Who’s Hungry for Cupcakes?

Downtown Pleasant Hill welcomes a sinful addition in April — Sinful Bliss Cupcakes, to be exact.

Owner Tammie Parnell believes in celebrating life’s everyday moments with something sweet. After surviving breast cancer, being laid off from her banking job and watching her husband lose his own job, she decided to bet the future on her love of baking.

Her cupcake shop offers a dozen flavors, including chocolate peanut butter cup, Nutella, raspberry and Red Velvet cheesecake. Mini ones are $2 each; regular size ones are $3.25 each. Parnell also does custom designs upon request.

Sinful Bliss Cupcakes will celebrate its grand opening at 10 a.m. April 17 with a ribbon-cutting and free tastings. The event is also a fund-raiser for the Pleasant Hill Middle School Art Department, which will receive 100 percent of that day’s cupcake profits. The students will be creating inspired artwork, which will be displayed at the bakery.

Morever, during the grand opening, children are invited to make their own cupcake design. Fifty of the winning designs will be made and sold on April 23, with profits of the sales going to Pleasant Hill Elementary School.

A Food Truck Meet-Up in San Jose

Aren’t you tired of hearing about all those great food truck gatherings in that city to the North and that other one to the East?

Well, South Bay foodies, you don’t have to feel left out anymore. Here’s the event you’ve been waiting for –  SJEats: A Moveable Feast, noon to 8 p.m. April 2 in the Fallon House parking lot at Saint John Street and Almaden Avenue in San Jose.

Twenty food trucks and carts are expected to converge there, including the Wow, Chairman Bao, Kara’s Cupcakes, Roli Roti, and HapaSF.

It’s part of the SJMade event, which also will be held there and feature local vendors selling their unique wares.

Food As Medicine — the Asian Way

Forget aspirin. Garlic, ginger, wolfberries, and bitter melon are what many Asian-Americans reach for when they need healing.

The non-profit Asian Culinary Forum will bring together a panel for “Food As Medicine: Cuisine, Curatives & Culture,” 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 19 at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

Speakers — including Vinita Jacinto, chef instructor at the California Culinary Academy; and Nancy Chen, professor of anthropology at the University of California at Santa Cruz — will discuss the popularity of healing food ingredients in Chinese and Indian cultures, and how you can incorporate them into everyday cooking.

Preceding the discussion, attendees will get a chance to sample medicinal foods and beverages.

Tickets are $30 in advance; $35 at the door.

More Fund-Raisers to Help Japan

Tomorrow, March 31 at 7:30 p.m., Nombe in San Francisco will host  “Sake 101,” which will include five sakes paired with four dishes, as well as a basic sake tutorial.

Price is $45, with all proceeds to the Japan Disaster Relief Fund through the Japan Consulate of North America.

The Northern California Japanese Restaurant Association and the Nikko Hotel in San Francisco present, “Hope to Japan: Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Relief,” 5 p.m. April 5.

The event, held at the hotel, will feature libations, food and music. Among the more than 30 restaurants, and wine and sake makers participating are: Ana Mandara, Gary Danko, Poggio, Roy’s, We Be Sushi, and Born Sake.

Tickets are $150 per person, with all proceeds going to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

On April 9, Yoshi’s San Francisco will host “Japan Relief Benefit.”

Thirteen chefs from around the Bay Area will create gourmet fare to go with wine and sake tastings. They include Sho Kamio of Yoshi’s; Ken Tominaga of Hana and Go Fish; Chris Cosentino of Incanto; Hoss Zare of Zare at Fly Trap; and Michael Morrison of Coco 500.

Tickets are $75, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross for Japan Relief.

On April 10, E&O Trading Co. in San Francisco, will host a food and wine festival inside its restaurant, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., in which all proceeds will be donated to Give2Asia.

“Restaurants for Relief” will feature tasting stations will be set up to offer up wines, cocktails and nibbles from participating wineries and restaurants. They include Slanted Door, Butterfly, One Market, Contigo and Honig Winery.

Chef Joey Altman and his Back Burner Blues Band also will perform.

Tickets are $75.

Through tomorrow, Camino in Oakland continues its March cocktail fund-raiser. All proceeds from the sale of its $10 Japanese Cocktail (brandy, orgeat, bitters and lime) will be donated to a relief fund set up by the Fukushima Prefectural government.

The Park Chalet Garden Restaurant across from San Francisco’s Ocean Beach will host a musical event at 6:30 p.m. April 1, featuring Charity Kahn of Charity and the JAMBand. It will feature a voluntary cover charge, with donations going to the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. Donations of $5 or more also will garner folks “Happy Hour” pricing on drinks.

Guests also can help fold origami cranes. The restaurant will donate $1 to the relief fund for every one folded.

Additionally, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. April 2, the restaurant will host an outdoor barbecue. The restaurant will match any voluntary donation given that day.

All in all, the restaurant’s goal is to raise $5,000 for relief efforts.