Category Archives: Enticing Events

Fresh, Local Produce Delivered to Your Door & A Food Gal Giveaway

Posted on by 11 comments

A peek at what a Full Circle produce delivery box contains. (Photo courtesy of Full Circle)

There’s a new organic produce delivery company in town.

And its name is Full Circle.

You may remember reading a couple months ago about how I got to try out the service for a test run. It was definitely convenient to find a box on my doorstep each week, brimming with seasonal veggies and fruits.

The company, which started in Carnation, WA, launched its service in the Bay Area earlier this summer. It delivers as far north as San Rafael, east to Concord and south to San Jose.

You choose the size of box to be delivered each week, depending upon the size of your household. I chose the smallest option, the “Seed Box” ($20.95), which is perfect for one or two people and comes complete with enough produce for about 15 servings total.

What’s particularly helpful is that you can customize your box. If there’s someone in your family who hates beets or broccoli, you can opt never to have that included in your delivery.

You also can check your online account a few days before each delivery to see what your next box will likely contain, making it easier to plan your meals or shop for additional accompaniments at your local grocery store.

What’s more, you can add gourmet grocery items to your box at an additional cost. Full Circle collaborates with a host of artisan producers, many of them organic, to sell everything from bread to artisan jams to fresh, pasture-raised chicken. I ordered the wild shrimp once and they were nearly lobster-like in their succulence.

Moreover, you can put your deliver on hold or cancel your subscription at any time.

Want to give it a whirl? Keep reading…

Contest: Five Food Gal readers will get a chance to win two weeks’ worth of Full Circle produce deliveries for free. Essentially, you’ll win an $84 credit to use after creating an account. The credit is enough for two free boxes of the largest-size delivery, the “Harvest,” which will feed 3-6 people. Or if you have a smaller household, you can stretch the credit out for a longer period of time by choosing a smaller-size box of produce. After your credited amount runs out, you can either choose to continue the service by paying for it on your own or you can choose to cancel your subscription.

Entries are limited to those who live within Full Circle’s delivery areas in California, Washington state, Idaho and Alaska. Click here for more details.

Entries will be accepted through midnight PST Sept. 1. Winner will be announced Sept. 3.

How to win?

Read more

Introducing the Updated Version of Food Gal’s Bay Area Dining App & A Giveaway

Posted on by 18 comments

Introducing my new, improved app.

Drum roll, please.

Just as I am my own person, I’m also my own app now.

If you remember back to February, I proudly launched my “Food Gal’s Ultimate Guide to Bay Area Dining” for iPhones.

Back then, it was under the umbrella of the new venture, the “Know What” network of apps for favorite bars, food, hikes, museums and more. So, you had to buy the “Know What Essentials”  app first, before you could add on more specific modules, such as my own.

Now, with the blessing and help of the team behind Escape Apps, which created the “Know What” network, you can bypass that step and just buy my app alone for $1.99.

My app has been updated to  feature more than 75 restaurants, bakeries and wine bars to check out in the Bay Area — from the tony to the hole-in-the-wall.

Read more

A Fashionable Foodie Time & A Food Gal Giveaway

Posted on by 3 comments

What could be better after a day of shopping at Santana Row than popping into Citrus restaurant for some fresh, warm donuts?

If you’ve strolled around San Jose’s Santana Row, you know it’s a mecca for designer boutiques and happening restaurants.

And what could be better than shopping at your leisure for an afternoon, then resting your weary feet and arms afterward at a swank table set with wine and food?

Fashionable foodies can enjoy both those pastimes at Santana Row’s “Fall Fashion in the Park” on Sept. 8. Two runway shows will take place, at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sept. 8, showcasing autumn and winter looks for men and women from Santana Row retailers.

A wine and hors d’oeuvre reception will precede the fashion show, which also will feature a private shopping boutique and post-show bash.

Meet Whitney Thompson, winner of “America’s Next Top Model,” who will lead a fashionista “walk-off” competition.

General admission tickets are $40 each. VIP tickets, which include reserved front-row seating, complimentary champagne and valet parking, are $60 each.

The event is a benefit for the Junior League of San Jose and the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a pair of general admission tickets to the 3 p.m. fashion show at Santana Row. Entries, limited to those who can make it to Santana Row that afternoon of Sept. 8, will be accepted through midnight PST Aug. 25. Winner will be announced Aug. 27.

How to win?

Read more

Wine 101 at the International Culinary Center in Campbell

Posted on by 7 comments

My class "assignments'' at the International Culinary Center wine class.

To get in the mood for this post, open a bottle of wine, pour yourself a glass, take a well deserved sip, then see if you can answer the following:

A) What are the three grape varietals typically used in the making of Champagne?

B) What common drug store item can help rid your wine glasses and decanters of red-wine stains?

C) Cool climate growing regions produce white wines with a tinge of what specific color?

D) What unusual aroma is often associated with Australian and New Zealand Pinot Noirs?

Over the course of a week, I learned the answers (find them at the bottom of this post) to these questions and so much more as a student in the “Wine Foundation” class at the International Culinary Center in Campbell.

The class, which I was invited to take gratis as a guest of the school, stretched over seven nights for four hours at a time. I figured by the end of it, I’d either be an expert or totally tipsy.

Fortunately, it was bordering more on the former. Although, I’d taken one or two wine classes before, they were more truncated. Getting the opportunity to take such an intensive and comprehensive class really gave me a grasp on wines like never before. Indeed, over seven days, we learned not only how wine is made, but wine-tasting techniques, what goes into wine service at a restaurant, the basics of food and wine pairing (complete with food prepared by culinary students), and an overview of what varietals are found around the world.

Our classroom.

It says a lot that the ICC is the first school to ever be approved by the renowned Court of Master Sommeliers. How rigorous is the process for becoming one? Consider that only 3 percent who take the final exam to become a master actually pass — and that’s usually after failing on multiple previous attempts.

Our instructor was a certified Master Sommelier, one of only 197 in the world: Jesse Becker, who began his sommelier career at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, most recently put together the wine program at AQ restaurant in San Francisco, and runs his own wine importing business, PWMWINE.com.

Jesse Becker, one of only 197 Master Sommeliers in the world, pulling bottles from the cellar for us to try

There were 10 of us in this particular class, only one of whom was a man. Most had high-tech backgrounds of some sort, too. A few were toying with career changes, but more were there just to educate themselves about a topic that’s long fascinated their palate and mind.

Read more

Gravensteins Are Here & More

Posted on by 10 comments

Get them while you can -- beautiful Gravenstein apples. (Photo courtesy of the FruitGuys

Gravenstein Apple Time

With peaches, plums and strawberries galore at farmers markets, it’s hard to think about apples already.

But don’t dawdle, as it’s prime time for Gravensteins.

The heirloom apple is beloved for its juiciness, as well as its wonderfully balanced sweet-tart flavor. It’s perfect for turning into apple sauce or pies. But it has a very short growing season, and doesn’t keep long unlike other apple varieties that can last quite awhile in cold storage.

Gravensteins once were the main apple crop in Sebastopol. But as vineyards moved in, orchards soon dwindled.

Slow Food has worked hard to make sure Gravensteins don’t ever disappear.

For the past couple of years, the FruitGuys, a produce delivery service, has partnered with Gravenstein farmers to offer these storied apples — but only through Aug. 24. A box of Gravensteins start at $24, while a box of organic ones start at $40, depending upon your zip code, as they are shipped overnight. Each box is accompanied by a few Gravenstein apple recipes, too, to get you started.

Moreover, the FruitGuys are donating 17 percent of all profits from the apple boxes back to the participating Gravenstein farmers to  help ensure these apples never cease to exist.

Grape to Glass in the Russian River Valley

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to take a drive to Sonoma County’s picturesque Russian River Valley, there’s no better one than the 17th Annual Grape to Glass Pre-Harvest Party, Aug. 18 at 4 p.m. at Richard’s Grove & Saralee’s Vineyard in Windsor.

The party kicks off with a tasting reception, showcasing more than 50 wineries, as well as gourmet noshes by local restaurants and caterers.

But save room for the barbecue dinner that follows, which will be prepared by Smokehouse Bistro. Dessert will be apple pie a la mode made with Gravensteins.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »