Los Angeles Events

While I generally am a cranky bitch when it comes to crowds, one of the things I love most about L.A. is the community.  There are cultural and community events every weekend and it's often a tug of war to decide whether to attend a festival, event, meeting, opening, or stay around the farm. Also, we're so diverse here in L.A. from the smell of carne asada wafting from every carniceria to the Greek Festivals that seem to be held every month at some church or the other to the festivals for agriculture, books, countries of origin, religion,  flea markets and films -- we've got it all.

While I can't or won't always attend an event, I often wish I could tell my peeps about upcoming activities.  L.A. Ell used to do this but she isn't anymore, therefore, a prominent feature of Bluestocking Farm, the blog, will be a calendar of events.  I was thinking that I would post events on the sidebar or a new page so that those of you reading from beyond L.A. won't have to be bothered with the goings on of our fair city. Tell me what you think.

For now, here's what's going on this weekend in L.A. and surrounding areas.  Get outside! It's the first weekend of summer!!!


Saturday, June 25
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Drive on out to the Valley, NoHo in particular for the NoHo Rocking Food Truck Fest and Flea Market featuring Ta Bom, Slap Yo Mama, Komodo, Truck Norris, Da Munch Box, Waffles de Liege, The Greasy Weiner, Sweet E's and more!  You know you'll love it!! And it's for a fundraiser for Hope for PAWS animal rescue!


7:30 p.m. Gates open at Cinespia for a screening of The Warriors at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Grab your picnic dinner and your best leather vest and snuggle up next to a mausoleum for a night of New York youth gang life in the '70s.  DJ is TBA.


Sunday, June 26
10:00 a.m. Kickstands up for the June Oedipus Motorcycle Club ride. The last Sunday of every month, this 53 year old gay motorcycle club rides through the hills around Southern California. This month Ojai and Frazier Park.  It's a long one but it's going to be a beautiful weekend.


11:00 a.m. Backwards Beekeeping meeting at the new Atwater Crossing. Interested in beekeeping? Want to help protect bees? The meeting is fun and Kirk Anderson, founder of Backward Beekeeping is a quote a minute kinda guy.  Love him. Also, if you happen to know of a swarm in your area, they'll come take it away for free and give it to someone who would like to keep bees rather than exterminating it!  Call the Bee Rescue Hotline at (213) 373-1104.

1-3 p.m. Pasadena Food Swap at Orange Grove Park in South Pasadena. Diversify your pantry while meeting your friends and neighbors!

2-4 p.m. Santa Monica Food Swap at Salon Vert in Santa Monica - like a Silent Auction and a Potluck had a baby! 

Know of any other events?  Let me know and I'll add them to the list!

Swapping

So, early in April I saw a notice somewhere that GOOD Magazine was having an event in Atwater Village to celebrate the kick-off of GOOD L.A. I also learned that there would be something called a "food swap" at that event and you could bring food to swap with other people. Having recently canned about 80 jars of marmalade from my brother's mini orange orchard, I happened to have some swappable items. I brought 6 jars.

I went home with some home-baked sourdough, some other jam and a few things that I probably snacked on in the car on the way home, but ultimately, I came home inspired.

I also came home with a postcard for an event called Artisanal L.A. at the new Santa Monica Place, and Emily Ho, of the Kitchn and the L.A. Food Swap would be having a workshop. I tend not to travel over the hill during the weekend, but this was worth it, and by the end of the workshop, I had committed to a swap in the SFV (San Fernando Valley, for those of you who are not from 'round here).

Made this sign from a scrap of wood in the garage.

This past weekend was the first San Fernando Valley Food Swap, held in my living room and what a HUGE success. We had 20 people signed up and they all showed. We also had a reporter from the Eat Real Festival which is happening in Culver City this July 16-17.  Unfortunately, I'll be in the Napa/Santa Rosa area that weekend and am a little bummed that I can't make it.

I hosted it in my home and while I LOVE opening my home to people, these were primarily complete strangers! It worked out beautifully.  Everyone was very respectful and it felt kind of old-timey. Two people brought their parents and three people brought their kids. Everyone was super nice and easy going. I never felt like anyone was disappointed with the event.

To swap, people brought homemade maraschino cherries, can breads, cookies, muffins, cake pops, marinades, chocolate covered stuff, salsas and more. Also present were homegrown lemons, rosemary, and pink peppers.   Here are some photos of the items!

I still had marmalades from the Great Orange Harvest of 2011 and I had jarred about 24 cans of apricot jam from my sister's tree, not to mention the somewhat-not-as-great Loquat Harvest of 2011, I had already canned more than 120 jars of jam, marmalade and jelly.  I had also already given away about 2/3rds of it, but clearly I had more to swap.
 

As you can see from the photos, people brought samples of their wares. It was quite fun to go around and taste everything before you sign up. The marinade was delish and the Mr. tasted some before he rode off into the noonday sun and said something about "definitely getting one of those...."

Ultimately, it was a real community event, where people who wouldn't necessarily meet, came, interacted, oohed and aahed over each others offerings and went away, if I may say so, pretty happy.

I'm definitely doing it again. I may make some new guidelines for the next swap though. While I love baked goods, and really, who doesn't, I would like to have a more sustainable swap. I'm not sure how to go about it but I think I'd like to encourage people to bring more home grown/pantry or refrigerator stable items like fruit, eggs, honey, herbs, veggies, marinades, rubs, jams (of course), spices, sauces and such.We'll see...

All photos courtesy of Emily Ho and Gregory Han