Fresh Sheet

Blogger takes the cake

Davenport-raised food blogger Cindy Swain won the grand prize of 2,000 euros on “La Prova del Cuoco,” Italy’s most popular cooking show. She competed in a regular cooking contest segment – “La Gara Culinaria” – in which teams are made up of a professional chef and a home cook.

Swain was paired with a different Italian chef each of the five days she was on the show.

But, “The icing on the cake was when the presenter, Antonella Clerici, publicly announced on live TV that she wants me to return on the show,” said Swain, 31, who created the blog Italicana Kitchen – italicanakitchen.com – and lives in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.

She said she’s grateful for the experience. “I had a huge spike in traffic and quite a few Spokane people wrote me complimenting me on my endeavors – as well as some asking for cooking classes when they come to Italy,” she said.

Orlando’s opens today

The student-run restaurant at Spokane Community College opens today for fall.

Themed weeks – Latin/Caribbean, Asian/Pacific Rim and Mediterranean – are planned for the middle of the quarter. There’s a special brunch buffet Nov. 19, Bistro Dinner Nov. 20 and 21, and Thanksgiving lunch Nov. 25. The final buffet is Dec. 9.

The restaurant is located in Building 1 on the SCC campus at 1810 N. Greene St. The hours are 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.

For more information or to make a reservation, call Janet Breedlove at (509) 533-7283.The calendar can be found at www.scc.spokane.edu/?culcal.

Into Africa

Partnering for Progress is hosting its annual dinner auction Friday featuring a Kenyan-American buffet.

Look for menu items like white maize porridge, or ugali; lamb and ginger samosas; plaintain and green banana salad; and kuku, or lemony chicken stew with sweet potatoes, ginger and coconut milk.

The dinner benefits the Spokane-based nonprofit, which organizes trips to remote areas of southwest Kenya for doctors, nurses, dentists, optometrists, engineers and teachers. Its mission is to help provide access to health care, education, sanitation and clean water to residents in the undeveloped region.

Dinner is at 5:30 p.m. at Mirabeau Park Hotel in Spokane Valley. Tickets are $65 per person. On the Web: www.intoafricaauction.org and partneringforprogress.org.