As much as we live to tell the tale of how the city eats, there is an oft unsung story of those who can’t get enough to eat. This week two programs highlight issues around food scarcity in New York City—the first is a supper club with Manhattan Young Democrats and the Inequality Bites Supper Club, the second is a discussion on food justice with Joel Berg, Karen Washington, and Daniel Bowman Simon. Find out the facts about hunger in NYC and then take action post-dinner to literally turn the table on inequality as it presents itself through food.In saucier news, we hear Absolut Vodka will be unveiling its signature Brooklyn bottle this week in anticipation of Taste of Williamsburg which will serve up small plates from some of the neighborhood’s newest restaurants—Fatty ‘Cue, Traif, and Pies ‘n Thighs among them. Slideluck Potshow returns to Brooklyn, too, in an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records for largest potluck ever!

Over in the East Village people will don vegetable costumes to march in support of saving the city’s community gardens, Anne Saxelby will take off from Essex Street Market to  lead a trip to the East End in pursuit of local cheese. The Eat Well Guide offers a bike tour of the farmers markets from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and high above it all on Sunday, the Rooftop Farm on Eagle Street will be holding a plant sale and container gardening workshop.

Check out Local Gourmands or our calendar page for a full list of upcoming local food events, locations, and times. We look forward to seeing you soon!

An Example of What You Could Eat at Your Local Taqueria in Honor of Cinco De Mayo. (But only after you hit Uncorked at BAM and the party at Palo Santo.)

We’ll be whooping it up at BAM tomorrow night at our annual Brooklyn Uncorked event celebrating both the terrior of the East End as well as our own newly minted James Beard award-winning deputy editor, Rachel Wharton.

And it just so happens to be Cinco de Mayo too, so you can double book your dance card and hop over to Palo Santo in Park Slope post-Uncorked to continue the fete with sangria and mole (make sure to call ahead to let ‘em know you’re coming).

Connect with the thriving community of good food advocates at the Brooklyn Food Coalition’s one year anniversary party and admire how much the borough has accomplished since their ground-breaking Food Conference last May. To that end, did you know Evolutionary Organics is now offering a compost service at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket? Give your banana peels and coffee grounds a higher place in their afterlife, and send ‘em back to the farm in New Paltz.

On the other side of the border, the Queens Country Farm Museum kicks off a season of dinners on the farm in partnership with Tamara Reynolds, author of Forking Fantastic! And back in the East Village a week-long homage to pig at Jimmy’s No. 43 begins on Sunday evening.

Check out Local Gourmands or our calendar page for a full list of upcoming local food events, locations, and times. We look forward to seeing you soon!

From the history of the hot dog with frankfurters from the Meat Hook, to the final sweet treat from Saltie and the story of the sugar industry in Brooklyn–like the now shuttered Domino refinery on Kent Ave. in Williamsburg, shown left–this meal is staged to celebrate the flavors of Brooklyn that we can’t get enough of.

And speaking of stories, the Foodie Book Club at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs revisits Little House in the Big Woods, taking a look back at what life was like for Ma, Pa, Mary, and Laura out on the range in the early days. Meanwhile, Shannon Hayes, author of the new work, Radical Homemakers, brings the conversation full circle as she “explores the experiences of [the] rural, urban and suburban folks who are endeavoring to change the world by reclaiming their domestic skills” today.

In other news, the Culinary Historians of New York take food out of context with a talk by British culinary historian Gillian Riley, who examines gastronomy in the still life paintings of Luis Meléndez. ioby.org hosts a fundraiser fueled by Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson whiskey in support of their efforts to connect community members with neighborhood environmental projects, and the folks at Living Liberally toast liberal eater Dr. Marion Nestle at their annual celebration. Next week we’ll be hosting our annual Brooklyn Uncorked bash in the great halls of BAM, where local chefs will pair plates with world-class wines from Long Island terrior. We can’t wait to say chin-chin to you!

For a full list of events with dates, times, and locations see our calendar page or Local Gourmands.

Don’t be a Sap, and Miss the 2010 Cherry Blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden: They’re Blooming Now, Just Like This City Tree.

This week’s round up of food-centric events include an Oxford-style debate over whether or not the term “Organic” is merely for marketing hype, a free screening of FRESH at Stone Barns, and some good urban homesteading classes at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs. Who would dream of nesting these days without knowing how to butcher a pig or brew one’s own beer, right?

On Wednesday the Horticultural Society of New York leads a tour of the gardens atop the High Line, and of course, the cherry trees are blooming in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. If you’re interested in growing your own plot, GreenThumb and Just Food are sponsoring an event on upkeep of raised beds. Their hands-on workshop should leave you ready to dig into your own soil.

Looking toward the end of the month, a benefit for Just Food will honor Joan Gussow, and proceeds from a dinner at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs will go toward operational expenses to keep the fabulous collection at The City Reliquary open to the public.

A complete list of food events for the week ahead can be found at Local Gourmands, along with dates, times, and locations. We hope to see you out and about!

Will Allen of Growing Power will speak on Thursday night at the Greene Space

Tuesday is for tippling, and we hope you’ll be joining us for cocktails and some of the borough’s best bar snacks tonight at the Bell House where Brooklyn will be in Good Spirits. The Vanderbilt, No. 7, Walter Foods, The Farm on Adderley and Palo Santo will pair plates with cocktails concocted of storied spirits. Sip Empire State favorites like Tuthilltown Spirits and Warwick Valley Winery and Distillery, as well as small batch selections from Vertical Vodka, Chartreuse and Illegal Mexcal. But that’s just one of many food events slated for the week (though it’s our favorite, naturally).

If you can’t make it to Gowanus, catch up with Moby in DUMBO at Powerhouse Arena, where he’ll be launching his new book, Gristle.  Also on the docket for this evening, the NYC Beekeeper’s Association holds their monthly meeting at Seafarers & International where the recent lift on the beekeeping ban will be the hot topic of conversation, fueled, of course, by generous samples from the good folks at Manhattan Meadery.

If Food, Inc. left you devastated about the state of our country’s food system, the new food film Fresh is an optimistic response. Filmmaker Ana Joanes looks at the positive steps farmers and advocates around the country are taking to tackle the issues at hand. The flick hits theatres in New York this month, and this week there are a number of great promotional events leading up to its launch, including a blue plate special on offer at Jimmy’s No. 43 and a Sixpoint and Mast Brothers Chocolate tasting in the bros’ factory in Williamsburg. Click here for a full list of FRESH functions. All tickets to these events come with a comp movie ticket to see the film at Quad Cinema.

On the lecture and panel circuit, Leonard Lopate hosts Will Allen, renowned urban gardener, on stage with his local cohorts at the Greene Space to talk about an Attack on the Front Lawn. Southern food writer and editor of Oxford American’s 2010 Southern Food Issue John T. Edge will be tearing it up at the Beard House, and the Horticultural Society of New York presents Dave DeWitt, co-author of The Complete Chile Pepper Book. He’ll will out samples of some of his champion peppers and tell you how to grow your own.

The weekend brings on the Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Community Forum, a cook-off to benefit Hot Bread Kitchen, and the premiere of a live local food gameshow, Farmers Market Sweep.

A complete list of food events for the week ahead can be found at Local Gourmands, along with dates, times, and locations. We hope to see you out and about!

Dear Local Gourmands,

This week’s news is dipped in chocolate– there’s a tasting, talk, or tour nearly every day leading up to February 14. Though cacao beans aren’t grown locally, we have a pretty incredible roster of small-scale, local, artisanal chocolatiers in the city who are sourcing their product responsibly to make sure even the most conscious of eaters can still nip into a bag of nibs knowing their act of indulgence is part of a much larger circle of trade, and fair trade at that.  Not to mention the superior quality of flavor!  Learn a little, then try a little, noting how much better that truffle tastes when you know where it came from and a bit about the hand who crafted it.

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Jeanne

Monday, February 8, 6-7pm

free “The Rainforest Alliance presents: Sustainable pleasures for the Palate, An Open Discussion On Responsibly Produced Goods. The Rainforest Alliance connects businesses to consumers worldwide in an effort to bring responsibly produced goods and services to the global marketplace where the demand for sustainability is steadily growing. By transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior The Rainforest Alliance seeks to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods. The Rainforest Alliance also works with tourism businesses, helping them succeed while leaving a small footprint on the environment and providing a boost to local economies.”

Monday, February 8, 6:30-8:30

International Wine Center

Linda Lawry, Director of the International Wine Center, is an official sherry educator, certified by the Consejo Regulador in Jerez, the region of Andalucia, Spain, where sherry has been made exclusively over the last 2000 years.  Sherry’s styles and flavors are more varied than those of any other wine in the world.  Lawry discusses the history of this fabled wine, sheds light on where the grapes are grown, and leads a tasting of a wide array of different sherries, including a very rare vintage, 1978 Gonzalez Byass Palo Cortado.

Monday, February 8, 7-9pm

“Have you ever wondered why cheese and chocolate seem to put you in the mood? Well, they both contain phenylethylamine (PEA), a compound releasing endorphins into the brain and producing a mild feeling of euphoria, similar to the sensation of being in love. Rhonda Kave from Roni-Sue’s Chocolates and Anne Saxelby from Saxelby Cheesemongers will share with you some of these good feelings as you will taste their best sweet and savory selections of the moment!”

Tuesday, February 9, 6-7:30pm

New York Historical Society 170 Central Park West, at 77th St.

212.757.0915 x100

Culinary historian Maricel E. Presilla, author of The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Cacao with Recipes, covers the trends in chocolate and cacao research in an illustrated lecture and tasting at The Horticultural Society of New York.  Sample some of the country’s best new artisanal chocolates as well as the author’s collection of Latin American-inspired chocolate truffles.  Savory foods laced with chocolate, cacao and hot chocolate will be served as well.

Tuesday, February 9, 6-7pm

Eating Local and Seasonal with Slow Food NYC

Chocolate & I, New York

“Slow Food NYC is dedicated to the enjoyment of local and seasonal food and to celebrating real food as a cornerstone of pleasure, culture, and community. The Slow Food movement supports good stewardship of our productive land and water resources and biodiversity, engages in educational outreach, works with children in schools and with community-based food producers, and advocates for the availability of good, clean food in our community, particularly to our children.”

Tuesday, February 9, 7pm

Bushwick Food Coop Movie Night

Tandem

During the month of February the Bushwick Food Coop is presenting a film series at Tandem bar on Troutman St., plying viewers with food films and talk backs with the filmmakers, as well as cocktails to ease the edge of February.  This week’s selection is Two Angry Moms.   “It all started with my daughters’ lunch. My husband and I were packing healthy lunches for our kids, only to find that we were being undermined by the school’s offerings of junk food with no nutritional value. It made me angry. So I decided to do something about it. I made a movie. ”

Tuesday, February 9, 7-9pm

The Art of Artisanal Chocolate Making with Bespoke Chocolates

Chocolate & I, New York

$45

“Join Rachel Zoe Insler, chocolatier and co-owner of Bespoke Chocolates, on her personal journey to making artisanal chocolate. Deeply inspired by her visits to European artisanal chocolate shops, Rachel decided to bring that experience to New York by opening Bespoke Chocolates. Each of Bespoke chocolates is made by hand, in small batches, but Bespoke’s unique perspective goes deeper than that. Rachel recognizes that much like good wine or coffee, fine chocolate is complex, and highly affected by its terroir and processing. To fully understand the Bespoke experience, we recommend to observe and smell before slowly closing your eyes while delicately putting each one of Rachel’s chocolates in your mouth. Let the chocolate melt on your tongue, enjoy the freshness of the truffles, and let the magic happen while sipping delicious local beer!”

Wednesday, February 10, 4:30-8:30pm

The City College of New York

Register here, (the event is free)

This discussion will explore why the economic viability and well-being of every community depends on education for sustainability and the transformation to a green economy. Will examine the critical issues of education and workforce training needed to leverage the emerging green economy—including issues of inclusion that minority populations and communities face in tapping the potential of a sustainable future.

Wednesday, February 10, 6-7pm

Fair Trade Practices in Cacao Production with Annie Novak

Chocolate & I, New York

“Annie Novak is founder and director of Growing Chefs, field-to-fork food education program; the children’s gardening program coordinator for the New York Botanical Gardens, and co-founder and farmer of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn in partnership with Goode Green and Broadway Stages. Annie has worked with the Greenmarket, Slow Food, and Just Food advocating and growing urban agriculture throughout NYC. A lifelong vegetarian, Annie has spent many years traveling and investigating different ways people grow and eat their food around the world, from chocolate in West Africa to potatoes in Peru. She has appeared (talking about plants and food, of course) in New York Magazine, the Today Show, Edible Brooklyn and the Martha Stewart Show. She has farmed in nine countries and four boroughs.”

Wednesday, February 10, 6-10pm

Suggested donation, $15

Warm up with your friends from the Lower East Side Ecology Center and talk big plans for the year ahead. These are the folks who teach the merits of composting to the urban masses, take your kitchen scraps, and sell terrific potting soil.  Come to Fontana’s to connect with them and hear about their projects for 2010.

Wednesday, February 10, 6:30-9:30

359 Metropolitan, Williamsburg

The Tastebuds NYC February meet up lures the crew to Spuyten Duyvil for good beer in Brooklyn.  If you’ve never been, this is a terrific, and ever-changing group of food industry professionals, home cooks, and enthusiastic eaters alike who get together once a month to talk shop about projects, swap info for job connections, share titles of books, and always do so over good food and drink.  Conveniently, Fette Sau is located across the street from Spuyten Duyvil.  Make some new friends, then do some serious bonding over serious BBQ.

Thursday, February 11, 6-7pm

The Importance of Pollination with Andrew Coté

Chocolate & I, New York

“Bees Without Borders is the brainchild of Andrew Coté, former high school dropout and vagabond turned Fulbright Scholar and professor. He was born into a beekeeping family in Connecticut and is (at least) the 4th generation to carry on this ancient skill. Through the U.S. State Department’s USAID, Andrew volunteered to go to Iraq to assist Iraqi beekeepers, and to Niger and India to bring beekeeping skills to village cooperatives.”

Thursday, February 11, 7-9pm

Local Eats, Global Buzz

Chocolate & I, New York

“Let Chef Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez delight your tastebuds with a chocolate tasting menu including olive oil, local cheese, and honey, and orchestrated in duo with beekeeper Andrew Coté, who will excite your imagination with bee stories from all around the world.”

Friday, February 12, 6-7pm

New Farmer Development Project with CENYC

Chocolate & I, New York

511 W. 25th, btwn 10th and 11th Aves

“The New Farmer Development Project (NFDP) identifies, educates, and supports immigrants with agricultural experience to become local producers and establish small farms in their region. By training the next generation of regional farmers, the NFDP is helping preserve local farmland and rural farm communities, strengthen farmers, markets, and regional food security, while expanding public access to high-quality, locally-grown farm products.”

Saturday, February 13, 12-5pm

Greenpoint Food Market: A Food Affair

Church of the Messiah

129 Russell btwn. Nassau and Driggs, Greenpoint

Give your sweetheart some Brooklyn love with gifts from the Greenpoint Food Market’s Valentine’s Day edition.  The market’s return this Saturday brings some of Brooklyn’s best artisanal purveyors together: jams from Anarchy in a Jar, Brooklyn Brine pickles, DP Chutney Collective, and many others represent plenty of local ways to spread the love around.

Sunday, February 14, 11am

484 Broome St. at West Broadway

Spend Valentine’s Day sampling New York’s finest bonbons on this walking chocolate tour of the city.

________________________________

Of note a few weeks down the road…

Tuesday, February 16, 6:30-8pm

Rooftop farmer and founder of Growing Chefs, Annie Novak, leads a series of classes at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs on how to start your own edible urban garden.  Over the course of four class sessions she’ll guide students through the necessary winter-time tasks, seed ordering, and plot preparation to make way for a successful growing season ahead.  Sign up now as this course is sure to sell out fast!

Tuesday, February 16, 6:30-8pm

250 Greenwich Street, 40th floor

“This evening, Marion Nestle will address the science of nutrition, explaining how hard nutrition science is to do and to interpret, and yet how easy it is for food marketers to confuse the science to sell products. Nestle will discuss the hot topics of sponsored science, functional foods, health claims, and self-endorsements, with plenty of time to answer audience questions.”

Thursday, February 18, 6:30pm

Reservations required, purchase tickets here

The Museum of the City of New York, in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance and Mississippi Development Authority/Division of Tourism, will host a discussion focusing on how The Great Migration transformed the culinary culture of the North. Leading the discussion are Jessica Harris, author of a forthcoming history of African-American foodways, and one of the 50 founders of the Southern Foodways Alliance. In 2007, she took leave from Queens College (where she is a full professor) to assume the Ray Charles Chair at Dillard University in New Orleans. And Ted Lee, one of the James Beard award-winning Charleston Lee brothers. Ted, along with his brother, Matt Lee, is at work on a book of essays about New York City food culture. The work will certainly examine the influence that South Carolina natives have had on New York, but at its core, the book will be a celebration of the multicultural delights of our nation’s culinary capitol. John T Edge will moderate the discussion.

Monday, February 22

Get Fresh Dinner to Support BK Farmyards

Get Fresh Market

370 Fifth Ave., Park Slope Tickets, $95-$125

Sup to support the creation of BK Farmyards’ 1-acre schoolyard farm at Brooklyn’s High School for Public Service.  Feast on a three-course, locally-sourced dinner at Park Slope’s cozy Get Fresh Market.

Tuesday, February 23, 7pm

Kerry Trueman, blogger extraordinaire of Eating Liberally and the Huffington Post, hosts this month’s Hungry Filmmakers screening at Anthology Film Archives.  The roundup of six new films and shorts focus on furthering a conversation about sustainable food in a social and welcoming environment.  A panel discussion with the filmmakers follows.   “Throughout the films in this lineup, our filmmakers explore the dire effects of over fishing and the underlying causes of food-borne illnesses, the lack of fresh food in underserved communities, and the growth of sustainable food production practices that are inspirational to all.”    Films: FRESH Ana Sofia Joanes, MAD COW INVESTIGATOR Nancye Good WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE? Catherine Gund, THE END OF THE LINE Rupert Murray, FLY ON THE WALL Jenny Montasir.

Sunday, February 28, 8:30am-6pm

Teacher’s College, Columbia University

The great thing about the off season (as it were) is that it gives us all a little down time (or at least time indoors) to plot and plan for the year ahead.  Take part in Just Food’s annual CSA in NYC Conference on February 28 to converse with farmers, food activists, and advocates from around the city and state to talk about how to start a CSA, how to strengthen the one you are a part of, issues facing regional farmers, and how we can all maximize our roles in the movement to increase access to locally grown food throughout the city.

Dear Local Gourmands,

On Friday night I was biking home through the streets of Clinton Hill, promising my completely numb toes that we only had a few more blocks to go, if they could just hold on a little longer.  Finally I locked up my bike, limped up the stairs, threw off my boots, and cradled my frozen stubs.  We wouldn’t be going back outside.  Instead, I hatched a plan to lure my friends over.  Frantic text messages reading “cornbread and cocktails!” did the trick, and pretty soon, my toes had defrosted and the living room was abuzz with conversation.

In my excitement I cooked up everything that was in the fridge.  I made a salad of apples with mustard vinaigrette, cooked freekah with currants, and quickly roasted the butternut squash that had just been waiting for a good party.  The leftover romanesco?  It was puréed into a creamy soup, of course, and topped with fatty bits of bacon.  Bottom line: Soup makes the party come to you.  Rather than ordering takeout, order your friends over. Speaking of, this week Chicago’s legendary blog and dinner series, Soup ‘n Bread comes to Brooklyn’s Bell House on Thursday night where no less than ten local chefs serve up some serious food to warm your soul.  (See the calendar below for deets.)

Tuesday, February 2, 6-11pm Vermont Beer & Cheese Night

Jimmy’s No. 43 43 E. 7th St.

Jimmy taps into some of Vermont’s finest brews– Otter Creek and Wolavers– and pairs them up with a special selection of cheese from the same state.  Anne Saxelby, one of the city’s finest cheesemongers, will share her knowledge about Jasper Hill and Blue Ledge farmstead cheeses.  An Otter Creek brewer will also be on hand to talk up his suds.

Tuesday, February 2, 7pm and 9:30pm

Reservations, 718.965.1196 or info@beertable.com Celebrate two years of Tuesday night dinners paired with excellent craft beers at Park Slope’s Beer Table.  Husband and wife team Justin and Tricia Phillips pull out some chestnuts from dinners past for this special anniversary edition.  Dinner is $35 a head, with beer pairing ($25). Check out the evening’s menu below:

• Pickled eggs with jalapeño powder and sea salt (paired with Leipziger Gose)
• Beet and sardine salad (paired with Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus)
• Spicy meatloaf with olive oil mashed potatoes (paired with De Dolle Dulle Teve)
• Chocolate malt cake (paired with Goose Island Bourbon County Stout)

Wednesday, February 3, 4-6pm

Why (and exactly how) New York Simply Loves Italian

NYU Fales Library 70 Washington Square South

Tickets, $10 (RSVP to 212.992.9081 or rsvp.bobst@nyu.edu)

Chris Cannon, Manhattan restaurateur, William Grimes, author and former restaurant critic forThe New York Times, Elena Kostioukovitch, author of Why Italians Love to Talk About Food, and Fabio Parasecoli along with moderator Clark Wolf, food and restaurant consultant, talk over New York’s obsession and long-time love of Italian food.

Wednesday, February 3, 10am-12pm

RSVP, Nadia@justfood.org

As you have probably heard by now, beekeeping is still deemed illegal in our fare city.  Along with a committed corps of urban beekeepers and local honey lovers (including some politicians), Just Food has been rallying to turn the tides and make this important practice legal. On Wednesday, February 3, the Department and Board of Health and Mental Hygiene is convening a Public Hearing on the amendment to Health Code 161, in which article 161.01 currently bans beekeeping. Make your opinion heard. Give testimony in support of honeybees and beekeepers in the five boroughs. Oral testimony can be given at the Public Hearing on February 3rd, 10am-12pm at 125 Worth Street, NYC, Room 330. For questions or to RSVP, contact Nadia@justfood.org. For background information on Just Food’s New York City beekeeping campaign, go to http://www.justfood.org/food-justice/campaigns.

Thursday, February 4, 6-9pm Soup ‘n Bread The Bell House

149 7th St., btwn 2nd and 3rd Aves. The legendary Chicago-based Soup and Bread dinner party visits Brooklyn this week, and they’ve wrangled ten local chefs/bloggers/home cooks into serving up some serious soul food.  I’m not talking ribs, I’m talking soup–chowder, bisque, stew–sustaining winter life juice.  All donations benefit New York City Coalition Agains Hunger.  Cozy up, eat dinner, make a donation, and be inspired for the ground hog may or may not see his shadow, but I guarantee you soup season will prevail for the next few months.

Friday, February 5, 6-8pm

Vermicomposting Workshop

Lower East Side Ecology Center

66 West 12th St

Tickets, $5 (at the door)

“Join the NYC Compost Project in Manhattan for this pre-Valentine’s Day ‘wormshop’ to learn how red wiggler worms can turn garbage into a special fertilizer for plants, trees, and roses! Worm bin set-up, maintenance, and troubleshooting will be covered, as well as demonstrations of romantic gifts that can be made from your compost. “Worm condo” and worms can be purchased for the discounted price of $44. Registration is required. Workshop fee $5 per person, cash only.”

Friday, February 5, 8pm

The United Community Centers

613 New Lots Ave. at the corner of Schenck Ave.

RSVP here

Grub parties bring communities, groups, and organizations together to share a good meal and conversation centered on the theme of local food.  Join East New York Farms and friends (including Jin’s Journey, Food Security Roundtable, Malcom X Grassroots Movement, Brooklyn Food Coalition, and United Community Centers) for a potluck Grub dinner on February 5.  Bring a dish to share (along with the recipe), as well as a plate, a cup, and your own utensils. Come get your grub on with chefs, cooks, gardeners, food activists, food bloggers and fellow foodies of Brooklyn, and learn what good food initiatives and activities are afoot in our community.

Sunday, February 7, noon-3pm

Basic Urban Bee Keeping Courses

University Settlement at the Houston Street Center 273 Bowery Registration for four-week course, $100

Let the New York City Beekeeper’s Association help you make good on the sweetest New Year’s resolution possible: let 2010 be the year you become an urban beekeeper.  Yes, you! The NYCBA is offering two courses in 2010 for the absolute beginner and novice beekeeper. Each course is 12 hours long, spread out over four Sundays.

The cost of the course is $100.00 for the entire twelve-hour course, all of which goes towards room rental and the NYCBA. NYCBA’s volunteer instructors are professional beekeepers with a collective half century of experience.  February classes commence on 2/7, 2/14, 2/21, and 2/28.  The second series, in March, will be held on 3/7, 3/14, 3/21, and 3/28.

________________________________

Of note a few weeks down the road…

Monday, February 8, 6:30-8:30

International Wine Center

Linda Lawry, Director of the International Wine Center, is an official sherry educator, certified by the Consejo Regulador in Jerez, the region of Andalucia, Spain, where sherry has been made exclusively over the last 2000 years.  Sherry’s styles and flavors are more varied than those of any other wine in the world.  Lawry discusses the history of this fabled wine, sheds light on where the grapes are grown, and leads a tasting of a wide array of different sherries, including a very rare vintage, 1978 Gonzalez Byass Palo Cortado.

Tuesday, February 9, 6-7:30pm

New York Historical Society 170 Central Park West, at 77th St.

212.757.0915 x100

Culinary historian Maricel E. Presilla, author of The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Cacao with Recipes, covers the trends in chocolate and cacao research in an illustrated lecture and tasting at The Horticultural Society of New York.  Sample some of the country’s best new artisanal chocolates as well as the author’s collection of Latin American-inspired chocolate truffles.  Savory foods laced with chocolate, cacao and hot chocolate will be served as well.

Wednesday, February 10, 4:30-8:30pm

The City College of New York

Register here, (the event is free)

This discussion will explore why the economic viability and well-being of every community depends on education for sustainability and the transformation to a green economy. Will examine the critical issues of education and workforce training needed to leverage the emerging green economy—including issues of inclusion that minority populations and communities face in tapping the potential of a sustainable future.

Tuesday, February 16, 6:30-8pm

Rooftop farmer and founder of Growing Chefs, Annie Novak, leads a series of classes at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs on how to start your own edible urban garden.  Over the course of four class sessions she’ll guide students through the necessary winter-time tasks, seed ordering, and plot preparation to make way for a successful growing season ahead.  Sign up now as this course is sure to sell out fast!

Thursday, February 18, 6:30pm

Reservations required, purchase tickets here

The Museum of the City of New York, in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance and Mississippi Development Authority/Division of Tourism, will host a discussion focusing on how The Great Migration transformed the culinary culture of the North. Leading the discussion are Jessica Harris, author of a forthcoming history of African-American foodways, and one of the 50 founders of the Southern Foodways Alliance. In 2007, she took leave from Queens College (where she is a full professor) to assume the Ray Charles Chair at Dillard University in New Orleans. And Ted Lee, one of the James Beard award-winning Charleston Lee brothers. Ted, along with his brother, Matt Lee, is at work on a book of essays about New York City food culture. The work will certainly examine the influence that South Carolina natives have had on New York, but at its core, the book will be a celebration of the multicultural delights of our nation’s culinary capitol. John T Edge will moderate the discussion.

Sunday, February 28, 8:30am-6pm

Teacher’s College, Columbia University

The great thing about the off season (as it were) is that it gives us all a little down time (or at least time indoors) to plot and plan for the year ahead.  Take part in Just Food’s annual CSA in NYC Conference on February 28 to converse with farmers, food activists, and advocates from around the city and state to talk about how to start a CSA, how to strengthen the one you are a part of, issues facing regional farmers, and how we can all maximize our roles in the movement to increase access to locally grown food throughout the city.

Dear Local Gourmands,

The line stretched to the back of the bar at K&M on Saturday for the BK Farmyards Pie Cook-off cum fundraiser.  Bakers from around the borough toted homemade masterpieces draped gingerly with dish clothes, protected by vintage cake carriers, nestled into nifty wire travel racks. I’d woken up thinking about pie and hadn’t stopped for ten hours straight– the end result was an improvised creation I called the Happy Hour Pie– apples drunk with a honey/whisky/butter glaze over a layer of goat cheese. Pie, as it turns out, makes a terrific bar snack.

My roommate made a killer pear and cardamom pie, my friend Noah carefully crafted a pie of chocolate and sweet potato swirled together. The watering hole that was once a pierogi plant was packed to the hilt, bloggers video taped themselves as they got on line to submit their entries, documentary makers filmed the event organizers as they counted  wads of cash from the supporters/eaters that streamed through the door.

The crowd tried to play it off like this was just for fun, but an intense undercurrent of competition was palpable. Ten hours, two Greenmarkets, a call to my mother, and an afternoon cocktail to calm me down had gone into my pie alone.  Sixty-two similar stories showed up–all bakers who have made their way (along with their recipes) to Brooklyn from hometowns around the country.  Variations on Southern cream pies, Midwestern summer berry pies, blue ribbon county fair pies were lined up for thoughtful inspection.

As we waited for the judges to do their jobs, stories of grandmothers and Thanksgivings past filled the room.  The music blared, the beer flowed freely, and eventually the crowd dove in.  I’m sorry if you missed it–the results were tremendous. Best of all, BK Farmyards, the folks who brought us together, raised some serious dough, and I’m not talking about crust. The organization that aims to bring communities together by creating  farms out of urban spaces push an educational agenda that includes eating seasonally, growing food locally, storing and preparing food, species biodiversity, and food democracy: “We aim to build a local food network that enhances the health of our culture, our people, and our environment.” You can still donate funds to help out with the creation of their 1-acre farm at the High School for Public Service that’ll be coming up this spring.

All best,

Jeanne

Tickets, $40

Edible Manhattan and Brooklyn hosts their first annual cocktail party at Almond restaurant on 22nd St. Six local restaurants will pair food with six cocktails, including one made with the amazing local Tuthilltown hooch, another created with Rhum J.M. from Martinique, a beery quaff made with Heartland Brewery’s new keg series, a grapey mixer with Wolffer Estate Vineyards verjus, a concoction mixed with Dallis Coffee elixir, and more. Space is limited, so purchase tix now.  Enter the code “cocktail” and the hosts will include a one-year subscription to Edible Manhattan for free.

Tuesday, January 26, 6-9

155 Varick St.

The local chapter of Slow Food celebrates it’s first monthly cocktail meeting of the year at City Winery.  Get together with like-minded local foodies who appreciate the “Slow” movement to talk about ideas and projects for the year ahead. For this evening of revelry City Winery will be extending their “Crush Hour” special: $15 for a carafe and $5 for a glass or tasting flight of any house-made tap wine.

Tuesday, February 16, 6:30-8pm

Rooftop farmer and founder of Growing Chefs, Annie Novak, leads a series of classes at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs on how to start your own edible urban garden.  Over the course of four class sessions she’ll guide students through the necessary winter-time tasks, seed ordering, and plot preparation to make way for a successful growing season ahead.  Sign up now as this course is sure to sell out fast!

Thursday, February 18, 6:30pm

Reservations required, purchase tickets here

The Museum of the City of New York, in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance and Mississippi Development Authority/Division of Tourism, will host a discussion focusing on how The Great Migration transformed the culinary culture of the North. Leading the discussion are Jessica Harris, author of a forthcoming history of African-American foodways, and one of the 50 founders of the Southern Foodways Alliance. In 2007, she took leave from Queens College (where she is a full professor) to assume the Ray Charles Chair at Dillard University in New Orleans. And Ted Lee, one of the James Beard award-winning Charleston Lee brothers. Ted, along with his brother, Matt Lee, is at work on a book of essays about New York City food culture. The work will certainly examine the influence that South Carolina natives have had on New York, but at its core, the book will be a celebration of the multicultural delights of our nation’s culinary capitol. John T Edge will moderate the discussion.

Sunday, February 28, 8:30am-6pm

Teacher’s College, Columbia University

The great thing about the off season (as it were) is that it gives us all a little down time (or at least time indoors) to plot and plan for the year ahead.  Take part in Just Food’s annual CSA in NYC Conference on February 28 to converse with farmers, food activists, and advocates from around the city and state to talk about how to start a CSA, how to strengthen the one you are a part of, issues facing regional farmers, and how we can all maximize our roles in the movement to increase access to locally grown food throughout the city.

Tuesday, February 16, 6:30-8pm

Rooftop farmer and founder of Growing Chefs, Annie Novak, leads a series of classes at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs on how to start your own edible urban garden.  Over the course of four class sessions she’ll guide students through the necessary winter-time tasks, seed ordering, and plot preparation to make way for a successful growing season ahead.  Sign up now as this course is sure to sell out fast!