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Food for Thought:  The Slow Food Orange County Newsletter, December, 2010

In This Issue
January Author Talk & Potluck
December Composting!
Thanksgiving Potluck Highlights
Slow Recipes Wanted!
February Dinner at Sage
Join the Slow Food Movement!
We invite you to join the Slow Food movement! Slow Food Orange County is working hard to preserve and protect local foods and food traditions. Our convivium plans events and programs in places across Orange County-anywhere from community gardens, taste education dinners, and farm tours-join the network and become active in planning and participating in these diverse initiatives.  Click here for Benefits of Membership or send us an email if you have questions.


Erik Knutzen's Urban Homestead"The Self Reliant Household":  Potluck and Discussion

Featuring Urban Homesteading Blogger Erik Knutzen


January 23rd, 2-5pm

Seed People's Market, The Camp, 2937 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa

Tickets are $10. CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW


Erik Knutzen blogs at www.homegrownevolution.com and is the co-author, with his wife Kelly Coyne, of The Urban Homestead  (Process Media 2008) and the upcoming Making It: Radical Home Economics for a Post-Consumer World (Rodale 2011). Erik also writes for magazines, including Make and Urban Farm. He  has become increasingly interested in the concept of urban sustainability since moving to Los Angeles in 1998. Since that time, he has converted a 1920 hilltop bungalow into a mini-farm, and along the way has explored and written about the traditional home arts of baking, pickling, bicycling and brewing. 

During his talk, he will give a review of the new home economics, everything from chickens to vegetables, to bees to booze, what plants he's grown and what plants he's killed. He will discuss specific living strategies gained from his experience, review the economics of this lifestyle and talk about the concept of "citizen science" in regard to crafting a more thoughtful, sustainable and sensible home. 


Bring a dish to share, and don't forget to bring the recipe if you'd like to be included in our forthcoming Slow Food Orange County cookbook. In addition, please bring your own table setting, including plates, napkins, silverware and glassware.

 

Seed People's Market will also be holding a book signing with Erik prior to the 2pm talk.



Jerome Community Garden CompostingBuild it, and They Will Compost
December Service Project Highlights at Jerome Community Garden


On December 4th, Slow Food Orange County volunteers again convened in the Grain Project's Jerome Community Garden in Santa Ana for a day of service. The money raised through the October Simultaneous Suppers was used to purchase supplies to build a permanent compost structure for the garden.  And build it we did! 

Board member Teryl Chapel worked with a core group of volunteers well into the afternoon and the resulting compost bin will make a lasting difference in the life of the garden.  Other volunteers, representing the Grain Project, Slow Food, the Green Party, Chapman University, and more worked diligently in the garden, turning soil, planting and weeding. An unexpected treat came at lunch time when a beautiful meal was provided by the mother of Shadi Shariat of the Grain Project, featuring produce picked straight from the garden. So, in true Slow Food fashion, we ended the day breaking bread together amidst the fruits of our labor. Stay tuned for an announcement about our next service day!




Thanksgiving Ted WrightA Proper Thanksgiving Feast
Thanksgiving Potluck hosted by Nina Macdonald and Ted Wright


Thanksgiving, with its emphasis on sharing and enjoying the fruits of a bountiful harvest, is probably the major American holiday that best embodies the ideals of the Slow Food movement. Those ideals were certainly in evidence for the 16 members of the Slow Food family who gathered at the home of Nina Macdonald and Ted Wright this Thanksgiving. On tables that sparkled with settings of silver and crystal, we enjoyed a cornucopia of the food that we had all lovingly prepared. Adding to the pleasure of the occasion was the instant bonding that comes from sharing a special meal with others who truly appreciate good food, drink, and conversation. Perhaps this will be the start of an Orange County Slow Food tradition!

We give thanks for Ted and Nina for hosting such a wonderful slow food event.






Thanksgiving fun!Thanksgiving fun, again!


produceSlow Recipes Submissions Wanted!

Make your favorite recipe a part of the first Slow Food OC Cookbook.


Let's make the Slow Food Orange County cookbook a reality! Do you have a holiday recipe you would like to share? A special dish featuring the best produce Southern California has to offer? Please send it to [email protected]. Ultimately our collected recipes will be published and sold as a fundraiser for SFOC.  





Sage crabcakes!February Feast for the Palette!

Join Us for Dinner with Chef Rich Mead of Sage Restaurant

February 20th, 3-6pm

Sage Restaurant, 2531 Eastbluff Drive, Newport Beach


Enjoy a four-course meal including wine pairings with Chef Rich Mead of the renowned Sage Restaurant in Newport Beach. Guests will include local farmers and the meal will focus on heirloom vegetables. Stay tuned for more details and the ticket on-sale date!


Tickets:  $75