Category: events

Date: Wednesday, March 14th, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Habitat Suites Conference Room, 500 East Highland Mall Boulevard  Austin, TX 78752
RSVP: Please email Chelsea Staires at chelsea@slowfoodaustin.org

We know you love Austin’s delicious and thought-provoking trailer food movement as much as we do.  So we invite you to join us as Tiffany Harelik, founder of Austin’s wildly popular Gypsy Picnic and the force behind The Trailer Food Diaries (one of Culture Map’s Favorite Austin Food Blogs) and TFD cookbooks, talks with us about what’s keeping the trailer food movement rolling on full force.  This Slow Session will include discussion on:

• What’s happening with the food trailer phenomenon in Austin and across the US
• What it takes to open and run a food trailer
• How trailer food is different than restaurant food
• How trailer food is actually Slow Food!

About Tiffany Harelik:
The dynamic 4th generation Austinite and Trailer Food guru Tiffany Harelik offers a fun blend of professional enthusiasm and sexy hometown charm that the broader foodie & locavore audiences will find both humorous and interesting. With her Masters’ degree in Health Psychology, and a passion for sustainable health and green living, Tiffany is a strong advocate in eating locally, minimizing negative environmental impact and leaving the camp site a little better place than when she set up the tent. She has been engaged in a number of visionary projects and enjoys yoga, biking and playing with her foster dogs from the Heart of Texas Labrador Rescue. She also loves equestrian sports, cooking for friends, traveling and writing.

Tiffany is inspired by her great-grandfather Haskell Harelik who came to the states as a Russian immigrant and opened a banana food-cart in the early 1900’s. Without speaking a word of English, he pursued the American dream one penny and one banana at a time. This entrepreneurial endeavor ultimately led to opening 5 general stores in central Texas called “Harelik’s. She remains inspired by Haskell, whose ideas and work ethics allowed him to live his dreams while providing for his family and having a smile on his face even during the toughest of times.

Date: Monday December 12th 2011, 7 pm – 9 pm
Location: The Natural Epicurean Academy, 1700 S. Lamar Blvd. Suite #316, Austin, TX 78704
RSVP: anneh@slowfoodaustin.org

Join us as Hector Gonzalez, outstanding Interior Mexican cook and instructor, teaches us the fine art of masa preparation. The session will cover the culinary history of masa and tortillas; the different types of corn available in Austin and which are the best for tortilla making. Hector will also demonstrate:

• How to nixtamalize the corn and grind it using both old methods and new ones
• The basic method for making tortillas with different corns (yellow, white, blue)
• How to make other Mexican specialties using masa.

The Natural Epicurean Culinary Academy will be providing house salsa and guacamole to accompany the masa dishes made and the session will end with a raffle to give away of some of the materials used during the class. Make sure to RSVP to anneh@slowfoodaustin.org.

About Hector…

Hector González is a self-taught cook and foodie whose inspiration draws from his native country of Mexico and from the kitchens of his mother and grandmother. Hector offers insight into the preparation of long-established recipes in an ongoing quest to revise the American concept of Mexican cuisine. The classes he offers for other home chefs teach traditional recipes that have stood the test of time and continue to be enjoyed in Mexican households everyday.

Date: Monday, November 14th 2011, 7pm – 9pm
Location: Habitat Suites, 500 East Highland Mall Boulevard Austin, Texas 78752
RSVP: anneh@slowfoodaustin.org

The holidays are here and what better way to celebrate and spread the cheer than with homemade Texas cider! In this Slow Session we will learn how to make apple cider from Wes Mickel, owner of Argus Cidery and creator of Texas’ first sparkling American hard cider. In addition, Wes will also talk about Texas’ great potential for apple farming, heirloom apples, and what lies ahead for cider making here in the Lone Star State. There will also be an opportunity for those who want to place orders to purchase some of Argus Cidery’s highly acclaimed sparkling cider.

This event is free and open to everyone in the community but will fill fast. Please send an RSVP to anneh@slowfoodaustin.org.