Some of us are really excited for the Eat Real event, so excited we might even brave the 405 closure debacle & cross from East to West side. Heck, some of us who think free labor is like running in public — the horror — might even volunteer.

Here’s the official blurb, interspaced with photos from the “Preview Event”, followed by further thoughts on the festivities inspired by the Eat Real Fest Oakland:

The Eat Real Festival, the urban food extravaganza that showcases food in all its tasty forms, has just announced highlights of the lineup for the jam-packed Los Angeles event taking place at the Helms Bakery District in Culver City, CA on July 16th and 17th, 2011. Offering an extraordinary opportunity for people to celebrate not only the very best of their regional foods, but also the people who grow it and make it. Attendees will get up close and personal with their food through two days of non-stop food skills and hands on DIY demos including a “flying knives” butchery contest, an eclectic array of local food producers in the marketplace and a curated selection of delicious street eats incorporating local and sustainable ingredients all priced at $5 or less. “Eat Real takes the idea of and old-time state fair and turns it on its head,” said Anya Fernald, founder of Eat Real Festival. “For two full days, attendees can dine and sip on delicious items that highlight local, healthy and sustainable ingredients. But eating and drinking is only part of the fun. We’ll also put people in touch with their food by showing how it’s made – from making jam, sauerkraut or bread, raising backyard chickens and bees, to seeing the artistry involved in butchering a steer or pig. We celebrate the very best southern California has to offer and will activate thousands of people to demand good food, all the time.”

There is no cost for entry into the Eat Real Festival. In fact, there is no cost for any of the festival activities that includes music, workshops, demonstrations and events like the canning and butchery contests. The only cost when attending the Eat Real Festival will come from shopping in the marketplace or purchasing food from the food vendors on site. By agreeing to take part in Eat Real, vendors commit to using 1-2 local or sustainable ingredients in their food, hormone free meat and ensure that all prepared food for sale on site will be priced $5 or less. There is also space devoted to local food craft folks (cheese, charcuterie, pickles, jams, and more) and urban homesteading where attendees can learn what it takes to get in touch with your inner backyard farmer.

»continue reading Eat Real Fest LA: For The Anti-Cool July 16 – 17

Note: Please welcome Georgia into the fold. Georgia, our latest food guinea pig critic, embodies the precise elements we yearn for in a writer here at Losanjealous: namely, questionable gastronomic sensibilities and a longing for adventure. Enough chatter, on with the goods. -ed

You don’t plan on eating a bacon wrapped hot dog for dinner…you just don’t. Upon settling in to a quite night in front of the television, you don’t answer your honey’s question of “What do you feel like having for dinner?” with “Ohhh, I dunno…I’m kinda in the mood for greasy street food of questionable health code standards. What about you?”

In fact, I think it would be sacrilegious to eat a bacon wrapped hot dog (aka b-wrapped hot dog, hot dog wrapped in bacon, and “whatever is emitting that delicious smell outside [insert dive bar or music venue] after last-call”) anywhere but standing next to the cart that sold you your meat-wrapped-in-meat delicacy, or in your car.

I have found myself outside said dive bars and music venues after last call on many, many occasions. I’ve been hungry the majority of these instances, and have even uttered an audible “Mmmmm” when confronted with the smell of pig fat and onions frying in a puddle of grease. But, for reasons too numerous to list, I had never had a bacon wrapped hot dog. Not even a bite!!! Can you believe it?
»continue reading The First Bacon Wrapped Hot Dog

Daniel Hernandez has written a very informative and interesting article chronicling the daily woes of a now-legal hot dog vendor and her illegal peers over at LA Weekly. Go check it out. (via Eater)

FURTHER BACON
» Probably still my favorite Flickr group ( MSFT: please keep it after buying Yahoo – thx)
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