Bonnie Carroll's Life Bites - Kids Kaleidoscope

Nothing but fun at the Monterey County Fairgrounds during the 2024 Artichoke Festival, which has been running for over 37 years, and is an homage to the California Artichoke and all the people who have helped this amazing foodie favorite florish in the State of California over the years.

Families could be seen everywhere enjoying arts & crafts, hula

classes, fantastic artichoke food recipes, chef recipe demonstrations with tastings, visiting gift booths and the California Artichoke booth filled with t-shirts, cook books, and novelty items. The Monterey Sheriff's were there greeting kids and passing out toys and making new friends. This year's Queen was a mother and grandmother who has made major service contributions to area charities, seen here with event coordinator Alex.

The live music was wonderful and kids could be found dancing in front of the stage as their parents

enjoyed lunch in the bleachers. Everywhere I looked there were families having fun, and I enjoyed several artichoke dishes while sharing picnic benches with attendees who said they had been coming to this event with their parents when they were little and were now bringing their own children for a special day devoted to local artichokes. The fried artichokes were delicious!

A favorite chef demo I enjoyed was with Chef Brandon Miller who created a raw salad of artichokes, lemon, salt, pepper and olive oil that was simply delicious and so easy peasy to make. See recipe below.

The State of Califronia Artichoke Book from the California Advisory Board containing fabulous recipes was for sale and I got two! Can hardly wait to start creating some of these tempting and new for me recipes for friends and family. Proceeds from the book and gift items went to the charity for this year's event Harmony at Home, Ending Violence-Building Families. Great bands were providing some fantastic live music at the main stage, with so many attendees sitting and eating fried artichokes during the ongoing shows.

Sometimes festivals don't live up to their hype! But, this one truely did and in fact I can hardly wait for next year's Artichoke tastings, recipes and overall family fun! 2024 event charity was Harmony at Home, Ending violence. Building families. HARMONY-AT-HOME.ORG.

Congratulations to all the festival board, committees, staff, et all on a memorable event honoring the wonderful artichoke! Thank you for making my day delicious, memorable and fun. See you next year!

If you have choke-free baby artichokes slice them on a mandolin. Toss the slices in lemon juice so they don't discolor. The whole vegetable is edible at that size. For large artichokes slice on the mandolin and toss with a little lemon juice as you go. Thinly sliced red onion can be added if desired.

Arrange the artichokes on a serving platter and season with salt and pepper. Add more lemon juice to taste and olive oil. Wash the artichoke tannins off of the mandolin, then dry and thinly shave the desired aged cheese. Sprinkle cheese over your artichokes and serve as a first course.

The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise's annual Dolphin Derby Festival will be held on Sunday, July 14 at the beautiful Chase Palm Park. Proceeds from the event will benefit humanitarian community service projects in Santa Barbara and around the world.

Join us for an afternoon of fun, food, beer and wine, games, face painting, music and dolphin races. Adopted dolphins will race down a 200-foot watercourse throughout the day for a $2,500 grand and other prizes.

Sponsorship opportunities to this special event are now available. View the brochure to learn about sponsorship levels and benefits.

When you donate to the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise Charitable Foundation, you help advance our community, empower youth, support educators, aid families in need, promote food security, support international projects, and more.

To become a sponsor, make a payment using the online portal. If you have any questions, please contact Dennis Johns at dennis@dolphinderby.com or (805) 770-0614.

Visit the Dolphin Derby Festival website for more event information. Thank you!

Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise Charitable Foundation
Tax ID 91-1752304

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TAKE THE KIDS TO PARIS THIS SUMMER

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SANTA BARBARA OLD SPANISH DAYS 100TH ANNIVERSARY FIESTA 2024