Lending a hand with Food on Foot

Food on Foot is a Hollywood-based charity that since 1996 has offered homeless people in the community hot meals, clothing and a path off the streets toward self-sufficiency.

Founder Jay Goldinger launched the project by distributing a handful of meals from the trunk of his car. Today, Food on Foot has evolved into a weekly Sunday program serving more than 250 meals to those in need.

As always, charitable projects like this depend on the kindness of strangers generously donating money, time and volunteer effort to make it all work. This Thanksgiving Day, Food on Foot is full up on volunteers but needs to find several sponsors to donate $250 each and help distribute food, sleeping bags and bus tokens to Hollywood’s poor and homeless at its Hollywood site, located at 1625 N. Schrader Blvd. The Thanksgiving event runs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call (310) 860-0022.

And looking ahead, as a year-round project Food on Foot can always use your help and support, with many ways to participate and assist. See their volunteer and donation pages to learn more.

Posted 11/22/10

Food safety’s a matter of degrees

While you’re busy with the soup-to-nuts planning that goes into making Thanksgiving dinner, take a few minutes to check out one of the most important ingredients—a working knowledge of how to get the bird to the table safely.

The USDA has tips for properly thawing, stuffing and roasting a turkey. If you’d like to talk it over, the USDA’s meat and poultry hotline will be open for business and staffed with real live technical information specialists on Thanksgiving from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m., Pacific Standard Time. The number is 1-888-674-6854. The USDA’s live chat feature, www.askkaren.gov, also will be available.

Here are some other food preparation tips, courtesy of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health:

• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating or cutting them.

• Separate raw meats and poultry from other foods such as fruits and vegetables. Avoid cross-contamination by using separate cutting boards, knives, and platters for these foods.

• Wash cutting boards, utensils, and platters after preparing each food item and before going on to the next item.

• Bring sauces, soups, and gravies to a rolling boil when re-heating.

• Keep hot foods hot. Use chafing dishes or pans with Sternos or other heating devices, or keep foods in the oven at a temperature to ensure they remain at 135° F or above.

• Keep cold foods cold. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.

• Don’t “taste test” food or drinks to see if they have spoiled.

Posted 11/22/10

Here comes the Hollywood Christmas Parade

It’s been a showbiz tradition for 80 years, beginning as the “Santa Claus Lane Parade” (and inspiring Gene Autry’s classic 1946 holiday tune, “Here Comes Santa Claus.”)

This Sunday, November 28, 2010, the Hollywood Christmas Parade returns with Grand Marshal Larry King and a host of celebrities, marching bands, giant balloons, floats and high-stepping equestrians. It’s fun, it’s entertaining, and it’s for a good cause—benefiting the Marine Toys for Tots program, for more than six decades providing needy children with a new holiday toy and the comfort and reassurance that they haven’t been forgotten.

The event takes place at 6:00 p.m., beginning at Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Avenue in front of the legendary Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, following a clockwise route east to Vine, south to Sunset, then west to Orange and north again to complete the circuit. Curbside viewing along the route is free, but if you want a grandstand seat, it’ll cost you $35, with group rates available. Full admission information here, and transportation information here.

And if you can’t make it in person, it’s also televised live and set for rebroadcast later on the Hallmark Channel, the Hallmark Movie Network and various local TV stations across the nation throughout December.

Posted 11/22/10

Visit some cool cats

And you thought the Pilgrims had it tough.

This Thanksgiving weekend, go back to the Ice Age at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles for the tale of a giant, saber-toothed cat and her kitten trying to make their way in a cold, cold world.

“Ice Age Encounters”, the museum’s new show, has officially opened, and on Saturday and Sunday, November 27-28, guests can finally check out the museum’s new animatronic saber-toothed cat puppet. It’s a one-of-a-kind collaboration among paleontologists, performance artists and puppet engineers from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, which was commissioned to create the new puppet, and it’s aimed at transporting audiences to the L.A. of the late Pleistocene Era, when big cats roamed the Mid-Wilshire District. Cool!

Location: North American Mammal Hall, Level 2. Two shows each day, at 1:30 pm and 3:30 p.m. Free with paid museum admission.

Posted 11/22/10

Shop for a good cause at Divine Design

Don’t shop till you drop on Black Friday. Hold some of your purchasing fire power in reserve until next week, when you can head over to Project Angel Food’s spectacular holiday marketplace at the old Robinson’s May department store, 9900 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

It’s called Divine Design and is billed as the West Coast’s premiere shopping fundraiser, with fashion, beauty and home design goods from an array of high-end designers and brands.

Proceeds from the event go to Project Angel Food, which provides free, home-delivered meals to people with HIV-AIDS and other debilitating conditions.

A gala opener is set for Dec. 1, along with a VIP shopping cocktail party on Dec. 2. The marketplace will be open to the public from Dec. 3-Dec. 6. Admission is $25. Full details are here.

Posted 11/22/10

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