Sacramento Food Film Festival - Ticket Giveaway

Sacramento Food Film Festival is here! We just received two tickets - and we are excited to give them away to you, but you have to act fast!

Entry deadline is 7:00 p.m TODAY, March 19th!

Tickets are for the VIP Festival Premiere Reception on Thursday, March 20th, OR to the film "Beer Wars" on Saturday, March 22nd! The winner will choose which event they want to attend. Please note, the events are in Sacramento and you have to be available to attend on either of the two dates mentioned.

ENTER TO WIN
(CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED)

To win two tickets to one of the two events

(winner chooses which event - one entry per person please),

leave a comment below answering the question:

My favorite food-themed movie is ___________.

We've randomly chosen a winner! Congratulations to Sabra,
whose favorite food-themed movie is "Big Night."
We hope you enjoy the event!

The Festival, which starts Thursday, March 20th, at Ten22 Restaurant in Sacramento, is a 10-day event that benefits California Food Literacy Center. Farm Fresh To You has been a proud sponsor of this festival since its inception and we encourage you to increase your food literacy by enjoying one of the seven food-themed events taking place March 20th to 30th.

Event prices ranging from FREE to $40 and events will include a mixture of family entertainment, film stars, local celebrity chefs and more! Check out the entire line up of events.

More About the Events Featured in our Giveaway

Thursday, March 20, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Film: Watch the award winning Spinning Plates!

Venue: Food Film Festival Premiere at Ten22!

Food & Fun: Ticket includes a swag bag stuffed with olive oil, Chocolate Fish coffee, gourmet vanilla beans, & more! Enjoy wine, appetizers and dessert from Ten22 made with ingredients sourced from Passmore Ranch & Farm Fresh to You.

Saturday, March 22, 4-6 p.m.

Film: "Beer Wars"

Venue: Sterling Hotel

Food & Fun: Sneak preview of Ruhstaller Beer’s never-before-released Nugget Ale, a local beer made with native hops grown just off I-80 outside Sacramento. Bites from famed Chef Adam Pechal, including soft pretzels from Freeport Bakery, popcorn, cheeses and nuts from Whole Foods Market Sacramento.

No purchase required. Limit one entry per person, please. Entries will close on Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 7:00 pm. Winners are chosen by Random Number Generator and announced on our blog on Wednesday, March 19, 2014.

California Endive

The endive (pronounced on-deev) is a unique and delicious treat that is crisp and bitter when raw, making them a great way to brighten up salads this time of year. When cooked, endive's sharp flavor softens into a mellow sweetness -- whether steamed, grilled or braised.

Endive is grown from chicory roots in a dark environment, which is why their tender leaves are such a light yellow. Most people refer to this variety as Belgian endive although it could be called the refined cousin of the chicory family, with its tightly packed leaves and smooth, elongated shape. This versatile veggie can be prepared in many ways: appetizers, salads, stuffed, side dishes and can even take center stage as a main dish. A great way to serve them is to use the leaves in the form of a "boat" and stuff the leaves with goodies like soft cheese, avocado or fruit salad. You can also use them as substitute for chips and eat them with your favorite dip.

Endive is one of the most difficult vegetables in the world to grow and requires a two-step growing process before it is ready for to enjoy. The first growth takes about 150 days in the field, where the chicory grows from seed into a leafy green plant with a deep tap root. At harvest, tops of the leafy chicory plant are cut off, the roots dug up, and then placed in cold storage where they enter a dormancy period.

As demand necessitates, roots are removed from cold storage for their second growth, which takes 28 days in dark, cool, humid forcing rooms, similar to a mushroom growing facility. The control over the initiation of this second growing process allows for the year-round production of endive.

 

Although these delicate beauties were once imported from Belgium and Holland, Rich Collins started growing them in California more than thirty years ago. His family farm was started in 1983, with just five acres. Originally named Rebel Farms, because many doubted that Belgian-style endive could be successfully grown in America. Today, California Endive Farms cultivates 300 acres in Rio Vista, CA and is the largest grower of red endive in the world.

A big thank you to the Collins family for sharing this specialty crop with our CSA family!

Eat Your Vegetables Cookbook Giveaway!

Photo credit: Matt Armendariz

“Joe Yonan is a kindred spirit; he too is a meat lover who’s embarked on a vegetable-forward adventure and made more room for plants on the plate. But he’s done much more in Eat Your Vegetables: Joe invites us along for a delicious ride that includes the highs and lows of edible gardening and the joy of cooking for one (with smart, practical tips for managing leftovers and minimizing food waste), wrapped in an impassioned plea to get off the couch and—yes!—into the kitchen.” 

—Kim O’Donnel, author of The Meat Lover’s Meatless Celebrations and The Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook

An increasing number of people are showing interest in plant-based meals, some for the nutritional benefit, some looking to add a sustainable practice and others in search of economic value. Eat Your Vegetables by Joe Yonan, is the perfect book for anyone looking to expand their produce-based culinary repertoire. Yonan’s friendly voice and straight forward cooking style empowers both the home cook and the experienced vegetarian chef to be bold and pursue their vegetable-centric interest, even if the pursuit only yields a single serving.

 Spicy Kale Salad with Miso-Mushroom Omelet (Photo credit: Matt Armendariz)

“It's been my ongoing mission to get single folks - 31 million of us in the United States alone - to realize that cooking for ourselves, despite the obstacles, is a worthwhile, satisfying, potentially meditative, possibly invigorating, and maybe even delightful endeavor."

 — Joe Yonan Eat Your Vegetables

This book is filled with 80 inspired vegetarian, vegan, and flexitarian recipes such as Spicy Kale Salad with Miso-Mushroom Omelet, Thai-Style Kabocha Squash and Tofu Curry, and a One Peach Crisp with Cardamom and Honey. In addition to these out-of-the-box recipes, look for the everyday tips on shopping, storing, and salvaging leftover ingredients. 

Joe in the Garden (Photo credit: Sarah Gillinhham-Ryan)

Joe Yonan is the Food and Travel editor for the Washington Post, where he writes regular features, including the “Weeknight Vegetarian” column. He is the author of Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking for One , which Serious Eats called “truly thoughtful, useful, and incredibly delicious.” Yonan has won awards for writing and editing from the James Beard Foundation, the Association of Food Journalists, and the Society of American Travel Writers, and his work has been featured three times in the Best Food Writing Anthology.

  

 We're so happy to have a copy of this amazing

book to give away to one of you!

Here's How to Enter –

To win a copy of Eat Your Vegetables, simply leave a comment below answering this question by Tuesday, March 4, 2014 (one entry per person please).

 What is your go-to food item when cooking for one?

No purchase required. Limit one entry per person, please. Entries will close on Tuesday, March  4, 2014 at 8:00 am. Winners are chosen by Random Number Generator and announced on our blog on Tuesday, March 4, 2014.

Thank you for all the amazing comments! 
They were so wonderful that we chose TWO WINNERS!

The winners chosen at random are Darcie who said:

When I'm cooking for one, I like having my meal in a bowl. My favorite thing is to make homemade udon noodles with a spicy miso broth, poached egg, and throwing in some fresh mushrooms and spinach. I'd love more ways to incorporate veggies in my meals.

and Maritza who said:

I love Kale in soups or sauté with garlic. I also use it in juicing or smoothies. The Kale that comes in the Farm Fresh box is so fresh and delicious. I love getting my Farm Fresh box -- it's like Christmas every other Tuesday.

Congratulations Darcie and Maritza!

Thank you to Joe Yonan and Ten Speed Press.

Be sure to check out Eat Your Vegetables.