Kid-friendly kitchen

Pairings in Winterport will offer a cooking class for kids at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, June 19, led by Chef Laurie Turner, who plans to include a special pizza recipe in her instruction. Turner will teach students about kitchen safety and cooking techniques, so when they come back and are itching to get cooking, they’ll know their way around a stove. Another kids’ cooking class is set for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 25. Each class is $35; to register your child, call Pairings at 223-0990.

Bagaduce Lunch feels the love

The Bagaduce Lunch, the Brooksville takeout spot named in a 2006 Bangor Daily News article as the makers of the best crabmeat roll in the state, took home a major honor at an awards ceremony in early June. Owner Judy Astbury, daughter of original owner Vangie Peasley, was given a 2008 James Beard Foundation America’s Classic Award during the event, held at Lincoln Center in New York City on June 8. The Bagaduce Lunch, located on a tidal river in Hancock County, serves up fried scallops, fresh vegetables and a warm, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth crabmeat roll to hungry patrons, and has done so, with different owners, since 1946. Astbury and her husband, co-owner Mike, were not present at the ceremony, but can add the honor to a long list of accolades for their traditional Maine takeout fare. The America’s Classic Awards were created by the James Beard Foundation to recognize “small, regional restaurants, watering holes, shacks, lunch counters and similar down-home eateries that have carved out a special place on the American culinary landscape,” according to its Web site.

Libations in L/A

The 2008 Maine Grains and Grapes Festival is set for Saturday, June 21, at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, and will feature a huge assortment of Maine brewers and vintners, including, among others, Sea Dog and Shipyard breweries and Savage Oakes and Sweetgrass Farms wineries. Additionally, Lewiston/Auburn area restaurants will serve up food, including Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli, Gritty McDuff’s Pub, South of the Border Mexican Restaurant and Za’ Pizza. Tickets are $20 for those 21 and over, and $25 the day of the festival. A special $10 “designated driver” rate is also available. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. for the first tastings, followed by another session at 6:30. To purchase tickets, visit www.thecolisee.com, or call 1-877-468-4946.