Just got back from a quick trip to New Orleans which of course has left me a bit worn out. I was expecting a tame trip…fly down and get my work done, mingle a bit but that is it. Turns out the members of the PCMA, Professional Convention Management Association, like to have a good time.
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I have always been a big fan of blind taste tests. I remember back about nine years ago when my roommate and I were snowed in our apartment in Chicago, we walked over to the convenient store and decided to buy all the different diet sodas to find out once and for all which we preferred. I always go for Diet Coke while my friend Stef leans towards Diet Pepsi. Always a challenge when we were stocking up our fridge. I knew for sure that I would pick the Coke, after all I had been drinking it since I was in 8th grade. After carefully labeling the bottom of each plastic cup with a letter, and corresponding it to the cans (we picked up other like Diet RC and the no name brand), it was time to taste. I chose the one that tasted exponentially better than the rest (not that any diet soda really tastes GOOD). It was the Diet Pepsi….I was shocked. I thought there must be some mistake with our system but there was not. But until this day, I still buy Diet Coke.
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I just got back to Chicago after a few fun filled days in Arizona working with the boys of Digestif. I met the chef, Payton Curry, back in October while we were both participating in the Food and Wine event, Eats3. I had invaded his kitchen to get ready for my chef demo and we pretty much just hit it off. Aside from the curly hair in common, we have similar styles. Our food is not overly fussy, our kitchens have a fun vibe while everyone in them is still focused on putting out great food, and we both like to have a good time but know when to get serious. So after a few days of hanging around we decided it would be fun for me to come back down in December and do a wine dinner.
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This week I was lucky enough to have my first experience cooking at the James Beard house in New York. James Beard was a huge influence on the culinary world, through his teaching, cookbooks and his love of food. Though he passed away over 20 years ago, his legacy lives on through the James Beard Foundation.
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I just got back from a great trip to Walla Walla, Washington. I will admit that part of the lure to the area is the fun of saying Walla Walla…but the real reason to visit are the amazing wines found in this region. Back in the early 90’s, there were around 15 wineries in the area. Now there are close to one hundred. Located about five hours East of Seattle it is a bit more remote than the very popular wine regions of Napa Valley and Sonoma which hopefully will guarantee that though it will most likely continue to grow, it will not become over-commercialized as some West Coast wine areas have.
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