Archive for the ‘events’ Category

Athens: Farm to Table Tour – September 12th

Posted by CMH Gourmand on September 9, 2009

The information below was sent to me by Kirsten Graham of Kirsten Graham PR. It is a pretty cool event that features the best of Athens area farmers and restaurants. I have eaten at many of these restaurants and visited some of these farms so having all of these people in one place is pretty amazing. This also pairs nicely with the Field to Table event at Franklin Park Conservatory this weekend.

All of the content below is a direct copy from an e-mail.

TOYOTA HYBRID FARM TO TABLE TOUR
Toyota’s Farm to Table Tour Heading to the Athens Farmers Market to Celebrate the Connection Between Farmers, Chefs, and the Local Community on Display at the Market

WHAT:
12 local beloved chefs are paired with market farmers to highlight the bounty of locally grown food and product available at the Athens Farmers Market. The chefs will prepare special tastings showcasing their partner farm’s fresh ingredients and visitors will have the opportunity to sample the chefs’ creations while also learning more about the market vendors, their products, and how to buy and eat seasonally.

Toyota will also provide interested market goers with the opportunity to take a ride in the 3rd Generation Prius or a 2009 Highlander Hybrid.

WHERE:
The Athens Farmers Market is located at 1000 East State Street.

WHEN:
The event starts at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 12, 2009 and concludes at 1:30 p.m. the same day.

CHEF/FARMER PAIRINGS SCHEDULE:
Pairings subject to change

TENT 1:
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Scott Bradley of Zoe Fine Dining + Gillogly Orchards

10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Sandy San of China Fortune + Yankee Street Farms/Mitch’s Produce and Greenhouse

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Doug Weber of Rhapsody + Chowdery Farms/Gillogly Orchards

Tent 2:
9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Michelle Wasserman of Casa Nueva Restaurant and Cantina + Shew’s Orchard/Shade River Organics/Green Edge Organics/King Family Farms/Companion Plants/Snowville Creamery

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Kevin Hurst of Latitude 39 + Chowdery Farms/King Family Farms/Green Edge Organics

12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Ryan Stolz of O’Betty’s Red Hot + Integration Acres/Chowdery Farms/Green Edge Organics/Crumb’s Bakery/Athen’s Own/Shew’s Orchard

Tent 3:
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Hilarie Burhans of Restaurant Salaam + Integration Acres/Shade River Farms/Sassafras Farms

11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Bee Vacca of Heaven’s Oven + Arnold Farms

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
John Gutekanst of Avalanche Pizza + Rich Organic Farms/Chowdery Farms/Starline Farms/Yankee Street Farms

Tent 4:
9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Jana Durham of Jana’s Soul Food Café + Rich Organic Farms

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Barbara Fisher + Harmony Hollow/Green Edge Organics/Rich Gardens Organic Farm

12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Jade Mu of Lui Lui + King Family Farms/Shew’s Orchard/Sassafras Farms/Green Edge Organics

EVENT BROUGHT TO ATHENS FARMERS MARKET BY:
The Toyota 3rd Generation Prius and 2009 Highlander Hybrid

Posted in Athens, events | 1 Comment »

Too Many Bloggers at Too Many Cooks, Sunday September 6th

Posted by CMH Gourmand on September 4, 2009

Anyone interested in putting a face with a blog? Your chance is this Sunday.

Nick Dekker from Breakfast With Nick, Rose Rings from Bitchin’ in the Kitchen, Dave Scarpetti from weber_cam and Dave’s Beer, Bethia Woolf of Hungrywoolf’s Food Blog, Becke Boyer from Columbus Foodie, my minion Zach from Columbus Foodcast and I—will be at Wild Goose Creative – Sunday, September 6, at 7 p.m., to talk about what we do, why we do it, and where we like to go to eat. We are bringing food as well. I will be crafting chili, Dave is making bread, Zach is baking beans and that is just a sample from the e-mails I have seen zipping around all week.

Who, What and When: above
Where: Wild Goose Creative – 2491 Summit Street, Columbus, OH 43202

Cost: $5

Postscript:

About 35 people showed up. The bloggers brought: Marmite cheese twists, Chocolate chip cubes, a yummy peanut square, 10 bean baked beans with pork, empanadas, Puerto Rican style pork with rice, vegan chili (kitten free), Venison Chili and Nick Dekker’s toast, egg and other stuff concoction (the name escapes me). Upcoming big food event at Wild Goose Creative is Pizza Grand Prix IV on October 18th.

Posted in culinary knowledge, events | Leave a Comment »

Win a $25 Dine Originals Gift Certificate!

Posted by CMH Gourmand on September 3, 2009

Karen Simonian from Dine Originals sent me a gift certificate for $25.00! However, the certificate is not for me – it is for one of you. Here is a list of Dine Originals Restaurants where the certificate can be redeemed. The only downside is that you can not use this for Dine Originals Restaurant Week specials.

So here is the deal. Tell me about the best restaurant(s) you tried during Restaurant Week via e-mail to (CMH Gourmand) no later than high noon September 16th. The best story gets the certificate and if you want – I will post your story here – with a byline or anonymous if your prefer.

Those without a story can e-mail as well, if I don’t get any stories – I will just select a person at random.

The restaurants have their restaurant week menus posted on the Dine Originals website. The fixed price meals are $20.09 or 30.09. This an opportunity to try something new and/or experience a favorite place for an exceptional value.

I have looked over the menus to plot my own meals. If you are looking for suggestions I think that Alana’s, Black Creek Bistro, Burgundy Room, Deepwood, and G. Michaels have the menus to beat for the week. But you really can not go wrong with any of them. The more adventuresome may want to go out of town to Shaws in Lancaster or the Inn at Cedar Falls.

Odds of winning are pretty darn good – so do it.

Posted in events, Gastronomic Stimulus | Tagged: Dine Originals Restaurant Week | 4 Comments »

Sunday Music (and Picnic Potluck) at Goodale Park

Posted by CMH Gourmand on August 9, 2009

The Spikedrivers in action

There has been a growing event in Goodale Park. The gazebo stage in the park has been the noontime site for free concerts from some of Columbus’ best bands. Today, it was The Spikedrivers which was a double bonus for me since I am a huge Megan Palmer fan (she is a member and played with her own band two weeks ago). The music is part of the 2009 Goodale Park Sunday Music Series. Funding was cut earlier in the year but the event was saved with some pluck by a local organizer and others. You can get additional background on what happened here – Columbus Underground interview with Alex Kelley about the saved Summer Music Series.

Citizens sighted at the event included Pierogi King Roland Kopecky, the entire Taco Trucks Columbus Team, a Fighting Librarian and the Short North Interpretative Dance Troupe

The number of people attending and appreciating the event has grown with each performance. Today, it resembled a mini Comfest with a large variety of folks spread out in the park to enjoy the music. A subset of this gathering is a growing cadre of Columbus Underground usual suspects – bringing homecooked food, farmer’s market finds and in a few cases some Kanes Chicken Fingers, Pattycake Cookies or Hills Market munchies to share in a communal buffet on blankets.

Part of the spread

There are two more performances remaining so show up, enjoy the music and if you care to, bring some food to share with others. There is a nice sense of community to this event and all are welcome to add to the local karma.

A member of the canine community seen enjoying the food, music and nature at Goodale Park.

Posted in events, food | Tagged: Goodale Park, Music in Goodale Park, Picnic in Goodale Park | Leave a Comment »

Jim’s Judgment Day: Part One – Pork

Posted by CMH Gourmand on August 5, 2009

Heather Hetterick from the Ohio Pork Producers Council serving ribs and a smile

On August 4th, I had the fortune to be a judge for the Ohio Pork Producers Council’s BBQ contest at the Ohio State Fair. I was excited about this for many reasons including a free ticket and free parking at the fair. I have not had a chance to BBQ judge in over a year so I was worried that for the want of piles of pork my skills might have waned. I was joined by an all-star cast of judges. Adam Clements and I saved our leftovers from judging (my dog was so happy to see me!) and monitored each others physical and mental health during the grueling judging process.

Judges (Left to Right): Adam Clements - Columbus Alive, Johnny DiLoretto - Fox 28, Jim Albaugh - Ohio Pork Producers Council and Jennifer Coleman - Ohio Soybean Council.

BBQ judging is not all fun and games. Sampling nine sets of ribs and ten samples of pulled pork is a act of intestinal fortitude and determination. We were also aware of the strong possibility of a thunderstorm expected during the middle of the contest. Johnny D. had to do a live broadcast from the judges table at some unknown time so we were all afraid of being caught with our mouths full of food and sauce covering our faces while being asked questions. We risked sunburn and ran low on handi-wipes. Yes, people may call us heroes but someone has to do it.

Cool Pork Council T-Shirt...Heather are you hiring?

Pork cooking competitors varied from veteran restaurant cook teams to two friends that just started cooking out of their garage with a green egg smoker. Entrants came from all over the state and all over Columbus. I am certain that I had the best pork rib ever and that team won. It is probably best (from a cardiac standpoint) that the winning ribs are not available in Columbus. The winners of the best ribs and best pulled pork categories received banners and $1000.

Pulled Pork Winners - Hickory River Smoke House, Tipp City

Hickory River Smokehouse

Wallys - winner for best pork ribs (note they won in 2008 as well)

Wally's Great American BBQ from Tiffin - winner for best pork ribs (note they won in 2008 as well)

Tony's Restaurant and Pub, Findlay - Peoples Choice winner

Tony’s Restaurant and Pub

Kristen - Ms. Ohio State Fair

The judges were joined by Kristen, this year’s royalty. She only had ribs once before coming to the fair. We forgot to ask where she hails from in Ohio, but when it is discovered, I am going to have BBQ ribs airlifted to that community. It appears that Kristen has been deprived of some critical elements of life in Ohio…..pork.

File under random Ohio State Fair notes and observations – no judgments intended.

Speaking of pork….. Here is the Hungry Woolf report on the fair

The fair could be renamed Porkapolooza. Pork products and promotions were everywhere.

http://www.porktastic.com

Social Media is all the rage and the Pork Council is on it with their own blog – Porktastic. This site includes a recipe for Pork and Apple Pie. Oh My!

Take an online tour of a hog farm – Ohio Pork Tour.

Ohio State Fair equals food: funnel cakes, fair fries, lemon shake ups, etc. While these things are all tasty, you can help the fair accomplish its mission by eating Ohio products. The Taste of Ohio Cafe is a good place to dine (and soak in some free air conditioning). Concessions are set up to serve fresh Ohio Beef, Pork, Poultry and Dairy (including Ohio cheese sandwiches and Velvet Ice Cream – this years flavor du fair….kettlecorn.).

I also noticed something unexpected. Oscar Mayer Lunchables, (which get some bad marks as a source of lunch for kids) had a large activity oriented exhibition at the fair. They had activity leaders running the kids all over the place doing agility courses and helping with this big Oscar Mayer Tower to climb on (seemed to scare the heck out of kids and parents alike).

A final note. It is easy to forget but Ohio is a farm state and that is why the State Fair started, so follow the advice on the trailer below.

Posted in events, Ohio | Tagged: Ohios Best BBQ Ribs, Pork, The Ohio State Fair | 2 Comments »

Jim’s Judgment Day: Part Two – Wine

Posted by CMH Gourmand on August 4, 2009

Food and Wine Affair - September 25th

On August 4th, I judged pork during the day and wine at night. I had the fortune of a friend referring me to the judges team for the The Columbus Food and Wine Affair. To serve as a judge, I had to attend a class on wine judging run by coordinator Rob Somers from Fosters Wine Estates. Rob has been with the Columbus Food and Wine Affair since it launched 7 years ago. Only two wine festivals in the US require judges to take a class prior to judging for the event – the other is the Cincinnati International Wine Festival. Having this standard for judging is important to maintain credibility. Evaluating something that is mostly subjective – such as wine – an event needs to ensure everyone is on the same page. This approach to judging is similar to the training I had to be come a Kansas City BBQ Certified BBQ judge. Note to self: avoid judging BBQ when I will be judging wine a few hours later.

This is a system summary. Each wine has the potential for 20 points. Here is the breakdown of scores.

Appearance
0 – 1 points

Aroma / Bouquet
0 – 6 Points

Taste and Texture
0 – 6 points

Aftertaste / Finish
0 – 3 points

Overall Impression
0 – 4

The approach to judging is to sample each wine on its own as objectively as possible. The 10 judges in training scored close to each other for each wine and our scores lined up within Rob’s range – a good sign. This is especially important since we will be judging 70 – 80 wines in each of our tasting teams. Awards will be presented to the winning wine makers for the Food and Wine Affair on September 25th.

I did attend this event in 2008. Tickets were $100 last year but I am certain I consumed that much and more in food, wine and entertainment. It is held at the Franklin Park Conservatory which is a great venue for any event of this stature. The food part of the affair comes from some of out best local restaurants. Proceeds from the event go to charity so you can have fun at the affair with no guilty conscience.

Posted in events, wine | Tagged: Columbus Food and Wine Affair | Leave a Comment »

Baconcamp 2009: Postscript instead of Post Mortem

Posted by CMH Gourmand on August 1, 2009

I survived sampling seventeen plus items as a Baconcamp judge – turnout was 150 plus. Based on feedback – it is safe to assume Baconcamp will be back next year.

There was a wide variety of people in attendance well outside the interlocking Venn diagrams of Columbus Underground, Wild Goose Creative and the foodanistas of Columbus. The flashes were flying at Wild Goose Creative so check Twitter, Flickr and other social media for Baconcamp images and stories.

One link to click for sure is
Nikon Girl, Jen Killius.

Here are my photos from the event, I am still in a bacon based stupor so writing is not an option (or ambulation but then a rational person would not have gone to a taco truck afterwords for a bacon wrapped hot dog; it is a sickness….they say). Entries in Baconcamp had the chance of winning prizes.

Food Categories: Most likely to cause a heart attack & least likely to care; Most likely to make a Vegan a Bacon

Winning chef Roland Kopecky cooking his bacon pierogies

award winning pierogie.....plated

Pig Butter Pat for Pierogies

Jill from the Hills sporting for bacon basics

Jill from the Hills sporting her bacon basics

Bacon Birthday Cake: Bacon, donuts, pringles, etc.,,

Baconcamp was not just about the science of bacon cookery, it was a celebration of the art of bacon consumption.

Top Bacon Artwork - Bacon Rosettes

CMH G - pre tango...the rosettes were edible as well. Ole!

Carmen Owens from Surly Girl Saloon brought a sample of bacon infused vodka Bloody Mary's that will be at Too Many Cooks

Below I am listing the food entries from BC (Columbus) 2009. Last names have been omitted to protect the innocent or guilty and also because I did not ask if I could use names.

Roland (read more in The Oher Paper).
Pierogies (Average score 35 out of 40 possible points and the winner)
Mary (presented by Zach)
Bacon Corn Chowder
Beth
Apple Pie with Bacon Lattice Top
Jen from Hills Market (with help from Jill at the Hills, Jen at Snowville Creamery and a weber_cam ice cream maker)
Bacon Ice Cream with Maytag Blue Cheese and Candied Pecans
Andy
Double Fried and Breaded Bacon with bacon gravy
Karl
Double Decker Bacon Tacos (2nd Place)
Candy
Calico Beans
Jacqui
Pickles wrapped in Bacon
Ryan
Bacon Mustard served with pretzel crackers
Patrick
Candied Bacon with side of sauerkraut
Sean
Chocolate covered bacon wrapped pineapple
* (Editors note: Do not try the above at home or away – soon to be illegal in Ohio)
Roberta
Chocolate Bacon Fruit Lollis
Lisa
Maple Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes
Ariel
Peanut Butter and Bacon Cookies
Neda
Bacon Wedding Cake (Honorable Mention)
(Back story: in addition to using duct tape, this item featured donuts, two cans of pringles, bacon, cake, some mini pigs and a few things I may have repressed. Neda starting putting it together at 9:15 AM and wrapped things up when she arrived about 1 PM).

Posted in events | Tagged: Bacon Camp Columbus, Baconcamp Columbus | 1 Comment »

One Time, at Baconcamp (August 1st)

Posted by CMH Gourmand on July 26, 2009

BaconCamp Columbus 2009

Saturday, August 1st, 2009, 1pm – 5pm
Wild Goose Creative
2491 Summit St. (SoHud to the Hipsters)

www.wildgoosecreative.com

www.baconcamp.org

For $5 guests get the chance to win bacony prizes and sample bacon creations from local professional and amateur chefs, cooks and culinary craftsmen. There will be a wide variety of bacon based food including – corn chowder, cookies, ice cream and more. In between bites there will also be bacon themed arts and crafts. Judges to include Liz Lessner (Betty’s, Tip Top, Surly Girl, Dirty Franks), Chris Dillman (Details and Rosendales), Patrick Crawford (Graphic Design Guru), Olivera Bratich (Wholly Craft!), Jessie Boettcher (OSU Department of Theatre) and CMH Gourmand.

I have been hearing about the items in store for Saturday for weeks and I am getting excited. In the case of the ice cream – this is a last minute effort combining the powers of the Hills Market, Snowville Creamery (the dairy base), Webercam (an ice cream maker) and a lot of different bacon ice cream recipes (google bacon ice cream you will be surpised). All I can say is – never underestimate the power of bacon as a motivational tool.

Posted in events | Tagged: Baconcamp | 3 Comments »

Comfest Feast

Posted by CMH Gourmand on June 29, 2009

Another Comfest has come and gone. My objectives were accomplished. I had a really good Lemon Shake Up and I scored my shift at the Wine Booth – the best gig of all Comfest volunteer assignments.

The "less cool" wine booth

For the past 6 – 7 years, I have served at the Lincoln and Park Street Wine Booth. This provides a strategic location – good for people watching and music listening. There are two wine booths, “mine” is the best – and I have several great stories from years past to prove it.

Comfest is an all volunteer, independent festival featuring local music. Comfest stands for Community Festival. Over the last 10 years it has become better known for the crowded Festival part than the Community aspect. It has also become known as a hot bed for women baring their breasts in public – usually painted. This is a shame because it is the Community aspect of Comfest that makes it special.

This year, for whatever reason, I noticed the food communities at Comfest. You can find your standard summer fair fare such as elephant ears and fried anything on a stick. However, the food of our community is very well represented here, especially Clintonville and the North Market.

Clintonville and/or the Vegetarian/Vegan Community were out in force.

Comfest Vet - Whole World Bakery - oldest vegetarian restaurant in Columbus

Shortly before the guy chewing on a Turkey leg came to buy some vegan treats.

The Dean of Columbus Vegetarians, Del Sroufe, had Wellness Forum Foods well stocked

The North Market – less than 1/4 mile away, was well represented with not one, but two Jeni’s Ice Cream stands, plus Nida’s Sushi and Pam’s Popcorn.

An old standby – Juergens with yummy creampuffs was on hand.

And Nuevo Kid on the block Panderia Oaxaquena with Tasty Tortas. That is the diversity of Comfest showing through!

And now for this years wine booth report. The 12 – 4 shift was kind of boring – I missed the faster pace of the 8 PM to close shift but it was nice to be able to take the bus home vs. hoping for a ride at midnight. This year also saw a return of an artist that collects the blue riesling bottles for ongoing project he is working on – recycling in action.

Natural State Wines continues as the wine distributor – they are good people to work with. Each year they supply several organic low sulfite wines. This year marked the debut of box wine however – the fan favorite, especially as the night wears on remains the Honeyrun Blackberry Honey Wine.

Many people were asking for Ohio wines this year – a promising sign which could add to the locavore aspects of Comfest of the future.

Wine selections for 2009

If you ever work the wine booth take note and bring these items: bottle of water, wine opener, marker, roll of paper towels and a ComFest music guide.

Comfest is still about our community. Each year sees our community changing a little more which means the challenges of sustaining Comfest grow a bit more as well. Alcohol sales support Comfest so: corporate sponsors are not needed, volunteers can get free T-shirts and food/beverage tokens and an endowment can be maintained to make community grants during the rest of the year.

Congratulations Comfest, looks like you will make it to middle age.

Posted in events | Tagged: Comfest Food | 3 Comments »

Great American Potluck: Weekend Wrap Up III

Posted by CMH Gourmand on June 14, 2009

Wrapping up the weekend, a bike trip to Maple Grove Methodist Church for the Great American Potluck. And it was – a plethora of potluck items were placed on the table for consumption.

There was a glimmer of hope by some that this might be another attempt at the Guinness World Record for Largest Potluck. No. The time will come for this again says Great American Potluck attendee, the mesmerizing Miriam Bowers Abbott, Potluck Potentate (with an evil laugh???) and the coordinator for last years run for the glory. However no date is set as yet.

Another rumor flittering…or twittering about was that the Great American Potluck would see the premiere of Dirty Franks Hot Dogs. This was kind of the case. The esteemed Liz Lessner did drop off some Dirty Franks inspired cocktail weenies which are a preview of attractions for the very, very, very soon to open Dirty Franks.

And with all of this going on, I missed out on the first Taste of Old Towne and Barley’s 14th Annual Homebrewer’s Competition and Afternoon with the Brewers. So much to do and so little time. I really need to do this fulltime….. but even then I would only have one stomach.

Posted in events | 1 Comment »

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