where in the mitt is unkle e?

november 2008

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:36:15 -0400

November 13, 2008
Making It In Michigan Conference

This is a one day event held on Thursday, November 13, 2008 at the Lansing Center in Lansing Michigan. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. and concludes at 4:00 p.m.

The registration fee includes a lite breakfast, educational programs, entrance to the Marketplace, lunch and parking.

• Keynote Speaker - author, entrepreneur and chef Eric Villegas

• Awards- Best Product Center Clients and Innovation Counselors for 2008

Educational Sessions on Internet Marketing, Food Regulations, Consumer Trends, Product Distribution, Local Zoning, Product Labeling, and Services Provided by the MSU Product Center

• Marketplace - A trade show highlighting services provided for entrepreneurs and Michigan made products
This is the 2nd annual MSU Product Center Making It In Michigan conference. Michigan is filled with great businesses creating and producing some of the most unique food products and agricultural enterprises in America. As a new or existing business or if you are even thinking about starting your own venture the Making It In Michigan conference is your opportunity to learn, find, talk, and be inspired.

This one of a kind conference is your opportunity to meet with Product Center clients, MSU's expertise, regulatory departments, industry professionals, suppliers, co-packers, and talk to the MSU Product Center Staff, Michigan's leader in entrepreneurship for food, agricultural, natural resources, and the bioeconomy.

The day begins with Dr. Chris Peterson, Director of the Product Center and world renowned Agricultural Economics Professor at Michigan State University welcoming and opening this exciting event. Our keynote speaker is Eric Villagas from the PBS Program Fork in the Road talking about local food systems and Michigan products. Along with educational classes to meet your business needs and awards for Michigan businesses, the afternoon will be spent with our Marketplace trade show featuring MSU Product Center client products and industry resources. This is intended to be your one stop venue to start and grow your Michigan business.

Friday, November 21, 2008
Grand Rapids International Wine & Food Festival

Friday, Nov. 21 (2-9pm)
Saturday, Nov. 22 (Noon-10pm)
Sunday, Nov. 23 (Noon-5pm)
www.GRWineFestival.com

(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich) – ShowSpan Inc., has announced that Chef Eric Villegas, star of the nationally-broadcast PBS show “Fork in the Road” and author of a newly-released cookbook of the same name, will be one of the Guest Chefs at the Grand Rapids International Wine & Food Festival, November 21-23. The culinary celebration kicks off the 2008 holiday season in the elegance of the 40,000-square foot Steelcase Ballroom inside the DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids.

Chef Villegas joins other esteemed leaders from the culinary world – including Angus Campbell & Robert Garlough of the Secchia Institute of Culinary Arts at Grand Rapids Community College – who will host seminars, demonstrations and workshops throughout the three-day festival. The “Cooking Stage,” sponsored by Meijer, will showcase 45-minute food seminars, while 15-minute workshops offer morsels of information about foods and related items. A “Wine, Beer & Spirits Stage” will also host programming throughout the weekend.

Chefs from the area’s top restaurants, including Tre Cugini, six-one-six, Cygnus, Louis Benton and The Monkey Bar inside The BOB, will prepare and serve small-plate samples of their culinary specialties all weekend. The 1913 Room and Bar Divani will offer special “Pairings,” serving up gourmet multi-course meals, each paired with carefully-selected wines, served on-site in a casual “bar top” setting. Reservations are required, at $25 per person. To date, more than 100 wineries, breweries and even distillers of fine spirits from around the world are committed to pouring samples of more than 500 products during the festival, which is expected to be the largest of its kind in Michigan.

Admission to the Grand Rapids International Wine & Food Festival is $15 per person and includes a sampling glass, official show program published by Grand Rapids Magazine and a list detailing all of the wines, beers, spirits and foods available for sampling. Tasting tickets are available, in 50¢ denominations, for purchase once inside the show. Admission tickets may be purchased in advance, through Ticketmaster, online at www.GRWineFestival.com or during the event at either the Lyon Street or Monroe Avenue DeVos Place box offices. Attendees must be at least 21 years of age to enter.

The Grand Rapids International Wine & Food Festival is presented by the Grand Rapids Convention and Arena Authority and is one of 17 consumer expositions produced by ShowSpan, Inc., Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1945, ShowSpan – a John D. Loeks, Jr., Company – has grown to be one of the largest producers of consumer shows in the Midwest.

october 2008

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:36:06 -0400

October 2, 2008
Fremont Area District Library

Writers Live/Eric Villegas
Cooking Demonstration and Book Signing

Chef and cookbook author Eric Villegas will demonstrate cooking using local ingredients. Villegas is host of Fork in the Road with Eric Villegas, a PBS show that promotes foods from around the state. On the show he visits different parts of Michigan showcasing our rich agricultural resources and unique foods. He is also the author a cookbook Fork in the Road which was selected as a Michigan Notable book in 2008. Please pre-register 928-0256.

October 3, 2008
Fremont Area District Library
4:00 pm at Loomis Lodge
Writers Live/Eric Villegas
Cooking Demonstration and Book Signing

Chef and cookbook author Eric Villegas will demonstrate cooking using local ingredients. Villegas is host of Fork in the Road with Eric Villegas, a PBS show that promotes foods from around the state. On the show he visits different parts of Michigan showcasing our rich agricultural resources and unique foods. He is also the author a cookbook Fork in the Road which was selected as a Michigan Notable book in 2008. Please pre-register 928-0256.

October 4, 2008 Fremont Area District Library
2:00 pm at Tamarac
Writers Live/Eric Villegas
Cooking Demonstration and Book Signing

Chef and cookbook author Eric Villegas will demonstrate cooking using local ingredients. Villegas is host of Fork in the Road with Eric Villegas, a PBS show that promotes foods from around the state. On the show he visits different parts of Michigan showcasing our rich agricultural resources and unique foods. He is also the author a cookbook Fork in the Road which was selected as a Michigan Notable book in 2008. Please pre-register 928-0256.

October 17-19, 2008
2008 Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival
Atlantic City Convention Center

The 2008 Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival lineup of Celebrity Chefs will be even more exciting! The Celebrities Chefs and Culinary Experts that are to appear include Tyler Florence of Food Network and Eric Villegas of PBS along with Guy Mitchell, J. Geoff Johnson, Salvatore De Cristofaro, Darryl Harmon, Ron Duprat, Vincent Tropepe and Andrew Sciaretta.

If you're a gourmet enthusiast and love your kitchen; love to cook; love to eat gourmet foods; love to sample fine wines and spirits; or just love to shop for unique specialty gifts…this annual event is a must.

september 2008

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:35:47 -0400

Traverse Epicurean Classic
A CELEBRATION OF FOOD & WINE ARTISANSHIP
SEPTEMBER 11, 12, and 13, 2008

Traverse Epicurean Alliance is an educational organization dedicated to creating greater awareness of, and appreciation for, food, wine and brewing artisanship, primarily through the presentation of the annual Traverse Epicurean Classic. It was founded to benefit the Great Lakes Culinary Institute via student scholarships and interaction with the world's finest chefs and wine industry professionals.

Thursday, September 11 - 6:00 pm
Opening Reception: Great Lakes Mise en place

Celebrate the Midwest's incomparable bounty of fruit, produce, meat and fish with innovative dishes prepared by renowned chefs from around the Great Lakes region. Complemented by Michigan's acclaimed wines, beers, and spirits and you have home-grown goodness par excellence. This walk-around reception will feature original recipes from Chicago's John Manion, Carlyn Berghoff, Chris Turano, along with Toronto's Ted Reader, and Michigan based Rick Halberg, Eric Villegas, Ralph Humes, and Ted Cizma. Enjoy medal-winning wines from L Mawby, Black Star Farms, Left Foot Charley, Shady Lanes, Longview, Bowers Harbor Vineyards, Chateau Fontaine, Good Harbor Vineyards, Two Lads and many others. Beer aficionados will take delight in styles offered from Bell's, Short's, and New Holland breweries.

Friday, September 12 - 10:30 am
Seafood Favorites from Fork In the Road:
Lessons on Chowder, Gumbo, and Paella - Eric Villegas

Fasten your seat belt! Chef Villegas promises to amp up his already frenetic tempo to show you the secrets to deep, flavorful seafood concoctions. His challenge is to finish all three dishes, all the while, keeping his mouth moving with culinary wisdom and wise cracks. His new book, Fork in the Road: Michigan Culinary Adventures from the Emmy-Winning PBS Series features an unmatched collection of Michigan inspired recipes. Villegas spent two formative years studying and working in cooking schools and top restaurants in France before continuing his studies at the New England Culinary Institute. Shortly thereafter he settled in mid-Michigan and over the next twenty years owned and operated both Dusty's Wine Bar and Restaurant Villegas. His cooking show, Fork in the Road, is now seen nationally on PBS.

Sept 17 Wed 12-1 pm
The Kitchen Port
283 S. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103 734-665-9188/800-832-7678
Store Hours: Mon. - Sat. 10-6 Sun. 12-5

Chef Eric Villegas, author of “A Fork in the Road,” based on his PBS series of the same name will demonstrate Michigan cuisine complete with a signing of his award winning companion cookbook.

Kitchen Port has been providing the practical and the unique to cooks and those who like to entertain since 1968. Over 4,000 square feet of Equipment & Accessories for food preparation, cooking and dining. We offer fun, seasonal merchandise, cookbooks, kitchen & table linens, and gadgets galore. Demonstration cooking classes feature outstanding area chefs.

September 26, 2008 5:00PM - 9:00PM
Baltimore Book Festival
Guys' Night at the Grill
Food for Thought Stage

A night of grilling with chefs Eric Villegas, Robert St. John and Fred Thompson.

This festival in its 13th year features hundreds of author appearances and book signings, 100+ exhibitors and booksellers, non-stop readings on eight stages, cooking demos by celebrity chefs, poetry readings and workshops, panel discussions, walking tours, storytellers and hands-on projects for kids, street theater, live music, and a delicious variety of food, beer and wine. With more than 60,000+ festival-goers over the weekend

Williamston Library
Saturday, Sept. 27 11:00am
201 School Street Williamston, Michigan 48895
517.655.1191 FAX 517.655.5243
 Chef Eric Villegas, the funny, energetic host of the national PBS cooking show Fork in the Road, will treat you to some delicious dishes from his award-winning cookbook of the same name. He will also share entertaining stories from his travels across Michigan. Books will be available for sale and signing. Registration is required by calling the libraries below. Held in the Senior Center, the room above the library. Registration is required by calling (517) 655-1191.

The Capital Area District Library serves most of Ingham County except the City of East Lansing. CADL operates thirteen libraries and a bookmobile, which stops throughout the County. All of these locations share resources and provide residents of each community with access to all materials and services offered by CADL.