We're going on a Macaron Hunt

Today was some sort of official Macaron Day. There seems to be an official day for everything now. I need to keep a special calendar full of all the important official days. Somehow I keep missing International Nutella Day, and that's just wrong!

Anyway, today was Macaron Day NYC and from what I've read online, patisseries throughout New York handed out free macarons to customers all day. Now, we don't live in New York (boo!) and it seems that this special day was only celebrated there, but macarons are pretty damn tasty so we just had to join in the festivities. Unofficially.

So, this afternoon after school we met up with a few friends and went on a macaron treasure hunt, visiting four local stores that sell macarons: Masse's Pastries, Virginia Bakery, Paris Baguette and Cafe Clem. To make it feel more like a treasure hunt I made up a simple map for the kids to follow. It's a good thing that three of these stores are on the one street, and the fourth is just down a side street. My map only needed two lines!

Berkeley Dine Out For an Edible Education

We're lucky here in Berkeley that we have so many fabulous restaurants, cafes, bakeries, farmers markets and take out places to eat at.

While dining out in Berkeley always means that you're in store for something delicious, today dining out in Berkeley also means you're helping out thousands of students throughout Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD).

At present fourteen schools (from pre-K through to high school) across BUSD receive federal funding to support Berkeley's well known Edible Schoolyard program. The Edible Schoolyard program provides children in public schools the opportunity to learn about food and nutrition by growing and cooking fruits and vegetables themselves. It's an important program and one that is at risk of being lost.

As of this October, BUSD will be losing all of its federal funding (approximately $1.9million) to run the Edible Schoolyard program. Without this funding the program can not continue to operate.

For today only a large number of Berkeley's restaurants, cafes, bakeries, pizzerias, take out joints and coffee spots will be taking part in Berkeley Dine Out. These establishments will be donating a percentage of their sales for the day to help keep the program alive. If you're in the Bay Area please help out by dining at one of the participating eateries.

You can find out more about Berkeley Dine Out, including a full list of participating eateries, at their website: http://berkeleydineout.com

To whet your appetite here's a look at how we're helping the cause by eating around Berkeley today...

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After dropping Ava off at school Lola and I headed straight to The Cheese Board, the first on our list of Berkeley eateries to visit today. Being Thursday, it's our favourite day to visit The Cheese Board: Asiago Schtick Day! Oh how we wish they made asiago schticks everyday. They're one of favourites.

We also grabbed a copy of The Cheese Board's book "The Cheese Board Collective Works". I've been meaning to get a copy for a while and today seemed like the best time to pick one up.

Here's Lola picking out and paying for our asiago schticks.

Mmm... asiago schticks