June Nibbles & Sips: Cooking Classes, Farm Benefit Dinners, Food, Mood & More

Tell Them Heidi Sent You!  This  June edition of Nibbles & Sips offers lots of ways to eat and drink local this month in the guise of Hands-on Cooking Classes, Farm benefit dinners, Cocktails for Charity, South Carolina Ag and Art Tour Events and how Tom and I might lend a hand in the planning of your next Summer Soiree!

Nibbles & Sips for June 10

On the Farm Hands-On Cooking Class at Windcrest Farm Organics in Monroe, NC – Sunday June 10, 1-5 pm. Farm Tour and class $85 per person

Lots of  local on our plates in this class in the guise of great greens, herbs. lettuces, radishes, garlic and more planted and  growing in the certified organic greenhouses and grounds at Windcrest Farm in Monroe, NC.  The plan for this “On The Farm” class to celebrate the June harvest – we’ll use all that is fresh from the farm but each recipe will center around Cooking with Fresh Organic Herbs.  This fun and informative class will kick off with a 45 minute or so farm tour  as we explore the  lay of the land with farmer Mary Roberts and her hubby Ray. After the tour, we’ll head into one of the greenhouses or under a tent at the garden shed to set up a makeshift kitchen to cook with all of Windcrest’s fine local certified organic produce. 

We’ll have an appetizer and aperitif to start as we head out on our tour and then come back to create 4 fabulous courses of all local fare… In addition Mary will have plants and produce available for sale so that you can head back home and grow your own!

Cost for the class is $85 per person. Make your reservations with an email to Heidi at HLNC@carolina.rr.com 

Nibbles & Sips all month long

Smile and Say, “Cheers!”  at Heirloom Restaurant – 8470 Bellhaven Blvd Charlotte NC. Call 704.595.7710 for reservations.

I can’t tell you how delighted I am  to be a part of this clever “Drink Local” promotion from the talented team at Heirloom Restaurant on Bellhaven Blvd. in Charlotte. Chef and owner Clark Barlowe and his team asked me to be one of a half dozen or so different bloggers to collaborate with bartender Dexter Dunan to create a cocktail for the spring menu at Heirloom.

My cocktail, with proceeds to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina’s Kid Cafe programs,  is a GotToBeNC version of one of my favorites – a Sazerac made oh so rosy pink in this case with the addition of Cheerwine simple syrup, a splash of the very cool Vilgalys Brothers Beatnik liqueur, Dexter’s own homemade Anisette over ice and all topped off with Cardinal Gin!  I have to say, it is Spectacular!  Go to Heirloom for dinner soon, start with cocktails  and #TellThemHeidiSentYou and then say #IllHaveWhatHeidisHaving , its as easy as that! 

All of the proceeds from the sales of  “Heidi’s Sazerac”  will go to my charity of choice – which is the Kids’ Cafe – and in the end Heirloom will match the donation of the top selling cocktail/mocktail with a donation of their own. 

The promotion ends on July 20 – that’s  the first day of this summer’s Queen’s Feast, so hurry in and go by often!  

Stop in at Heirloom, have a drink, support your favorite blogger ( hoping that is me), a non-profit, NC distilleries, and local farms all at the same time!

Nibbles & Sips at a Carolina Farm Trust Dinner on June 13

To Benefit my friends at Dancing Bees Honey at RockSalt Charlotte located at 512 Brandywine Rd, Charlotte, NC ( behind Park Road Shopping Center)

 You all know me – I am all about supporting and singing the praises of local farmers and producers! Which is why I am so excited about this dinner to benefit my friends Robin and Jeff at Dancing Bees Honey in Monroe.

You can find Dancing Bees Honey all around town and on Saturdays you’ll find Robin and Jeff at the Matthews Community Farmers’ Market and the Farmers’ Market on Kings Drive.

On Wednesday June 13, you will also find Robin and Jeff at Rocksalt restaurant at 512 Brandywine – behind Park Road Shopping Center –  from 6:30-8:30 for a benefit dinner held by Carolina Farm Trust in honor and to benefit Dancing Bees farm.

It’s going to BEE a fabulous evening – here is the link for tickets for the dinner

And here’s your Nibbles & Sips guide to cooking local this summer…

with a series of recipes featuring local farmers from the Charlotte Regional Farmers’ Market

Four different blog posts are now up on the blog all a part of  my series of #MeatMeAtTheFarmersMarket series featuring vendors at the Charlotte Regional Farmers’ Market.

Read them all and use the social media links to share them with your friends! Enjoy the taste of Eating Local this holiday weekend and all the summer season through.

Click Here, for the post with recipes that feature local rabbit but are great with chicken, too…

Looking to put more Local Pork on Your Fork and meet the farmers at the Regional market who raise local pigs? Just click here.

Where’s the beef, you say? Its at the Charlotte Regional Farmers’ market every Saturday and I have two blog posts with great recipes to share! Simply click here and here.

Remember to Subscribe to HeidiBillottoFood and let these food and drink driven articles come directly to your inbox as soon as they post. Subscribe in the block on this page at the top of the right hand column – simply insert your email address where prompted.

Enjoy all the Nibbles & Sips every Saturday in June, as your work you way through a self-guided tour of farms and art  hosted by our neighbors just over the state line in South Carolina

The annual South Carolina Ag + Art Tour, just keeps getting bigger and better each year!  This free, self-guided tour of designated farms in South Carolina takes place each and every weekend in June and features local artisans and farms and farmer’s markets. Plan your own stops and your own schedule.  See first-hand where your food comes from, watch artists in action and purchase their works, dance to the melodies of bluegrass and folksongs, and enjoy it all every Nibble & Sip along the way.

All of the participating South Carolina farms and artisans are listed on the event website by county with links to each of the events. Start here with the map and then plan what you’d like to do and see each weekend of the tour – and don’t forget to #TellThemHeidiSentYou 

Don’t want to do it yourself, but want all of the Nibbles & Sips at your next Summer Soiree to be Spectacular?

Catering and Party Planning help is just a phone call or an email away and I can offer you a fabulous turn key service, so that all you have to worry about is enjoying your guests and your party!

I love a theme party and am always available to help with any of your catering or entertaining needs now and on into the fall and holiday season, too – never too early to get a date on the calendar.

If you really want to cook up a little food and mood, then consider adding Live Music to the mix of food and wine.

My very talented husband, Tom Billotto is a full time musician with a degree in classical guitar and voice. You can read more about all he does – and listen to music samples too on his website at TomBillottoMusic.com

Tom has a huge repertoire of Jazz standards from the 20s 30s and 40s as well as Bossa Nova/Latin, Chet Atkins, James Taylor, Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Classical Guitar and more.

Tom often appears as a solo act; but he also partners with some of the finest musicians in Charlotte to put together a duo, trio or quartet as your occasion might require.

Email either of us today for more details to get this summer’s party started. You can reach Tom at TBillotto@Gmail.com and you can reach me at HLNC@carolina.rr.com or at Heidi@HeidiCooks.com