DC Food Bloggers Bake Sale - Thursday, April 26th

I love a good bake sale.  I'm sure it is because my parents never let me buy anything when I was a kid and so I spent most of my youth envying the kids who had parents that would treat them to a cupcake or a rice krispy treat.  But I also just love the spirit around bake sales.  It is ususally a group of people who want to raise some money for a good cause.

It looks like a great one has been organized to raise funds for  Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale.  Cathy Barrows, from the blog Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Kitchen, and many other great DC food blogging bakers will be selling their treats at the Washington Post Building on 15th and M Street from 2pm to 6pm (1150 15th Street NW.)  Just enter the main lobby of the building and you will be delighted by the selection of goodies. I am sure of this.  All proceeds will benefit the Share Our Strength charity.

I will show up early to ensure that I get one of One Vanilla Bean's macarons and Bon Appetit Foodie's oatmeal raisin cookie.  Bring cash (small change please) and spread the word.

Whole Foods Foggy Bottom Offers a Butchering Class

Image from Google.

When the Whole Foods in Foggy Bottom opened up months ago, I was invited to tour the market before it opened to the public. On the tour of the market, we got to meet the head of the meat department and I asked him if he would consider offering a butchering class. Someone in the group scoffed at the idea and this confused me. Who wouldn't want to know how to properly butcher?

Fast forward to the January 2012 DC Food Blogger Happy Hour at Watershed where I met Kimberly Bryden (some of the most exciting things that have happened to me in the last few years started at a DC Food Blogger Happy Hour. Great ideas come from a bunch of foodies who get together to drink.) She works at Whole Foods and we started a discussion about the new market. I mentioned that I knew a few folks who would be interested in a butchering class. Looks like Kimberly is going to make this happen for us!

The class will be held on March 13th at 6pm. Here is more information:

"Join our expert Butcher Doug as he bones out a whole bone-in pork loin. He will show how to get bone-in/boneless ribs, boneless pork chops, pork tenderloin, tenderloin medallions, baby back ribs, country style ribs, rib and loin end pork roasts, and many more. The class is limited to 15 participants and costs $10. You will get a $10 gift card in return to buy some meat to butcher at home after the class! Sign-up at the customer service booth when you pay for the class."

You can also email Whole Foods to RSVP and then pay the $10 fee on the day of the class. (Subject: Butchering Class on March 13, 2012):

community.foggybottom@wholefoods.com

Please only RSVP if you are sure that you will attend the class. There are only 15 available spots in the class.

So basically this class is free which makes it that much more awesome.

American Lamb Pro Am - March 4th - Hotel Palomar

I am shocked. I am amazed. I am touched. I still cannot believe that I my Lemongrass Lamb Stew was voted in the top four out of thirteen amazing recipes. Being up against some of the best bloggers in the DC area, I mock-trash talked for fun when we started this lamb competition. I was not serious. But I had no idea the force that was around me that would push me all the way to the top. A big thank you to my family, friends, blog readers, Twitter followers (and their families and friends) who asked people to vote for me on Facebook, on Twitter, via email and via text message. Even my co-workers got in on it, rallying their family and friends up to the very last hour of the race.

It wasn't until the clock hit 4pm that my heart calmed down and I could see on the website that I was in the top four. TOP FOUR!

What does this mean? This means that my Lemongrass Lamb Stew will be cooked by the great Chef Adam Sobel of Bourbon Steak at the DC Pro AM. Here are the details:

DATE: Sunday, March 4th, 2012

LOCATION: Hotel Palomar (2121 P Street Northwest, Washington D.C. 20037)

TIME: 3-5pm

WHAT: 4 DC food bloggers (this includes me!!!) team up with 4 DC top chefs to serve up American Lamb dishes and compete for American Lamb Pro-Am supremacy. Local fans will gather to sample the dishes created by the blogger/chef teams, sip delicious wine/beer and vote on their favorite dish.

1. Sylvie Nguyen of Thrifty DC Cook - Lemongrass Lamb Stew working with Chef Adam Sobel of Bourbon Steak

2. Mary Kong of Girl Meets Food - Chinese Roast Lamb with Rice Noodles working with Chef Anthony Lombardo of 1789 Restaurant

3. Russell Warnick of Endless Simmer - Welsh Rarebit Lamb Nachos working with Chef John Critchley of Urbana

4. Lauren DeSantis of Capital Cooking Show - Roasted Leg of Lamb with Caramelized Onions and Fig Sauce working with Chef Nick Stefanelli of Bibiana.

TICKETS: Can be purchased here.

So the competition continues and I am so grateful to be in the running (what is it that people say to sound gracious at awards shows? It is an honor to be nominated?) But lets face it, with Chef Adam Sobel, we are going to kick some ass on March 4th! Booyah!