"ShareOurStrength" news and stories

Barbecue ribs. Photo: biskuit, Flickr.

Oktoberfests are ubiquitous this month. For those not interested in the chug-a-thons and oompah bands, check out this list of alternative options.

Dixon Lambtown USA, Dixon, Calif., Oct. 3: Break out the mint jelly! Attendees can participate in such culinary slugfests as the National Lamb Ribs Eating Contest and Barbecue Cook-Off, not to mention a shearing competition and sheepdog trials. For the kiddies, there's Mutton Bustin' -- a buckin' bronco bruising of the woolly kind.

The Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival, New York, Oct. 8-11: Hosted by and benefiting the Food Bank for New York City and Share Our Strength, this festival brings the toque and the home cook together. Everyone from sous chefs to casserole queens can attend wine seminars, recipe-creation panels and cooking demonstrations. For the kiddie cook, check out the Kids Get Cooking! series. Your favorite celebrity TV chefs will be there, en masse, including Ming Tsai, Paula Deen, Rachael Ray and Anthony Bourdain, as well as culinary heavyweights such as Sue Torres, Marcus Samuelsson, Odette Fada, Daniel Boulud and David Chang.

Bratwurst. Photo: Keaggy.com.

A few of the best stories spied elsewhere on the Web this week:

Grillwalkers are the newest street-food trend in Germany. Vendors with propane canisters strapped to their backs and grills suspended from their necks sell freshly grilled sausages to passersby.

U.K. man finds an apple that's perfectly split, half green and half red. Experts say that the odds of finding an apple with such perfect symmetry are more than 1 million to one.

Nationwide, restaurants participate in Share Our Strength's Great American Dine Out to benefit child hunger through Sep. 27.

Someone left a bacon bookmark in a U.K. library book; it was found by a librarian/artist who added it to his collection of quirky items left in returned books.

Coming to an office near you: Del Monte has a new line of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables specifically designed to work in vending machines.

Apologies to anyone dining in a marquee New York restaurant on Wednesday night -- we were hogging all your chefs and a restaurateur or 10 over at the Roseland Ballroom. And no, we won't apologize; it was all for a great cause.

Since 1988, the Share Our Strength organization has drawn together chefs, mixologists, volunteers and food fans in cities around the United States for Taste of the Nation events benefiting local food assistance organizations via funds generated by ticket sales, sponsorships and silent auctions. New York City's 2009 installment featured small-plate fare from more than 50 eateries and chefs, including newly minted James Beard Award winner Dan Barber's Blue Hill, Danny Meyer's entire armada of restaurants and the revitalized Oak Room as well as generously poured tipples from the likes of Audrey Saunders, Tony Abou-Ganim, Jim Meehan and many (many ... so, so, many ... ) more.

After the jump, read more about celeb spotting, volunteer opportunities and the best bite we had all night.

As we talk about the joys of holiday baking and plans for the annual Christmas Eve buffet, it's important to remember that in the midst of our abundance, there are many children who are going hungry each day (one out of every six, to be exact).

Food blogger Carol Blymire, of Alinea at Home (previously of French Laundry at Home), is working with Share Our Strength this year (as she has in past years) to raise funds to feed these hungry kids. Just a few dollars can make a huge difference in the life of a child. Here's what Carol has to say about the campaign this year.

I work with Share Our Strength all year long, but I wanted to do a special campaign on this blog this holiday season and I've sweetened the pot, so to speak. We've created a dedicated Alinea at Home Share Our Strength campaign, and if you click on that page and make a donation, you'll be entered to win some really cool prizes -- the wonderful team at Alinea is donating five Alinea cookbooks, and my friends at Workman/Artisan have donated two copies of Thomas Keller's new sous vide book, Under Pressure.

So if you feel moved, make a donation. You'll be doing a good deed and giving yourself a chance at winning one of two cool cookbooks.

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