cookiesinheaven

Labels: Art, Cakespy, contests, Cooking contests, cupcakes, fundraising

Famed New Orleans chef and cook book author Susan Spicer has filed a class action lawsuit against British Petroleum, Halliburton, and Transocean, Ltd. Entered in New Orleans Federal Court, the suit asks for both compensatory and punitive damages - as yet unspecified -- for the harm that has resulted and will result due to the oil spill at BP's Deepwater Horizon undersea well, which occurred on April 20.

As quoted by the New Orleans Times-Picayune on its nola.com blog, the suit says "The massive oil slick created by the continuing discharge of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico has caused or will cause injuries and damages to the Class to the extent that the seafood industry will be closed and the sustainable natural resource of the fishery will be greatly harmed and/or destroyed. Simply put, the oil slick and continuing discharge of crude oil is an ecological and economic disaster for Plaintiff." - Village Voice and NOLA.com

Labels: celebrity chefs, Cookbooks, Lawsuit, New Orleans

I love that the Montecito Journal used this photo in their latest issue to highlight the Wine Festival!

Delicious!

2:00 - 3:00 p.m. today. See you there.

Labels: Santa Barbara Wine Festival, wines

Nominated Grammy singer-songwriter, American rock musician and actor Chris Isaak will headline the "SUNSET – Savor the Central Coast" Concert and Fireworks Finale on Sunday, October 3, 2010 at the Avila Beach Golf Resort. Gates open at 4:30 p.m.; concert starts at followed by fireworks finale at 7 p.m.9:45 p.m. Limited to 2,300 general admission guests and 250 VIPs, tickets are $85 and $185 respectively, and can be purchased at www.savorcentralcoast.com.

..In addition to the Concert and Fireworks Finale with Chris Isaak, and scheduled cooking demonstrations and a special winemaker dinner with the Food Network's celebrity Chef Tyler Florence, highlights of the four-day event include: Sunset's Western Wine Awards Gala; SAVOR the Mission Plaza; Central Coast Pavilion and Grand Tasting; Farmer's Market to Meal; Sunset Kitchen Garden; A Moveable Feast: Best-of-the-Best Food Carts, and Chef and Winemaker Central; and The Marketplace, showcasing talented chefs and a variety of more than 100 wineries from the Central Coast of California arranged by sub-region, including representatives from Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. - DigitalJournal

Labels: Chris Issak, Sunset Magazine, tyler florence

Labels: Holidays, LOL cats

Backyard beekeeping is hot and cool at the same time — part environmental, part epicurean. A meditation on buzzing beauty. A path to nature, and to sweet pots of honey.

Maybe there’s a hive in your back lot, or a honeycomb fresh on your kitchen table.

Kim Flottum joins us from Kent, OH. He is editor of Bee Culture Magazine.

Jane Wild joins us in the studio. She is a ‘backyard beekeeper’ based in West Newbury, MA. She is also vice president of the Essex County Beekeepers’ Association. She has been keeping bees since 1991. She and her husband have 14 hives.

David Tarpy joins us from Durham, NC. He is one of the country’s top bee researchers –known more formally as an apiculturist and entomologist. He teaches and raises queen bees as part of his research at North Carolina State University. He is the official state judge of honey and hive products (honey, wax, mead) at the North Carolina state fair.

Labels: bees, Food, Honey, radio

Labels: Birthdays, Music, YouTube

It’s summertime and that means two things: 1) There are loads of delicious farm fresh produce available at our local Santa Barbara farmers market every week; and 2) American Farmland Trust’s America’s Favorite Farmers Markets™ contest has kicked into gear and we need your votes to win!

The process is simple. To vote for our market, all you have to do is:

1.) Go to www.farmland.org/vote

2.) Type in Santa Barbara ; and,

3.) Click “Vote”

That’s it. That’s all it takes to bring Santa Barbara Certified Farmer's Market one step closer to being America’s favorite farmers market!

According to American Farmland Trust (AFT), the purpose of this contest is to re-connect local consumers to local farms, with the ultimate goal of keeping our nation’s farm and ranch land productive and healthy! Buying at the farmers market keeps money in the local community and helps farms and ranches remain economically viable. By voting, you’re helping support farms and communities across the nation. As American Farmland Trust says, “No Farms No Food™!”

Labels: contests, Farmer's Markets, farmers, farming, voting

Labels: Courthouse, Film, Fun, Movie, Santa Barbara, summer

@RichardBlais - Off to Santa Barbara for a Few days.

Labels: Richard Blais, Top Chef

In 1915, four Jordano brothers opened a small market in Santa Barbara. More store openings soon followed, and by the 1950s the family-owned business was operating the first chain of supermarkets on the Central Coast. Jordano's stores were known for high quality products, innovative merchandising, and superior customer service. The company grew to become the area's largest wholesale distributor of foodand beverages, and one of the 50 largest companies of its kind in the United States.

Today, Jordano's is still family and employee owned, very proud of its Santa Barbara heritage, and committed to supporting the local community.

Labels: Anniversary, grocery stores, Jordano's, Kitchen, Santa Barbara, stores

Arch Rock Fish You know you love free...FREE GIFT BAG, w/AR T-SHIRT, FARMER'S MARKET BAG and more! And did I mention a chance to be on TV?

In our efforts to market the Arch Rock in a new, creative way, on June 21 we will begin filming 10 behind-the-scenes shorts on the process of opening the Arch Rock Fish. We'd like to feature friends, family and SB Locs in our videos. Be a part and get the free stuff mentioned above. And that's not all...To promote the videologs, we will be running non-stop "man on the street" TV commercials, asking the question: "What do you look for in a neighborhoodjoint?" Join us please, let me know if you want the gift basket and the star treatment, at Arch Rock Fish baby!

Labels: Arch Rock Fish, facebook, Santa Barbara, twitter

Labels: Carpinteria, cooking classes, farmers, Farms, Santa Barbara, Shepherd Farms, Slow Food

Labels: Das Williams, elections, Santa Barbara, voting, YouTube

....The Food Scraps Collection Program collects food waste from restaurants and schools, trucks it to a composting site, places in it long rows called windrows, and turns it regularly by large machines to introduce oxygen into the pile.

Voila! The waste is now soil used by local farmers to grow more food, or goes to parks. Essentially, this program transforms waste into a community resource.

Lohela is the face of the program, and when he speaks about landfills being the largest source of man-made methane in the United States, he speaks with as much gusto as he does when he talks about loving his bicycle. His passion is evident, and he manages to share his practice and the facts and statistics of his program without making me feel like I'm listening to a lecture.

One such statistic is that around 25,000 tons of foodscraps are put into the local Santa Barbara landfill every year, and Lohela's team is working to put a serious dent in that number. The project is attractive to businesses because composting foodscraps is less expensive than landfilling, and businesses pay less for this service than trash.

..."We have to recognize that everything comes from somewhere and goes somewhere. This couldn't be more true than with food." With his Food Scraps Collection Program, he proactively tackles the latter conundrum, and for the former, he uses his buying power to support local farmers.

Lohela now lectures about eating locally. "Are you growing food?" he'll ask. When most people inevitably say they don't, he responds, "If you're not growing food, and I'm not growing food, then we're just kind of hoping that someone else is. That's just crazy!" The industrialized food industry does not sit well with Lohela.

Labels: Food, garbage, landfill, Restaurant, Santa Barbara, Sustainable

Labels: Cat Cora, Cookbooks, Foodies, Iron Chef, Santa Barbara