Thanksgiving Potluck Feast at the Home of Ted Wright & Nina Macdonald
Thursday, November 25, 2010 at 4 p.m.

The story of the first Thanksgiving centers on neighbors and new faces gathering together to share the bounty of the season. Our thanksgiving potluck feast draws on much the same idea, and you're invited to celebrate this great event with us!   

Ted and Nina Macdonald are graciously opening up their home in Irvine to the Slow Food family for a potluck feast starting at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. They will bring the roast turkey and guests bring the rest. Please bring a family-favorite dish and be prepared to share the story of your family traditions!  

For directions and to rsvp for this event, email Ted and Nina. Space is limited so your early reply is appreciated.

December Service Project: Call for Volunteers! 
Putting Your Dollars to Work in the Jerome Community Garden

Saturday, December 4^th

10:30am-2pm

Jerome Community Garden

2115 W. McFadden Ave, Santa Ana

Thanks to our successful fundraising efforts at the Simultaneous Suppers, Slow Food Orange County will be donating the materials to build a substantial and much-needed composting station for the Jerome Community Garden, a project of our partners The Grain Project in Santa Ana.  If you were able to join us at the Dig In! event in September, you know that this garden is a very special place where low-income families in Santa Ana share in the wealth of produce they are growing themselves. 

We have the money to purchase the materials, now we need you to help us get the project into action!  The plan is to build a four-part composting station and worm bin with signs in both English and Spanish.  Please join us to share your expertise or learn new skills. To RSVP, email our Outreach Chair Claudia Chapel. We hope to see you there!

Mexican Masa and More with Gabbi Patrick, Chef/Owner of Gabbi's Mexican Kitchen in Orange

Chef Gabbi Patrick of Gabbi's Mexican Kitchen in Old Towne Orange will host a course on the staple of Mexican cuisine, masa. This hands-on course will demonstrate how to prepare and flavor a variety of masas which include: Nixtamal, Masa Harina (Flour masa), and Blue Corn Masa. Once prepared, Gabbi will then instruct on how to use the masas to make empanadas, panuchos, sopes and other masa based dishes. Gabbi will also provide a tasting of her favorite sangria recipe.

This event has completely sold out! All proceeds will benefit our partner the Grain Project. Thank you for your interest.

Click here for more info about Chef Gabbi, and be sure to check out more great cooking events at Sur La Table Newport Beach.  

Coolest Cooking App Ever Helps SFUSA

2,000 Mobile-friendly Recipes and How-to Illustrations

NYTimes columnist Mark Bittman, author of the wildly popular How to Cook Everything cookbook, now has an iPhone app that lets you search 2,000 recipies! Even better, proceeds from the iPhone app sales will benefit Slow Food USA!

To download the app and help Slow Food USA, click here to use a dedicated URL rather than going to the iTunes store.

Share this URL with your members and friends, please use the following to ensure that SFUSA gets credit for the referral: http://bit.ly/HTCE-SFUSA

Simultaneous Suppers Recap

Fundraising at its Tastiest!

The wine and conversation flowed freely and the menus rivaled those of the best restaurants in the county while nearly 30 Slow Food members and their guests enjoyed themselves at the 3rd Annual Simultaneous Suppers, held on consecutive weekends in October. Our generous hosts opened up their homes and worked together with their teams of volunteers to source, cook and serve multi-course meals, lovingly prepared in the Slow Food spirit. The mouth-watering menus included freshly made hand-cut pasta tossed with fresh garlic and olive oil, roasted rosemary dijon rack of lamb, and saged butternut squash soup. As guests lingered into the wee hours of the night, new friendships were forged around the dinner table, the unmistakable sign of a truly special evening.

At another location, SF members Teryl and Claudia Chapel were joined in the kitchen by local chef and Nutritional Counselor Cindy Dupuis for what can only be described as a sumptuous feast!

Blessed with a beautiful fall evening, a crackling fire, delicious food, a convivial atmosphere, and great music, the dinner lasted until well after midnight! When Claudia and Teryl mentioned that they would be hosting the dinner, several long-time supporters of Slow Food OC contributed their wonderful gifts:

• Table linens provided by Andrea Drexelius of the French Basketeer
• Artisan bread  to complement the fois gras made on Claudia's parents farm in France (thanks Grampy Pat!)
• Homemade cheese from Slow Food OC Chair Heather Westenhofer
• Delicious coffee roasted by Steve Lehigh of the Common Man Coffee Roasters
• Artisan chocolates from Ilona Martin
• Extraordinary wines from Skipstone and Parallel wineries

In the course of preparation discoveries were made! We found a local winemaker who specializes in late harvest sauvignon blanc (Glissando by Crinella winery) that mimics the taste of a wine nearly impossible to get here--Monbazillac. Heather Westenhofer and Teryl Chapel kept things running smoothly by acting as sommelier and maitre d', while Cindy and Claudia prepared the five-course meal. Guest Shadi Shariat from the Grain Project shared a short film about the Project's current objectives, and took questions afterwards. She painted a compelling portrait of what the Grain Project's accomplished so far, and what must be done to ensure their future. 

At the end of the evening, dinner guests were each given a bottle of Sparky's Blue Ribbon Sauce to take home. It was a reminder that anything is possible in a Slow Food kitchen!

We are proud to report that, in total, Simultaneous Suppers netted more than $700 for our partner The Grain Project! Our compliments to the chefs, and our gratitude to the participants for a truly memorable event.