karma kleanse
Yoga East yoga studio in Portsmouth is offering their fourth annual Karma Kleanse, a three-day fast from May 19 to 21 to benefit Share Our Strength, one of the nation’s leading anti-hunger, antipoverty organizations.

Yoga East owner/director Kimberly Dahlmann says the fast originally began as a way to teach and share information with students about diet and nutrition. Three years ago it evolved into a donation/sponsorship program, with participants soliciting friends and family to sponsor them during the three-day fast by giving a donation to Share Our Strength. 

Dahlmann says the fast is intended to raise awareness about the issues of hunger and poverty. It’s not limited to abstaining from food only; many participants choose to avoid watching television, to refrain from cell phone usage, or to go without coffee for the duration of the fast. 

This year Dahlmann has invited other area yoga studios to join in the fast. By making it more of a community event Dahlmann hopes to raise $5,000 for Share Our Strength. Other participating studios include Dover Yoga Studio in Dover, Bikram Yoga in Portsmouth, At Om Yoga in Greenland and Institute for Personal Development in Hampton.

A pre-fast informational meeting will be held on April 30 at 4 p.m. at the studio, 163-B Deer St. (603-422-YOGA, www.yogaeastyoga.com).

happy birthday Stonewall Kitchen 
Stonewall Kitchen celebrates its 15th anniversary this May, offering special discounts, offers and giveaways at its stores on May 5, 6 and 7. On May 6 in York, Jim Stott and Jonathan King, co-owners and co-authors of all Stonewall Kitchen cookbooks, will host a book signing from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
King and Stott started the company in 1991 in Stott’s tiny cottage in Hampton, taking orders for their jams, jellies, vinegars and preserved vegetables, then taking their wares on the road to numerous craft fair and farmers’ markets throughout the Northeast. To meet the growing demand, the two entrepreneurs purchased a farmhouse in Kittery and converted the property’s 18th century barn into their first factory, with the rambling stone walls surrounding the farm inspiring the company name. Since opening its first retail store in York in 1995, Stonewall Kitchen has grown to a chain of seven stores and employs almost 400 people, supplying goods to more than 5,000 specialty food shops around the nation as well as on the Internet and in their catalog division. 

high school students invite everyone to dinner
The juniors and seniors of the Culinary Arts program at the Seacoast School of Technology in Exeter invite you to join them for dinner on Thursday, May 11, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Rockingham Ballroom in Newmarket.

At the banquet, guests will be treated to an extensive buffet, including a carving station and several display-cooking stations at which guests can select ingredients for a particular dish and watch as students prepare the meal in front of them.

The students run Julia’s, a live restaurant at the school, and they participate in numerous catering events throughout the year. Senior A.J. Dickens came up with the idea for the banquet as a way for he and his classmates to showcase the skills they’ve learned in the culinary program. 

Instructor Jim Collins welcomed the idea, and his classmates elected Dickens to serve as manager for the event, with senior Christina Costas serving as assistant manager. “It’s to bring together everything we’ve done—the juniors for the past year and the seniors for the past two years—and just show everybody what we’ve learned,” says Dickens.

Dickens says the students tried the display cooking at catering events last year and that, “everybody really likes the display cooking because they get to interact with cooks.” He says that the most popular stations are the Italian pasta station, the Asian stir-fry station, and the flambé e dessert station. Tickets are $20, and reservations are required, at 603-775-8473 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it