Cooking

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Sitka Kitch to host Winter Baking Series: Challah With Robin Sherman class on Feb. 19

Learn how to make challah in the third class of the new Winter Baking Series at the Sitka Kitch. The Challah With Robin Sherman class takes place from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at the Sitka Kitch community commercial kitchen. Please note this is an earlier starting time than our usual night classes, since challah can take three hours to make.

Robin Sherman grew up in New York City and started baking as a kid. She is enthusiastically pro-gluten and enjoys exploring new bakeries whenever she travels. Challah is a Jewish bread traditionally served on the Sabbath (when it is braided) and holidays (when it is sometimes round). White flour and eggs are required ingredients, raisins, seeds and butter are optional. Challah is soft and sweet and makes great french toast if there is any left over for breakfast. Please bring paper bags to take some challah home. Since the dough will need some time to set, attendees might want to bring dinner with them.

The registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 17. Space is limited, so register early to secure your place in the class. We need at least eight students to register and pre-pay to make this class happen. The class costs $40, which is part of our new all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on our EventSmart page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Chandler O’Connell or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment.

Current (paid) members of the Sitka Food Co-Op are now able to attend the classes for $30 each (the co-op will cover the other $10 of your class fee). Please use the Sitka Food Co-Op ticket when you register and send an email to sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com letting them know you’re in the class. (NOTE, Only one person per Co-op household may use the Co-op discount per class. Please name that person when you register so the name can be checked against the Co-op membership list.)

For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440. We do offer one potential scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, so long as we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Chandler at SCS for more details about the scholarship. This class is a fundraiser for the Sitka Kitch.

Also, the registration deadline for the fourth class in the Winter Baking Series, Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice (Take Two), is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Sitka Kitch, and is similar to the sourdough bread class Carolyn taught on Jan. 14. Details on other classes in the series will be posted as they become available.

Students should enter the Sitka Lutheran Church through the back entrance (through the alley off Harbor Drive by the old Bev’s Flowers and Gifts location). The door on the right should be open for students to enter. Please do not park in the church’s back parking lot. Please use the public parking lots off Harbor Drive.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday the week before for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $35). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

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Scenes from the Sitka Kitch’s Winter Baking Series class Bagels With Robin Sherman

Students learned how to make bagels during the second class of the Sitka Kitch‘s Winter Baking Series, Bagels With Robin Sherman, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at the Sitka Kitch rental commercial kitchen.

Robin grew up in New York City, so she enjoys a good bagel. Students learned how to make the dough, which includes barley malt syrup, flour, salt, and water. They also learned how to shape the bagels, how to boil them to set them, and then how to bake them.

The next class in the Winter Baking Series is a second Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice class, which takes place from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Sitka Kitch (note the earlier starting time than our usual evening classes). This class costs $40 ($30 for Sitka Food Co-op members who are current on their dues), and the registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22. Carolyn taught another class on baking sourdough bread on Jan. 14 to open the Winter Baking Series, and there was enough popular demand for her to teach a second class. More classes in the series will be announced as their information is finalized.

Also, the Sitka Kitch is hosting a vegetarian Indian food buffet fundraiser and silent auction from 5:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, at Beak Restaurant. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the silent auction closes at 7:30 p.m. Seating is limited for this event, so register early. The cost is $40, with all proceeds going to the Sitka Kitch to promote new classes.

A slideshow of scenes from the bagels class is posted below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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Sitka Kitch to host Winter Baking Series: Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice second class on Feb. 25 (NEW DATE)

Did you miss the the first class in the new Winter Baking Series from the Sitka Kitch? Well, it’s back by popular demand and you have a second chance to learn how to bake sourdough bread in the third class of the Winter Baking Series at the Sitka Kitch. The Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice class takes place from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Sitka Kitch community commercial kitchen. (NOTE, this date has changed from what initially was announced.) This class will be similar to the class she taught on Jan. 14 to open the Winter Baking Series.

In this class, Carolyn will teach students how to make delicious sourdough bread. With just a little bit of instructions you’ll be on your way to making your own crusty, customized loaves.

Information on future Winter Baking Series classes will be posted when it becomes available. Here is a link to some scenes from Carolyn’s first class on sourdough bread, to give you a flavor for the class.

Carolyn  is an Alaska Fellow with the Sitka Conservation Society and the USDA Forest Service. She works to publicize the hard work that goes into managing the Tongass National Forest — and how awesome it is.

Raised in a tiny town in the Colorado Rockies, Carolyn has since lived all over the American West. Now, she “kind of” hails from Portland, Ore. — but feels at home generally in kitchens and when her feet are dirty. She loves to make sourdough bread, run, write poetry, and watch sunsets.

The registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22. Space is limited, so register early to secure your place in the class. We need at least eight students to register and pre-pay to make this class happen. The class costs $40, which is part of our new all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on our EventSmart page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title and follow instructions to register). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Chandler O’Connell or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment.

Current (paid) members of the Sitka Food Co-op are now able to attend the classes for $30 each (the co-op will cover the other $10 of your class fee). Please use the Sitka Food Co-Op ticket when you register and send an email to sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com letting them know you’re in the class. (NOTE, Only one person per Co-op household may use the Co-op discount per class. Please name that person when you register so the name can be checked against the Co-op membership list.)

For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440. We do offer one potential scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, so long as we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Chandler at SCS for more details about the scholarship. This class is a fundraiser for the Sitka Kitch.

Also, the Sitka Kitch is hosting a vegetarian Indian food buffet fundraiser and silent auction from 5:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, at Beak Restaurant. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the silent auction closes at 7:30 p.m. Seating is limited for this event, so register early. The cost is $40, with all proceeds going to the Sitka Kitch to promote new classes.

Students should enter the Sitka Lutheran Church through the back entrance (through the alley off Harbor Drive by the old Bev’s Flowers and Gifts location). The door on the right should be open for students to enter. Please do not park in the church’s back parking lot. Please use the public parking lots off Harbor Drive.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday the week before for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $35). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

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Sitka Kitch to host vegetarian Indian food buffet dinner and silent auction fundraiser on March 18

Join us for a special fundraising buffet dinner and silent auction for the Sitka Kitch from 5:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, at Beak Restaurant.

This event will feature a variety of vegetarian Indian dishes cooked by Beak chef/owner Renée Jakaitis Trafton and her crew. In addition to the dinner, there will be a silent auction, door prizes, fun and games. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the silent auction closes at 7:30 p.m.

Renée’s tentative menu (subject to change due to ingredient availability) includes:

  • Samosas, filled with potato, peas, onion. Tamarind dipping sauce, mango or rhubarb chutney
  • Naan
  • Spiced basmati rice, cinnamon, cardamon, clove
  • Saag paneer, spinach, paneer
  • Red lentil daal
  • Chana masala, chickpeas

Seating is limited for this event, so register early. The cost is $40 per person, and the registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Monday, March 16. All proceeds benefit the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, which provides cooking and food preservation classes to Sitka residents. It also provides kitchen rentals on a limited basis for food businesses.

You can reserve your spot at this event with PayPal or a credit/debit card by going to our online registration page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com, and clicking on the event title and following the instructions from there. If you prefer to use cash or check to reserve your spot, please call Chandler or Clarice at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) or email chandler@sitkawild.org.

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Scenes from the Sitka Kitch’s Winter Baking Series class Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice

Students learned how to bake sourdough bread using a sourdough starter named Xavier during the first class of the Sitka Kitch‘s Winner Baking Series, Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at the Sitka Kitch rental commercial kitchen.

Carolyn is an Alaska Fellow working with the Sitka Conservation Society and USDA Forest Service, and her class taught how to create and feed a sourdough starter, as well as how to bake sourdough bread using a variety of bread flours. She also explained why she named her sourdough starter Xavier and why others should give their starters a name. Students were able to take home a small bit of Xavier so they could build their own sourdough starters, and they each took home a ball of bread dough to proof overnight and bake the next day.

The next class in the Winter Baking Series is Bagels With Robin Sherman, which takes place from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at the Sitka Kitch (note the earlier starting time than our usual evening classes). This class costs $40 ($30 for Sitka Food Co-op members who are current on their dues), and the registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25. More classes in the series will be announced as their information is finalized.

A slideshow of scenes from the sourdough bread class is posted below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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Sitka Kitch to host Winter Baking Series: Bagels With Robin Sherman class on Jan. 28

Learn how to make bagels in the second class of the new Winter Baking Series at the Sitka Kitch. The Bagels With Robin Sherman class takes place from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at the Sitka Kitch community commercial kitchen. Please note this is an earlier starting time than our usual night classes, since bagels can take three hours to make.

Robin Sherman grew up in New York City and started baking as a kid. She is enthusiastically pro-gluten and enjoys exploring new bakeries whenever she travels. Warning: she has strong opinions about appropriate flavors and ingredients for bagels. Fruit does not even belong in the same sentence with this authentically chewy, round, boiled New York bread specialty.

The registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25. Space is limited, so register early to secure your place in the class. We need at least eight students to register and pre-pay to make this class happen. The class costs $40, which is part of our new all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on our EventSmart page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Chandler O’Connell or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment.

Current (paid) members of the Sitka Food Co-op are now able to attend the classes for $30 each (the co-op will cover the other $10 of your class fee). Please use the Sitka Food Co-Op ticket when you register and send an email to sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com letting them know you’re in the class.

For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440. We do offer one potential scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, so long as we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Chandler at SCS for more details about the scholarship. This class is a fundraiser for the Sitka Kitch.

Also, the registration deadline for the first class  in the Winter Baking Series, Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice, is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11. The sourdough bread class takes place from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at the Sitka Kitch. Details on other classes in the series will be posted as they become available.

Students should enter the Sitka Lutheran Church through the back entrance (through the alley off Harbor Drive by the old Bev’s Flowers and Gifts location). The door on the right should be open for students to enter. Please do not park in the church’s back parking lot. Please use the public parking lots off Harbor Drive.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday the week before for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $35). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

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Check out the January 2020 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

Happy New Year. The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the January 2020 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short articles about the Pick.Click.Give. program opening on Wednesday, hiring a new Sitka Farmers Market manager for the 2020 summer, a new fundraiser to help build a high tunnel at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, an invitation to join our board of directors, and an update about our 2020 sponsorship program. Each story has links to our website for more information.

You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the newsletter image in the right column of our website and filling in the information. If you received a copy but didn’t want one, there is a link at the bottom of the newsletter so you can unsubscribe. Our intention is to get the word out about upcoming events and not to spam people. We will protect your privacy by not sharing our email list with others. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, like our Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).

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Wednesday’s the day to start filing your 2020 PFD applications with Pick.Click.Give. donations

As 2019 draws to a close, many Alaskans already are thinking about applying for their 2020 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend check in January. As usual, Alaskans can share their wealth with a variety of Alaska nonprofits, including the Sitka Local Foods Network, through the PFD’s Pick.Click.Give. program.

This is the sixth year the Sitka Local Foods Network will participate in the Pick.Click.Give. program, which allows people to donate in $25 increments to their favorite statewide and local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations when they file their PFD applications from Jan. 1 through March 31.

When you choose to donate part of your PFD to the Sitka Local Foods Network, you support the Sitka Farmers Market, St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm, education programs about growing and preserving food, the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, Sitka Community Gardens, matching dollars at the Sitka Farmers Market for SNAP/WIC beneficiaries, the sustainable use of traditional foods, the Sitka Community Food Assessment, the Sitka Food Summit, and a variety of other projects designed to increase access to healthy local foods in Sitka. We recently launched the Sitka Food Business Innovation Contest to try and inspire entrepreneurs in Sitka to work more with local foods.

In 2019 Alaskans contributed $2.9 million to 627 Alaska nonprofit organizations, and more than $24.0 million has been donated since the program started in 2009. Some Alaskans choose to donate to just one group, while others may spread several donations around to many groups. There now are  622 total 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations participating in Pick.Click.Give. for 2020 (including multi-location nonprofits), including 20 from Sitka. In 2019, Alaskans donated $39,800 to Sitka-based nonprofits, up from $33,925 in 2018.

So how do you make a donation to the Sitka Local Foods Network through the Pick.Click.Give. program? First, starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 1, go fill out your Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend application at http://pfd.alaska.gov/. When you get to the section of the application asking if you want to participate in Pick.Click.Give. Charitable Contributions program, click on the PCG link and search for the Sitka Local Foods Network. You also can look for us by using the town search for Sitka.

The Pick.Click.Give. program is available only to people who file their PFD applications online, and not to those who file by mail. Even though you can’t file a new PFD application after March 31, you can go back into your application and update your Pick.Click.Give. donations through Aug. 31 each year. (NOTE, this year the Alaska PFD will be released on July 1, and the last day to update your PCG donations has been moved to June 17. While the Sitka Local Foods Network appreciates your donations, we understand many families are hurting this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. If you need to delete your donation to feed your family, we’d rather you do that. If you want to make an extra donation to help improve food security in Sitka and Southeast Alaska, we appreciate the donation. Thanks for your thoughts.)

You still can donate to the Sitka Local Foods Network if you aren’t from Alaska or aren’t eligible for a 2020 PFD. To donate, send your check to the Sitka Local Foods Network, 408-D Marine St., Sitka, Alaska, 99835. You also can donate online by going to our online fundraising page on MightyCause.com, and clicking the Donate button to make an online contribution. You also can send in a check or make an online donation if you are trying to make nonprofit donations before the end of the 2019 tax year. We also have an end-of-2019 fundraiser on Facebook, and we just launched a GoFundMe Charity fundraiser to pay for a new high tunnel so we can grow more fresh, local produce at St. Peter’s Fellowship Farm to sell at the Sitka Farmers Market and other events. Please let us know if you need a receipt for tax purposes. For more information about donating, you can send an email to sitkalocalfoodsnetwork@gmail.com.

Thank you for supporting our mission of promoting and encouraging the growing, harvesting and eating of local foods in Sitka and Southeast Alaska.

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Sitka Kitch to offer Winter Baking Series: Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice class on Jan. 14

Learn how to bake sourdough bread in the first class of the new Winter Baking Series at the Sitka Kitch. The Sourdough Bread With Carolyn Rice class takes place from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at the Sitka Kitch community commercial kitchen.

In this class, Carolyn will teach students how to make delicious sourdough bread. With just a little bit of instructions you’ll be on your way to making your own crusty, customized loaves.

Information on future Winter Baking Series classes will be posted when it becomes available.

Carolyn  is an Alaska Fellow with the Sitka Conservation Society and the USDA Forest Service. She works to publicize the hard work that goes into managing the Tongass National Forest — and how awesome it is.

Raised in a tiny town in the Colorado Rockies, Carolyn has since lived all over the American West. Now, she “kind of” hails from Portland, Ore. — but feels at home generally in kitchens and when her feet are dirty. She loves to make sourdough bread, run, write poetry, and watch sunsets.

The registration deadline is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11. Space is limited, so register early to secure your place in the class. We need at least eight students to register and pre-pay to make this class happen. The class costs $40, which is part of our new all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on our EventSmart page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Chandler O’Connell or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment.

Current (paid) members of the Sitka Food Co-op are now able to attend the classes for $30 each (the co-op will cover the other $10 of your class fee). Please use the Sitka Food Co-Op ticket when you register and send an email to sitkafoodcoop@gmail.com letting them know you’re in the class.

For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440. We do offer one potential scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, so long as we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Chandler at SCS for more details about the scholarship. This class is a fundraiser for the Sitka Kitch.

Students should enter the Sitka Lutheran Church through the back entrance (through the alley off Harbor Drive by the old Bev’s Flowers and Gifts location). The door on the right should be open for students to enter. Please do not park in the church’s back parking lot. Please use the public parking lots off Harbor Drive.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday the week before for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $35). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service offers Certified Food Protection Manager class by videoconference Feb. 18 in Sitka

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service will teach a certified food protection manager workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 18. This is an all-day statewide class that will be offered by videoconferencing to Fairbanks, Palmer, Juneau, Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Valdez, and Sitka, plus other locations that may arrange for the class.

A certified food protection manager (CFPM) is responsible for monitoring and managing all food establishment operations to ensure that the facility is operating in compliance with food establishment regulations.

A CFPM is knowledgeable about food safety practices and uses this knowledge to provide consumers with safe food, protect public health and prevent food-borne illnesses. Alaska regulations require food establishments to have at least one CFPM on staff.

This course takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with a half-hour lunch), and participants will take a computer-based exam at the end of the class. The reason the deadline is two weeks before the class is to guarantee course materials reach all the students in time for the class. The cost is $200, and the course will be taught by Julie Cascio of Palmer. Students can register here, and the registration deadline is Tuesday, Feb. 4.

The Sitka videoconference for the class will take place in a room TBA at the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus. To learn more, contact Jasmine Shaw at the Sitka District Office of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service at 747-9440, or contact Julie Cascio at (907) 745-3677 (Palmer number) or jmcascio@alaska.edu. Note, this class is taught in English but textbooks are available in Korean, Chinese and Spanish, just contact Julie at least three weeks before the class.

Also, the ServSafe book ($70) and certification exam ($75) now are available online, if people want to order the book and study independently without taking the class. Just go to this website and purchase the book and exam items.