Here's to the New Year!

Happy New Year from all of us at Well Fed! We hope you're enjoying the holidays -- perhaps the only way we know how, with a good meal in the company of friends and family. As we look forward to the new year, here are some of the memories from 2010:

Most memorable dish: Cassoulet. So it's just beans cooked in a bunch of meat, yes, but there's something to be said about that magical breadcrumb topping. Fresh shreds of baguette cooked in rendered duck fat -- which has already been perfumed by sausage that's been previously browning in the fat -- until golden, plus copious amounts of garlic and duck crackling pieces tossed in for good measure. Yum.

Most memorable catering: Michael LoGrande, L.A.'s new Planning Director, visited Oxy for a panel discussion with Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne, and Well Fed catered the post-event reception. There was persimmon bread, crostini with radicchio marmalade and burrata (!), rosemary-olive oil cake, and an onion tart with mustard and fennel.

Well Fed's frabjous volunteers: Many thanks to all who have helped with the Well Fed effort! Kudos to members Teresa Eilers, Kyle Owens, Sienna Beckman, and Becca Miller for helping make the meals happen! Thanks to the ASOC Sustainability Fund committee for their generous support behind the Well Fed idea. And thanks to Elissa Chandler and Giulia Pasciuto, for coming up with Well Fed in the first place; everyone had a good word for you two, making our work so much easier.

Last semester was a great experience for us all. There's definitely a learning curve associated with managing a newish student organization, but with that came a level of intrigue and fun that was certainly memorable. We had, probably, the best-smelling cars in all of Los Angeles as we balanced trays of onion tart and crostini on our laps down Bird Road. We made treks to the South Pasadena farmers' market and raided awesome little thrift stores in Silver Lake. We dealt with the quirks of the UEPI kitchen, and we had plenty of meetings planning our menus for the weekend. We learned about different foods and acquired new interests -- who knew baking could be so satisfying? -- and we tried cooking for more people than we'd ever thought possible.

Moving forward, we hope we can share these experiences with you, as we plan for an even better 2011! Among our goals, we'd like to involve our members and volunteers more, host more events, collaborate with the FEAST garden, and play a bigger role in the movement to learn about (and change) our food and where it comes from. Here's to the New Year!

Cheers,

The Well Fed team,
Michael, Emily, Jeff, and Tyler