I spoke with Suzan Bateson, the Executive Director of the Alameda County Community Food Bank, so I could learn more about food banks and hunger in the Bay Area. I focused on Alameda County as it’s where I live, but also because it covers such a large area. Here’s what I learned:

• 1 in 3 children in Alameda County faces the threat of hunger each day
• 38% of food bank recipients have at least one working member in their family
• Calls to the Alameda County Community Food Bank are up 34% from last year
• The number of people calling in April of 2008 was 1,890, compared to 1,059 in April of 2006
• The average number of calls has been steadily increasing since last July, with each month establishing a new record
• Since the beginning of 2008, the Alameda County Community Food Bank has received 1,188 calls from people who have never called before

These statistics are disheartening, to say the least, particularly when you consider that as more and more people sign up to receive aid, less and less food is being donated by the federal government to food banks nationwide. As we’ve all been hearing, the crop surpluses of years past are over. Excess grains are now being used to create fuels and are also being exported to other countries. Food banks now receive 34% less donations from the USDA than in 2003 because of these changes. People are also donating less money individually to food banks as they struggle to feed their own families. The outcome is that our food banks are increasingly in need of help.

But wait, there’s also some good news. Local food banks are increasingly trying to find fresh and local produce for families to eat. It’s not just canned beef and creamed corn anymore. Because of people like Suzan Bateson, there is an emphasis on providing fresh produce to recipients. I was surprised and excited to hear that 50% of the foods provided by the Alameda County Community Food Bank are fresh fruits and vegetables. This is possible because of a network of local growers and distributors who provide year-round greens, sweet potatoes, and citrus to the food bank for literally pennies per item. The food bank then distributes this food to over 300 agencies, who then get it to the people who need it most. Ms. Bateson also has two nutritional experts on staff to provide information and training to help people cook and eat more healthfully.

But as great as this is, local food banks really do need your help to keep their operations running. Luckily, they are staffed with dedicated and very organized people who have come up with many different ways for you to help make your local food community a stronger and healthier place. Following is a list of some things you can do:

How to Help

• Volunteer: If you have some extra time and are looking for an opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives, give your local food bank a call. Most rely on volunteers to staff food help lines; sort food in warehouses; provide help in their administrative offices; and help plan special events.
  Volunteer in Alameda.
  Volunteer in San Francisco
• Donate: If you have some extra cash to spare, a cash donation can really make a difference. Food banks are usually able to provide around $7 worth of food for every $1 donated because of their low operating costs and agreements with local growers and distributors, so even the smallest donation can really help out.
  Donate to the Alameda County Community Food Bank.
  Donate to the San Francisco Food Bank.
• Start Your Own Food Drive: Donated nonperishable food items are an essential part of keeping any food bank going. You can help provide these materials to your food bank by collecting these goods. This is actually easier than it sounds. Just call your local food bank and ask them to deliver a bin to your office, school, church, or any place you’d like and then ask people to pick up an extra item or two while grocery shopping so they can add it to the bin. This could be a great summer project for kids.
  Start your own food drive in Alameda.
  Start your own food drive in San Francisco.
• Advocate for Change: Write or call your representative, senator, or governor about food issues that concern the poor. Too often these programs are an afterthought, but if enough people call, they will become a priority.
  Learn more about advocacy for the Alameda County Community Food Bank.
  Learn more about advocacy for the San Francisco Food Bank.

You can also support your local food banks through the following upcoming events:

Upcoming Events

Empty Bowls
Alameda County Community Food Bank
7900 Edgewater Drive, Oakland
Thursday June 5 at 5:30 – $40 for a family of four to attend or $20 a person
A great way to get your kids involved, this event allows you to select a bowl that was hand-painted by the children at Redwood Day School, enjoy a delicious soup and bread dinner, and take part in a family art project with your children. There is also a silent auction. You can register online or contact Pam Gidwani at 510-635-3663, ext. 328.

A Rockin’ Night of Music
Brava Theatre
2781 24th Street (at York), San Francisco
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Rockfeeds is a group of dedicated musicians who volunteer their time and effort every year to produce a grassroots benefit for the San Francisco Food Bank. Amateur singers are challenged by their friends by way of donations to get up on stage and sing a song in front of an audience, backed up by professional musicians. To participate, donate, or to find out more information about the event, please visit the rockfeeds.org.

Family to Family Volunteer Day
Alameda County Community Food Bank
7900 Edgewater Drive, Oakland
Saturday, August 23, 9 -11 am
With an age-appropriate lesson on hunger for children 5-10 years old, an art project, and a food sorting activity, this event is a great way to inform your kids and also get your entire family involved in your local food bank Space is limited and registration required. Just call 510-635-3663 ext. 308 or email volunteer@accfb.org.

Go to Bat Against Hunger
Oakland A’s Home Games
The Oakland A’s have set up food bins for each Wednesday’s home games. Bring two nonperishable food items to these games from June to September, and you’ll receive a free ticket to a future game. Drop off your food donation before each game at food drive barrels located at the Coliseum BART Plaza and at gates C and D.

To find information on the many local food banks in the Bay Area, go to Bay Area Hunger.

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With talk of an economic downturn people may be tightening their belts a bit. Not surprisingly, restaurants are trying to make eating out more enticing with special deals. Here’s a round up of deals, just be sure to check with each restaurant before dining since these offers do come and go…

Dine About Town is back! From June 1 - 15th the now bi-annual event features prix fixe deals for lunch and dinner at San Francisco restaurants, specifically a 3-course lunch for $21.95 or dinner for $31.95. Restaurants include Bushi-tei, Campton Place, Fringale and Roy’s. Check out the Dine About Town site for details and a list of all the participating restaurants.

Castro stalwart 2223 hosts $12 Tuesday when starters are $6 and entrees are $12. Choose from comfort dishes such as Classic Mashed Potatoes, Southern Fried Chicken Salad or Braised Pork Shoulder in Salsa Rojo. The menu has 4 starters and 5 entrees choices.

Brave the bad parking on Russian Hill! 1550 Hyde has an award-winning wine list and is offering $10 off any bottle of wine priced $40 or higher. They have plenty of wines under $40 as well.

Nick’s Crispy Tacos, chosen by 7×7 magazine readers for “best meal under $15″ hosts $2 Taco Tuesdays from 5 until 9pm. Tacos, quesadillas or chips, salsa and guacamole are only $2 each. $2 happy hour menu includes domestic beers, well drinks and margaritas.

For prix fixe deals we turned to Kevin Blum of SF City Dish. Kevin’s weekly newsletter, web site and dining card offer great deals and discounts at restaurant citywide and beyond. Here’s what he uncovered for us:

Civic Center favorite Indigo restaurant hosts a nightly Ultimate Wine Dinner. Guest may choose one appetizer, one entrée, one dessert and drink freely for the evening from a select choice of wines. That’s right, it is an all-you-can-drink dinner. Guests must arrive after 8 p.m. The dinner is $49.

Nob Hill brasserie Rue Saint Jacques restaurant is offering a three-course menu and a glass of wine for $23 every day from 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Guests can take their choice of appetizers (soupe du jour or pâté du jour), a choice of main course (New York steak or moules frites) and a choice of a dessert (crème brûlée or mousse au chocolat). Rue Saint Jacques, 1098 Jackson St. at Taylor St., San Francisco, CA 94133, 415-776-2002.

On Russian Hill Luella has a spiffy prix-fixe menu that includes its addictive romaine, radicchio, and watercress salad with Gorgonzola and walnuts that has a fan club of its own. But then you have to turn down the baked mussels with bacon over mashed potatoes! Oh, decisions. Their roasted pork loin with pancetta-braised cabbage is then followed with a vanilla and fresh mint crème brûlée. All this for $26, which means you can splurge on one of their wines from their well-chosen list of unique vintages. Available Monday-Thursday 5:30 p.m.-6:30pm.

South of Market Supperclub which describes itself as offering “an innovative multi-sensory fine dining experience” is doing a 3-course prix fixe that includes entertainment as well as dining in bed, for $35 every Tuesday.

In Palo Alto, La Strada is hosting regional Italian wine tastings. Chef Donato Scotti will pair sultry wines with light bites inspired by different regions of Italy. Enjoy the evening in a convivial and relaxed atmosphere on La Strada’s open-air patio. 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. $20 per person; includes wine and appetizers.

Fior D’Italia celebrates their 123rd year in business, America’s oldest Italian restaurant by offering a Special Prix Fixe Menu (all summer long) for just $18.86.

The traditional, 3-course menu includes a choice of first course salad, Serra Mista or Caesar Salad a second course pasta entree, Lasagna al forno, Ravioli, Cannelloni, Gnocchi alla Piemontese, Fettucini Alfredo, Tagliatella Bolognese, Tortellini alla Panna, or Trenette al Pesto and choice of dessert, Tiramisu, Sorbet, or Gelato.

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I fully intended to write about my newest bit of foodie finery that will soon hang happily around my neck. After three years of gazing at the gallery with longing and indecision, I finally made up my mind and bought a necklace from SpoonFed Art. SoCal artist Karin Collins started her collages as therapy for her eating disorder, but four years ago her therapy turned into a successful online business. Collins fills an empty bowl of a spoon with her whimsical and alluring collages, making them both jewelry and delicate works of art. However, excited as I am for my “Berried” to shimmer at my throat, it was actually SpoonFed Art’s packing material that really took my breath away.

As mother and father to two cats, my husband and I are very concerned about packing material. Cats (and presumably dogs) should not be let near Styrofoam peanuts or popcorn. If they bite the stuff — and if you have cats you know they will try to bite, chew, or eat it — cats have a good chance of choking to death on the Styrofoam. Therefore, whenever we receive a package that is well padded with floaty, sticky, staticky Styrofoam, we Hazmat the entire area.

The cats are sequestered in another room, and the package is carefully slit open with sharp scissors and the flaps laid flat. The contents are slowly lifted out by one of us, while the other brushes it down and keeps a weather eye out for escaped Styrofoam. After the contents are decontaminated more thoroughly than anything on the Enterprise, the box is resealed, Styrofoam within, and the entire area is checked for escapees. Even the tiniest bit of styro-schmutz is tagged and bagged before the cats are allowed back in the room.

Therefore, when I opened my SpoonFed Art package and saw that my necklace was thoroughly padded in actual popcorn, well, I’m not ashamed to admit that I let out quite the squeal. Aside from the popcorn within the mailer, there was also an actual popcorn box, likewise stuffed with popcorn. Tucked snugly inside that humorous box was my lovely necklace.

Of course I know eschewing Styrofoam is better for the environment, but I’m a cat person first and an environmentalist second, therefore on behalf of Hunca Munca and Poppadum, I thank and adore Karin Collins for coming up with such a clever, thoughtful, and thoroughly foodie way of packing her delicate creations.

Now if I can only convince my husband to stop eating it.

SpoonFed Art
1076 Hi Point Street
Los Angeles, CA

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All that exuberant sunshine encouraged my little pot of thyme to bolt and bloom. Usually, I snip a sprig here and there, but faced with a sudden bounty, I needed to figure out how to use it all up. I found lovely photos of sugared thyme, with detailed instructions on brushing each sprig with a thin layer of egg white, sprinkling with granulated sugar, and then baking lots of cupcakes for something worthy to garnish. Tempting, yes. Realistic, no.

I already have an entire shelf of flavored vinegars, several old enough to sport their own layers of mother, so that easy solution to excess herbs was out of the question.

Fortunately my old, one-bowl standby — shortbread cookies — came to the rescue. I’d made a batch earlier for Robynn’s 35th birthday (get it, sweet thyme? Yeah, I had to explain it to her, too.) But as with many things we give away, we often forget to save enough goodness for ourselves. These cookies are staying in my own kitchen, enough of them for me to sweeten my afternoon tea…until the next heat wave arrives.

THYME SHORTBREAD
I actually don’t like my own sweets that sweet, so the amount of sugar in this recipe is low. If you prefer, increase the measure of sugar to 1/2 cup. Have fun experimenting with other herbs or spices, such as rosemary, sage, cinnamon, cardamom, or saffron. If you don’t have long-grain rice flour (don’t use the glutinous kind!) then simply omit and use 2 cups of all-purpose flour.

Makes about 36 shortbread bars.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and line a 13×9-inch sheet pan with parchment.

2. Stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. With a fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture just until the dough comes together. Sprinkle in the thyme leaves and continue stirring until the herb is evenly distributed and the dough is smooth.

3. With a flat or offset spatula, press the dough flat into the sheet pan. Score into evenly sized bars with a sharp knife. Brush lightly with egg white, and then prick each cookie two or three times with the tines of a fork.

4. Bake until golden, 15 to 18 minutes. While the bars are still warm, cut along your previous score lines. Slide the cookies with their parchment paper onto a wire rack and let cool completely. They will continue to crisp, and their flavor will be better after one or two days. Store in an airtight tin, sharing most of them with your friends and saving a week’s worth for yourself.

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Although the calendar says it’s only May, it feels more like July this week. My kids are begging to go to the pool every day and I’m craving ice cream. Strawberry ice cream to be specific. Strawberries are in full season in all their sweet glory and what better way to stave off the heat than to indulge in icy cream and fresh berries.

I have often made strawberry ice cream using heavy cream, berries, sugar and not much else. Although these desserts have been creamy and sweet, they were a bit lacking. Without eggs, ice cream just doesn’t have the full body and character I’m looking for in my dessert. I have hunted for years for the perfect strawberry ice cream recipe, but most use between 6 and 9 egg yolks. Now I love egg custards (and ice cream made with eggs is essentially just frozen custard), but the more eggs included in a custard, the richer the flavor. Although this can often be a very good thing — such as with vanilla, pecan or chocolate ice creams — the richness of too many eggs in custard can detract from the natural sweetness of any fruit you add to it, flattening the flavors. Plus eggs are high in cholesterol and fat, so if I can, I try to avoid them in abundance. What I wanted was a lighter strawberry ice cream with the depth of flavor eggs provide, without overshadowing the strawberries and casting them out of the limelight (or raising my LDL levels).

I recently read a NY Times article that used a pudding recipe for ice cream. The problem is that it uses 8 egg yolks (yes, 8!). I remembered that my pudding recipe is thick and creamy and only uses a couple of eggs, which seemed much more reasonable. I decided to tweak it a little, however, using strawberries instead of chocolate. I also added one extra egg yolk to help bind the ice cream as I was worried the strawberries — which naturally have a lot of water in them — would make the custard runny. Heavy cream also seemed a better choice than the whole milk I use in my pudding as this is ice cream we’re making, not ice milk. My final alteration was to include some lemon juice and zest to help brighten the strawberry flavors. Finally I plopped everything into the beautiful ice cream maker my husband’s aunt bought us a few years ago (thank you Aunt Susie!) with excellent results. The final product had a deep strawberry taste, a rich and creamy texture, and a more complex flavor than the plain cream strawberry ice cream I’ve made for years. It also allowed the strawberries to star, unlike some custard ice creams I’ve tried. And best of all, it helped cool us off during this heat wave.

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

Makes 4 - 8 servings

Ingredients
3 cups of fresh strawberries (cleaned, hulled and chopped)
½ cup plus 3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Zest from one medium lemon
3 large egg yolks
3 Tbsp corn starch
Dash of salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter

Preparation
1. Puree 2 cups of the strawberries with 3 Tbsp sugar and the lemon juice
2. Heat the heavy cream on medium-low until it starts to steam with small bubbles around the edge. Turn off the heat.
3. Whisk egg yolks with ½ cup sugar in a bowl until the mixture is a light yellow color.
4. Add the lemon zest, corn starch, and salt to the egg mixture and whisk thoroughly, making sure there are no lumps.
5. Add about a half cup of the warmed cream to the egg mixture, whisking vigorously to temper the eggs.
6. Add the egg mixture to the cream and incorporate thoroughly.
7. Cook on medium-low just until the mixture starts to bubble. Be sure to frequently stir or the mixture will start to burn at the bottom. I used a whisk, but a spatula would also work.
8. When the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, turn off the heat and add the strawberry puree.
9. Stir in the vanilla.
10. Chill in an ice bath.
11. Cover with plastic wrap, being sure to let it sit directly on top of the pudding to avoid a skin forming.
12. Refrigerate until fully cooled.
13. Place mixture in your ice cream maker and let it do its thing for about twenty minutes.
14. Place in a container and place in the freezer. Stir every hour or so until firm so it evenly freezes.
15. Serve.

Tips:
1. If you do not have an ice cream maker, you can still make homemade ice cream. David Lebovitz shows you how to make ice cream without a machine.

2. This recipe would also be great using peaches, nectarines, plums, or any other type of berry.

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Of course, I had no idea what I was in for, chocolate-wise. She took me to Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolates, at 401 Hayes Street. This woman has always out-cooled me. Even living in Redwood City with three small children pulling her in as many directions, she manages to know what’s going on right under my nose before I can sniff it out. Damn her and bless her, too.

To me, Christopher Elbow sounds like the title character of a children’s book. He is either a misunderstood little boy in possession of either highly specialized super powers or, at the very least, a rich and imaginative inner life. As a chocolatier, I have tasted evidence of the latter, but will not entirely rule out the former. I selected only one chocolate to taste, since I wasn’t really in the mood for sweets. Port Wine Caramel. I took one bite and a remarkable sensation overtook me for a moment. Talk about a rich inner life…

There is a scene in the the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in which Violet Beauregarde, the shapeless, gum-chewing champ, starts in on an Everlasting Gobstopper and says, describing her experience, “It’s tomato soup! It’s hot and creamy– I can actually feel it running down my throat!”

That is very much what happened to me when I bit into the caramel. Except I could feel port wine running down my throat instead of tomato soup. And, of course, there was no dramatic change to my organic composition which necessitated my immediate juicing. But I tumesced, just a little.

Squid bought herself a box of nine chocolates ($20.00), which would last her nine nights. One before bedtime, like some sort of luxury sugar pill. I knew I’d be back to do the same. I hope she’s not placing them on her pillow in this heat.

Upon my return, I chatted a bit with a nice young woman behind the counter and asked her to pick out some of her favorite chocolates. I added a couple of my own to the mix and had them wrapped to take home so that I might taste them in private, since my prior experience and reaction suggested I proceed with caution.

Before leaving, I needed to sample a bit of drinking chocolate. The young lady suggested her favorite– the Ginger Caramel Milk Chocolate. I obeyed.

I took my chocolate into the drinking lounge and contemplated my impending sugar coma.

Though I was the sole human in the lounge at the time, it certainly didn’t feel, well, loungy. The upright seatbacks and hard surfaces of the armrest/places to put one’s beverage seemed to underscore the necessity of bracing myself for the sugar rush that was about to overtake me. The glowing tables unsettled me, reminding me as they did of the Milk Bar in A Clockwork Orange. I find the fact that this place has brought to mind two classic films from 1971 fascinating. Had a high-priced call girl in hot pants and a terrible shag cut sat down to join me, I might have drunk my chocolate faster.

As it happened, I did drink my chocolate too quickly. I ended up inhaling a bit of ground ginger, which provoked an unfortunate little coughing fit. I knew the ginger was there, but I thought it looked pretty and therefore refused to stir it in. It was my fault entirely. I snapped some more photos and left, following someone I can only describe as a crazy, even more childlike Butterfly McQueen down Gough Street. She was exceedingly friendly, stopping to say hello not only to every person she met along the way, but a pair of shutters, and, finally, a hibiscus bush. Selfishly, I did not offer her any chocolate.

When I arrived home with my chocolates, I realized I had neither the time nor the appetite to consume them then and there as I had planned. These were special chocolates– the kind one might savor while bathing in asses’ milk or worry over in a monkey fur bed jacket while digesting the latest gossip from one’s maid. They are luxurious and complex. They cry out for a momentary focus of one’s attention. They are an expensive mouthful, to be sure, but they are worth every penny, I promise.

Cross my heart and kiss my elbow. Go check it out.

Here are some tasting notes on the one’s I’ve sampled:

Bourbon Pecan– one might never know there is marzipan lurking inside if one isn’t paying attention. Made with Maker’s Mark bourbon.

Passion Fruit — I don’t naturally gravitate towards white chocolate, but it serves as a subtle carrier for a caramel so tangy with passion fruit that, if I were slightly more obsessive, I would become obese and diabetic from doing nothing all day but collecting hundreds of these confections, scooping out the caramel, and licking it off a giant antique wooden spoon.

Cabernet– Chocolate, caramel, and Cabernet Sauvignon. I am not certain which winery supplies the wine for this confection, but I was assured it is a California Cabernet. As with the (sadly missing today) Port Wine chocolate I sampled a couple of weeks ago, I experienced another Miss Beauregarde moment. Happy-making.

Bananas Foster– Enjoyable, but didn’t exactly scream Bananas Foster to me. Perhaps I should have set it on fire.

Banana Curry– Hot damn. This one is really excellent. Refreshing trickle of heat.

Rosemary– For some reason, sweets flavored with rosemary often have a subtle and mildly disturbing moldy flavor. This narrowly manages to avoid that sort of unpleasantness. Nice little salt kick at the end.

Strawberry Balsamic– Fun. And interesting– the balsamic acidity of the piece is an interesting contrast to the chocolate but, rather than accentuate the strawberry, it obscures it.

Orange Blossom Honey– Oh my Blossom Dearie. This one totally delivers. Salty caramel that allows the subtle orange blossom notes of the honey to peek through and say hello. I like you, you’re nice.

Persian– Get over any loathing you might have of marzipan. This is a wonderfully complex piece of chocolate. Cardamom? Is that sumac? Do you even have any idea what sumac tastes like? Wonderfully nutty– blame the marzipan.

Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolates
Location: 401 Hayes Street (at Gough) in San Francisco
Telephone: 415-355-1105
Store Hours:

Visit the website for more information:
www.elbowchocolates.com

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In late spring when the first cherries would appear at the Dallas farmers’ market, my mom would sing her little cherry ditty: “Cherries are ripe…” Granted, it doesn’t sound like much—it’s only a 3-word phrase—and she did sing it much more often than as an annual welcome to the little stone fruit, but I can’t look at cherries anymore without hearing her singsong voice.

Cherries are finally making an appearance at Bay Area farmers’ markets, and starting to taste less like watery insipid blobs and more like juicy flavorful sweet little gems.

While I typically like to eat my cherries out of hand, I will eat any fruit baked, especially if it’s surrounded by pastry, custard, or cake. So what happens when you merge all three and throw in some cherries? You get a heavenly, crispy-on-the-outside, custardy on the inside, pancakey Cherry Oven Pancake.

Modeled after the German apple oven pancake (also known as a Dutch baby), this incredibly easy, impressive dessert is as much science experiment as it is full-on delicious. Into the oven goes a thin batter, and out comes a big puffy surprise. Make sure you call your kids, your guests, or at least your dog in to see it as you pull it from the oven so they will be in awe of your culinary prowess.

Cherry Oven Pancake

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups cherries, pitted
1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)
Powdered sugar, maple syrup, or lemon wedges for serving

Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 450F. Puree the eggs, milk, vanilla, salt, and sugar in a blender until smooth. Add the flour, and puree again until smooth.

2. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a 10-inch cast iron pan and warm just until it starts to brown, then add the dark brown sugar, and stir with a wooden spoon until it starts to melt. Add the cherries and sauté until they start to release their juices, about 1 minute.

3. Turn off the heat and pour the batter into the pan. If you are using the almonds, sprinkle them evenly over the top of the batter. Quickly place the pan in the oven. Reduce the heat to 425F and bake until puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.

4. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or serve with maple syrup or a squeeze of lemon.

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Ghirardelli Square hosts Uncorked! in partnership with COPIA, the American Center for Wine, Food & Arts located in Napa. Uncorked provides an opportunity to taste, learn and experience wine and gourmet food from throughout Northern California. Highlights include a food and wine pairing seminar, sensory wine class and chef demonstration ($10 fee). Check out the schedule online.

What: Uncorked! Wine Festival
Cost: Tickets are $40 and include unlimited wine tastings from over 50 wineries and a souvenir glass
When: May 17th 1 - 6 pm
Where: Ghirardelli Square, 900 North Point St, San Francisco
How: Purchase tickets online

The San Francisco Oyster Fest celebrates that classic combination of oysters and stout and features a great selection of contemporary live music. A wide variety of other beverages will also be available, ranging from beers, wines to premium spirits and though oysters are the main focus of the festival many other culinary choices will be offered. Festival events including the Shuck and Suck Competition, Oyster History Exhibition and Oyster Cooking Demonstrations.

What: San Francisco Oyster Fest
Cost: Tickets are $20 for a 1 day pass or $35 for a 2 day pass
When: May 17th - 18th, 12 - 7, gates open at 11
Where: Great Meadow at Fort Mason, San Francisco
How: Purchase tickets online

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Now, whether you pack cold fried chicken or lentil salad, whether you opt for a market-worn canvas tote or a full-loaded picnic basket, or whether you go to the beach or spread out in Golden Gate Park, I’m here to tell you about five indispensable picnic tools I can’t do without.

Opinel No. 9 carbon steel pocket knife: I used to bring my trusty, fifteen-year-old Swiss Army knife on picnics, but as much as I loved the cunningly stored plastic toothpick, my old backpacking tool just wasn’t picnic practical. Gunk and crumbs got jammed in every crevice, and I never seemed to use any tool other than the corkscrew. Furthermore, both blades dulled quickly and I bent back way too many nails just trying to pull the bottle opener out!

Once my husband got this classic, French folding knife for Christmas, we realized it was just what we needed for any and all of our cheese slicing, sausage cutting, or radish slivering. The carbon steel blade takes eons to dull and the entire knife wonderfully lightweight. Over one hundred years old, these knives are as brilliant as they are beautiful. ($12.55) (I might have to take up foraging just to have an excuse to buy the super special mushroom knife. But that’s another post.)

GSI Lexan® Wineglasses: Elegant, stackable, and lightweight, I simply adore these wineglasses. I stumbled upon them at REI and couldn’t get over their brilliance. In fact, I might have to go back for the corresponding Champagne flutes. ($5.95 per glass)

Small Wooden Cutting Board: Lightweight and packable, mine measures 10×10, but Crate and Barrel has some even smaller than that. ($8.95)

L’Occitane Verbena Towelettes: Isn’t progress a wonderful thing? I remember when the only choice we had for après picnic clean-up reminded me way too much of changing my little sister’s diapers. Thank god L’Occitane stepped in with their version of wipes, which they call “towelettes,” thus elevating the product even further. French and herbalicious, the towelettes clean, refresh, and aromatherapize you as you lie in the sun and digest your wine and cheese. You can also get lavender flavored ones and they even repel mosquitoes! ($8.00 for a pack of fifteen densely packed towelettes.)

Swiss Spice salt and pepper shaker: Sleek, refillable, and humid-proof, this combined salt and pepper shaker is as adorable as it is useful. It packs flat — unlike my old Morton favorites, which are decidedly not moisture resistant — and is just so darn adorable. ($16.00)

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Rachelle hefts up 20 pounds of refined sugar so the kids can see how much the average American teenager consumes every six weeks.

Her class this past week highlighted our favorite fruit of the season–strawberries–along with one very shiny, red bike blender. The lesson for the day involved putting down sugary drinks and sipping fruit smoothies instead. In addition to fresh strawberries, melons, and bananas, the teen chefs could choose from a colorful array of juices, frozen fruit, yogurts, and natural flavorings. Most importantly, they learned that not a single grain of added sugar was needed to create a delicious drink.

A rainbow of sweet goodness just before the pedal action.

Mike Graham-Squire from the Youth Leadership Institute joined the class to show the teens how to select ingredients, calculate food costs, determine servings sizes and overall yield, and–most importantly of all–operate the bike blender. As representatives of schools and local community organizations, the kids were also learning how smoothies can be a healthful, interactive, and effective fundraising tool at large events.

From the Country of Marin’s Nutrition Wellness Program, nutritionist Ellen Szakal taught the class how to read product labels to determine the number of teaspoons of sugar in each serving. A chart listing their favorite snacks and a hands–on exercise counting out a disconcertingly large pile of sugar cubes helped them understand just how much unnecessary sugar they were consuming each day.

It’s a skill adults could use, too.

Calculating How Much Sugar Is In A Container
Looking at the Nutrition Facts label on the side of the package, find the number of grams of sugar. Then divide that number by 4. For example, ingesting 65 grams of sugar in a 20-ounce drink bottle (considered 1 serving) means swallowing 17 individual teaspoons of sugar.

So much youthful energy, it takes extra hands to hold the jar still.

Berkeley-based Juice Peddler sells kits for retrofitting bikes to become human-powered blenders. From the first-generation’s endearingly clunky tricycle platform and antique hand-drill to the fifth-generation’s sleek, high-density polyethylene design, the company has been at the forefront of DIY bike blender technology.

The kids took turns pedaling their fruit concoctions and proudly shared tastes of their icy treats with other teams. Lined up for judging, the smoothies created a rainbow of delicious fun: Monkey Melons, Fruit-A-Palooza, Pink Panther, Go Mango, Fruit-A-Licious, and Pink-A-Licous Strawberry.

I’m glad I didn’t have to judge, as it would have been a tough call to pick just one winner.

Sammy and Brittney confer on the formulation of their team’s smoothie.

Pinkalicious Strawberry Smoothie
The members of Team Pinkalicious decided to celebrate the happy coincidence of their clothing colors with an appropriately hued smoothie.

Serves: 6

Ingredients
10 ounces strawberries, hulled
1 banana, chopped
1 cup frozen berry medley
1/2 cup yogurt
1/4 cup orange mango juice concentrate

Preparation
1. Place all ingredients in the jar of a blender.
2. Blend until completely mixed.
3. Serve immediately.

Minted Strawberry Agua Fresca
Another excellent recipe from Generation Chefs that highlights the current season’s bumper crop.

Serves: 6

Ingredients
2 cups ice cubes
3 cups strawberries, hulled
2 small mint leaves, optional
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
6 whole strawberries, split 3/4 up from the point, for garnish
6 mint sprigs, for garnish

Preparation
1. Place all ingredients in a blender in the order listed.
2. Blend until completely mixed. Taste and adjust for sweetness or tartness as desired.
3. Pour into chilled glasses, garnish with mint sprigs, and slide a berry onto the rim of each glass.

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