It’s all about beer and dinners featuring small artisanal brewers.  Check out the action at The Linkery that goes on for days including a Green Flash bash November 12.  For info:  619-255-8778.

At Roseville, there’s a fun menu featuring Shipyard’s limited edition brews from chef Amy DiBiase’s home state, Maine.  Reservations a must for this all-inclusive $65 dinner also on November 12 . Call 619-450-6800.

If  bubbles are more your style, don’t miss Winesellar & Brasserie’s annual Le Grande Champagne Tasting on November 14 that includes Ruinart, Taittinger and Krug among many top producers.  For $85 it’s a deal that includes appetizers to match the various Champagnes.  Reservations a must:  858-450-9557.

Thanksgiving is around the corner and you can order a turkey from any of your favorite meat markets.  La Jolla’s Homegrown Meats will have local free-range California turkeys as well as spiral hams and meats.  For information and to order call  858-454-6328.

Celebrate Thanksgiving by not cooking and supporting Slow Food Urban San Diego at a November 19 dinner at UCSD.  Jeff Jackson, executive chef at A.R. Valentien will cook local pastured turkeys from Womach Ranch.  For information and tickets or call 619-972-3500.

Update:  Another local food writer, Kitty Morse (well-known for her Moroccan food tours and cookbooks) just released her updated A Biblical Feast:  Ancient Mediterranean Flavors for Today’s Table that features foods mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. The nearly fifty  easy -to- make recipes, along with commentary on the history of the ingredients would delight any cook.  The book is available online from Kitty and at local bookstores for $18.95.

Books make great gifts and three  new ones are certain to  get you thinking about cooking and food.  Two cookbooks come from local San Diego restaurant owners:  Su- Mei Yu owns the popular  Saffron on India Street near the corner of Washington Street.  Her latest book, The Elements of Life: A Contemporary Guide to Thai Recipes and Traditions for Healthier Living will be available early October.  This food centers on Sue-Mei’s passion for healthy eating, and in the Thai culture, how seasons and elements (wind, fire, earth and water) figure in the daily diet.

Bernard Guillas, the longtime executive chef at The Marine Room and his chef de cuisine Ron Oliver share cooking secrets and recipes gathered during their worldwide travels as celebrity chefs–from Australia to Hong Kong– on land and on sea.  Flying Pans: Two Chefs, One World will be available in early November.  It looks to be a gorgeous book with Guillas’ good food.

Jill Richardson is a local food activist  and blogger with a passion about America’s  food system (or lack thereof).  Her book, Recipe for America:  Why Our Food System is Broken and What We Can Do To Fix It looks at our industrialized agricultural system and gives her vision for a way towards a more sustainable path for agriculture.