Learning Pie Making with Sherry Yard and Evan Kleiman

Evan Kleiman started "Pie a Day" on the KCRW Good Food blog a few years ago by making a pie a day for 100 days. That took off and culminated in an annual Pie Contest where home cooks compete. Sherry Yard is one of the best pastry chefs in LA. She's put in years at Spago but is now set to open her own bakery in Culver City. The two came together to give a pie making class at Culver City's New School of Cooking recently to raise funds for KCRW.

To be precise, they're raising funds for the 5th Annual Good Food Pie Contest, which will take place on Saturday, September 7 from 2-4pm at LACMA. If you want to enter, you can sign up before September 1 on the website, and the fee is $10 per entry! There's also a Kids and Vegan category.

I don't know a thing about making pie, but I can tell you what tips I learnt from the pie class! First off, the set up is pretty nice. A glass of sparkling wine greeted us as we were seated at the tables. There's a full table setting because we're not just watching a cooking demo, but will soon be eating three delicious pies while drinking more wine!

The pie class was completely sold out, so it was a full house, but most can see what they're doing pretty clearly on the overhead mirror.

First up is Evan Kleiman making her chicken pot pie (I will post the recipe tomorrow!)

So Evan uses part butter and part duck fat for her pie dough, genius! She passed it around so we can smell it.

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LA Picnic on Sept 7, Benefiting St. Vincent Meals on Wheels + GIVEAWAY!

In my opinion, one of the best charities to support is St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, which provides hot meals to homebound seniors, and they do a lot of great fundraisers. St. Vincent MoW delivers over 4000 meals a day and only receive about $1 per meal in donation, which costs them $7 to deliver with current gas prices. That's why the fundraisers are so important!

This year, they're doing their first LA Picnic on Saturday, September 7. The event is presented by Lexus and co-hosted by LA Kitchen. Starting at 10:30 am, guest chefs will join attendees at the table for a picnic style brunch on the grass lawn of a historic hacienda at the Original Farmers Market.

Michael Voltaggio
Photo courtesy of StVMoW

The guest chefs include Michael Voltaggio (ink), Ray Garcia (FIG), Tim Guiltinan (The Raymond), Josef Centeno (Bar Ama), Vartan Abgaryan (Cliff's Edge), Neal Fraser (BLD, Redbird, Fritzi Dog), Sal Marino (Il Grano), Kris Morningstar (Ray's and Stark Bar), Christian Page (Short Order), Erik Sun (Pursuit of Food).

Tickets are $95 each or $150 for VIP tickets and can be purchased here. The VIP tickets get you the same thing as the general admission tickets, but the difference goes to feeding more seniors (20!). It's more about the good deed!

Now, to spread the word about this wonderful event, St. Vincent's Meals on Wheels has offered up a pair of tickets to one of lucky readers! To enter the event, just use the entry form below and help us spread the word!

Entry-Form

Giveaway! Tickets to California Beer Festival in San Dimas

So California Beer Festival is hitting up three different cities this year and they will be in San Dimas on Saturday, September 7 at the Frank G. Bonelli park. The brew lineup of over 60 beers on tap includes California favorites like Stone, Hangar 24, Lagunitas, Firestone Walker, Ballast Point, along with out-of-towners you can't miss including Deschutes and Goose Island.

Now. They've generously offered two pairs of general admission tickets ("Craft Beer Heaven ticket", $45 value per ticket) to give away to my readers. That could be you! And it's easy to enter. You can enter using the form below and following the instructions, and I will be drawing two winners on Sunday!

The general admission ticket ($45 online or $55 at the door) will get you admission with souvenir cup and all the beer samples, live music, and (apparently) bikini bocce ball.
Food is not included but will be available for purchase. The $70 VIP tickets will allow you to go in an hour early with a souvenir pint glass and access to reserve and specialty beers, along with a taco bar from 11:30am-1pm.

Proceeds will benefit the Gen Giammanco Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial support to student athletes to assist in their pursuit of both scholastic and athletic success in the city of San Dimas.

Good luck!

Entry-Form