The fine people at Farm Fresh To You hosted a fabulous Farm-to-Fork dinner Sunday night, with the help of Chef Oliver Ridgeway and his amazing team from The Grange Restaurant and Bar.
The summer feast was a start to finish culinary masterpiece, which began in the garden with passed hors d’oeuvres of Collins Farm Endive with North Valley Farms Goat Cheese, honey and pistachios, Andouille Sausage slices topped with a stone fruit chutney and seasonal mustard, and Blistered Padron Peppers tossed in olive oil, sea salt and lemon. The seated family-style dinner on the farm overlooking the beautiful Capay Valley began with a first course of Capay Organic Melons and Tomatoes, tossed with feta, herbs and chili. Next, we enjoyed Passmore Ranch Trout Nicoise tossed in lemon vinaigrette with green beans, peppers and potatoes – this dish also included deviled eggs topped with Passmore Ranch caviar. So decadent! A Stone Valley Farms Porchetta rounded out this palate-pleasing meal, filled with summer squash, eggplant, succotash and salsa verde. Each dish paired nicely with donated libations from David Girard Vineyards and Ruhstaller Beer.
While I enjoyed every bite of this amazing dinner, I was most excited for the dessert (no surprise), a Capay Organic Candystripe Fig and Summer Fruit Trifle. This creamy layered dish of strawberries, peaches and pound cake took this traditional English dessert to a whole new level of sophisticated bliss, topped with the gorgeous striped figs.
Not only did we benefit from an amazing evening on the farm with the Barsotti/Barnes family and Chef Ridgeway, proceeds from the dinner went to the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services and the Kathleen Barsotti Non-Profit for Sustainable Agriculture, which gives school supplies and backpacks to farmworkers’ kids and awards an annual agriculture scholarship.
For upcoming events, including wine tasting at the Capay Crush event September 20, visit www.farmfreshtoyou.com.
Capay Tomato Festival
Summertime produces the best tomatoes and there is no better place to enjoy them than at the Capay Tomato Festival in the beautiful Capay Valley. Farm Fresh to You, the home delivery service that provides fresh, local, organic produce to consumers’ doorsteps invites you to join in this 7th annual event on Saturday, July 19, 2014, from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Event-goers will enjoy organic, heirloom and cherry tomato tasting, live music and dancing, delicious food, local wine and beer, tractor tram rides, kids’ activities, camping on the farm and more. Pack a blanket, pull up a hay bale and watch the sunset – all the while supporting a good cause with event proceeds benefiting the Kathleen Barsotti Non-Profit for Sustainable Agriculture.
This year, guests are encouraged to bring a picnic to enter into the “Best Guest Picnic Contest.” Farm staff will roam the event, scouting out the best-looking picnic for a chance to win future fresh produce deliveries. No picnic? No problem. Local purveyors will be selling their wares including sandwiches, tacos, burritos, roasted corn, pizzas, gelato, in addition to vegetarian and vegan choices.
Tickets are on sale through Wednesday, July 17, for $20 per person (children ages 12 and under are free). After July 17, tickets will be sold at the door for $25 per person. SacFoodies is giving away two tickets to the event, so post a comment on our SacFoodies Facebook page telling us why you want to attend for your chance to win!
For the complete line up of activities, the bands’ performance schedule, and to purchase tickets visit www.capaytomato2014.eventbrite.com, call or visit http://facebook.com/farmfreshtoyou.
Farm Fresh To You/Capay Organic
23800 State Hwy 16
Capay, CA 95607
1-800-796-6009
Cinco de Mayo Events in Sacramento
Sacramento will be bustling with Cinco de Mayo events – from tequila festivals to a tamale party or a hilarious night of comedy – there will be something to satisfy every taste. To ensure you get the most out of your Cinco de Mayo weekend, check out our guide to the best of Sacramento’s Cinco de Mayo festivities!
Drink Up!
If you love margaritas, tequila or are simply in search of a good party, attend one of these events to quench your tequila thirst and take your Cinco de Mayo celebration to a new level of fun.
- Cinco De Mayo Celebrations at Zocalo: Zocalo Midtown’s 6th Annual Tequila Festival will take place tonight! Enjoy appetizers and sample tequila from eight different distilleries and savor a cigar from the cigar bar by Fat Man Cigars from 6 – 9 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online for $20 here, or at the door for $25. On Friday and Saturday (May 3 – 4), midtown will be serenaded with live mariachi music. On Sunday, May 5, both Zocalo locations will open their doors at 11 a.m. for a full day of Cinco de Mayo Fiestas – enjoy balet folklorico, drink specials, live mariachi, street tacos, face painting and pig roast!
Zocalo
1801 Capitol Ave, Sacramento, CA 95811
1182 Roseville Pkwy, Roseville, CA 95678
- Tequila Week at Grange Restaurant & Bar: Grange has unofficially named May 1 – 5 TEQUILA WEEK featuring a signature blend of Herradura Double Barrel Reposado blended by the Grange team on a trip to Mexico last year. Their special menu will be available during Happy Hour from 3 – 6 p.m. Cocktails are $8 / Bites are $5.
Grange Restaurant and Bar
926 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
- Cinco de Mayo at Mayahuel: For the ultimate tequila experience, celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Mayahuel’s two-day fiesta starting on Friday at 4 p.m. If you prefer beer, there will be a beer garden and Aztec dancers at the party.
Tequila Museo Mayahuel
1200 K Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
- Cinco de Old Sacto: Old Sacramento will come alive on Cinco de Mayo weekend with a variety of food, drink specials, live music, comedy, karaoke and dancing. Bars included in this year’s Cinco de Old Sacto party will include: River City Saloon, Fanny Ann’s, O’Mally’s Pub, The Other Office, Vega’s, Sports’ Corner, Laughs Unlimited, Coconut Grove, and La Terraza. The party beings at 6 p.m. and goes until 2 a.m.
Old Sacramento
1002 2nd Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Party, Deliciously
To eat, or not to eat? That’s never the question on Cinco de Mayo. Prepare your taste buds and come with a big appetite to make the most of your Cinco de Mayo menu!
- Cinco de Mayo with Farm Fresh To You: Bring your whole family to the 2nd Annual Cinco de Mayo Celebration with Farm Fresh to You this Saturday, May 4, from 5 p.m. – 11 p.m. at the Farm Location: 23800 State Highway 16, Capay, CA 95607. Enjoy a full evening of tractor-tram farm tours, kids’ arts and crafts, tortilla-making demonstrations, tomato planting, strawberry harvesting, soccer games and dancing to live mariachi music. Tickets prices are $15 per person through Friday, May 3, or $20 per person at the farm on event day. Kids 12 and under get free admission. All event proceeds benefit The Kathleen Barsotti Non-Profit for Sustainable Agriculture. Tickets are available here.
- Tamale Party: Food Co-op’s Community Learning Center & Cooking School is hosting a Tamale Party tonight from 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Students are invited to join Chef Dio for a hands-on workshop, where they’ll learn to make delicious tamales in their home kitchen. Prices are $49 for the public and $40 for co-op owners. For more information, click here.
Community Learning Center & Cooking School
1914 Alhambra Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95816
- Fiesta at Centro Cocina Mexicana: Centro will be partying all weekend-long, opening early on both Saturday and Sunday. The two-day fiesta will include drink and food specials, an extended patio, no cover, an outdoor bar, music, and a piñata giveaway!
Centro Cocina Mexicana
2730 J St.
Sacramento, CA 95816
Laugh Out Loud
- Sacramento Cinco de Mayo Festival: Enjoy a night of endless laughter at the Sleep Train Arena, where Latin Stars of Comedy: Paul Rodriguez, Carlos Mencia, Johnny Sanchez, Juan Villareal and many others will make your Cinco de Mayo the funniest it’s ever been. Tickets range from $27.50 – $102. For more information, click here.
Sleep Train Arena
1 Sports Parkway
Sacramento, CA 95834
What are your plans for Cinco de Mayo weekend?
Farm Fresh To You Partners with Design My Meals to Customize Meal Plans
For many, the kitchen can be an intimidating place, especially when you have a pile of fresh ingredients and no great recipes to create that perfect dish. With countless techniques and styles to prepare a meal, which direction should you take? Do you boil the cabbage or steam the Broccoli? Should you grill the Asparagus? What about the Kale? Lucky for you there is light at the end of the tunnel. California’s produce delivery service Farm Fresh To You has partnered with online meal planner Design My Meals to help solve these problems and serve culinary inspiration straight to your door step and directly to your computer!
The process is simple: All Farm Fresh To You customers can sign up online for Design My Meals at a discounted price. Once you sign up, the two companies place all of the ingredients in your produce box and automatically upload them into a personalized online pantry.
Based on the ingredients, Design My Meals inspires your culinary creativity by suggesting a variety of nutritious, flavorful recipes that make the best value of your produce box. The recipes from Design My Meals originate from a network of participating chefs and bloggers, so at-home-chefs can select their favorite recipes and create a meal planning calendar that automatically generates a shopping list for any other ingredients. In addition, the meal planning calendar can be modified to dietary needs ensuring the most nutritious recipes to keep up with a healthy lifestyle. The result is more efficiency in the kitchen, less wasted food and more healthy meals.
For more information on this delicious program, visit www.FarmFreshToYou.com and www.DesignMyMeals.com