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Jammin' with the Girls Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest_share More Sharing Services Print This week’s article was written by CUESA volunteer Stacy Ladenburger. On a recent CUESA farm tour, an eager group of strawberry enthusiasts embarked on an adventure to Dirty Girl Produce and Happy Girl Kitchen Co. to learn about growing, picking, and preserving strawberries. Dirty Girl Produce owner Joe Schirmer cultivates strawberries along with more than 20 varieties of vegetables on 34 acres spread across three sites. We visited the Watsonville location, kept warm by the Santa Cruz Mountains to the northeast. Joe led us around the...

DIY Contests photo by Phillip Yip   Put your skills to the test in our food craft competitions! To celebrate Year 5 of Eat Real, the 2013 DIY Contests are featuring our 5 all-time most popular categories: home-brewed beer, jam, pickles, infusions, and fixin's!

   Guidelines· This contest is open to all amateur producers – those who craft for fun, but not for a living · You cannot submit the same products for multiple categories.
 · All items must be canned, bottled, and harvested during 2013.
 · All submissions MUST include: name of producer, name of submitted product, ingredients, contact...

Entry Period Ends Tomorrow at Midnight Last call for beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, confections, oil, pickles, preserves and spirits crafters to enter before tomorrow, July 31, at midnight! Be part of the first national initiative to recognize excellence in taste and sustainability. Judges including Nell Newman, Paul Bertolli, Bruce Aidells, Food52.com Co-Founder Merrill Stubbs, and Bi-Rite Market Owner Sam Mogannam stand at the ready to taste your Good Food. Winners proudly display the Good Food Awards seal for the coming year and will be honored at a gala ceremony with Alice Waters and showcased at a 30,000 person marketplace. Entry fee is $60 per entry...

True story... One day a friend and I and my two kids took off in our 1966 VW bus to go pick up a load of limes at a farm in a most beautiful tucked away valley.  The drive was a delight and the day turned out to be be epic.  A nice jaunt around a gorgeous farm with good friends.  I have a tendency to get distracted in my journeys and if you take off on a trip with me we are likely to take a few extra stops on the way there or on the way back.  It...

Below is a very sweet letter that I received after a jam workshop.  One of the women in the class wanted confirmation that her grandmother's salsa recipe was safe to make.  The old "no one has died yet" just needed a little more confirmation.  This is one of my favorite parts of what I do, connecting people with their old family recipes and giving them the confidence that it will be safe to eat.  This recipe is safe to make and eat!!!  I also love how she adds that she will make some for her 94 year old grandfather (tears...