Fun Food Events June 22-July 5

July 4 is coming up faster than you may think, so if you’re going to be cooking out, you’ve got a little time to give the grill a good cleaning and try some recipes from the Edible Orlando recipe archives. Here’s a recipe lineup including a coffee rub for steaks from John Rivers of 4Rivers Smokehouse, as well as recipes for Key lime pie, fried green tomatoes, and a maple bourbon cocktail. While you’re cooking, cool off with a rosé granita.

You turn to Edible Orlando for all the fun food events coming up around town. Writer John Graham tracks down the highlights for the next two weeks.

Just back from the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards as a semifinalist for best new restaurant, Kaya is celebrating its annual Filipino Freedom Fest, 7 – 11 p.m. On and around the Thornton Ave. property, the festival will include food vendors, shopping, live music, DJs, and line dancing. Admission is free.

Paws & Pints at Ivanhoe Park Brewing is from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. The free event at the Alden Road location is a fundraiser for the Beyond the Leash Foundation, which provides therapy dogs and animal-assisted activities to those in need. Buy a beer, meet some therapy dogs, and maybe pick up some $5 raffle tickets.

Have you noticed all the buildings that have been torn down lately on Virginia Dr.? Nora of Nora’s Sugar Shack is trying to buy the building/converted house that holds her beer/wine/cigar spot, so she’s having a fundraiser, 8 – 11 p.m. It’s a $100 minimum donation, but all the money goes toward a down payment. For your Franklin, you get “all you can sip,” beverage samples, nibbles, live music and other performers, and a thank-you gift for the first 30.

The Peach Truck is coming back through town today and Wednesday, a chance to order fresh-from-the-orchard peaches in 12-pound boxes. Today, the truck will be dropping off pre-orders at Florida Mall and West Oaks Mall. Tomorrow, it’ll be at Waterford Lakes Town Center and Oviedo Mall.  If you miss your chance, a truck will be back through July 23 and 24.

Sear + Sea at JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa is hosting a Vino Voyage wine dinner, starting at 5:30 p.m., with a five-course wine pairing dinner that covers Italy, France, and Spain. (We expect the menu will include the Mazara red prawns in the photo below). Chef Jobin Thomas recently came to Orlando from the Ritz-Carlton in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. With each plate, Sea + Sear’s sommelier will guide you through the wine pairings. Dinner is $210 per person (plus tax and tip). Reservations are recommended.

No menu available yet, but Cholo Dogs is teaming up with the College Park location of Pizza Bruno for a special one-day collab. Surely, there will be a hot dog topped with crispy pepperoni chips? Can you make a bun out of a garlic knot?

Publix has dropped eight limited-time ice cream flavors for the summer and will be handing out free samples from an ice cream truck, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., at Gaston Edwards Park on Lake Ivanhoe. Flavors include Cold Brew Cookies and Crème, Lemon Berry Bliss, Caramel Turtle Cheesecake, Marry Me Strawberry, and Buckeyes & Fudge. Along with free ice cream, the truck stop will also have a photo booth, games. and music.

Start your weekend with yoga and a morning glass of wine at The Hampton Social on I-Drive, 9 – 10 a.m. The rhyming title is Namaste & Rosé and you don’t get the rewarding glass of blush until you finish45 minutes of cool flow yoga. The class is free and you get 10-percent off brunch if you want to hang around for avocado toast or a Denver scramble … and a mimosa kit.

If you can eat 25 Buffalo wings in two minutes, we’ve got the competition for you. At 8 p.m. in the Lake Nona Town Center Park Pizza, the first 20 participants to apply will be wolfing down wings for the delight (??) of the gathered crowd. After two minutes, bones will be weighed and competitors disqualified if judges determine eaten wings still have meat in them.

For the AdventHealth Watermelon 5K, get up early on Independence Day, run 3.1 miles at 7:30 a.m., and some get ice-cold watermelon at the finish in Winter Park’s Central Park. Entry fee is $39 in advance or $44 on race day. At some point after, there’s also a watermelon-eating contest.

If you don’t feel like cooking on Independence Day – maybe you just ran a 5K – The Ravenous Pig is prepping take-home feasts for four with pick-up on July 3. For $125, you get pulled pork, sliced brisket, smoked wings, mac and cheese, cornbread, watermelon-feta salad, and blondies for dessert. You can also add beer, wine, or pre-made cocktails for extra.