Get Down, Get Funky At Spam Jam

If you hit the road right away, you should still be able to make it to Austin, Minn., the home of Hormel Foods, in plenty of time for the annual Spam Jam on Saturday.

Activities include a five-mile “hog jog,” a recipe contest (theme: “Make Something Festive with Spam”), entertainment by The Spamettes singing group, sampling of such treats as Spam nachos and Spam kebabs and a drawing for a trip to two to Hawaii, “Spam Capital of the World” (for some strange reason, it tops all other states with average sales of more than 4.3 million cans a year).

Unfortunately, it’s already too late to enter the Spam Jam art contest, which was open to “artists’ interpretations of Spam luncheon meat” in any medium. Why, if Andy Warhol were alive …

Fund-raising a-peel

With the Walla Walla onion season once again upon us, the Children’s Home Society of Washington is again selling the sweets to raise money for at-risk children and families.

Gift boxes are shipped anywhere in the United States during the peak freshness period, late June to midJuly. Jumbo sweet onions are $26.95 for 10 pounds or $33.95 for 20 pounds, with colossals costing $27.95 for 10 pounds. About $7.50 per box benefits the society’s programs.

To order, call 1-800-817-5437.

Cut the … mustard

Cleaning up the leftovers from last week’s Sheet, one reader called to say she was indeed familiar with Wisconsin’s County Line Cheese, and that it’s swell stuff. Another said she phoned the Grey Poupon mustard hotline, punched in her age when asked - 72 - and was informed that she had entered an “invalid response” before being cut off. Said she: “Do they think everyone’s dead by then?”

Oh oh oh

Pillsbury has expanded its previously announced recall of certain Green Giant boxed and bagged spinach products, which may contain insect and rodent contaminants. For a complete list of the production codes being recalled, call 1-800-775-0625.

Busting out For the first time ever, a children’s menu, from The Italian Oven chain, took top honors in the National Restaurant Association’s 32nd annual Great Menu Contest.

But we were more taken with the runner-up, from the Nashville-inspired Country Star Hollywood eatery on L.A.’s Santa Monica Boulevard: a jukebox-shaped menu, featuring a battery-powered star that lights up when opened, which judges deemed “worthy of Dolly Parton.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

MEMO: We’re always looking for fresh food news. Write to: The Fresh Sheet, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Call 459-5446; fax 459-5098.