Early bird tickets NOW ON SALE! Four years ago, two new events were in the planning stage: edible Upcountry's Upstate Food Hub and SCOOL's SC Organic Growing Conference.  This past spring, when the Organic Growing Conference landed at Greenville Tech's Culinary Institute of the Carolinas, Upstate Food Hub's home for the last three years, the conversation began about how to achieve synergy between the two events - and CULTIVATE was born.  

Debuting in 2015, this -now- three-day event offers a full Saturday of classes and hands-on workshops focused on organic and sustainable growing techniques; a Sunday afternoon of seasonally and sustainably-minded cooking classes, taught by the chefs at the Institute; and a Monday afternoon of business-to-business networking for food producers, food buyers, and institutional and government representatives, followed by edible Upcountry's now-famous all-local happy hour. Tickets are available for each day individually, or discounted rates for multiple days. www.upstatecultivate.com

While Renegade Vittles might sound like a biker gang, it is actually something much cooler. The Upstate's first underground supper club has been surprising adventurous diners with pop-up dinners for just over a year now and are set to close out 2014 with one more meal. 

How does an underground supper club work? Guests buy tickets for a dinner event that has no public menu that will be served at a secret location. The only advertised information is who the chefs are but, given the quality of the chefs involved, that is all any of us really need to know. 

On Monday, December 8 Renegade Vittles presents "A Winter's Tale" featuring chefs Joe Clarke (American Grocery) and Justin Burdett (Ruka's Table). Tickets are limited and can be purchased here. 

For more information, well, buy a ticket and go see for yourself...

John Byce is a man of many hats. In addition to being a frequent contributor to edible Upcountry and the drummer of the band The Excons, he is also an expert on all things cheese. Pairings, specifically, are his forte and next week he will host a beer and cheese pairing at Quest Brewing Company. 

Join John as he explores the art of cheese making and how to pair different cheeses with craft beers. He will pick five of Quest's brews to accompany five cheeses for an evening that guarantees to be nothing short of delicious. 

The event is happening next Tuesday at 6:30 in Quest's tasting room. Tickets are $20 and spots are limited so reserve yours now by emailing Don@Questbrewing.com.

Now that Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are all behind us, we are free to shop when, where and how we want without first looking at a calendar. Naturally, we think you should shop local all year long so consider these local markets to support local farmers, craftsmen and artisans as you get ready for the holidays.

For book lovers, the smell of a good used bookstore can be as captivating as the scent of your favorite meal cooking in grandma's kitchen. With that in mind, we were thrilled when we visited BookQuest in Fountain Inn and walked out with this gem - a first edition copy of The Armchair James Beard. This is a great book for readers and eaters alike, and is full of recipes we cannot wait to make ourselves. 

In the spirit of the season when we cannot get enough delicious, baked treats, let's start with Beard's shortbread recipe...

Ingredients

Preparation

Makes 18 cookies.

Apples, beets, broccoli, herbs, leeks, mixed leafy greens (collard, kale, mustard, turnip, arugula), pecans, radishes, scallions, sweet potatoes and carrots

- Erma Bombeck