Pepper Place Market opens for its ninth season this Saturday, May 3. The market is open 7 a.m.-noon each Saturday through Sept. 27 and features fruits, vegetables, flowers, honey, bread and other goods from local and regional producers. The market also features cooking demonstrations by Birmingham-area chefs as well as live music from local musicians.

Check out the cooking demonstration and live music lineups below:

Pepper Place Market 2008 Chef Demonstration Schedule

Demonstrations begin at 9 a.m. each Saturday.

May 3: daniel george - Daniel Briggs & George McMillan
May 10: John’s City Diner - Shannon Gober
May 17: The Homewood Gourmet - Franklin Biggs
May 24: A Social Affair - Jim Cobb
May 31: Grey House Grille - Shelby Adams
June 7: Satterfield’s - Haller Magee
June 14: Terrace Café - Jason Mezrano
June 28: Icon - Ben Leingang
July 5: Little Savannah - Clif Holt
July 12: Bitty’s Back Porch Catering - Kimberly Brock
July 19: Standard Bistro - Alan Martin
July 26: Culinary Institute of Virginia College - Antony Osborne
August 2: Brock’s at Ross Bridge - Joshua Towey
August 9: The Gardens Café - Nichole Keesey & Alan Bullen
August 16: Sol y Luna - Guillermo Castro
August 23: Table - Daniel Lasseter
August 30: Café Iz - Ken Barrett
September 6: Bottletree Café - Thomas Bagby
September 13: Veranda on Highland - Tom Robey
September 20: Ocean - George Reis
September 27: Chef Clayton’s Food Systems - Clayton Sherrod

Pepper Place Market 2008 Entertainment Schedule

Performances take place on both the Richard Tubb Stage and the Interiors Market Stage.

May 3: Fiddlin’ in the Parlor/Grover Sheffield
May 10: TBA/Joel Kauffman
May 17: Debbie Bond and Radiator Rick/Sonny Pritchett
May 24: TBA/TBA
May 31: Christ Episcopal Church/Mike Hipp
June 7: Wayne and Marvin/Ron Dometrovich
June 14: Fiddlin’ in the Parlor/Joel Kauffman
June 28: Debbie Bond and Radiator Rick/Grover Sheffield
July 5: Wayne and Marvin/TBA
July 12: The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame/Mike Hipp
July 19: Fiddlin’ in the Parlor/Sonny Pritchett
July 26: Donny Tomlin/Joel Kauffman
August 2: Debbie Bond and Radiator Rick/TBA
August 9: Wayne and Marvin/Ron Dometrovich
August 16: Fiddlin’ in the Parlor/Joel Kauffman
August 23: Flying Jenny/Iikah
August 30: Donny Tomlin/Sonny Pritchett
September 6: The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys/Grover Sheffield
September 13: Wayne and Marvin/Mike Hipp
September 20: Oxy Morons/Ron Dometrovich
September 27: Fiddlin’ in the Parlor/Sonny Pritchett

Popularity: 6% [?]

Get ready to kiss a few cooks. The Magic City Art Connection presents the 11th Annual Corks and Chefs event this Saturday and Sunday at Linn Park, located at 710 20th St. North. The event is part of the annual juried art festival featuring hundreds of works of art in a variety of mediums. From 1-5 p.m., guests can taste food from the 17 Birmingham-area restaurants and caterers listed below, as well as wine, beer and other beverages provided by local and national vendors. Tickets are $25 in advance; $30 at the door. Learn more by calling 595-6306 or visit www.magiccityart.com, where you’ll find information about each chef, including some of their exclusive culinary secrets.

Saturday Chef Lineup

HOT AND HOT FISH CLUB
Chris Hastings will prepare Hot and Hot shrimp and grits with country ham, tomatoes, fresh thyme and ver jus.

JOHN’S CITY DINER
Shannon Gober presents South Pacific chicken salad with peanut ginger vinaigrette.

NABEEL’S CAFE & MARKET
Alan Nelson features Greek chicken skewers with Greek baked village potatoes.

ROCK HOUSE RESTAURANT
Owner and chef Paul Casey serves marinated basil shrimp with pine nuts and herbs, Asiago and Parmesan cheese on a bed of wild herb rice with feta cheese & dun-dried tomatoes.

TABLE
Owner Brian Lewis and Chef Michael Brandon prepare braised beef short ribs, roasted garlic horseradish Yukons and Cabernet jus.

THE J. CLYDE
Owner Jerry Hartley serves up local hickory roasted pork tenderloin on soft rolls with cilantro mango salsa.

THE VERANDA
Executive Chef Thomas Robey of Commander’s Palace fame prepares smoked Muscovy duck and braised greens gumbo.

V.RICHARDS
Chef Rickey Little III features his Mediterranean seafood salad.

Sunday Chef Lineup

BELLINI
Chefs Benard Tamburello and Doug Hovanec will prepare wild mushroom risotto.

CATERING BY LA’NETTA
Chef Joannetta Jarman & Chef Levi present Moroccan lamb and steamed veggies with couscous.

CHEF CLAYTON’S FOOD SYSTEMS, INC.
Chef Clayton Sherrod plates bacon wrapped stuffed chicken breast with wilted spinach.

CONTINENTAL BAKERY & CHEZ LULU
Carol Griffin features baked French breakfast doughnuts and almond bread pudding.

FRANKLIN’S HOMEWOOD GOURMET
Chef Franklin Biggs serves tortilla Espanola accompanied by romaine salad with roasted red peppers, tapenade, croutons and Asiago cheese.

ICON RESTAURANT & BAR
Chef Ben Leingang will prepare shellfish ceviche.

OCEAN and 26
Chef George Reis will serve Ocean-Dungeness crab salad and Mussels Diable.

SOL Y LUNA/CANTINA
Chef Guillermo Castro presents pork carnitas tamal with roasted tomatilla salsa.

STANDARD BISTRO
Chef Alan Martin will prepare slow roasted pork with aioli and spicy slaw.

Popularity: 7% [?]

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT & ALWAYS HAVE BEEN: Birminghamians are obsessed with food, with eating, with cooking, with restaurants. It didn’t start with the current crop of fine-dining establishments but rather with the workaday places that brought Birmingham into being in the first place – the iron and steel manufacturers.

Way back in 1927, right around the time that the Sloss-Sheffield Iron & Steel was modernizing its methods of pig iron production, the company launched a marketing inititative called Pig Iron Rough Notes. The mini-magazine consisted mostly of metallurgical matter, but also included a recipes page called “Gentleman Cooks.” These delicious formulas are the subject of a new book titled Man Food, as well as this week’s cover story.

Elsewhere in the paper we’ve got less appetizing news: Alabama Democratic Conference Chairman Joe Reed is all for black candidates – except the one running for president. But then again what do primaries matter in the age of making playlists?

In the New Year, the living is easy, at least for J’Mel Davidson. That guy means to live right in his own inimitable style.

Popularity: 63% [?]

THE CONTENTS PAGE IS FULL OF LIES: Yep. The table of contents for Vol. 11, Issue 12 says that Kyle Whitmire’s “War on Dumb” can be found on page 4, when in fact what appeared on page 4 was a guide to the first-ever Downtown Holiday Open House (it went well, thanks for asking). And the contents page also said that Molly Folse’s story “Permission to Stare” about the awesome AXIS Dance Company was on page 23 or thereabouts, when in fact, it’s here. Otherwise, we meant every word we said, and that includes “Midterm Marks” for the Birmingham City Council, Courtney Haden’s consideration of I’m Not There, Jim Fahy’s contemplation of Dead Confederate and Carey Norris’ review of Lions for Lambs.

Next week, the truth will be revealed on the contents page – and a day early due to the holiday. Meanwhile, just prowl around www.bhamweekly.com

Popularity: 46% [?]

The bird is the word – and with Thanksgiving less than a month away, it’s time to start planning your Nov. 22 feast:

At Whole Foods Market throughout the month of November, you can taste food from the store’s Thanksgiving menu that can be preordered online or in the store for pickup. The free tastings will feature dishes such as rosemary chestnut stuffing, green beans with caramelized garlic and chocolate bourbon Georgia pecan pie. Tasting dates and times are:
• Saturday, Nov. 3 from noon-2 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 4 from 4-6 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 10 from 4-6 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 11 from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m.

Culinard Catering is taking orders for their Thanksgiving/holiday dinners. From now until Nov. 19, you can place full dinner orders via phone. Each holiday order will serve eight to 10 people and will contain various traditional Thanksgiving dishes such as oven roasted turkey (12-14 pounds); honey glazed ham (12-14 pounds); cornbread dressing; brown turkey gravy; mashed potatoes; green bean casserole; sweet potato casserole; butter beans with applewood-smoked bacon, and pumpkin or apple pie. Dinners are $89 plus tax for orders with one pie, and $99 plus tax for orders with two pies.

Additional items such as dinner rolls, baguettes, sourdough bread, honey wheat bread, raisin walnut bread or pumpkin bread can be purchased for an additional $2.59 to $6 per order.

All orders must be placed by Nov. 19 and picked up at the Bakery at Culinard on Wednesday, Nov. 21. Warming instructions will accompany each dinner. Payment is due in advance. To place your Thanksgiving order, call Brooke Gillis at 271-8231.

At Tria Market in Homewood, you can order a variety of items from a Thanksgiving menu. You can choose from several sizes of all-natural, herb-roasted turkeys; Cajun-fried turkey; herb-roasted turkey breast; glazed hams (brown-sugar maple or apricot-sage chutney); fall vegetable gratin, sautéed fall vegetables; sautéed asparagus; garlic-mashed potatoes; sweet potato casserole; cornbread dressing (with chicken or oysters); three cheese macaroni; sautéed French beans; giblet gravy; mushroom gravy; cranberry sauce; breads; chocolate, key lime, pecan, pumpkin or apple pie; chocolate or pumpkin roulade; pumpkin chiffon cake; pumpkin cheesecake; and red velvet cake. Orders must be placed by Saturday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. and picked up by Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m.

Popularity: 22% [?]

DEAD BUT NOT GONE: That’s the best way to think of your dearly departed, particularly if you plan to attend the fifth annual Dia de los Muertos celebration at Bare Hands Gallery. This week’s cover story offers some history of the local celebration of the Mexican holiday known as the Day of the Dead.

In fact, we’ve got cross-cultural offerings aplenty in and around the ‘Ham this week – the Jewish Food Festival at the Levite Jewish Community Center, the Russian Food Festival in Brookside, Ala., the Taste of Asian Cultural Festival near George Ward Park and Deepawali at Taj India.

If you eat, drink and make merry in half-a-dozen different languages, it might be enough to take your mind off the fact that a charity with connections to Birmingham mayor-elect Larry Langford is under investigation by the FBI and that Daylight Savings Time makes no sense. J’Mel Davidson’s stories of clowns and magicians don’t make a lot of sense either but we like them, particularly the one about Uncanny Alfie.

Oh, and the Steeldogs are done and gone. You can read about the way they were here.

Popularity: 38% [?]

Did someone say чудесно? You will, no doubt, if you attend the annual Russian Food Festival in Brookside, Ala., this Saturday and Sunday. A former mining town in western Jefferson County bisected by Five-Mile Creek, Brookside was settled by European immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th century. Sloss Iron and Steel Company owned and operated four mines in the area; many of the laborers who worked in the mines had been recruited from the former Czechoslovakia and other Eastern European countries. A Russian Orthodox Church called St. Nicholas was founded in 1916 and since 1981 has hosted an annual festival that includes tours of the temple as well as food, drink, music and dancing that reflects the citizens’ cultural heritage.
The ladies of the Sisterhood of St. Olga prepare hot foods and baked goods every year, including a beet-and-meat soup called borshch; kolbasa and kraut; a cabbage dished called holupki; a meat pie called piroshki; potato and cheese dumplings called pirogi haluski; kolachis, rolled loaves filled with pecans, cheese, poppy seeds or almonds; and much more.
Festival hours are Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. The “Russian Beauties” ensemble of the Nastasha Russo Dance Arts company will perform at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Directions to St. Nicholas and a complete menu are online at www.brooksidealabama.com

Popularity: 23% [?]

FINE ART & HAUNTING ARTIFACTS: Visitors to “Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption” will be treated to perhaps the most powerful exhibit that the Birmingham Museum of Art has ever had. For this week’s cover story, guest curator Robin Meador-Woodruff and exhibit designer Terry Beckham spoke to Glenny Brock about creating the exhibit.

Contemporary devastations are covered in this week’s edition too – in particular, the murder last weekend of Fernando Flores and the depressing prospect that, barring any unforeseen delays, Larry Langford will spend his first day as mayor of Birmingham in court rather than decorating his new office in City Hall. If it’s more bad news you’re looking for, check out how your home state scored in Forbes magazine’s annual survey of “America’s Greenest States.”

As always, the only solace to be found is to be found in art, food, music and fashion.

Popularity: 40% [?]

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT AND READ Or rather, what you eat can affect what you read, particularly if you’re a resident of Vestavia Hills. This month’s Local Dish tasting presented by Birmingham Weekly and hosted by Whole Foods Market is a fundraiser for the Vestavia Hills Library. A panel of chefs including Haller Magee of Satterfield’s, Jeremy Downey of City Hall Diner and Antony Osborne of Culinard will lead the tasting with an Oktoberfest theme, sampling sausages, seasonal mustards, beer and wine. All proceeds will go to the library building fund, helping to establish the first library in Alabama that’s “LEED-certified.” LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and the rating designates structures built according to a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for high-performance sustainable architecture. You can learn more about the project at www.libraryintheforest.org. To learn more about the tasting and other events at Whole Foods, call 912-8400 or visit www.wholefoodsmarket.com.

Popularity: 19% [?]

MONDAYS HAVE A CERTAIN MAGIC Particularly Magic City Mondays at Whole Foods Market. The in-store brasserie offers a wine-and-cheese special particularly suited to connoisseurs who can’t stand for the weekend to end. For $6.99, you can sample a flight of wine, with each vintage paired with an artisanal cheese. The curds and vino come from around the world and all are available for purchase at the store. For a complete schedule of food and wine events at Whole Foods, go to www.wholefoodsmarket.com.

Popularity: 19% [?]