SacFoodies

Safe Minimum Temperatures: Please don’t get sick on the 4th of July!

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When I think of 4th of July celebrations, I’m immediately brought back to summer BBQs or family camping trips and the smell of marinated, seasoned meat cooking on a grill. Ahhhh, yes… Nothing really beats that smoky, charred flavor that comes from those extra high cooking temperatures.

While a thick hamburger or savory chicken thigh is great when it’s cooked to perfection on the grill, I actually tend to pick through for the most overcooked pieces of meat. Thermometers aren’t always used at by those cooking at outdoor gatherings and food borne illnesses from under-cooked meats are a real thing. Needless to say, I am NOT up for the pain and discomfort that comes from food poisoning. While there are plenty of tricks and hacks online that are meant to help you know if you’ve cooked something to a safe cooking temperature (like pressing the meat with your finger or cutting it open enough to see the color inside), the only way you can be sure that you’ve done it is with a thermometer! I have a few favorite fast-read thermometers from Amazon, but before that… Let me share this handy dandy chart:

If you’re trying to avoid getting the risk of food-borne illness, it’s really important to know that different meats having different cooking temperatures. Keep this bookmarked for your weekend grilling adventures!

Now… those thermometers:

Kizen Digital Meat Themometers – $15.99 on Amazon

I LOVE this thermometer. It reads pretty quickly, has a light up display, and the magnets on the back make it easy to stick on the fridge for easy access whenever I’m cooking. While it does say “waterproof,” I’d still avoiding submerging it under water. My Kizen thermometer recently got a bit of water inside and the display went wonky. Nonetheless, it’s still a good buy!

ThermoPro Digital Instant Read Thermometer – $14.99 on Amazon

I’ve also used this one in the past. It’s a no-frills, small, slim, and easy to use thermometer. There aren’t as many buttons on this one, but it still serves its purpose — producing temperature readouts within 3-5 seconds!

ThermoPop – $35.00 on ThermoPro

These are a bit on the pricier end and they’re not on Amazon, but these thermometers are so cute! I have yet to buy myself one, but I’ve seen them around and I love that it comes in so many different colors. Features include: readouts within 3-4 seconds, splash proof, and a large rotating display with backlight.

When you get your thermometer, here are some additional tips for using it:

  1. Temp the thickest part of the meat and push the thermometer into the middle – you’re looking for the part of the meat that would take the longest to cook.
  2. Make sure you’re not hitting a bone! The bone would produce an inaccurate reading.
  3. Give your thermometer enough time to read — at least five seconds (a little bit of patience, please).

If you’re planning to grill this weekend, try to pick up a thermometer if you can! Not only are they great for making sure you’re cooking UP to a safe temperature, but they can keep you from OVERCOOKING too! Now, go enjoy your weekend! Happy 4th of July!

Brasserie Capitale Celebrates Six Years with a New Name

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Brasserie Capitale, one of Sacramento’s beloved French restaurants, first opened its doors six years ago, today. To commemorate this anniversary, the restaurant has a new vision and a new name – Brasserie du Monde, translated to mean “Brasseire of the World.”

The new name reflects a spirit of renaissance a new beginnings as the restaurant emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brasserie du Monde will continue feature French cuisine but will implement more traditional methodologies. Diners can look forward to increased creativity in menu choices with a renewed emphasis on the role vegetables play in the dining experience, a commitment to sourcing local ingredients, and a reimagined wine and spirts program, also focusing on local producers and distillers.

While the name change begins today, May 11, 2021, diners will notice menu changes over time as the menu is expanded and refined.

Follow Brasserie du Monde on Instagram @brasseriecapitale.

Food Literacy Center is Raising Kale (and why you should too)

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The local Sacramento nonprofit, Food Literacy Center, has been fighting against food injustice and  inspiring children to eat their vegetables through education and interactive activities since 2011. This month, Food Literacy Center launched the podcast, Raising Kale, to tell the stories of our multi-layered food system. Host and Food Literacy Center’s Founder, Amber Stott talks to the kale raisers who are solving problems and enacting change in their communities.

Amber speaks to guests with a variety of backgrounds: Krystal Oriadha from National Farm to School Network, Elise Bauer from Simply Recipes, and Ken Myszka from Epiphany Farms Hospitality Group are just a few people listeners can learn from when it comes to the fight against food injustice.

What exactly is a kale raiser? A person who gets in good trouble, using food as a tool. Raising Kale’s guests are involved with remarkable, action-oriented initiatives from improving school lunches to building local food economies in Haiti to ending hunger through culinary education in San Diego.

“The Raising Kale podcast represents a long-time goal of mine for the nonprofit: to provide wider education to the public outside the walls of our elementary schools,” said Amber Stott, Food Literacy Center’s Founder and Chief Food Genius. “I get to speak to my peers in food thought leadership across the nation and share their powerful stories. I hope listeners will join me to learn more and to raise kale in their own community.”

In addition to launching a podcast, Food Literacy Center announced their very first book, Food Anatomy Activities for Kids: Fun, Hands-On Learning, perfect for middle school-aged students and available for pre-order on Amazon. Stott noted “this is a true food literacy book. I was the book’s author, but the entire staff helped! We divided up the recipes and experiments, and everyone created some of them. It’s something we created that will be available for the public to purchase because we know that everyone needs food literacy.”

With hands-on education for elementary students, a book for middle schoolers, and a podcast for adults, Food Literacy Center is teaching everyone the importance of food literacy!

Raising Kale is streaming on Radio.com. Follow Raising Kale on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. To learn more about Food Literacy Center and the work they are doing in Sacramento neighborhoods, www.foodliteracycenter.org.

Disclosure: Food Literacy Center is a pro-bono client of FleishmanHillard Sacramento

Tillamook Wants You to Ditch the Zero and Get with the Hero

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Feeling unfulfilled in a sea of boring cream cheese options? You’re in luck: it’s time to find your bagel’s everything with Tillamook Cream Cheese Spreads. How? With a simple call to the first-ever cream cheese break-up hotline, 844-SAY-GBYE (844-729-4293), air your grievances with your current brand and get advice for moving on to a better one (hint, hint, we recommend Tillamook). We love sharing our clients’ work on SacFoodies and this was too much fun to pass up! Take Tillamook’s quiz to find your perfect flavor profile and read more about the campaign here!

P.S. Find Tillamook near you at Tillamaps.com

Sacramento Kings and Sierra Nevada Partner to Fight Food Insecurity with a “Dankful” New IPA

by SacFoodies

By: Liz Conant

Sierra Nevada Dankful IPA

There’s nothing the SacFoodies like more than enjoying a drink that gives back. So, when we heard the good news about a new partnership between the Sacramento Kings and Sierra Nevada to fight food insecurity with the release of a hoppy new beer, we were all in.

Here are the details: Earlier this year, Sierra Nevada unveiled a new program centered around the release of their Dankful IPA, pledging $1 million dollars to nonprofits nationwide to support and help raise awareness for work occurring in local communities. As part of this program, Sacramento nonprofit Sol Collective will receive $25,000 from Sierra Nevada and an additional $10,000 donation from the Kings for food boxes to be distributed to area families. The Kings will also provide volunteers for food box assembly and distribution as part of the team’s annual Season of Doing Good.  

Committed to taking arts, culture and educational programming to youth since its establishment, Sol Collective had to close its doors and move online in early March. Since then, they have pivoted their work to meet the immediate needs of the community, distributing food boxes, personal protective equipment and garden starters to local families. The funds donated by both Sierra Nevada and the Kings will help the organization to ramp up the distribution of Sol CARE food boxes, allowing them to keep serving those in need into the critical Fall and Winter months. For more information, visit Kings.com.