Good Food seeks nominees

It's time to toot your own horns! The Good Food Awards heads into its seventh year and invites food producers from across the country to submit the wares for judging and national acclaim. Categories are beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, cider, coffee, confections, honey, oils, pickles, preserves, spirits, pantry items and — new this year — preserved fish (including lox, jarred oysters, sardines, roe and more). A blind tasting with 225 food crafters, chefs and food writers will determine which products become the 2016 Good Food winners. The chief determining factor is that everything must be produced with a commitment to environmental and social responsibility, supporting local economies and the planet.

A short online entry form is available at goodfoodawards.org through the July 31 deadline. The entry fee is $68, which covers the cost of sorting, storing and transporting an anticipated 2,000 entries. (To receive a free entry, join the Good Food Merchants Guild; info at goodfoodmerchantsguild.org.) Winners will be honored at an awards ceremony and be able to sell their wares at the Good Food Awards Marketplace.

Cookie Cart joins mentors

Cookie Cart is hosting its second "Crafting Brighter Futures" networking event for youths and adults at Surly Brewing Co., offering the bakery's young people a chance to network with adult mentors. The wider community is invited to attend to learn more about Cookie Cart, get to know the program's teens through networking and share their professional experience in a mentoring format. The evening will also include a tour of the brewery's facility. Tickets are $30 per person or $50 per couple and include admission, hors d'oeuvres, one drink ticket for a Surly beer for adults and nonalcoholic beverages for youths.

The event is from 5-8 p.m. July 25 at Surly Brewing Co., 520 Malcolm Av. SE., Minneapolis. Buy tickets at eventbrite.com and search for "crafting brighter futures." Cookie Cart employs teens as a means of offering them life and leadership skills through the urban nonprofit bakery.

New North Shore winery

North Shore Winery officially opened this month in Lutsen, Minn., with owners Chuck Corliss and Kim Schroeder offering a range of wines, along with ciders from their Sawtooth Mountain Cider House. The winery and cider house are on Ski Hill Road off Hwy. 61. The winery project began in 2012 when the couple bought the property, with the winery manufacturing facility and tasting room completed in 2015. Wine production began last fall, and there are five red wines, four white wines and two ciders. The tasting room, managed by Rob Grubbs, offers flights for a fee, plus wines and ciders sold by the glass, carafe and bottle. The tasting room also offers Minnesota-crafted cheeses and cured meats. Business hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Visit northshorewinery.us.

KIM ODE