What: On-stage demonstration as part of Well Preserved’s Home Ec: Big Outdoor Kitchen Party
Where: Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queen’s Quay West, Toronto
When: 14 September, 11 AM – 5 PM (I’m on stage at 4 PM.)
Other Details: I will be selling (cash or credit) and signing copies of CCBC
Tickets: Free, but register here.

**UPDATE: The event has no admission fee. My bad for not clicking through all the way on the Uniiverse page.

After more than five years of food and drink blogging I’m happy to call many of my fellow scribblers friends. With a rare exception, none seem as genuinely happy to chat (intelligently) about the ideas that drive my obsessions as Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison from Well Preserved. That’s why I was thrilled when they asked me to participate in their Craft Beer Salon as part of their Home Ec event series.

I had a great time at Hi-Lo back in February so I’m even more pumped to be on the schedule of speakers of for their largest event yet. On September 14 the show is going to Harbourfront Centre, will feature food and drink from some of my favourite Ontario vendors (West Avenue Cider and Hooked to name just two), and a list of presenters that will mean I’ll spend every spare moment vigorously taking notes.

Dana and Joel are masters at planning events like these where devoted eaters and drinkers get a special chance to connect with the people who feed them. If I’ve convinced you of the event’s intrinsic value head over to the Uniiverse page to book your spot.

If not here are a few more points:

• First off, the obvious one that they’ve manged to land a really big name in the preserving community as a headliner. Marissa McClellan launched her site Food in Jars in the heyday for new food blogs in 2009. Since then she’s had two cookbooks published — Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round and Preserving by the Pint: Quick Seasonal Canning for Small Spaces from the author of Food in Jars (currently #1 in its category on Amazon) — as well as writing articles for a noteworthy list of websites and magazines.
• Unlike almost any other event of its kind (that I can think of) you’ll have a chance to purchase prepared food or ingredients to take home from many of the vendors.The list is evenly impressive so I’ll encourage you to head over and check it out rather than name a few examples.
• Harbourfront Centre has a macro brewery (Labatt) as a sponsor and they have exclusive rights to serve beer there. So, there won’t be beer, but there will be plenty of beer-related discussion. Naturally, my talk will focus on our favourite brewed beverage and Zack Weinberg from Toronto Brewing Company will also be on stage to go over the finer points of making your own beer.
• I have been interested in learning more about preserving – even before I caught the good beer bug – so, I’m happy to say that I think I have a topic picked out that will really appeal to the Home Ec crowd. The idea of taking beer and making it into vinegar buys captivating enough for me that I included three recipes for this process in The Canadian Craft Beer Cookbook. On the 14th I will expand on this idea, offer tips, and answer any questions you have. I will also be selling and signing copies of my cookbook

Hope to see many of you there and look forward to meeting some new friends-in-preserving. Once again, here is the link for purchasing booking free tickets.