Pam Baumgardner, Staci Brown and Diane Brown enjoying a previous Pier Under the Stars.

Tickets are now on sale for Pier Under the Stars—the 24th annual benefit for the historic Ventura Pier on Saturday, October 7th, from 5-8 PM. Each year more than 800 residents and visitors attend this beachfront culinary fair adjacent to the pier to sample the county’s best food and spirits provided by over 50 area businesses. This year marks the 24th anniversary of Ventura’s premier wine, beverage and food event.

Restaurants, cafes, wineries and breweries serve their signature dishes and beverages from tented booths along the seaside Promenade while guests enjoy live music, dancing under the stars and an amazing silent auction. It’s a community celebration to honor the City’s 144 year old pier.

The sell-out event hosted by Pier into the Future–-a non-profit 501 c (3)—“is a much anticipated community gathering of friends that raises funds for our beloved Pier”, said Pier Into the Future Executive Director Jenise Wagar. The organization was founded by a group of dedicated community leaders, in partnership with the City of Ventura, to establish an endowment fund to maintain and enhance the historic Ventura Pier for future generations to enjoy. The organization has contributed over $540,000 to the City of Ventura over the last 24 years to enhance the Pier.

General admission tickets are $75.00 and include food and beverage tasting and a commemorative Pier wine glass. A limited number of VIP tickets are offered at $150 each. VIP tickets include all of the benefits associated with General Admission, plus early entrance to the event at 4:30 pm and a reserved seat at a VIP table along the promenade. Local restaurants, wineries and breweries who are interested in sampling their food/drink at the event can call 804.7735.

Tickets are available on line at www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 800.838.3006. Visit www.pierintothefuture.org for more information.

Chef Amy inspires you with new recipes at downtown spice store. Photo by Michael Gordon

by Jennifer Tipton

Spice-Topia is the quaint little shop downtown on Main Street where fresh spices from all over the world, a variety of teas, infused olive oils, tasty balsamic and many other items tempt your culinary curiosity. One cannot walk by without being drawn in by the inviting scents of cinnamon and assorted spices, offering an invitation to create new recipes or bump the old ones up a notch or two!

Looking for new recipes or inspiration? Cooking classes are offered at Spice-Topia by either Chef Amy or Chef Lu usually every other week in the evening 6:30-8:30. These kitchen divas attended the same culinary school, both are personal chefs and have their own catering business.

The classes are demos so that the students participate like a live studio audience with attendees from all age groups, gender and cooking experience. Complimentary herbal iced tea is served and the menus range in theme from “Gourmet Italian” to “Taco Night” with special holiday menus such as “Sweetheart Supper” and the one I recently enjoyed, “Summer with Chef Amy”. This was a celebration of summer that offered Bloody Mary Tomato Crostini’s, Sticky Balsamic Ribs, Corn Skewers with Cilantro Lime Butter, 5 Bean Salad with Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette and Blueberry Peach Portable Pie – oh yes!

As the chefs demo the preparation, students learn the fundamentals of chopping an onion (without crying), peeling garlic the easy way and other tricks of the trade such as proper technique and safe food handling. These types of lessons might be useful if you are deciding to open a restaurant. Make sure that you buy all the relevant equipment before deciding what food to serve. So, why don’t you have a look for this equipment at somewhere like Nella to get you on your way.

Chef Amy teaches about the origin of certain foods and emphasizes the importance of certified organic produce, the best cuts of meat, best places to shop and don’t even get her started on GMOs … Chef Amy states, “It’s okay to disagree with me, but remember, I have knives!”

Both chefs stress the importance of checking expiration dates which prompted me to tear through my pantry only to find a can of baking powder from 1986, (maybe that’s why my cakes kept falling) and maybe that’s why everything at Spice-Topia is so fresh and aromatic.

Although the classes are demos, all items on the menu have been pre-prepared, students are served samplers of everything and sent home with the recipes. Classes are only $35.00 and everyone gets 15% off their store purchase the night of the class. Such a deal!

Check their website for details: www.spicetopia.com

The ECTV Class of 2017 with Phil Taggart

Great news. Once again CAPS and ECTV were honored by the National Alliance for Community Media’s Hometown Awards. CAPS was awarded for its video Featuring Ventura- Counting the Vote for the Ventura County News Channel. The ECTV students from El Camino High School were awarded for the Best Community Event Coverage of Activism and Rallies for their episode ECTV – Social Awareness Night. Kudos to all.

Last week CAPS Media had the pleasure of once again covering the Knowledge Bowl which pits seniors from Suz Montgomery’s class with the senior dragons from Foothill High School. The seniors from Suz’s class won and many a fact were learned during the event held at the Ventura Townhouse. That’s just one of the events CAPS records with a full crew made up of faithful volunteers and staff.

There are spaces available for the renowned CAPS Media Digital Storytelling program. Young video storytellers, ages 10 to 15, get hands-on training with video cameras, audio recording equipment, studio green screen and computer editing to create the stories they want to tell. There are three week-long programs scheduled for July 10 (via Ventura Parks & Rec), July 17 and July 24. Each fun, creative and engaging program runs Monday through Friday from 9:30am to 3:30pm. To learn more about the Digital Storytelling program, go to capsmedia.org.

CAPS Radio is on the air at 104.1FM. The recently launched Ventura community radio station is here for you. Drop by the CAPS Media Center on Tuesday June 27th for an open house with an introduction on how to become a radio host or volunteer. You can let us know what you think, what you like and what you want to hear on CAPS Radio KPPQ-LP at 104.1FM.

Become a Member/Producer of CAPS Media. Both our television and radio member programming is rich and diverse from travel to music to drama to politics and more. As a membership organization CAPS Media supports our Member/Producers’ creativity and helps them share their voices with the community.

Anyone who wants to share their story are encouraged to get involved at the CAPS Media Center. Those who live, work or attend school in the city of Ventura is eligible to become a member. Non-profit organizations are invited to join too. For annual fees of only $25 (individual) and $75 (non-profit organization), member/producers are trained by the knowledgeable CAPS Media staff in the art and fun of media communication. Once certified, member/producers may check out video cameras, tripods, and other gear for video production and book editing suites for postproduction to create the stories they want to tell.

Ongoing CAPS Media classes include new member orientation the first Thursday of the month. The HD Videography/Camera class is held the second Thursday and the Edit class follows up on the third Thursday. The CAPS Media website has all the info. Go to www.capsmedia.org to see a schedule of upcoming programs on Channel 6 & 15, search the archives for past programs, get info on upcoming video and radio classes and much more.