"Lettuce Celebrate St. Joseph in the Garden"
Houston ... On Sunday, March 19, 2006, from 1 PM until 4 PM, Camille Waters - Houston's Queen of Lettuce, will be opening her Washington Avenue area garden to the general public to benefit Urban Harvest and Chefs' Collaborative. Her special guests include fellow farmers and chefs who will serve their produce in honor of St. Joseph. Her working garden is located at 813 Jackson Hill (behind Patrenella's Restaurant, one block south of Washington Avenue, between Shepherd and Waugh Drive). Tickets are $30 each, and will be available at the garden the day of the event. For more information please call Urban Harvest at 713-880-5540.
St. Joseph is the 'Adoptive' Father of Jesus and the Husband of the Virgin Mary. St. Joseph is the Patron Saint of carpenters, fathers, house buyers and sellers, confectioners, wheelwrights and farmers. A celebration honoring St. Joseph began in the Middle Ages, when the people of Sicily prayed for him to end a drought and famine. When St. Joseph answered their prayers with rain and a bountiful crop, they honored him with a feast.
Members of the general public are invited to this once-a-year event, and are invited to wear festive garden hats and to partake of the joys of garden life at an Epicurean Picnic. This year, her fellow farmers will be providing a selection of their produce for purchase and Houston's best chefs will provide a sampling of their famous cuisine using Waters' produce.
Participating Chefs are:
* Tim Keating,
* Robert Del Grande and Elliott Kelly, Cafe Annie
* Mark Cox, Mark's
* John Sheely, Mockingbird Bistro
* Lynette Hawkins, La Mora
* Bonner Cameron, Trevisio
* Stacy Crowe and Danielle Heller, Chez Nous
* Sammy and Sammy Patrenella, Jr., Patrenella's
* The Slowfood Cookers
Chefs' Collaborative recognizes the inherent value of locally grown and harvested foods, and supports market gardeners across the United States.
Urban Harvest provides on-going education in all phases of organic gardening and has established more than 150 gardens in seven counties in and around Houston.
Camille Waters, whose pioneering vegetarian restaurant The Natural Child was a Houston landmark in the 70s' has, for the last ten years, provided Houston's most innovative chefs with an array of salad greens, vegetables, and edible flowers.
Mandy G. Smith and Harry Sheppard will provide musical entertainment while guests will tour the gardens and enjoy Texas beers and organic wines. Preserves, garden art, organic transplants and produce will be offered for sale. Prizes will be awarded for especially festive garden hats, and the Kiss-A-Pug booth benefit Pug Rescue of Southeast Texas.
For more information on Camille Waters and her garden, call Urban Harvest (713) 880-5540.
More Event Info:
Chair: Camille Waters
Beneficiaries: Chefs' Collaborative and Urban Harvest
Contact Person: Camille Waters
Phone # to Print: 713-880-5540
Date: Sunday, March 19, 2006
Time: 1-4 PM
Site: Camille Waters' Gardens
Site Address: 813 Jackson Hill, behind Patrenella's Restaurant and two blocks south of Washington Avenue.
Tickets: $30, available at the garden gate the day of the event
Special Features: Beautiful gardens, festive garden hats contest, Kiss-A-Pug booth, garden art, organic transplants and produce for purchase.
The centerpiece of the St. Joseph celebration is a three-level altar, which represents the Holy Trinity that is draped in white linen and covered in flowers and harvest produce. A variety of foods are prepared, but none of them contained meat because the feast is held during lent. One of the most beautiful offerings is the cuccadati -- loaves of bread that are formed and decorated in a variety of symbolic shapes like a staff or crown of thorns. The cuccadati are used to decorate Le Vastedde, which is a Sicilian tradition that consists of latticework covered with branches of myrtle, bay leaves, oranges, figs, lemons and the small decorative breads and pastries.
These altars, which have been around for centuries, are a labor of love by those who create them to give thanks for their good fortune, fulfillment a promise and to share with those who are less fortunate, will be one of the highlights of the Garden Party.
Photos: Available upon request
Beneficiaries: Chefs' Collaborative .. www.chefsnet.com/cc2000
Urban Harvest .. 713-880-5540
Physical Address: 813 Jackson Hill
-End-
Dick Dace
The Epicurean Publicist and Marketer
"Man can change his life by changing his perception." Dr. Nancy White
Chef2Chef News Desk