What's Cooking: Vote for the Munchies

The Twin Cities area is making a fine showing among nominees in the Munchies: People's Choice Food Awards, now in its fourth year. General Mills' Tablespoon.com website honors 100 of the "top food experiences in America" as chosen by a panel of 43 "tastemakers" led by TV personality and chef Andrew Zimmern. Local nominees are: Pizzeria Lola, Glam Doll Donuts, Surly Brewing Co., Marvel Bar and the Perennial Plate food blog. You can vote daily through March 31 for your favorites at www.tablespoon.com/themunchies.

Beyond the fact that March means that we made it through February, it also signals the annual Minnesota Monthly Food & Wine Experience. More than 200 exhibitors inside Target Field's Metropolitan and Legends clubs will tempt and inform from 1-5 p.m. on March 7 and 8. Tickets are $80 in advance online, or $85 at the door (subject to availability). Wine seminars are an additional $25 each day. Before the weekend's event, there is a Grand Red Tasting on March 6, an evening of dinner paired with high-end red wines. Those tickets are $90 in advance; $95 at the door, if available. All proceeds benefit Minnesota Public Radio. For all the details and to order tickets, visit www.FoodWineShow.com.

Parents of children with special needs know the challenges of shopping for groceries while trying to maneuver a cart and a wheelchair through the aisles. One such mother is Drew Ann Long of Alabama, who also is an inventor. She came up with Caroline's Cart, named after her daughter, when she realized that Caroline soon would outgrow a typical cart. Working with a manufacturer, they designed a cart with a seat at the front that allows an older child to sit supported without reducing room in the cart itself. The Maple Grove Cub Foods store, 8150 Wedgewood Lane, is the first Twin Cities area supermarket to make the cart available to its customers. It joins a half-dozen other food stores in Minnesota. To learn more, visit www.carolinescart.com.

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum will host the Mill City Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 7, with more than 40 of its vendors. The lineup includes: Ames Farm (honey, beeswax candles), Bliss Granola, Buffalo by Bike (sustainably raised bison), Cafe Palmira (coffee beans), Down in the Valley Bakehouse (gluten-free goodies), French Nugget (gourmet chocolate, lavender), Kiss My Cabbage (kimchi, lacto-fermented veggies), Market Chef Pantry (jams and jellies, vinegars), Martha's Joy (pickled vegetables), Northern Lakes Wild Rice (locally harvested wild rice), Olsen Naturals (all-natural body care), Red Table Meat Co. (cured salumi), Shepherd's Way Farms (sheep's cheese, lamb sausages), Singing Hills Goat Dairy (goat cheese, pork products), Solomon's Bakery (fresh bread and baked goods), Stirsby (wooden kitchen utensils), Sunrise Flour Mill (freshly milled whole grains and flours) and Zula Juice (cold-pressed organic juice). A full list of participating vendors can be found at millcityfarmersmarket.org.