Homemade Foodie Gifts for the Holidays
Posted on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 | By 2 |
On December 9th at 6pm, three food-loving DIYers will descend on a group of 25 at Omnivore Books in Noe Valley and share their diverse knowledge. Sean Timberlake of Punk Domestics and Hedonia will teach the simply delicious skill of making limoncello, Vanessa Barrington, author of DIY Delicious, will demonstrate home mustard-making. Yours truly will show the steps of making fresh chevre at home.
I'm really looking forward to this event for a couple of reasons. First of all, Omnivore Books is one of my favorite places on earth. If you haven't been there, do your foodie self a favor and go. They specialize in rare and out-of-print cookbooks but carry just about every food book you could ever dream of. It's like that awesome food book section in Powell Books in Portland, but without having to walk through all the other book rows to find it and sporting way more ambiance and knowledge.
The second reason I'm excited is that I feel like the opening act on the same marquis as the Beatles. Sean Timberlake launched Punk Domestics around the same time I launched FARMcurious and it's taken off like wildfire. Part of his success is due to the crowd-sourced nature of his site and part of it is his sheer brilliance and sense of style. I can not wait to see him work his liqueur-infusing magic.
Like Sean, Vanessa Barrington has also been making waves in the home-crafted food world. If you recall, Vanessa's book DIY Delicious came out around the time of the Eat Real Festival last August in Oakland. Vanessa and I worked together on a give-away where the best DIY "spark" story author earned a copy of the book. Vanessa is great fun and her book inspired me to fall in love with breakfast porridge of all things! You know a book is excellent if it can inspire lustful dreams of something as simple-sounding as porridge!
[caption id="attachment_288" align="alignright" width="150" caption="This is the kit I'll be using to make goat cheese at Omnivore books on Dec 9th."][/caption]
Finally, I'm really excited to be able to demonstrate how goat cheese is made. Not only is it incredibly simple, but the payoff is delicious. Home crafted goat cheese makes a really special holiday gift, perfect for surprising the host or hostess at your favorite holiday party. If you bring it ready-to-serve in a cute container she'll be even more thrilled that you didn't make her leave the mulled wine to go hunting for a serving dish. I think it's important to say that I'm not a cheese expert- in fact, I'm an advertising rep; but that's kind of the point. Cheese-making is so simple that nearly any one can whip up a batch or two.
Do yourself a favor and surprise your friends this year with a batch of home-crafted something delicious. If you care to learn some ideas from us be sure to rsvp today at 415-282-4712. We only have 25 spots and we expect the room to fill up quickly.