Raise a paw for pets

9/14/2013

If there are two things that people in this town love, they are food and pets — not necessarily in that order.

The two will come together in a big way on Saturday at a mega-event to benefit the Toledo Area Humane Society. The Paw-Villion Celebrity Chef Event (you knew there was going to be an animal-related pun in there somewhere, didn’t you?) will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the home of Allan and Susan Allan Block in Sylvania Township. Allan Block is chairman of Block Communications, Inc., parent company of The Blade.

The food part of the event will come courtesy of celebrity chef Susan Feniger, who grew up in Toledo and Ottawa Hills. Ms. Feniger, long a favorite of viewers of the Food Network (she and her business partner Mary Sue Milliken, who are collectively known as the Too Hot Tamales, shot nearly 400 episodes for the network), co-owns several restaurants and a food truck in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Earlier this year, the two were given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Restaurant Association.

Ms. Feniger will be cooking a gourmet meal for the event, and will also talk about her love for animals. It is that passion that brings her back to town, to raise money for the Humane Society. Money will also be raised through a mini-auction of just one item: a 14k white gold diamond “paw-vee” charm in the form of a dog bone.

The cost for the evening is $250, with $150 of that being tax-deductible. To learn if reservations are still available, call 419-482-7101.

Chocolate vote

Is Stella Leona chocolate the best chocolate you have ever had?

More to the point, are the hand-crafted chocolates — made in Pettisville, Ohio — the best American-made food in the country?

Now is your chance to take a stand. The delicious chocolates from the tiny town are competing in the Martha Stewart American Made contest against 316 other businesses in the food category. The finalists for the award are being chosen by you, the public, in online voting. You can vote up to six times per day through next Sunday, Sept. 22, and every vote counts. The top six candidates move to the final round of voting, and at the moment Stella Leona is in eighth place.

Votes may be cast at www.marthastewart.com/americanmade/nominee/82415. All the nominees at all the categories are listed at www.marthastewart.com/americanmade/nominees. Don’t forget also to look for Reincarnations, a Fostoria company that makes painted furniture, in the craft category.

Mosel proposal

Constantin Richter’s family has owned the Max Ferd Richter Vineyards in Germany since 1680. That’s 1680.

The 10th generation vintner (that’s 10th generation) will share his wines and his accumulated knowledge at a special wine tasting Sept. 23 at the Walt Churchill’s Market in Monclova Township, 3320 Briarfield Blvd.

The vineyard, located in the wine-rich Mosel Valley, specializes in hand-harvested grapes that are grown with natural fertilizers. It produces Rieslings, both sweet and dry, and examples of each will be offered at the tasting.

The cost is $20, and reservations are not needed. The tasting will begin at 6 p.m.

For more information, call 419-794-4000.

Food/health

We hear it over and over: Eat local. Eat fresh.

But apparently we can’t hear it enough.

For its next class in healthy living, the local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation will discuss how to eat local foods on a budget. These are healthy local foods they are talking about — after all, Dum-Dums are local, and while they are definitely delicious and contain only 26 calories apiece (and no fat), they aren’t exactly good for you.

Where were we? Oh yes, the Weston A. Price Foundation, which promotes the consumption of whole foods and animal fats as the keys to good health. Their next class will give tips for taking local produce and turning it into nourishing meals, complete with tastings. It will be Sept. 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Fellowship Chapel at the Grace Lutheran Church, 4441 Monroe St.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome. To register, call 419-320-2309.

Items for Morsels should be submitted up to two weeks before an event at food@theblade.com.