Thursday, October 5, 2017

Quick Bites: Prickly Pears, Pitas and Margaritas!

Posted By on Thu, Oct 5, 2017 at 11:00 AM


World Margarita Championship
. Life is less hard when you have a marg, and furthermore… TEQUILA! Tucson Original Restaurants and the Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance are teaming up to make your life a little less hard and a lot more spirited with this opportunity to sample local cocktails and cuisine. A panel of judges (including the Weekly’s own Chow writer, Mark Whitaker) will deliver their verdict on the best of the Southwest, and attendees can vote for the People’s Choice Award for best signature margarita. Proceeds from admission and raffle ticket sales go to SAACA to support local arts education, art therapy programs and Tucson Originals restaurants. 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6. Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort, 10000 N. Oracle Road. $55 in advance, $70 day of event.

Desert Foods Fiesta. Give a man a prickly pear, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man how to safely harvest prickly pear fruits and make jellies and syrups out of the juice, and he’ll eat for a lifetime. At this festival, enjoy learning about prickly pear delicacies, solar cooking with the Solar Guild of Tucson, viewing the sun through telescopes, and milling your mesquite pods into flour. David Yetman of “In the Americas with David Yetman” and “The Desert Speaks” will also give a special presentation. Vendors ranging from El Saguaro Restaurant to Prest Coffee to Native Seed/SEARCH will be present to prepare and sell foods. The whole shebang is hosted by the Cooper Center for Environmental Learning, or Camp Cooper, which teaches kids (and adults!) all about the Sonoran Desert and the environment. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7. Cooper Center for Environmental Learning. 5403 W. Trails End Road. Free.

Fired Pie Fundraiser for MDA. Watch out, Tucson. Fired Pie is kicking off October with the launch of its mean, green muscular dystrophy fighting machine: the new pesto chicken salad. Aside from sounding pretty good (it’s got fresh mozzarella, chicken, onions, tomatoes, romaine lettuce and pesto), one dollar from every pesto chicken salad at all Fired Pie locations will be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). MDA which supports research for diseases like ALS, and helps care for individuals and families affected by muscle-debilitating diseases. Enjoy a meal and help someone heal. Through October. All Fired Pie locations (hours vary). firedpie.com

Pita Jungle’s New Fall Menu. Let’s get Levantine! The new Seasonal Kitchen Crafts Menu at Pita Jungle features eight new dishes from the Levant in the Eastern Mediterranean, including an Italian Green Bean Stew, the Streets of Beirut Chicken Pita and an avocado/beef asada/cumin/bean mash/lavash bread/chili sauce masterpiece of a pizza. The baked Kibbeh, or Lebanese meatloaf, is a combo of all-natural ground turkey, russet potatoes, quinoa, walnuts, golden raise, onion and basil that sounds too good to pass up. Close the show with a gluten free chocolate pavé with vanilla ice cream, and then go wrap yourself up in a pita bundle and nap it off. Oct. 10 through January 8. Pita Jungle, 5340 E. Broadway Blvd. Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Kingfisher’s New Menu. The end of summer meant the end of the Kingfisher’s summer road trip, but as the weather cools down, the trusty seafood restaurant’s menu continues to heat up. Their fall/winter menu began last week, and includes mouthwatering selections like a tomato-roasted garlic-saffron soup, braised lamb shank cassoulet, grilled sea bass and a bourbon pecan tart. You won’t want to miss any of it, especially because, as the old saying goes, “The Kingfisher fall/winter menu is the reason for the season.” Kingfisher Bar & Grill, 2564 E. Grant Road. Available through March. Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to midnight, Saturday and Sunday 5 p.m. to midnight.

Trail Dust Town Oktoberfest. Celebrate Oktoberfest at Trail Dust Town at this year’s fifth annual festival. Trade your lederhosen for cowboy boots and kick up some dust with local beers and live polka music from the Bouncing Czechs. Breweries attending will be Iron John’s Brewing Company, Thunder Canyon Brewstillery, Sentinel Peak Brewing Company and Uncle Bear’s Brewery. Outside vendors will provide German-inspired food. The event is free and family friendly and will run on Saturday October 7 from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Bouncing Czechs will play at 7 p.m. Trail Dust Town is located at 6541 E Tanque Verde Road.

Jonathan's Cork Fun Chili Cook-Off. Jonathan’s Cork, an eastside wild game steakhouse that serves up venison and ostrich, is hosting its annual chili cook-off. The event will raise funds for Send A Kid To Camp, a charity that works with families to send local children to summer camps like the YMCA/YWCA. Proceeds from the event as well as donations collected will all benefit the charity. Chili will provided by the Tucson Originals Restaurants, who supposedly take the competition very seriously and produce some delicious chili. Come and get some good eats for a great cause. Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday October 7. Jonathan’s Cork, 6320 E. Tanque Verde Road. $10.

1912 Sour Beer & Sour Candy Pairing. Are you sick of having functioning taste buds? 1912 Brewing Co. may have found the most effective way to obliterate the human tongue, and it’s going to be so worth it. Raise your blood alcohol levels and lower your body’s pH levels with the Twiggen Berries boysenberry sea salt sour, the Your Goose is Cooked melon lychee sour and the Saint of Chaos goat yogurt cultured sour with notes of cherry, raspberry and vanilla. 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11. 1912 Brewing Co., 2045 N. Forbes Blvd., suite 105.

Pancake “Hangover” Breakfast. If you happened to spend your Oktoberfest in Tombstone, they’ve got the perfect solution for your post-festivity nausea. Even if you are feeling okay, though, who doesn’t love pancakes, bacon, sausage coffee and orange juice for just $5? You’re probably going to be loading up on carby, fatty breakfast food anyway, so you might as well go somewhere where the proceeds will go to the Tombstone Fire Department Fireman’s Ball. So chow down! Then rise up and face your Sunday as well as you can. 7 a.m. to noon. Sunday, OCt. 8. Old Firehouse Senior Center, 507 E. Toughnut St. Tombstone. $5.

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