This is the time of year for potlucks, parties, finger food and food born illnesses.  Take some time to know how to properly prepare and protect food from possible food  born illnesses and do it in a fun way....besides nobody wants to be sick during the holidays.

Amy Breschini, (abreschini@co.slo.ca.us), coodinator in San Luis Obispo County, has developed a terrific on-line training tool that makes learning about food safety fun.  Before you get to the fun part, you might go to: http://camastergardeners.ucdavis.edu/files/42278.pdf  and read up on cooking for groups. 

You will now ace the next part of this fun link to food safety:

http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=3214
Special thanks to Amy for sharing her great idea!  Share it with your fellow Master Gardeners today.  Happy Holidays. 

The International Master Gardener Conference early bird registration has been extended to Nov. 30th 2008.  You now have a few more days to get your registration in.  The conference boasts some great tours, great speakers and some great fun.  You will be able to see Brad Landcaster who was one of our keynote speakers at our statewide conference last month.  You can tour local Master Gardener gardens as well as botanic gardens and other highlights that only Las Vagas has to offer.  Hope you plant to go!  See you there!

If you have been casting an eye for attending the International Master Gardener Conference, now would be the time to make the committment and register.  The deadline for the lowest registration price ($260.00) is November 16th. 

The International Conference hasn't been in the west for many years.  The 2009 conference is being held in Las Vegas, NV, home to lots of lights but lots of wonderful garden adventures as well. 

To get the details on this marvelous event, go to:http://www.unce.unr.edu/imgc/

Last April, Communication Services surveyed our clientele to determine their web needs and preferences. This Carewords research revealed how our clientele use our county Web sites, the information they want and what words on the Web page resonate with them. 

We learned that our clients come to us for information on pest management and home gardening more than any other topics — Master Gardener programs are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the Carewords information.

Join us on December 4, 2008 from 10 – 3 in the Plum Room of the DANR Building in Davis for an intensive, hands-on workshop tailored to Master Gardener web content managers.

By attending this workshop you will learn:

• Carewords results for your geographic area
• Words that resonate with your key audience and cross-over audiences
• We’ll individually analyze your current web content and suggest changes that you can make to create content with impact using the Carewords results.

Because of the hands-on nature of this workshop, registration is limited to 10.

Participants should bring a laptop computer with wireless internet capability so we can roll up our sleeves and get to work! If you do not have one, we do have a couple available for your use that day by advanced reservation.

The cost of this workshop is $12.00. Lunch will be provided.

Register using this link – http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=3121

Credit card payments and departmental charges will be accepted.

Unfortunately, travel support for the workshop is not available; the workshop fee covers lunch charges.

Questions? Contact Cynthia Kintigh at 530-754-3911, cckintigh@ucdavis.edu or Pam Geisel at 530-754-6000, pmelam@ucdavis.edu