All the Chefs Came Out to Play, Down in Monterey.Pepin, Keller, Puck & More!

Lights, Pans and Action! WHY STOP NOW?

I am happy to report that I made it through this wild week with energy fueled by excitement, because "rest" was not a big component.

Wednesday I drove to the beautiful Standards of Excellence Showroom in San Jose to put on a delicious appetizer and networking event with "Team SJ" for the San Jose Chamber's young professionals group. They had a great turn out of over 60 guests. Dave and Sandra helped Brett Gleeson from Fresh Starts Cooking School demonstrate our Chocolate Fondue Tower. We simply melted top quality chocolate on the induction burners which require no double boiler to melt chocolate and set it out with skewered spring strawberries, dried apricots and pound cake bites. I also placed cut marshmallows on graham crackers and flashed them in a 350 degree convection oven for a "Drizzled Smore". Yeah, they ate it up! Thanks SJ...


The incredible Sears Chef Challenge is coming!


That evening I returned at 11:30 to find dozens of videos, photos and bios from culinary hopefuls from across the country trying out for the Sears Chef Challenge launching nation wide on May 8th. I am so excited to be a part of this groundbreaking event running through November. I was up all evening looking at videos, it was a blast! My results were due with a one day turn around and the next day I was leaving for the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Experience! I loved watching the videos, some pretty stiff, some really funny and creative. All touched my heart, but we had to narrow down candidates to compete in rounds one and two. So much more to come on this...just you wait!

Thursday am, I chucked a few things in a bag and hit the road, 3 hours south to the Monterey Coast. My crispy-pressed chef coats caught the breeze behind my seat as SF faded in the distance. My "Golden Gate Bridge Song" ( what ever fab song comes on when I drive over the world's most gorgeous bridge) was "Soul to Squeeze" by the RH Chilies