Learn canning basics on Sunday

Kristin Davis, the family and consumer specialist for Mecklenburg Cooperative Extension, will continue her series of summer cooking classes at Harvest Moon Grille on Sunday afternoon with "Canning and Preserving the Harvest."

The class will cover the basics of food preservation, the difference between high- and low-acid foods and other preservation techniques. Every person will leave with a canning booklet including recipes and instructions.

The class is 2-5 p.m. at the Dunhill Hotel, 235 N. Tryon St., and costs $25 per person. You need to call to reserve a spot: 704-342-1193.

Congratulations to Cassie Parsons

Global Green USA, the American arm of an international organization that promotes environmentally sustainable policy, held a contest to identify Citizen Entrepreneurs nationwide. Out of 130 nominations, the winner is: Cassie Parsons, of Grateful Growers Farm and the Harvest Moon Grille. (That's Cassie with her partner and half the driving energy behind it all, Natalie Veres.)

Parsons was recognized for her work helping to start a community garden with Seigle Avenue Presbyterian Church in an neighborhood with limited access to fresh food. The Global Green award comes with a grant for that project.

The second- and third-place winners were a high school student in Auburn, Calif., who grows aquaphonic food for his school's cafeteria, and a Los Angeles high school student who started a recyling program at her school.

Mecklenburg wants to help you fill those cans

Canning fans, forgive me: I've had the list of canning classes from the Mecklenburg Cooperative Extension on the top of my stack for weeks and haven't gotten it posted up on the blog.

That doesn't mean the classes aren't worthy. And while you've missed "Basics of Home Food Preservation" and "Basics of Waterbath Canning," you still have a couple of helpful classes ahead. And a whole summer's worth of food to use them on.

• "Basics of Pickling Your Harvest" is still ahead on Thursday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Piedmont Natural Gas Technology Kitchen, 4301 Yancey Road. Cost: $15. You can sign up if you call by the end of the day Wednesday. Call 704-336-2082 and ask for Class Code 35694.
• "No Pressure! Basics of Canning Low-Acid Foods" (ie, when and how to use a pressure canner) is 10 a.m.-2 p.m. June 21 at the Piedmont Natural Gas kitchen, 4301 Yancey Road. Deadline for signup is also Wednesday. Cost is $15; call 704-336-2082; class code is 35692.
• "Jam Party! Canning Jams, Jellies and Fruit Spreads," is at Harvest Moon Grille at the Dunhill Hotel, 237 N. Tryon St., from 2-5 p.m. June 24. The cost is $24. Call 704-332-4141 to register.
• Finally, "Canning and Preserving the Harvest," covering both pressure and water-bath canning, will be from 2-5 p.m. July 22 at Harvest Moon Grille. Cost is $25. Call 704-332-4141.

And if canning isn't your thing, hang on for next Wednesday, when my colleague Andrea Weigl will have a story on refrigerator pickles and preserving. See? We've got you covered.

2nd class for sausage fans

After the Harvest Moon Grille/Grateful Growers Farm sausage-making class sold out recently, they added a second one. This one is 2 p.m. April 29 at Harvest Moon Grille (in the Dunhill Hotel in uptown Charlotte, at North Tryon and 6th Street).

For your $30, you get a lesson from chef Cassie Parsons and Kelly Slade, and you get a package of sausage to take home.

The class is obviously very popular, so you need to reserve a spot. Call 704-342-1193 to do that.

Sink your teeth into Thanksgiving

A couple of last developments before I head home to my own range for Thanksgiving:

• Harvest Moon Grille is running a special Thanksgiving market in front of the restaurant at the Dunhill Hotel, 237 N. Tryon St. You can buy bread from locally grown and milled wheat, locally grown vegetables. Days and hours: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 19), and noon-7 p.m. Monday-Wednesday next week.
• The Ritz-Carlton's Giant Green Gingerbread House goes on display on Thanksgiving in the lobby of the hotel and will stay up until Dec. 28. It's green because it has all organic and natural components, its own LED lights and a green moss roof. If you go by, you can visit the new Bar Cocoa dessert area with Norman Love chocolates.
• Also at the Ritz-Carlton: Holiday teas on Dec. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18. Details and reservations: 704-547-2244.

Friday food news roundup

• Tickets are on sale for the ninth season of Taste of the World, the East Charlotte food tour of international restaurants in the area around Central Avenue. If you've never gone, the tour starts at the Van Landingham Estate on The Plaza, circles around to three restaurants and ends back at Van Landingham with a dessert reception. This year's event is on Oct. 6. Tickets are $30 at www.charlotteeast.com. Yes, it's early, but the event is popular and sells out.

• Another event is coming up closer: The next Chow Down Uptown food truck festival is next Thursday, Aug. 18, from 5-9 p.m., in the parking lot on 7th Street across from the former Reids (soon to be known as 7Venth Market). This time, the event will include A Taste of the Market, with samples from some of the vendors who will be at 7Venth Market when it opens, a promotion for "The Addams Family Musical" and a screening of the movie, and the debut of Hamilton, the inflatable mascot for BBQ And Blues. After my visit to last month's rally, I'd suggest a few things: Bring cash - tasting a bunch of stuff can run up a tab. Bring a shade umbrella. Bring hand wipes. And bring an appetite.

• Harvest Moon Grille at the Dunhill has two local-foods events next week: On Sunday from 2-4 p.m., you can take a class in Korean cooking, featuring bulgogi, pork belly and kimchi. Tickets are $20. On Monday, the restaurant hosts its second guest-chef night with Charles Taft, vice president of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. The dinner showcases rare and endangered livestock breeds and heirloom vegetables. (OK, he's not exactly the same as having Joe Kwon of the Avett Brothers, but ALBC does important stuff in keeping livestock diversified.) Dinner is $55 with a portion of proceeds going to ALBC. Reservations for dinner or the class: 704-332-4141.

(Speaking of food trucks, has anyone noticed that we've now had two food trucks stolen, the Harvest Moon Grill orange cart and the Lakeview Dairy mooing dairy truck?)

Share your food at the Atherton Market

If you go by the Atherton Market, 2104 South Blvd., on Saturday, you'll be able to see a new project: The Farmer Foodshare Donation Station.

(And if you go to the Atherton Market today, remember that it'open from 3-7 p.m. Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays.)

At the Farmer Foodshare Donation Station, shoppers can donate fresh food bought from the stalls or cash that volunteers will use to buy fresh food. The food will go to Friendship Trays, the Dilworth Soup Kitchen and Urban Ministries.

The Farmer Foodshare program is already operating at Carrboro Farmers Market near Chapel Hill. Since May 2009, farmers and shoppers have provided more than 41,078 pounds of food to feed the hungry.

As a regular farmers market shopper, I have to say this one is a great idea. I'd happily buy two heads of cauliflower instead of one, or an extra bucket of peaches to make sure somebody else's family gets to eat fresh, locally grown food.

To help the program get started, Harvest Moon Grille will host a dinner Monday with Joe Kwon of the Avett Brothers helping out in the kitchen. A percentage of the proceeds will be used get Farmer Foodshare off to a good start. Reservations are strongly recommended. There are no tickets, just the usual cost of dinner entrees, which usually runs from $16 to $25. Get more details here.