The Little Loomhouse folks asked me to share the info about their 5th annual storytelling festival that’s coming up on June 1:

We are presenting the 5th annual Spin-A-Yarn Storytelling Festival on Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 11:00 AM -3:00 PM. We are very excited to present storytelling from several talented Kentuckiana residents, including Dawne Gee of WAVE 3 News. This family-friendly festival will also include bluegrass music from The Shuttle Winders, weaving and spinning demonstrations, a blacksmith, and historic cabin tours.

General Admission is $2.00 per person. Seniors 65 and older will be admitted for $1.00, and children six and under are free. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. All proceeds benefit The Little Loomhouse. There will be free parking behind DeSales High School at 425 West Kenwood Drive and free TARC Trolley transportation between DeSales and The Little Loomhouse. Please be advised that the Little Loomhouse is in a rustic setting on a steep hill. Access to the storytelling area is via a sloped gravel pathway.

Home of the Happy Birthday Song and founded in 1939 by Master Weaver Lou Tate Bousman, The Little Loomhouse is one of the few organizations devoted to keeping the ancient art of handweaving and its history alive.

An interesting post from the Lil Cheezers folks popped on Facebook a little while ago.

Ladies and Gentlemen. Kids of all ages. I would like to introduce you to the newest member of the Lil Cheezers family. The Snowie Shaved Ice bus will be making its debut at the Old Louisville SpringFest This weekend.

That is so cool. This is going to be awesome at festivals and street fairs this summer. Way to go Lil Cheezers folks for keeping on bring good stuff (two Lil Cheezers food truck, a brick and mortar Lil Cheezers restaurant and now this!) to town.

Image courtesy of Snowie Shaved Ice Bus/Lil Cheezers

I haven’t been by to check it out myself yet but just in case you want to get your baked goods on today you should know that Susan Hershberg’s latest offering, Wiltshire Pantry Bakery & Cafe is now open for business.

We will be offering an extensive selection of breakfast pastries, artisan breads and brioche as well as light breakfast and lunch fare. We will concentrate on “grab and go” menu items as seating will be very limited. Our catering team, under executive Chef Casey Broussard, will be preparing a selection of soups, salads and sandwiches as well as breakfast entrees.

Their lunch specials for today, May 16, 2013: Wiltshire Reuben on Chocolate Stout Rye Bread, Grilled Chicken Salad on Brioche, Rosemary Roast Beef on Focaccia, Cucumber, Avocado, Sprouts and Hummus on Wheat, Italian Sub on Baguette with House Made Mortadella

Wiltshire Pantry Bakery & Cafe
901 Barret Avenue

On June 20, 2013 the Bourbon Women Association and the Filson Historical Society are teaming up for an event with a blockbuster lineup of speakers on the topic of Women and Kentucky bourbon. In additional to the education you’ll be getting during the evening you’ll also get “bourbon tastings and cocktails, rafts of hors d’oeuvres” for your $35 ticket price. There will also be bourbon related books there for sale so you can do a little shopping as well.

Fred Minnick–World History
Author of Whiskey Women: How Women Distilled, Bootlegged and Marketed Bourbon, Scotch & Irish Whiskey

Mike Veach–Kentucky History of Women and Bourbon
Bourbon Historian, Author of Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage

Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Russell–Working Life of a Master Distiller
Master Distiller at Wild Turkey

Peggy Noe Stevens–Experience as a Master Bourbon Taster and Experiential Marketing Expert
Founder, Bourbon Women Association

Susan Reigler–Experience from Reporting on the Industry
Bourbon Writer, Author of Adventures in Dining: Kentucky Bourbon Country

Albert Schmid–Cooking with Bourbon
Chef, Author of The Kentucky Bourbon Cookbook

Joy Perrine–Bourbon Cocktails
Bar Manager, Author of The Kentucky Bourbon Cocktail Book

Thursday June 20, 2013
7PM-9PM
Tickets: $35, order online or call 502-635-5083

The Filson Historical Society
1310 South Third St
Louisville, KY 40208

Back in October I told you about the first Instant Installation Invitational art event. It must have been a great success because they’re doing another event next Saturday May 25, 2014 at Swanson Contemporary.

iii Spring Meet is a live art competition where ten artists have one hour to spontaneously construct a piece of art using only ten mystery items! But, secretly…each participating artist will choose one of ten the mystery items used in the competition. Winners are chosen strictly based on audience voting, and will receive $1,000 in cash prizes. iii Spring Meet will feature live music by Matt Anthony.

Saturday May 25, 2013
7PM
Free and open to the public, refreshments will be served

Swanson Contemporary
638 E. Market Street
Louisville, KY

Next Friday and Saturday May 17 & 18 Old Louisville will be celebrating spring with the 2nd Annual Old Louisville SpringFest. The street fair, taking over 1st Street between Oak and Magnolia promises local art and craft vendors, food and drink and lots and lots of local live music as you can see below.

This year’s lineup includes:

Friday
Whiskey Bent Valley Boys (bluegrass)
The Kentucky Hellbenders (classic country, early rock)
Alex Wright & The Maven Down (roots rock, indie)
The Tunesmiths (rock ‘n soul)

Saturday
Flamenco Louisville Flamenco (dance, music and song)
Beyond Doubt classic (rock – one of the top teen bands in the country)
Thirty Spokes (southern rock, roots & jam)
Dog House Kitchen (bijou blues)
DJ Matt Anthony (soul, doo wop, R&B, dance, hip hop, indie, classics)

Friday May 17 5PM-10:30PM
Saturday May 18 Noon-10PM

Last month I told you about Our Local Box the new monthly subscription box service that brings really cool Kentucky made products to subscribers’ doors every month.

Because the Our Local Box folks are nice people last month they hand delivered all the boxes to subscribers in the Louisville area and last night I got that same treatment for the May box (disclosure: they gifted the box to me) so I could see exactly what subscribers can expect when they receive Our Local Box each month. I took a few pictures as I unboxed the awesomeness for you to see.

Inside the top lid of the box you’ll find descriptions of all the goodies in the box. The box I received had the following:
Banana Pudding Fudge from Cellar Door Chocolates in Louisville
Cherry Rose Green Tea from Elmwood Inn Fine Teas in Danville
Magick Skin Balm from Rituals By Nature in Florence
Carnelian Lip Balm from Rituals By Nature in Florence.

Let’s pause for a moment to discuss this banana pudding fudge from Cellar Door Chocolates. I’ve had things from Cellar Door Chocolates before and I’ve had various kinds of fudge before but this is something new and different and amazing. You can only have like one, maybe two small bites at a time because it’s so rich but this is seriously good stuff. I have heard a rumor that you might be able to pick up some of this banana pudding fudge at the Douglass Loop Farmers Market on Saturdays.

The Carnelian lip balm smells like the ice cream Push Ups I ate in elementary school so I’m kind of in love it with both for feeling nice and for giving me a childhood flashback. You know I’m not the tea drinker in my family so I’ll have B test out the tea just as soon as she gets home.

This is a really fun box from Our Local Box. I say again that I think this is just a great gift for out of town friends and Kentucky natives spread across the country who will appreciate getting a little gift of home each month.

I have heard that filling your child’s summer with fun, interesting, safe things to do can be a challenge. So I bet the parents among us will be pleased to learn about what I think is a new day camp this summer: Play-cation – The Bard Theatre’s Summer Camp.

Experience a children’s theatre camp like no other with this two week excursion that will provide a fun, educational introduction to performance and theatre. Through the specifically designed curriculum, campers will also be exposed to critical thinking and problem solving skills through the use of theatre. The final performance will be a play written specifically for the ensemble of campers, influenced by each child’s personality and talent.

The Bard’s Town Youth Theatre’s Play-cation focuses on self-esteem, confidence, creativity, discipline, respect for the arts, and of course, fun!

Pretty cool right? I wasn’t a theater person in school but I did do a summer theater program like this once and remember it fondly to this day. Louisville has a great theater scene and it’s really exciting to see programs like this training our next generation of theater great.

The Bard’s Theatre camp is happening June 10-20, Monday – Thursday 9AM-4PM with the final performance on June 20 at 4PM. You can get all the details and get the registration form on The Bard’ Town’s website.

Bits and pieces of this feature in Food and Wine’s May 2013 issue have been floating around for a couple weeks now but I got an image of the cover and all the links for the story today so I thought I’d go ahead and share it all just in case you haven’t seen it.

The feature is called “10 Best Foodie Streets in America” and for each of those ten streets the magazine (or a local chef) has determined the best places to eat, drink and sometimes shop. For Louisville’s feature Chef Edward Lee of Milkwood and 610 Magnolia talked about his East Market Street favorites.

And if you’re curious about the other streets Food and Wine loves here are all 10:
Brooklyn’s Bedford Avenue

Louisville, Kentucky’s East Market Street

Los Angeles’s Sawtelle Boulevard

Chicago’s West Randolph Street

Portland, Oregon’s SE Division Street

San Francisco’s Valencia Street

New Orleans’s Freret Street

Boulder, Colorado’s Pearl Street

Durham, North Carolina’s Five Points Intersection

Philadelphia’s East Passyunk Avenue

Your kids are out of school on Oaks Day so you might considering taking them down to KMAC for their “Drop in for Oaks: Derby-Tastic Art Workshop.” The workshop takes place on Friday May 3 from noon to 3PM and it’s only $6 per kid.

drop in anytime between noon and 3pm on Friday, May 3rd to the 3rd Floor Education studio for some hands-on art making fun. Participants will be making tissue paper roses and designing their own jockey silk using a resist painting technique.

Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft
3rd Floor Education Studio
715 West Main Street
Louisville, KY 40202