San Diego Foodstuff Miscellany: The Bread and Cheese Edition

• Share Our Strenth’s Great American Bake Sale. Childhood hunger in America is a travesty—but we can do something about it! Share Our Strength is holding its fourth Great American Bake Sale this summer to raise money for local organizations that work to increase participation by low-income children in summer and after-school feeding programs. The funds also support nutrition education programs for low-income families.

How does it work? Mobilize your community to hold a bake sale—you and your kids know how to do that! Go to www.greatamericanbakesale.org to get more information and register your sale. They’ll send you a poster and tips for your sale. Then after you’ve had your bake sale send the money you raised to:

Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale
P.O. Box 75203
Baltimore, MD 21275-5203

If you’d just like to donate to the cause, send a check to the same address or call l (800) 761-4227.

• From Aniata to Venissimo. Hats off to Martyna and Bob Stonebrook for bringing back cheese to San Diego in 2001. Aniata Cheese Co. has been a wonderful addition to the region’s culinary repertoire. The Stonebrooks just announced that they’ve sold the shop in Del Mar's Flower Hill Mall to Gina and Roger Freize of Venissimo Cheese in Mission Hills so they can become wholesaler/distributors (known, of course, as Aniata Cheese Co.). So, effective Sept. 1, we now have a small chain of cheese shops in San Diego.

According to Gina, “This just really brings us one step closer to realizing our vision: to share the goodness and glory of cheese while building the brightest cheese retailer in the world! (Baby steps, right?) The beauty of this deal is that Aniata wanted to build its wholesale business, so now we can be assured of getting the world's greatest cheeses from them. It's such a great partnership...”

What’s next? Fingers crossed, downtown San Diego. Gina and Roger have their eyes on you for a third shop.

• Celebrate the Craft. Head over to the Lodge at Torrey Pines Sept. 20 to 23 for a weekend celebration of regionally grown ingredients, innovative cooking and winemaking—plus a little art on the side. Celebrate the Craft is in its fourth year of feting great food artisans in California, and this year has added “The Torrey Pines Plein Air Invitational” to showcase open air painters and their take on the landscape of the Torrey Pines State Reserve.

This year’s events will include a Saturday picnic in the park to watch the Plein Air artists do their thing, a Saturday night reception and art auction, a Sunday afternoon picnic with food stations to sample products and a Sunday evening family-style supper featuring dishes prepared with local ingredients.

Go to www.celebratethecraft.com for more information and to buy tickets.

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