Cook Here and Now

CH&N Pairings: ALL SLOTS FULL

Buongiorno,

Thank you! All our 60 slots are full.
Thank you so much for the enthusiasm. I really appreciate it.

If your name is not listed in the comments section of the previous post, please stay tuned -- we'd love to have you next time. If you wish to be on the waiting list, please leave your email address and name as a comment to this post. I'll contact you if anyone cancels.

Ciao e grazie mille,
Marco Flavio

CH&N Pairings: Northern California artisan wine and cheese

Buongiorno,
I'm delighted to announce a new CH&N Pairings event.

When and where
Saturday, March 6 from 2 to 5 pm, in San Francisco

The plan
60 of us will gather, each bringing a sample of our favorite Northern California wine or Northern California artisan cheeses. Here's a list of artisan cheesemakers from the California Artisan Cheese Guild.
Some of us will make an accompanying dessert to enjoy along with our tasting.

This is a community event, open to all. We need to rent the space from the city, so there is a $5 donation per person. The PayPal link will be emailed to the participants tomorrow. Check your calendar before signing up, since donations are non-refundable.

To attend, post a comment on this blog. (Don't email me directly.)
Every person coming (including any guest you bring) will need to sign up for a slot, and contribute a wine, cheeses or homemade dessert.

Since participation is limited, please let us know at least 4 days before the event if you're not going to be able to make it, so we can invite someone else to join us. If you cancel 4 days before the event, you can't join us for the following 2 events. If you don't show at all, you can't join us for the next 3. Canceling on short notice (or none at all) is unfair to everyone, especially people who wanted to participate and couldn't because all the slots were taken.

We'll divide the slots among the participants this way:
24 slots for people bringing their favorite Northern California wine. (This should be an artisan wine, with thought to cheese pairings.) 2 SLOTS LEFT
24 slots for people bringing their favorite Northern California artisan cheeses -- either one pound of cheese or two 8 oz pieces of two cheeses, so that everyone can sample it 2 SLOTS LEFT
5 slots for people making a dessert (homemade please) ALL SLOTS TAKEN
2 slots for people bringing compostable plates, knives and napkins ALL SLOTS TAKEN
5 slots for people bringing us artisan or homemade bread (at least 4 loaves) or crackers (at least 4 packs, or equivalent homemade) 2 SLOTS LEFT

Please let me know who is coming by name. Once we reach 60 people confirmed and paid, I'll close the event and start another post for the waiting list. If the slots are full for what you'd like to bring, please choose something else instead.

So post a comment on the blog (do not email me directly) under the call-for-participation post letting me know the following:
First and last name
Email address
What you'll be bringing (bread, cheese, wine, etc.)

5 recommended pairings from Alison Bing (author of Lonely Planet's Napa & Sonoma Encounter, who'll be at the event - for more suggestions, contact her on  )

Vella Romanella: Hard cow’s milk cheese with the umami of Parmiggiano Romano from Vella Cheese, ideal with assertive Napa Cabernet Franc. (Available at Rainbow.)

Andante Acapella Ashed Round: Delicate goat’s milk in a volcanic, ashy rind - a velvet fist in an iron glove that pairs with like-minded Carneros bubbly. (Made by Sonoma’s Soyoung Scanlan and available at BiRite.)

Bellwether Carmody: Quintessentially NorCal – easygoing, a little nutty, and young for its age (6 weeks). Made by Cindy & Liam Callahan on the Sonoma coast and available at Boont Berry Farm; enjoy with Anderson Valley Rose/’ of Pinot Noir. (Available at Rainbow.)

Redwood Hill Farm California Crottin: pungent French-style goat cheese with California earthiness that amps up Dry Creek Syrahs. Made on America’s first certified Grade A Humane goat farm in Sebastopol by the eco-smart Bice family. (Available at Safeway & Rainbow.)

Pug’s Leap Buche: Soft goat cheese aromatic with lemongrass, made by Pascal Destandau and Eric Smith in a solar-powered Dry Creek dairy; devour sun-warmed with chilled Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. (Available at Rainbow.)

This is going to be great! So sign up before the spaces are gone.

A presto,
Marco Flavio

Mushroom mission:Identifying edibles

Hello everybody - my friend Tony, the environmental educator and forager who brought us the chanterelles at our last Cook Here and Now dinner, will take people on an edible mushroom foraging excursion and field study this Saturday in Berkeley. I thought I'd pass the word along, since so many of you expressed interest.

What: A 2+hr. field trip to find and study edible mushrooms.
Time: Saturday February 13th. Rain or shine. 10am.
Where do we meet: dirt parking lot below the UC Berkeley Arboretum
Bring: Any mushroom guides you already have. Don't buy one if you don't already have one; we will be talking about which are the most reliable guides.
Cost: $15.00

To reserve, contact Tony directly at: 831-345-7969 Slots are available on first come, first served basis.

Two ways to get there:
One:
80 >24E (Walnut Creek) >Exit 7A toward Fish Ranch Rd. >R onto Old Tunnel Rd. > Stay straight onto Fish Ranch Rd. > R onto Grizzly Peak Bl. > L onto Centennial Dr.> once on Centennial go downhill past Lawrence Hall of Science & ¼ mi. past Arboretrum look for dirt parking lot on L side of Centennial. Park here.
Two:
80> 580/80N > University Ave towards UC >Follow signs to stadium > At stadium look for Centennial Dr.(Arboretum & LHS are on the same road) turn L > Drive past swimming pool & tennis courts looking for a dirt parking lot on your R. If you get to the traffic light where the UC Arboretum is you have gone too far.

Ciao!

Marco Flavio