Out at Veggielution Community Farm yesterday, classically trained (New York Culinary Institute of America) Chef Joseph Gaudet prepared a delicious and satisfying lunch to promote the Bounty of Hearts Delight Banquet, Veggielution’s annual fundraising dinner. Veggielution Community Farm began when two San Jose State students offered to establish organic vegetable gardens in local backyards in exchange for a place to grow vegetables. The project grew to what is now a large farm that produces around 800 pounds of produce a week (much of which is donated to local charities) and has as many as 80 volunteers come out to help on community workdays. Veggielution has always been about teaching (and learning from) the community and they now sponsor workshops, youth programs, internships, family days and cooking/nutrition classes for moms. Chef Gaudet gave us a sneak peak of the kinds of dishes that will be part of the banquet. We had his version of the BLT which was crispy, golden strips of pork belly and tempura green tomatoes wrapped in fresh lettuce leaves.

He also served a rich, creamy gumbo with influences from many cultures.

For dessert we enjoyed fresh picked Sugar Baby and Stars and Stripes watermelons.

The Bounty of Hearts Delight banquet will begin with appetizers (and a tour) at the farm and proceed to beautiful Eulipia Restaurant in downtown San Jose. To see the menu for the banquet you can go here.

You’ve heard how stricken the people of New Orleans have been. 5 Years after Katrina and now the BP oil spill has devastated the economy again. So what to do?

You can start by attending the CitzenGulf benefit August 25 at San Jose’s Poor House Bistro.

Citizen Effect’s CitizenGulf project will become a National Day of Action on August 25th, in alignment with the week of the fifth anniversary of Katrina. The benefit — to be promoted by Gulf Coast Benefit — seeks to help fishing families find a new, more sustainable future by providing education resources for their children.

All ticket sales and donations from CitizenGulf Day of Action events will give families living in affected areas the extra support they need to get their children off to a great start this school year and to help ease stress on families with after school support services and activities.

The most vulnerable victims of the disaster are children. As part of our response to helping fishing families, Citizen Effect and Catholic Charities of New Orleans have created an education fund that will provide assistance to families in the form of school supplies and uniforms, as well as after school programming that includes tutoring and homework assistance, enrichment classes, recreational activities, and healthy snacks.

Get your tickets and show how San Jose cares!

The Willow Glen Lions Club will be serving up pancakes at this coming weekend’s Hot San Jose Nights event – held in “Rodder’s Park” at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. All proceeds from pancake breakfast sales go to scholarships for children at Diabetes Society camp this summer. The Willow Glen Lions will also be collecting eyeglasses to be recycled – given to needy people at no charge.

Pancakes will be served July 10 & 11, 2010 Saturday & Sunday, 8-11 AM
Hot San Jose Nights just isn’t another car show, it is an event for the whole family

Entry: $10.00 or Lions Special Breakfast and Entry: $18.00
Contact Robert Cortez for group pre-purchase discount, Email: lionsbreakfast@gmail.com
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds 344 Tully Rd., San Jose, CA 95111

The Lions practiced cooking eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes at last night’s meeting – it was good!

Hot San Jose Nights Event Highlights:

The Hot Rods Band, Joe Sharino Band, Elvis impersonator Rick Torres, Go Karts, Car Club Areas, Schoeppner Shows Carnival!, Nigel & Clive and the British Invasion, Bizzarro’s Collector Car Auction, Ronald McDonald House at Stanford Charity, CASINO, VendoRama indoors and outdoors!, Cruise to the Drive-In with actress Candy Clark from our featured movie AMERICAN GRAFFITI!, Swap Meet at the Fairgrounds

Images Copyright 2010 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher

Every year, I attend two charity fund raising auctions: the Via Ball which benefits Via Services, and the SAMA Middle Eastern Feast and Auction, sponsored by St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Saratoga, benefiting medical relief programs in Haiti, the Holy Land, and Africa.

Via is most famous for the year-round Camp Costanoan, a residential, outdoor education, recreation and learning center for children and adults with physical and/or developmental disabilities and special needs. Via was established in 1945 as the Crippled Children’s Society of Santa Clara County. This year was the 15th Annual Via Ball: a grand event held at Villa Ragusa in Campbell. People with big hearts and Silicon Valley celebrities with big wallets dress up fancy to bid at the auction, have executive chefs and master sommeliers compete for their attention, and dance after dinner. Top auction bids go to Felicia Horowitz’s annual hand-made mosaic quilt, which this year was an amazing 7,000+ piece tribute to Van Gogh’s sunflowers and by itself raised over $10,000. At this year’s Via Ball, my husband John and I bought forty pounds of dried figs (split with another family who were also bidding), our table’s flower centerpiece, and some gift certificates. I get many of my ideas for how to improve the SAMA auction from going to the Via Ball.

SAMA has been holding its annual dinner for 11 years but SAMA’s auction fundraiser is only three years old. Our SAMA committee is entirely made up of volunteers and the event is held in the St. Andrew’s Episcopal School hall. SAMA uses the same auction management software as does the Via Ball – see my 2008 review of Auction! for details. SAMA’s 2010 Middle Eastern Feast was prepared by Nina Amireh, Lucy Asfour, and Andrew Bate plus an energetic crew of volunteers from St. Andrew’s youth group. Entertainment was provided by Gregangelo and Velocity Arts and Entertainment, a whirling dervish.

Each year, the most popular SAMA auction items are in the food and wine category, with the Willow Glen Caboose Brunch and Nina’s “Middle Eastern Dinner for 8” getting top bids in 2010. The Robert Lewis oil painting “New Vineyard, Old Manor” raised the most money of any single auction item. Our family bought a silver dish, a set of Bart Ehrman’s New Testament Lectures on CD, plus an inlaid mosaic frame and chessboard made by Izzat Ashkar of Syria. The entire SAMA auction raised just a few thousand dollars more than Felicia Horowitz’s quilt. SAMA supports programs such as The Four Homes of Mercy, a refuge for the severely disabled based in Jerusalem.

Via Ball

SAMA Auction and Middle Eastern Feast

Images Copyright 2010 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher

The committee at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church is working hard to prepare for the annual SAMA (St. Andrew’s Medical Assistance) Dinner and Auction.

SAMA is supporting medical relief in Haiti, a hospital in Namibia, a hospital for the severely disabled
in Palestine, and a clinic for children with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe.

You are invited to attend SAMA’s dinner and auction, featuring entertainment by
Gregangelo, Whirling Dervish. Wow!

Middle Eastern Feast, Live Auction, and Silent Auction
Tickets are $35/person or $100/family
Sunday, February 28, 2010 @ 5 PM
St. Andrew’s Hall, 13601 Saratoga Ave., Saratoga, California
Childcare or transportation provided on request.
Call: 408-867-3493 or 408-252-5211

Two of the items up for auction are caboose brunches
The historic caboose (WP668) located at a private home in Willow Glen.
– by John Plocher – Brunch for six in a private 1916 historic railroad caboose (Western Pacific Feather River Railway WP668)

Other Auction Items (partial list)
* New Vineyard, Old Manor
– Plein Air Oil Painting on Canvas by well known Pacific Grove artist, Robert Lewis

* Wine – 1994 Treasure
– Martini Family wine collection – Vineyard Selection Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Rosso Vineyard Heritage Collection.

*Wine – 1994 Treasure
– Martini Family wine collection – Russian River Valley Reserve Merlot.

*Rabbit Etching
– Original delicate and realistic red and white etching of rabbits by famous San Francisco artist Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson. 1983. 7-3/4″ x 5-3/4″. Etching 12 of 20. Signed and Framed.

SAMA exists to provide hope and healing to a hurting world.
In 2010, SAMA sent funds for medical relief in Haiti.
SAMA also supports health programs in Africa.
Medical Programs SAMA has supported long-term in the Holy Land include:
Ahli Arab Hospital (the only Christian hospital in Gaza)

I’m watching Sandra Lee on the Food Network. She is preparing holiday recipes. Looks so good. Ah, if only I had more time…

The Professional Culinary Institute in Campbell is selling food items made by their State Champion hot food team. The team recently won in Sacramento. They are now raising funds for another contest in Albuquerque, NM.

Items available are: Stocks, sauces, side dishes and cookies. All items are available on December 23rd.

All proceeds go to the team, which will help them raise money for the trip to the Regionals.

If anyone wants to make the holidays a bit easier, please contact Bettie @ 408-370-5546 for information.

The Professional Culinary Institute

The young 12-year-old son of Yesenia and Samuel Contreras was shot in the head Halloween night. It is difficult to imagine the emotional agony his parents have been suffering. Mathson Middle School Principal, Orlando Ramos, agrees with me that it is a miracle that their son is alert and responsive.

Now the residents of San Jose can lend the Contreras family a hand. The Alum Rock School District is inviting the community to the parking lot of the Mi Pueblo Food Center at Capital Square. While enjoying the sounds of a student mariachi band the public can show their support by donating checks.

Mi Pueblo Food Center at Capital Square
320 N. Capitol Ave.
12-Noon
Saturday, December, 19

Checks may also be sent to The San Jose Police Officers Association:

SJPOA/CF
1151 N. Fourth St.
San Jose, CA 95112

Or to: The San Jose POA

Last year the folks at Epic Change did an amazing job creating a stir about Tweetsgiving and raised over $10,000 to build a classroom in Arusha, Tanzania in just over 48 hours. When I met Stacy Monk and Avi Kaplan at the NTEN Conference I couldn’t help but offer to chip in and help this year to benefit the school, where a dormitory/orphanage, library, school cafeteria and additional classrooms are sorely needed.

This year there will be a fundraiser in over 40 cities around the world to raise funds for the school and one of those events is right here in San Jose at Santana Row’s Rosie McCanns.

Wednesday Nov. 25, 2009
6 PM- 9 PM
Local authors will be signing books including:
Shel Israel – Twitterville
Mitchell Levy 42 Rules for Driving Success with Books
Janet Fouts- Social Media Success!

Donations are recommended, and each donor will get a raffle ticket for some great prizes as well as a drink at the bar (soda, wine, beer or well), plenty of lively conversation and the knowledge that you’ve made a big difference in the lives of these children. Watch this video to see more about where the funds go. Tweetsgiving is for the kids and how you can help.

What are you waiting for? Sign-up and celebrate Thanksgiving twice!

KFJC at Foothill College began broadcasting on October 20, 1959. I got the calculator out, punched in the numbers, and the screen displayed “Golden Anniversary.”

KFJC is celebrating the station’s 50th Anniversary with various activities including the Live Broadcast and Penny Pitch at Streetlight Records in San Jose Saturday September 5 from 1:00 to 6:00 pm.

Like a number of college radio stations, KFJC 89.7 fm, has a play most anything format, very unlikely you will hear the same thing over and over.

The Live Broadcast and Penny Pitch at Streetlight Records kicks off KFJC’s fundraising season; so, bring your change and dump it into the change bucket. There will be free food and drinks. Live KFJC DJs followed by live music from Chen Santa Maria (4:00 pm).

Live KFJC DJs:

1:00 pm – Robert Emmett
2:00 pm – SAL 9000
3:00 pm – Anubis
4:00 pm – Cadillac Margarita
5:00 pm – Mitch Lemay

Streetlight Records
980 South Bascom Avenue, San Jose

Saturday, September 5, 2009
1:00 pm to 6:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The SJ Rep is helping you help the community – AND see a play!

The San Jose Repertory Theatre has always been a leader in bringing the arts to everyone and giving back to the community. This season they are taking even broader steps in this direction.

In order to help community members who cannot afford regular priced tickets to the outstanding productions held at the Rep this year, they are offering Pay What You Will Tuesdays. The first preview Tuesday for each production of San Jose Rep’s 2009-2010 season, starting with the Tuesday, September 1 production of As You Like It, will be open to all members of the community for a suggested ticket price of $10, however any amount will be accepted. In addition, a canned food drive for Second Harvest Food Bank will have food bins in the lobby hoping for your donations. In this way any member of our community can not only see an exciting new production at the SJ Rep, but they can also help Second Harvest help those who are in even greater need.

Tickets go on sale at San Jose Rep’s box office one week prior to the scheduled performance. Seating is general admission and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Pay What You Will Tuesday:

• Groundswell – Tuesday, Oct. 13

• A Christmas Story – Tuesday, Nov. 24

• The Weir – Tuesday, Jan. 26

• Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Tuesday, March 16

• Sonia Flew – Tuesday, May 11.

If you don’t make it to this Tuesday’s preview of As You Like It, you can still see the production of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays at the SJ Rep from August 29 to September 27.

Sibling rivalry, royals in exile, mistaken identities, cross dressing (no kiddin’), and love at first sight, all make an appearance in this bewitching and sophisticated comedy about freeing oneself from the shackles of technology and finding oneself in nature. Really! The actors will be texting onstage, and you can too, during intermission and after the show!

Don’t miss this exciting new production. San Jose Metblogs is excited to attend the September 4 show and we will have our review up by Saturday afternoon. See you at the Rep!