Well, the secret's out!

Beginning on May 2, Rhode Island can boast its very own underground supper club, in a private home 10 minutes from Providence:

3 Chefs' Collective

The opening night dinner ($65 per person; 16 seats) features a menu filled with local ingredients and an adventurous spirit:

• Roasted Red Pepper & Fennel Soup with Sambucca Cream
• Jeweled Beet Carpaccio with Narragansett Creamery Goat Cheese & Orange Supremes
• 3 Little Fish | Fried with Housemade Tartar Sauce | Smoked with Apple Manchego Salad | On Toasts with a 25 Minute Egg
• Spring Lamb with a Pistachio Crust, Carrot Ginger Crème Fraiche, Wilted Watercress and Potato Rosti
• “Milk and Cookies”

Make your reservations on the 3 Chefs web site here: http://3chefscollective.weebly.com/how-to.html.

If you can't make it to the first dinner, be sure to sign up for the mailing list to find out when and where the next one will be.

Now, how cool is that?

LASAGNA FROM SCRATCH
Saturday, April 16
10 am – 2 pm
Location: Northwest Rhode Island

Guest chef Julia Shanks teaches us to make every part of a classic Italian lasagna -- the Bolognese meat and tomato sauce, the pasta, and those wonderful cheeses: fresh, creamy ricotta and softballs of mozzarella. Then, we’ll put it all together to create a lasagna you can make at home to wow your friends. The class, which meets in the log house kitchen of food blogger Lydia Walshin, founder of Drop In & Decorate, includes three hours of hands-on cooking time, plus time to sit together and enjoy our lasagna, with salad, bread and wine, for lunch.

Participation limited to 8.

$90 per person (tax-deductible contribution)
includes lunch, recipes and leftovers, if there are any!

(Note: this class is not for vegetarians or anyone allergic to cats.)

Chef Julia, who graduated from the California Culinary Academy, has cooked for (then president) Bill and Hillary Clinton while at Restaurant Nora in her native Washington, DC, and furthered her training at cooking schools in Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico and China. In 1997, Julia launched her first business, Interactive Cuisine. Through this innovative service, she provided informal cooking lessons in the comfort of the home kitchen, while preparing a gourmet three-course meal. Currently a food business consultant, Julia is a member of the Drop In & Decorate Advisory Council and is active with Share Our Strength.

Space is limited, so register early. Click on the "pay now" button to register. (You do not need to have a PayPal account in order to register.)

Please note:

1. If the class is sold out, you will be redirected to a page that tells you how to add your name to the wait list. If space becomes available -- and it's very possible that will happen -- we'll let you know as soon as possible.

2. If we have a large wait list, we'll consider adding another date, so please sign up for the wait list if you're interested.

3. No refunds, unless the class is cancelled by Drop In & Decorate. We are a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization, and we are grateful for your tax-deductible contribution. If you cannot attend, give your spot to a friend or family member, or let us offer the spot to someone on the wait list.

You'll receive a confirmation of registration, including directions to the location, by email -- not an automated process, but we promise to try and send confirmation the same day.

Please contact us at lydia@dropinanddecorate.org or 401-567-4460 if you have questions.

Come cook with us, and help support Drop In & Decorate® events all around Rhode Island.

I hope you'll hop over to the Drop In & Decorate site to learn more about our cookies-for-donation programs around the country.

Please visit The Perfect Pantry and Soup Chick, my food blogs, for recipes that use the ingredients we all keep in our pantries.

And, if you're interested in cooking classes in the Ninecooks kitchen, please email to me (lydia AT ninecooks DOT com) for more information. I'm booking classes now for February, March and April 2011.

Thanks again for stopping by.

South Boston Grows aims to improve community green space and to increase knowledge of growing edible plans, with the long-term goal of increasing access and exposure to and intake of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs among under-served populations in South Boston.

This promises to be a very fun day of planting and gardening! 

The service site is at 70 Devine Way, South Boston.

Street parking is available and the Andrew T stop is only a 5 minute walk.

RSVP by May 1 to Tony at tdellovo@ofl.org or 617-774-1326. Please call if you have questions.

What are you doing on Saturday, April 17?

(Yes, this coming Saturday!)

Check out the first National Food Bloggers Bake Sale -- part of the Great American Bake Sale -- raising money for Share Our Strength (SOS), a national organization fighting to end childhood hunger in the United States. Events are going on all around the country on the same day.

In Rhode Island, where the recent flooding has resulted in more homeless families, it's great to have a delicious way to help fight hunger.

Corn muffins, sweet potato-zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, biscotti, chocolate covered pretzels, fresh breads, whoopie pies and more!

Bake, sell or buy some tasty food -- all for a good cause.

For more info, contact Jennifer (savorthethyme AT cox DOT net).