Tag wine making

Think You Can’t Get Back to the Land in an Urban Society? Think again.

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in General, Go Green Tagged with , , , , , , , August 24th, 2010 @ 10:11 am

Sustainability: Anywhere.

Movies like Food, Inc. have helped open the eyes of many to the increasing distance growing between people and their food sources. As a result, the homesteading movement has gained major ground, and is sure to continue attracting new homesteaders into the future. This may seem difficult to do, considering how quickly rural areas are transformed into urban neighborhoods. Companies like FarmCurious, however, exist to solve that exact problem. FarmCurious was created by Nicole Kramer to help educate individuals interested in urban homesteading.  Kramer even facilitates the process by selling all the tools necessary for urban homesteading online!

More Than Just Information

FarmCurious has found a way to make urban homesteading education fun! Introducing the FarmCurious Urban Homesteading Party. These home presentations bring Kramer right to you for demonstrations and discussions on everything related to homesteading. Not to worry, you don’t have to be a homesteading aficionado to host one of these parties. Kramer will not only explain the benefits of producing your own food, but she will show you how to do it! Topics include making jams (preserving), making yogurt (culturing), brewing/wine making, growing your own produce, and conserving what you make. Best of all, FarmCurious brings delicious samples –for free! –and offers discounts on products purchased at the party!

Party with A Purpose

Kramer ultimately hopes to open her own brick and mortar store. In addition to hosting parties, Kramer can be found selling urban homesteading tools at events like Eat Real Fest August 27-29, and the San Francisco Underground Market on September 11 in Oakland’s Jack London Square to reach this goal. To learn more about FarmCurious Urban Homesteading Parties, check out the Educate tab on the FarmCurious website. For tips and stories straight from urban homesteader Nicole Kramer, go to her blog on FarmCurious!

Our Neighborhood Winery

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in General, News & Events Tagged with , , , , , , June 17th, 2008 @ 1:35 pm

 

Last fall, Parties That Cook moved into funkified new digs on Minnesota Street in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, situated right near Potrero Hill and the Bay. We love our new location, and have had fun exploring it. In case you have never been to this particular neck of the city, here is a quick primer.

 

What Dogpatch Isn’t:
– A band led by Keanu Reeves
– A style of facial hair for men
– An actual patch of dogs

  

What Dogpatch Is:
– An area with hot spots such as Serpentine, Piccino, Yield wine bar and a soon-to-open sibling restaurant to A16
– Sunnier than many parts of SF
– Home to Parties That Cook and the urban winery Crushpad

 

Crushpad quickly became one of our favorite neighbors in Dogpatch, and we’re not saying that just because they gave us free wine. However, they did give us free wine. And they did so in a cool way: Wine guru Stuart Ake led us through a blending session using their irresistible kit, Fusebox.

 

Much in the way that we help people cook up fabulous dishes by combining different ingredients, Fusebox encourages you to experiment with different grape flavors to create your own signature blend. Using the pipettes and graduated cylinder in the kit to mix varietals together almost made us forget the traumas of seventh-grade science class. Nifty evaluation and aroma cards gave us the criteria and vocabulary to distinguish between the varietals in the kit (e.g. “This cabernet sauvignon has notes of tobacco and molasses, with a hint of burnt match and wet dog.”).

 

Sound like fun? It was. You can embark on your own wine-tasting journey by attending Crushpad’s Open House event on Saturday, June 21, from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. We will be there too, offering you the chance to do some cooking and noshing while you sip. If you are single, check out our Cooking Crush event on July 16, hosted by Parties That Cook and Crushpad. An excellent pairing, if we don’t say so ourselves.