Cooks Calendar

Contests

The Palladium Society’s annual Chili Cook-Off will be held from 5-8 p.m. Saturday at the S.C. State Fairgrounds. Whiskey Tango Revue will perform. The fairgrounds are at 1200 Rosewood Drive. $20 to $30, and attendees will receive beer and wine tickets as part of the admission fee. For more, visit www.historiccolumbia.org.

Who’s got the best Q? Sign up now for the first annual Smokin’ at the Farmers Market Commissioner’s Cup BBQ Cook-Off & Festival to be held March 23 and 24 at the S.C. State Farmers Market. Friday night’s competition will be “Anything Butt,” where teams will barbecue anything except pork; Saturday will feature pork butts and ribs. This is a Southern BBQ Network sanctioned event, entry fee is $150. Awards for Anything Butt, $250; Butts and/or Ribs: $1,200 first place, $600 second place, $300 third place; Grand Champion, $600; Reserve Champion, $300. Contact Jackie Moore at (803) 734-2200 or jmoore@scda.sc.gov or sbbqn.com for registration and information. The Farmers Market is located at 3483 Charleston Highway, West Columbia.

Festivals/Events/Happenings

Check it out: Food Checkout Week is a national recognition of American farmers and the low-cost, high-quality food supply they provide. It was born from an effort by S.C. Farm Bureau members to show how dollars can stretch further if they are used to buy healthy food, while also helping farmers. Columbia’s main event to highlight the week will be a celebrity Grocery Store Buggy Race to benefit the Ronald McDonald House in Columbia. Contestants (including Hannah Horne from WIS-TV, state Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers, Karen Tanner from the Ray Tanner Foundation and S.C. Farm Bureau farm women from around the state) will race grocery carts down the aisles of the Piggly Wiggly on Devine Street, filling up with as many nonperishable items as they can grab in five minutes. The contents of each cart will then be tallied up and a winner announced with all of the food going to the Ronald McDonald House kitchen. Watch the fun at 1 p.m. Thursday. .

National Pancake Day is Feb. 28. IHOP invites you to participate in the “Stacks for Good Acts” online contest that will reward one lucky winner with a year’s supply of free pancakes. Or you can sign up to receive a wake-up call from Steve Young, John Scheider, Marie Osmond, David Archuleta, Jordan Sparks, Boo Boo Stewart, Brendan Meyer or Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler then head out for a free short stack of IHOP’s famous buttermilk pancakes from 7-10 a.m. at participating IHOP restaurants. Guests will be asked to make a voluntary donation to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and other local charities. More information at IHOPPancakeDay.com

You are invited ... Taste some fabulous artisan cheeses from North Carolina paired with wines chosen by Ali Borchardt 6-8 p.m. March 9 at the offices of Nelson Mullens in Meridian Building as part of a Sustainable Midlands Membership Event. Tickets are $35 for new members, $20 for members of Sustainable Midlands or you can choose to become a Supporting Member for $100 (includes 2 tickets to the wine and cheese event plus a one year membership and Tasty Tomato Festival member perks). The Meridian Building is at 1320 Main Street, event is on the 17th floor. Purchase tickets at eventbrite.com/event/2865616135/auto

Dinner and Doughnuts. Join author and chef John Malik at Solstice Kitchen for an evening of fine dining and readings from his novel “Doughnuts for Amy.” Chef Malik and Chef Ricky Mollohan, of Solstice, will prepare a five-course meal featuring food from Malik’s novel. Book signing begins March 6 at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $49 for dinner, $25 wine pairing. Make reservations by calling Solstice Kitchen, 841-4 Sparkleberry Lane, (803) 788-6966

Become a certified BBQ judge. The Southern BBQ Network will be holding a class 9 a.m.-1 p.m. March 17 at the S.C. State Farmers Market for folks who want to become certified BBQ judges. Sign up and learn what to look for in the perfect Q. Cost, $25 and includes tastings of award-winning barbecue prepared by state champions. More information at sbbqn.com

The Annual Taste of Lake Murray, a fundraising event for the 4th of July Celebration on Lake Murray, is scheduled for March 22 at the DoubleTree Hilton, 2100 Bush River Road. Local restaurants will showcase their very best dishes and the Palmetto Grooce Party Band will play beach music and soul while you bid on getaways to popular vacation destinations. Tickets $45 per person, available at Lake Murray Visitors Center (2184 North Lake Drive), (803) 781-5940, ext. 0, or tasteoflakemurray.com

CSA sign up starts now! Pinckney’s Produce has opened up registration for the spring season that will start April 16 and end July 6. Pinckney’s Produce CSA (community supported agriculture) was started in Holly Hill by Thompson Farms and was acquired in December by Rest Park Farm of Beaufort, a fifth-generation family farm owned and managed by Urbie West. The CSA program will continue with small, medium, large and extra large shares of fresh produce from Rest Park Farm delivered to various pick-up sites in the Midlands. Information: pinckneysproduce.com, email info@pinckneysproduce.com or call (843) 321-8344

Charleston Wine + Food Festival tickets are now on sale. A food lover’s delight, explore new tastes in the Culinary Village, watch cooking demonstrations by guest chefs, check out book signings, outdoor grilling and specialized seminars March 1-4. Complete information and tickets available at charlestonwineandfood.com

Four Moons + winemaker Merry Edwards = an evening of fine food and wine. Get on the list for an evening featuring a cheese mingler, multicourse dinner with wine pairings and an opportunity to mix and mingle with pioneering winemaker Merry Edwards of California’s Merry Edwards Winery in the Russian River Valley. Tickets for the 7 p.m. March 22 event are $100 per person and can be purchased at Four Moons restaurant, located at 1145 Orangeburg Mall Circle in Orangeburg, or call (803) 531-1984.

The Central Carolina Community Foundation’s 18th Annual Food and Wine Festival’s schedule of events includes an in-home wine event featuring Domaine Serene Wines; restaurant wine dinners at Hampton Street Vineyards with Aleph Wines on March 5 and Mo Mo’s Bistro with Southern Wine & Spirits of South Carolina on March 26; and the Gala Event on April 17 at The Medallion Center. All proceeds assist the Central Carolina Community Foundation in awarding grants to nonprofit organizations in the Midlands. More information, updates and tickets at yourfoundation.org

Classes

Providence Cooks! A series of healthy cooking classes held at Providence Cafe in the hospital at 2435 Forest Drive. All classes meet 6-8 p.m., $40 per class or all three for $90, registration required. Feb. 28, Feeding the soul with Chef Frank Houston of Houston’s Low Country Grill. Call 1-877-256-5381 for information or registration.

Learn the art of cake decorating at Michaels Day, evening and weekend classes available. Tuition is $22, plus student kit ($34.99 before coupon). Daytime classes begin 1 p.m. March 1, evening classes start 7:30 p.m. March 14. Sign up at Michaels on Harbison, 244 Harbison Blvd., (803) 407-7813, or call Tara Robinson (803) 319-7217 for daytime classes or Kim Andrysczyk (803) 781-3510 for evening classes.

Chef Francois Fisera hosts cooking classes at Fleur de Lys Home Culinary Institute. Friday, crackling salmon with black truffle; Feb. 24 and 25, Provencal lobster; March 8 and 9, Belgian mussel stew; March 13, 16, 17; shrimp & lobster risotto and pear chutney; March 20, 23, glazed Edisto shrimp and poached pears; March 27, 30, 31, fillet of beef with foie gras and black truffle sauce. Fleur de Lys is at 3001 Millwood Ave. (803) 765-9999 or fleur-de-lys.us

Let’s Cook Culinary Studio events: Friday, couples seafood; Feb. 28, Wild Women; March 2, tapas; March 5, Good Food Made Simple (Mexican); March 8, Italian supper; March 9, couples pasta; March 10, shop and cook with Chef Bertrand Gilli; March 15, Mongolian hot pot; March 16, couples cook Irish food; March 20, Wild Women; March 22, dim sum. Detailed listings at letscookculinary.com. Let’s Cook is at 1305 Assembly St. (803) 348-5874

McCutchen House on the USC Horseshoe. See complete schedule and sign up for classes at http://webapps.csg.sc.edu/McCutchen.