PORTLAND

Vegan/macrobiotic cooking classes will start Oct. 27

Lisa Silverman will be teaching vegan/macrobiotoic cooking classes Thursday evenings this fall from Oct. 27 to Nov. 17.

The classes, a mixture of lectures and cooking, will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Five Seasons Cooking School at Silverman’s home, 87 Saint Lawrence St. Individual classes cost $40 ($5 for dessert), or take all four for $140.

The topic for Oct. 27 will be “Making the Transition from Fall to Winter;” on Nov. 3, the topic will be “Cooking to Support the Kidney and Bladder;” Nov. 13 will be “Vegan Holiday Entrees and Sides;” and Nov. 20 will be “Luscious Holiday Desserts” made without dairy or refined sugar.

Silverman studied macrobiotic cooking at the Kushi Institute and the International Macrobiotic Institute in Switzerland.

Call 233-6846, or send an email to: 5seasons@maine.rr.com

Coffee By Design to host open house on Friday

Coffee By Design will be celebrating the Harvest on the Harbor food and wine festival on Friday with an open house at its 43 Washington Ave. location.

The open house will include free roastery tours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and coffee talks.

here will also be three reservations-only coffee cuppings. Limited to four people at a time, coffee cupping is a technique used by professional coffee roasters that uses the senses of smell and taste to discern the differences between coffees from various parts of the world.

The cuppings, each about an hour long, will cost $25, which includes a selection of coffee samples to take home. The sessions will be held at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

For more information, or to make a reservation for a coffee cupping, call Erin McFadden at 879-2233, Ext. 208, or go to coffeebydesign.com.

LeRoux Kitchen to help pediatric cancer research

LeRoux Kitchen, 161 Commercial St., will be hosting a bake sale Friday to benefit pediatric cancer research.

The Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Bake Sale will begin at 11 a.m. with a baking demonstration called “Put Down the Box! Easy, Delicious Homemade Brownies.” Learn how to bake triple chocolate fudge brownies with a graham cracker crust, chocolate chip brownies with peppermint icing, and butterscotch blondies.

The baking demonstrations will continue throughout the day, and the treats will be on sale to support children with cancer.

The bake sale is just one of the store’s events tied to Harvest on the Harbor, a food and wine festival that begins Thursday.

On Saturday, Matt Burnham, a staff member at the store and a trained chef, will hold two cooking demonstrations. At 11 a.m., Burnham will prepare a variety of filled crepes, including Crispy Ham and Gruyere Cheese, Wild Blueberry, Nutella and a secret recipe – Umami Crepe.

At 2 p.m., Burnham will prepare a seafood paella.

On Sunday, there will be a knife-sharpening seminar with Reva Davis of Wusthof Cutlery from 1 to 3 p.m. The public is allowed to bring one knife to sharpen at no charge, and up to two more for $3 each. No scissors or serrated knives will be allowed. All proceeds will go to the Preble Street Resource Center.

Call 553-7665.

Margaritas to present mask makers from Mexico

Margaritas Mexican Restaurant, 11 Brown St., will host a team of mask makers from Tocuaro, Mexico, from 4 to 9 p.m. Nov. 4

Brothers Manuel Abeiro Horta and Modesto Horta will use handmade tools to create wooden masks typical of those still used in many regions of Mexico during fiestas.

Abeiro enjoys carving animal masks and adorning them with the hair and whiskers of wild boars, while Modesto is known for his high-relief devil masks. The brothers will also visit local schools while they are in the Northeast to share Mexican culture and traditions.

FALMOUTH

‘Cooking for Crowds’ offers food-safety training

If you work at fundraising events such as public suppers and bake sales, learn how to handle food properly at “Cooking for Crowds,” a five-hour food-safety training workshop hosted by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

Two separate workshops will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday and Nov. 9 at 75 Clearwater Drive, Suite 104. The cost is $10.

To register or for more information, call 781-6099 or (800) 287-1471.

SEAFOOD AND MUCH MORE

HARVEST ON THE HARBOR, Portland’s annual fall food and wine festival, begins Thursday with the Ultimate Seafood Splash at the Ocean Gateway Pier. The seafood event kicks off three days of food sampling, wine tasting, cooking demonstrations and culinary tours. The Lobster Chef of the Year and the Top of the Crop competitions are sold out, but there are still tickets available for the Seafood Splash and the Grand Tasting on the Harbor, both on Thursday, and Saturday’s Marketplace event. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to harvestontheharbor.com.