You can tell a lot about a person by their hands. Randii MacNear’s hands have touched a lot of California produce since first shopping at the Davis Farmers Market in 1976. One of the most recent projects she has touched has gained national recognition — The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook: Tasting California’s Small Farms. It is difficult to choose a favorite recipe, MacNear says. “The concept of the cookbook is really that you don’t have to change the types of things you eat…you just have to change what you put in them,” she said.  MacNear's favorite recipe in the cookbook is the heirloom tomato watermelon salad, though the barbeque short ribs and berry pie recipes are also very deliciou

Did you miss Saturday, Jan. 26’s Vegfest at the Fusion International Arts Center? Unseen Heroes organized the 2,500-person event, which included 32 food, farm and vegan beer vendors. Attendees also enjoyed a plethora of demonstrations about health and wellness. Maritz Davis from Unseen Heroes shared some of the challenges of offering twice as much food as last year’s event. “This year, fortunately and unfortunately a lot of people sold out. Lucky for us Plum Cafe and Mama Kim’s were able to go back to their restaurants and bring food for another round.” Ron Russell from the Plum Cafe said they originally brought 240 portions of chili to the event. After going back twice to the restauran

For the first time since Dine Downtown began eight years ago in Sacramento, Calif., Ella Dining Room and Bar will offer an all-vegetarian menu for hungry foodies. What about the protein, omnivores may ask? Mike Thiemann, Ella’s executive chef, shared some of the challenges of preparing a vegetable-centric menu. “It’s not about going against the grain or trying to be vegetarian or vegan; it’s taking the challenge in front of us and doing the best you can, and it just so happens that it ends up being all vegetarian.” There has been a lot of talk recently about how Sacramento is the Farm-to-Fork Capital of the nation. For the next 10 days, hungry patrons can sample a variety of fresh prod

Who wouldn’t like to eat from some of the best restaurants in the downtown area for $30? Next month between Jan. 9 and Jan. 18, lovers of food can sample specially created three-course menus from at least 25 local restaurant favorites like Ella Dining Room, Tuli Bistro and Ten22. Recently opened hot spots like The Porch and Blackbird Kitchen and Bar will also be part of the lineup. What can people look forward to eating next month at Blackbird? Head chef of Blackbird, Carina Lampkin, has put a lot of thought into the roots of Sacramento and its development from a pirate village into what it is today. She plans on the menu for Dine Downtown to be a “study of our past and to make referenc

Fear and fortune are the themes for this year’s Sacramento Film & Music Festival. The Sacramento Film & Music Festival opens at the Crest Theatre on Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 6:30 in the evening. 21 teams of local filmmakers gathered at the Crest Theatre on Aug. 2 to pick the phobia and fortune their original short film would be based on. They had 10 days to write, shoot and edit the films for the Sacramento Film & Music Festival’s 10 x 10 film competition. When asked how the 10 x 10 film competition provides a forum for local creativity, Nathan Schemel, co-organizer for the festival, explained that it will “elevate the level of everyone in town.” “If you tell people to make things, they