Ever wonder if its possible to shop exclusively at farmers’ markets and eat nutritiously? Deliciously? The answer is yes, and Joanne Neft and Laura Kenny are making it easy for you. The duo spent every Monday night in 2009 hosting dinner parties where they treated guests to dishes prepared with local, seasonal ingredients purchased at farmers’ markets in Placer County. They recorded the menus they created and compiled them into a book with 360 recipes. "Placer County Real Food: Recipes and Menus for Every Week of the Year” is the finished product and Neft and Kenny were at Grange Restaurant and Bar Wednesday night signing copies, meeting readers and foodies, and eating. The $45, four-

With more than 10 local farmer's markets open weekly starting this month, it's difficult to navigate all the options and choose something you can easily prepare. Enter Michael Tuohy, Grange Restaurant's executive chef and leading proponent of the Slow Food Movement, whose mission is to "understand the importance of caring where their food comes from, who makes it and how it’s made," according to its website. Tuohy holds a weekly "Follow the Chef" lunch at the Grange, located on the corner of 10th and J streets inside the Citizen Hotel. At 11 a.m. every Wednesday between May and October, he meets with a group of 15 people or less at the Grange and leads them through a tour of the farmer's

Slow Food Sacramento presents its third annual Fall Harvest Dinner on Monday.  Chef Patrick Mulvaney, of Mulvaney's B&L restaurant, has created a special fall foods menu.  All of the food is grown and cultivated locally. About 120 people are expected to attend, and the previous two years sold out, said Melinda Beer, Slow Food event coordinator. "It will be held in a brick building next to Mulvaney's restaurant," she said. "The space is urban looking, with concrete floors, long tables and brick.  The front also opens up, which is European-style." The event is hosted by Slow Food Sacramento.  Slow Food, a nonprofit that was created in 1989, has members all over the world.  It was founded

Whether you've got drip-irrigated corn in the front yard or just some potted mint on top of the fridge, the Common Table agriculture festival has something for you. Slow Food Sacramento, the local chapter of the worldwide food community Slow Food, is offering city residents the chance to spend this Saturday getting green at their first AgFest workshop series, called the Common Table. Saturday's AgFest is taking place on the Sacramento's first Urban Ag Day. The Sacramento City Council recently adopted a resolution to make July 11 an annual citywide celebration of local gardening. Starting at 8:30 AM, AgFest activities include lectures on how to grow and manage food crops at home, tours o

The Arden Dimick Library open book club has announced a fall theme for foodies – reading about eating, cooking and sharing food. Recent slow food events in Sacramento have illustrated the region’s deep interest in sustainable food issues. Michael Pollan’s California Lectures event sold out. The Crest Theater continues to be pestered by callers looking for opening night of sustainable food documentary Food Inc. Local foodie websites like Vanilla Garlic and Poor Girl Eats Well garner huge audiences and serious praise. With that in mind, this summer may be the perfect time to read about food, preparing you to take part in the book club discussions this fall. September 20, the club will discu

Backyard chickens. Frontyard gardens. Crop swaps. Fruit gleaning. The Good Food Movement, or movement towards a sustainable food and food production, is growing in Sacramento. And residents are seizing on the City's soils and politics to make Sacramento a living laboratory for a new wave of urban agriculture. "Urban agriculture is providing the forum for a larger social discussion," said Jennifer Lee of EAT Sacramento in an email. "Sacramentans increasingly understand that how we eat and how we grow has profound implications for our health, our communities and our environment." On July 11th, these efforts will culminate in Urban Ag Day.  Participants will have an opportunity to ride thei