BATH
Vegetarian cooking classes will be taught on June 14, 21
Learn how to cook plant-based meals during the Heart Healthy Vegetarian Cooking School classes taking place this Tuesday and June 21. Retired surgeon Dr. Gaylen Johnson and his wife, Kitty Johnson, will provide cooking demonstrations, food samples and recipes, along with lifestyle and nutrition information.
Each class costs $5 and will take place at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 889 High St. For more information or to register, call 729-3505.
BELFAST
Inn’s guests getting chance to tour farms of midcoast
Local food enthusiasts will have an opportunity to tour a number of farms during the Alden House Inn’s Midcoast Food Tour Weekend. The tour takes place June 24 to 26, and is limited to guests of the inn.
The tour begins with dinner at Young’s Lobster Pound in Belfast on Friday night. The following day, the group will travel to the headquarters of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association in Unity. From there, the group will tour the Village Farm, Oyster River Wine Growers, Aldermere Farms, the State of Maine Cheese Co., Beth’s Farm Market and Morse’s Sauerkraut.
Saturday night’s meal at the inn will be made from ingredients procured during the tour.
The tour costs $110 per person, plus lodging. Saturday and Sunday breakfasts and Saturday’s dinner are included in the tour cost. Lodging rates range from $129 to $179 per night. For more information, call 338-2151.
PORTLAND
Bartenders will vie for title of infusion champ in benefit
Are you a fan of infusion?
Local bartenders will be competing for the title of “Portland’s Infusion Champion” during a bar-hopping benefit event from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. June 15.
Six restaurants will handcraft house infusions using Northern Maine Distilling Co.’s Twenty2 High Proof Spirit, and serve up their creations in food pairings prepared by their chefs. The participating restaurants are David’s, Sonny’s, the Grill Room, the Salt Exchange, Nosh and the Armory Lounge.
In addition, two of the Old Port locations will host visiting bartenders from the Blue Spoon in Portland’s East End and Blue Sky in York.
The event costs $15, and all proceeds will go to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
Bar hoppers will vote for a winner by text message. Tickets are available at bit.ly/infusathon or by calling 775-2126.
For more information on this event, read this week’s edition of GO, The Portland Press Herald’s weekly entertainment magazine.
Author Moos having a party to launch her new cookbook
Meet cookbook author Dana Moos 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Danforth during a book launch party for “The Art of Breakfast: How to Bring B&B Entertaining Home” (Down East Books, $28.95).
Moos is the former innkeeper at the Kingsleigh Inn on Mount Desert Island and a member of the Maine Innkeeping Association. Her new cookbook features more than 100 recipes, and is filled with mouth-watering color photos.
Food and wine will be served at the Danforth reception at 163 Danforth St.
ROCKLAND
Lobster festival invites amateur cooks to apply
The Maine Lobster Festival doesn’t take place until August, but organizers are already searching for amateur cooks to compete in the Seafood Cooking Contest.
Amateur cooks ages 18 and older are invited to compete for more than $500 in prize money. Judges will pick five contestants and their recipes to participate in the contest. Selection is based on creativity, simplicity and suitability of the seafood to the recipe. The recipes must use seafood found in Maine waters.
For more details on the Aug. 5 contest or to download an application form, go to mainelobsterfestival.com, contact Kelly Woods by e-mail at media@mainelobsterfestival.com, or call 691-7282.
Applications will be accepted until July 15. Selected contestants will be notified by July 22.
STEEP FALLS
Gourmet Garden Crawl benefits organic farm
Chefs from six Maine restaurants will be participating Sunday in the second annual Gourmet Garden Crawl, a fundraiser for Rippling Waters Organic Farm.
The event is a progressive dinner that begins with hors d’oeuvres served at the farm at 1 p.m. At 1:45 p.m., guests board school buses for a tour of three of the school gardens created by farm staff with local students and teachers. At 4:15 p.m., it’s back to the farm for dinner and drinks. The evening will conclude with a live auction.
Restaurants participating in the event are the Pepper Club, Local 188 and Caiola’s, all of Portland; Joshua’s in Wells; Trattoria Athena in Brunswick; and St. Joseph’s College in Standish.
All funds raised from the event will go to support the farm’s school garden work. Rippling Waters has established gardens at four elementary schools, and constructed a solar greenhouse at Bonny Eagle Middle School. Teachers incorporate agricultural, nutritional and environmental lessons gleaned from the gardens into their curricula, and the food grown in the gardens is used in school lunches. In the summer, the produce is donated to local food pantries.
Tickets cost $35 for adults, $20 for students and Americorps members and $10 for ages 12 to 18, and are free for children under 12. For tickets, call Marielle Matthews at 642-5161 or email education.ripplingwaters@gmail.com.
Tickets are also available at Whole Foods, Rabelais and Aurora Provisions in Portland or at ripplingwaters.org.
WINSLOW
Fungi expert will give talk on mushrooms at library
Fungi expert David Spahr will present a talk titled “Mushroom Mania” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Winslow Public Library.
The event is free, and is presented by the Living Way health ministry.
The library is located at 136 Halifax St. For more information, call 873-7404.
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