannam: Shelley Lindgren, wine director/owner of A16 and SPQR; Emily Luchetti, executive pastry chef for Waterbar and Farallon; Adriana Silva, co-owner of Tomatero Farm ; Amaryll Schwertner, chef-partner of Boulette’s Larder and Bouli Bar; Kathleen Weber, owner of Della Fattoria; Joyce Goldstein, author of  Inside the California Food Revolution.

Oct 26, SF, Free Harvest Festival and Pie Contest at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market!

Home bakers, it’s time to wipe down your rolling pins and start your ovens. We know you’ve got what it takes to make terrific sweet or savory pie, with the best Ferry Plaza Farmers Market ingredients at your fingertips. Pies will be judged on appearance, texture, taste, and use of California-grown seasonal ingredients. Creativity and originality will also be considered. And there’s some great prizes for the winners.

Oct 27, Los Altos Hills, Little Pumpkin Party at Hidden Villa

Drink cider, find pumpkins and let loose on the farm animals (you or your kids). Hidden Villa is a gorgeous place to be in Fall, and we can’t think of a nicer experience for city kids. Worth a drive from around the bay!

Oct. 28, SF, Soba Noodle Workshop at Japanese Cultural Community Center

Sonoko Sakai of Common Grains in Los Angeles is coming again to the SF area to teach a few workships (Soba Making and Koji Workshop) — including her inspiring hands-on soba noodle making. We love this class as you get to work with beautiful buckwheat flour and learn to hand make soba like you’ve never tasted before.  You’ll make sauces and sit down to eat the soba.

Oct. 29, Oakland, Koji Workshop at Umami Mart

Sonoko Sakai of Common Grains takes you through the world of Shio koji — a mix of salt and koji mold and one of the secret ingredients Japanese chefs and their umami hunting American counterparts find is the answer to flavor and fermenting and brining in a variety of dishes, including pickles, dressings and meats (for brining).  Koji (Aspergillus oryzae) is a mold used in Japanese cuisine to ferment grains to make such staple seasonings as soy sauce, miso, sake and vinegar.  This pro-biotic seasoning is easy to prepare at home and brings umami to the foods.  With Sonoko you will learn to how to use shio-koji in your daily cooking.  Menu: Tamago, Seasonal pickles, Rice with Koji Furikake, Grilled Koji marinated salmon.

Nov. 6. SF, Slanted Door’s Cook the Book and Eat at SF Cooking School

We’ve taken this class where you get to dig into Chef Charles Phan’s Modern Vietnamese Cooking tome and make a wide variety of these recipes. It’s a fun chance to cook in a gorgeous kitchen, where they provide all the ingredients (and they do the dishes too) and then you get to sit and eat everything you made.

Oct.30, SF, Pickling 101: Preserving The Perishables, Workshop SF

Got picking? If not, get it at this workshop.

Nov 8, Sonoma, Sweet Tooth Tour, A CUESA Artisan Tour

Got sugar cravings? This tour of two Ferry Plaza Farmers Market artisan businesses is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth. We’ll tour Downtown Bakery and make our own pastries, and see how gelato is made at Cremeux Ex Machina. And we’ll even meet the cows that produce the milk in the gelato.

Nov. 13, SF, The Core of Mixology – Everything You Need to Know to Mix & Enjoy Cocktails, at Boothby Center

Learn from the best of SF’s cocktail experts on the fundamentals of home bartending, the necessary tools and cocktail construction, all through the building of four fundamental cocktails that most people misunderstand.

Nov. 15, SF, 4505 Meats Sausage Making

Here’s where you’ll really learn the secrets to how sausages are made — from the butcher’s at 4505 Meats.Plus there are a few whole animal butchery classes coming up too.

Nov. 23, SF, Basic Cheesemaking at Cheese School of SF

Get into cheesemaking and learn to make simple cheeses like fromage blanc, feta and creme fraiche. Your cheese cake, spanakopita and sauces will love you for it.

Nov. 15, Learn to Make Graphic Glass Drink Coasters at Bullseye Glass

Based in Portland, Bullseye is the granddaddy of art glass, so we did a double-take upon seeing this class offered in their Emeryville spot on making your own glass coasters. What a fun gift for craft cocktail and beer lovers!

Nov 20, San Francisco, Community Mac and Cheese Dinner at 18 Reasons

Drop-In 6:00-8:00PM at 18 Reasons for a yummy and affordable dinner of Mac + Cheese made with clothbound cheddar and washed rind cow’s milk cheeses, topped with crispy, buttery breadcrumbs.

Dec 1, San Francisco, Learn to Make Chocolates For the Holidays at 18 Reasons

This 18 Reasons class with Alexandra Whisnant, Paris-trained chocolatier and chocolate shop owner, will give you the knowledge and practice you need to design and create your own line of beautiful chocolates in your home, just in time for the holidays.