Friday Quickies #85: 3 Holidays, 1 Weekend

Flying pig truck at Abbot Kinney, found shortly after eating at Gjelina

Three holidays (Valentine's, Lunar New Year, Prez Day) rolled into one potentially long weekend (though I personally do not get the 15th off, pfffttt) - of course you know the food events are out in full force.

No big surprise, but the one that's gotten the most buzz and chatter is the L.A. Street Food Fest just outside downtown. Whether than worry about where all your favorite or wanting-to-try mobile food vendors are at, you can stop by here from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and enjoy them in a veritable pop-up food truck court. Admission is $5 (sorry, $30 VIP tickets already sold out!) and after that, you can sample most items for $5 or less. Oh yeah, did I also mention Ludo's Fried Chicken will make an appearance?

On Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Frysmith will collaborating with Verdugo Bar for a "One Night Stand" event with four courses paired with beer. Courses include duck legs braised a cognac sauce w collard greens and fries, seared scallop with spanish chorizo, lemon jam & apple "fries" and a trio of mousse cakes. $23 in advance or $28 at door (until the patio hits capacity!)

This sunday from 3 to 5 p.m., Culver City's Royal/T Cafe will have a "Love for Haiti" winetasting event for $28/person (with $20 of each ticket sale going to Doctors without Borders). On top of some tasty vino, you will also include light appetizers and gourmet cheeses from Nicole's Gourmet Foods and La Maison du Pain.

And as always, favorite reads:

Serious Eats' Food Lab column dissects the science of making a good chili

Diana Takes a Bite survived (noneofyourbusiness) years without ever tasting a cheeseburger, and needs help with her initiation

LA Times' great piece on micro distilleries around town (including some of my faves Modern Spirits and Ballast Point) and how they're weathering against big corporate brands and the current economy

CHOW's 10 stylistic considerations when photographing food; too bad I'm not that into visual details

And Gourmet Pigs' review of Langham's blowout $75/person Chinese New Year brunch buffet, in case you got the change to drop

As well as way more affordable, and vegetarian, options in the SGV from Tasting Table

Another Food-Related "Help Haiti" PSA

Hope to see you at Stir Up Help for Haiti next Sunday!

Following up on my extensive "help Haiti" post (not to mention my little tirade about "_____ for a cause" events in general,) there are a few more going-ons for disaster relief and recovery.

On top of co-organizing the fabulous Haitian Libations at Vertical Wine Bistro this past weekend, Gourmet Pigs has also put together an auction ending today benefiting CHF International and Operation USA. The items up for grabs include an autographed copy of Ludovic Lefebvre's CRAVE, Home Brewing kit from Intelligentsia and a few gift certificates, gift items and special tastings.

On Feb. 21, Stir It 28, a multi-city, monthlong effort to raise monies for Share Our Strength and Yele's relief efforts, will hold a "Stirring Up Help for Haiti" cocktail hour fundraiser -- with bloggers and chefs contributing and serving up their homemade dishes. The L.A. event will go from 4 to 7 p.m. and cost $30 in advance or $35 at the door, with complimentary valet for first 50 guests. (FYI, I was told only a very limited amount of tickets will be sold at door, so grab yours ahead of time if you can.) And yes, I will be there serving some delicious treats!

Finally, if you happen to be thirsty in Santa Monica, stop by the Viceroy where all month long 100% of proceeds from "The Strawberry" cocktail will benefit International Medical Corps.

Small PSA RE: Prop 8 ads on my blog

I almost never make a non-food related post, but I just noticed today that my Google Ads are plastered with "Yes on Prop. 8" stuff, which apparently is also a problem plaguing other LA area foodblogs. So just want to make it known that I am not endorsing that political position; I've already filtered them out via my Adsense controls but it may take a little while to activate.

/announcement, and oh yea, go vote!

Got Listeria? A Foodventure No One Wants

Just read this Associated Press story about Jamba Juice/FDA issuing a warning about smoothies sold in the Southwest region (SoCal included) from November 25 to December 1(yes, a week ago) may contain strawberries that has the disease-causing Listeria bacterium.

Granted, like most foodborne illnesses, for most healthy people it probably means a 'bout of cramps and irregular bowels and some cold-like symptoms, but yea -- great heads-up (for more info - or if you did get a tummy ache recently after a Strawberry Wild - you may call & complain at the Jamba Juice consumer help line: 1-877-464-5689.)

I'll also be fair to them and note that there should be no problem with going there now as all [remaining] potentially-contaminated fruits are recovered & shipments from that supplier have been halted.

Thankfully, weather has been a bit chilly as of late for me to want a smoothie.

According to the site's press release, I also found it funny how their "limited number of stores" [affected by this] is a list of almost 200.