Baltimore Raven’s Matt Birk Celebrity Server Night at Morton’s the Steak House

Last year Baltimore Ravens football players Matt Birk, Joe Flacco, Michael Oher, Ben Grubbs, Ray Rice, and Cam Cameron were the official servers at Morton’s The Steakhouse for the first celebrity server night to benefit the Hike Foundation. It was a sellout. Baltimore Ravens’ All-Pro Center Matt Birk is back this year for the benefit which is taking place on Monday, May 9 at 7 p.m.

Imagine Matt Birk and his teammates trading in their uniforms and helmets for plates and aprons and taking your order -- Read more:

Baltimore Raven’s Matt Birk Celebrity Server Night at Morton’s the Steak House

Small Batch, a day rate community kitchen will be opening soon in Baltimore

Coming to Baltimore is Small Batch, a day rate community kitchen that will be open 24/7. This project answers the dreams for many an entrepreneur who have a food product they want to produce but lack the space or dollars to create their own food safe kitchen. Small Batch will even provide entrepreneur training for those who want to turn their hobby into a specialty food business.

Read the full story:
Small Batch, a day rate community kitchen will be opening soon in Baltimore

Gourmet food, wine, cocktails, beer, cooking demonstration & more - all in one event

There are so many great causes to support and so many charitable events – how does one choose? For me it is the cause, and the cause is the Kidney Foundation and their fundraiser Santé: An Epicurean Adventure on Sunday, June 13th.

Santé (definition: Health)

There is an emotional tie to the Kidney Foundation - Get all the details: Gourmet food, wine, cocktails, beer, cooking demonstration & more - all in one event

Dine with barbecue expert Steven Raichlen plus an exclusive interview

Meet Steven Raichlen -- journalist, multi-award winning author and host of the popular public television series, Primal Grill® with Steven Raichlen and Barbecue University®. The ‘King of the Que’, Steven Raichlen, is coming to Baltimore to host a grilling class and 3 course bar-b-que meal for the highest bidder and nine of their friends in the Maryland Public Broadcasting Food Lover’s Auction.

Hear what Steven had to say about his Baltimore roots and the fabulous bbq you can win with Steven Raichlen:

Dine with barbecue expert Steven Raichlen plus an exclusive interview

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Gooey, Chewy, Crunchy Munchie – a golden opportunity

Isn’t the Mallow Munchies™ chef adorable, how can you resist his smile? Well it is hard to resist Mallow Munchies ™ as well. As their website says and I, a consumer of said culinary delights concur, “not your grandmother’s crispy rice snacks.” Mallow Munchies ™ are all-natural, using marshmallows made from scratch, Kosher gelatin, and no preservatives. As their tag line states: Gooey, Chewy, Crunchy, Munchie. For some strange reason I keep hearing the song Hair in my head when I say those four words, but I digress.

Get the sweet scoop: Gooey, Chewy, Crunchy Munchie – a golden opportunity

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Best chocolate cake EVER - recipe

From time-to-time, I help out a chef friend and work in her kitchen in Washington DC as her “kitchen slave” or in the French kitchen brigade vernacular, I teeter between commis, tournant or marmiton. Yesterday somewhere during the daily chores of peeling heads of garlic, washing lettuce and lunch set up we were talking cake. I mentioned a recipe by Chef Nick Malgieri, ...read the complete story and get the recipe:

Best chocolate cake EVER - recipe

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Careers through Culinary Arts Program needs your vote-help the children

They aren’t asking for money though they won’t turn it down. The 100 organizations getting the most votes on the Chase Community Giving project on Facebook will win $25,000. The Career through Culinary Arts Program, known as CCap has been raising funds for at risk students around the country and ask you just click and vote.

Careers through Culinary Arts Program needs your vote-help the children

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Holiday gift solutions -Dine with friends and win a Benz

Stay home on Black Friday, relax, I have you holiday shopping solution that also offers you a chance to win $25,000 or a 2010 Mercedes-Benz C300 as a first place win, there is a 2nd place win of $10,000 cash and 3rd place prize of $5,000 cash. For $300, which we all know we spend on assorted gifts, you receive 12 gift certificates to area restaurants..Read the complete story and check the restaurant listing

Holiday gift solutions -Dine with friends and win a Benz

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Eat, drink and do good – tis the season

This Saturday, November 14th at Linwoods Restaurant you can enjoy a fabulous cocktail party to benefit The Robert and Claire Peter Foundation that ships medical equipment and supplies to disabled children and adults in the United States and South Africa. The event is called A Night for Humanity which will honor international celebrity event designer, Colin Cowie; Certified Master Chef Edwin and Allison Scholly, and local philanthropists, Henry and Dot Rosenberg, long-time supporters of the Foundation.

Eat, drink and do good – tis the season

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My pick for celebrating Halloween is Hallowine 09

Is Halloween becoming the biggest holiday next to Christmas? I do believe so. In sorting through the many events for Halloween, I have chosen to promote Hallowine 2009 because if offers great Horror D’Oeuvres (you know there has to be food involved for me), wine bar and never ending cocktails, music (DJ WHO & Knowledge Featuring Live Percussion by Keith Meyer), costume contest BUT most importantly it benefits the Living Classroom – learning by doing.

Check out menu and the details:
My pick for celebrating Halloween is Hallowine 09

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OMG, meet the Renegade Lunch Lady – Chef Ann Cooper

The “Oh My God” is for the new technology, Clickcast on Facebook that allows people to watch a LIVE video cast and instant message questions. Next week Whole Foods is sponsoring a LIVE video cast with Chef Ann Cooper, the Renegade Lunch Lady. What Michael Pollan is to how we view food today, Chef Cooper is how we view what our children are eating in our schools.

OMG, meet the Renegade Lunch Lady – Chef Ann Cooper

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Pressure Cooker, the movie-rated G for great

Pressure Cooker documents three Philadelphia inner-city culinary students and their teacher who drives them, empowers them to make changes in their lives. It is about a competition called C- CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program) that awards scholarships for underprivileged students.

Read complete review and watch the trailer at
Baltimore Dining Examiner: Pressure Cooker, the movie-rated G for great

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Create it, name it and enjoy it - outside the cereal box

I have found the perfect cereal for everyone because everyone designs what they want in their own cereal. [me]andgoji is where 3 clever and wise founders are thinking outside the cereal box. The company’s website, [me]andgoji, allows the consumer, you or [me] to choose which ingredients you want in your cereal offering the most healthful and flavor bursting super foods from around the world. Design your cereal from 50 plus all natural and organic ingredients, something for everyone even those with specific dietary needs.

I was fascinated as I designed my cereal to watch the nutritional facts immediately update itself with each ingredient addition. A very clever and technically advanced site it is apparent that the 3 young owners are having fun and offering out a product that enhances life and our earth. On Earth Day they planted a tree for each cereal purchased that day.

So the fun isn’t only in creating your own cereal, it is in naming it. In fact, each week the owners list their top cereal names. Here are recent winners:

Hypothetic-O’s
Gojilla Attacks Tokyo
Heartbreak Hill Helper

T.G.I.M. (Thank God It’s Mornin’)

this cereal is bananas

Let me not forget that 5% of the profits are going to charity.

What’s keeping you….go to http://www.meandgoji.com/

Direct purchase wine bill needs your signature

It is down to the wire for the bill allowing Marylanders to be able to purchase wines directly. There is an on-line petition that NEEDS to be completed by Sunday night – you can make a difference.

The MD House Alcohol Sub-Committee is meeting on Monday at 3PM to deliberate the direct wine shipping bill, YOUR HELP is needed! Please complete the online petition by clicking on the following link: http://www.citizenspeak.org/node/1497

This will send an email to all of the sub-committee members, and they will hopefully will be overwhelmed by Marylanders when they come in on Monday.

Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws http://www.mbbwl.org
Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/219249/?m=ebaeef2

Boycott of Denny's to protest stereotyping

Just into my e-mail inbox is a request to to boycott Denny's. The Sons of Italy Commission for Social Justice (CSJ) is calling for a boycott of Denny's to protest the stereotyping of Italian Americans in the company's new national ad campaign, "Serious Breakfast."

The CSJ isthe anti-defamation arm of the Order Sons of Italy in America, the nation's largest Italian American organization. Denny's is the largest family restaurant chain in the U.S.

The CSJ has criticized one of the commercials in the series for its portrayal of three men who appear to be Italian American gangsters, discussing murdering "Benny" as they wait for their breakfast at a Denny's restaurant. The CSJ called for the commercial to be permanently removed from both television and the internet.

In response to the CSJ's complaint, Nelson Marchioli, Denny's president and CEO, said the company had reviewed the commercial and found "no ethnic stereotyping, just fun and humor."

"This is an unsatisfactory reply," says CSJ National President Anthony Baratta. "The Godfather movies and The Sopranos television series have helped make violence and criminality synonymous with Italian Americans," he says, "And the Denny commercial perpetuates this stereotype. That is not funny."

If Denny's refuses to archive the commercial, Baratta says "Italian Americans can and will enjoy a 'serious breakfast' at a restaurant that does not insult them. Denny's should know that Italian Americans are the nation's fifth largest ethnic group, and to offend us will only hurt Denny's bottom line."

Baratta urges all concerned to contact Nelson Marchioli at:

Denny's Corporation
203 East Main Street
Spartanburg, SC 29319
(800) 733-6697 or directly at (864) 597-7781
Email: nmarchioli@dennys.com

For more info:

The Sons of Italy CSJ is the anti-defamation arm of the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the largest and oldest national organization for people of Italian descent in the U.S. To learn more about the CSJ, visit us on the Web at www.osia.org or contact us via e-mail at csj@osia.org.

Direct to consumer wine bill - what happened

This seems to be the never-ending story, a real up hill battle to give Marylanders the right to purchase wine direct. Maryland has some very antiquated liquor laws and this is one of them. Below is where the bill stands now and how you can help-it's simple.

Committee Chairman Dereck E. Davis, a Prince George's County Democrat, said … that he thought his committee would this year again reject the direct-to-consumers wine bill, largely out of concern that it would make it easier for minors to access alcohol.
-- Baltimore Sun, 2/24/09 “Bill to restrict sale of 'alcopops' stirs heated debate”

Unless we mobilize and get focused on getting these two bills moving within the next two weeks, they will die an untimely 10th (?) death in the legislative committees in which they are heard. For those unfamiliar with Annapolis politics – of which I am one – the committees have the power to kill the bills through any number of means, and our voices are usually not at the table because we don’t have lobbyists paid to be there. Maryland consumers wonder why they can purchase narcotics, fireworks, pornography and ammunition delivered directly to their door but not a bottle of wine. The simple answer is the lobbying force presented by the opponents of this legislation.

You must provide that counterbalance! Our opponents would have our legislators believe that minors will be ordering liquor with which to get drunk through the direct ship program despite that not happening in the other 34 states that allow direct shipment. In fact, the number of infractions for underage drinking in Anne Arundel County (130 in 2007) far outnumbers the total number of documented cases of minors directly receiving alcohol in the other states that comprise 80% of the American population. If retailers are so good at checking ID, and UPS or FedEx are so ill-equipped, then why were there so many infractions?

What can you do to help?There are two very, very important women in Annapolis: Senator Joan Carter Conway and Delegate Mary Ann Love. They need to hear from their constituents that passage of this legislation is vital to them. Please contact Senator Conway and Delegate Love or ask your friends who live in their districts to do so. Their contact information:

Senator Joan Carter Conway(410) 841-3145 or 800-492-7122, ext. 3145e-mail: joan.carter.conway@senate.state.md.us

Delegate Mary Ann Love(410) 841-3511 or 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3511 (toll free)e-mail: maryann.love@house.state.md.us

Please also contact me soon as possible to learn how to help out in as little as 10 minutes a day, or else you too will be reading the post-script on direct wine shipping legislation yet again in the Baltimore Sun or your local paper.

Tastefully yours,
Adam Borden
Executive DirectorMarylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws
http://www.mbbwl.org

Earlier stories on this subject: Buy wines direct-you can make a difference, Senator Raskin's bill would "free" the grapes in Maryland,and Win a bottle of 03 Mondavi Opus One

$10 Three Course Dinner

Come on folks, you can’t beat this deal anywhere else – 3 course dinner plus a cocktail hour for $10. Now I know you are saying to yourself “no way” and I am saying “way”.

What: $10 three course dinner with a cocktail hour - $10 per person. The fixed menu of appetizer, entrée and dessert, will be prepared by 25 culinary students under the guidance of Jerry Pellegrino, Executive Chef of Baltimore’s acclaimed Corks Restaurant.

Why: So students preparing for careers in the hospitality industry can demonstrate their newly-learned skills from the National Academy Foundation High School (NAF) at Baltimore’s inaugural “Restaurant Night” on Wednesday, February 25. Students from the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism will prepare and serve a three-course dinner.

Where: Café Aroma – Restaurant Night

National Academy Foundation High School – Baltimore

Digital Harbor High School

1100 Covington Street

Baltimore (Federal Hill

When: Wednesday, February 25^th starting cocktail hour at 5:30 p.m.

Who: The public is invited but seating is limited to 150 seats.

Reservations: Guests are requested to make reservations by contacting Ada Brown, NAF-Baltimore’s Director of Academies, at (443) 984-1593, or e-mailing abrown06@bcps.k12.md.us.

Working with high school students and giving them the additional tools to succeed in the world is one of my pleasures. This is a subject close to my heart and because of that I have been on the Restaurant Association of Maryland Education Foundation Board for a number of years. I mentor the Carver Center’s Culinary Team who will be going up against the Digital Harbor's Culinary Team in the state championship in two weeks. May all teams do well.

You can support the ProStart high school culinary programs statewide, get $300 of restaurant gift certificates and a chance to win a car – check this out HERE.

Have a child who is interested in the culinary field/hospitality field - bring them to the dinner, let them see what students can do.

The National Academy Foundation High School of Baltimore City prepares over 350 students each year for careers in hospitality and tourism, finance, and information technology through work-based learning curriculum and experiences, and partnerships with local business and industry professionals. The unique curriculum emphasizes both academic excellence and career training with traditional classroom instruction, internships, and job shadowing. NAF High School is located on the Federal Hill campus of Digital Harbor High School.

Win a bottle of 03' Mondavi Opus One

The battle continues in the Maryland state legislature to allow direct shipment of wine to individual consumers. You still can make a difference and as I said in my last post I would notify you about the next legislative hearing. Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws Executive Director, Adam Borden, is offering a bottle of 03' Mondavi Opus One to the of age (21) person who brings the most people to the House of Delegates on Monday, February 23rd at 1 p.m.

Here is Adam's e-mail that I just received:

Dear Dara,

Our opposition, the wholesalers and select retailers, would like you to believe that massive underage drinking will occur if SB338 and HB1262 will occur. Every minor from Ocean City to Deep Creek will be ordering Boon's Farm - I kid you not, one retailer actually brought in a bottle to the senate hearing on Wednesday - to be delivered to their door, and the unwitting FedEx or UPS drivers will gladly turn it over to them. The Chancellor for the University of Maryland actually wrote in a letter expressing his concern that their students could have over-21 resident advisors sign for their packages. If the retailers are so good at checking ID, then why were there 130 underage drinking violations in Anne Arundel County in 2007 and none reported via direct shipment in the 35 states that allow it? Oh yeah, and Senator Raskin pointed out that those states cover 80% of our ~300 million citizens.To deal with this ludicrousness, I am offering a bottle of '03 Mondavi Opus One (value: ~$200) to whomever brings the most friends to the House of Delegates hearing on Monday 2/23 (must be 5 or greater including you in your party).

Here are the specifics:
Monday, February 23rd ~ 1PM
Economic Matters Committee (ECM)
Room 231, House Office Building
6 Bladen St.
Annapolis, MD 21401

The Committee will be hearing 47 bills that day, so you must register in advance with Delegate Tom Hucker's office (Tom.Hucker@house.state.md.us, 301-858-3474) to appear on the docket. Please let Maria Topper there know your cell number as the bill itself will most likely not be heard until 3PM or later so she can be in touch with you about timing. I will plan to be there in person, and whomever shows up with the most friends will win the bottle of wine. We spent a lot of time talking about why we want the bill to pass at the MD Senate hearing but would better like to coordinate our testimony at this one. Once you let Maria know your and your friends' information, I can be in touch with you individually about the testimony.

Please let me know if you have any questions and make sure to send as many of your friends to our Facebook page as possible:

http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarylandersforBetter/aba66b6cc7/f36cb35909/a3bfe28a24

Lastly, we have received some generous donations thus far but are always in search of more. As the fight seems so close, we need additional resources to get out the consumer voice, so please consider sending a few bucks our way:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2184279

Hope to see you there!

Best,
Adam Borden
Executive Director
Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws
http://www.mbbwl.org/

Like anything else in this world that you really want you have to make a committment to getting it.

Previous stories on this subject: Buy wines direct- you can make a difference and Senator Raskin's bill would free the grapes in Maryland