A Show of Food
Have you ever been to a food show? Like, a live one…not just watched one on TV? I had not until Tuesday night. Technically, it was called the “Taste of Home Cooking School”, (yes…as in, the Taste of Home magazine). Alison, a friend of mine from camp invited me to go with her. We headed to Wausau and grabbed something to eat before heading to the Grand Theater. Let me tell you - we did not just grab “something” to eat….we went to this fabulous place called Noodles & Company. I know…I know…where have I been, right? I know that place has existed for quite some time but I had not yet been there. It was amazing…so many choices…so many combinations…it far surpassed my expectations. I ordered the “Indonesian Peanut Saute”...very spicy…very peanuty…very good! And to top it off it was super clean inside and we received great service there…even though it could sort of be categorized into the fast-food category of restaurants.
Okay…so on to the show. We walk into the lobby and find ourselves engulfed by a sea of vendors….not just food vendors but lots of “home show” type companies..you get the idea…home interiors..candle makers…..mary kay, etc. This was like the “pre-show” option in the lobby area. Basically we signed up for all of the door prize options we could and didn’t really give the vendors much more of our time—sad for them, good for us…except now they have our address and phone number…yikes. Doors didn’t open to the actual theater until 6:30pm so we walked around downtown for awhile. We meandered our way back in time for the doors to open and watched as the 1,200 capacity theater filled with all kinds of women (okay, and a few daring men).
We sat down and found a paper bag at each of our seats filled with all kinds of coupons, freebies and goodies. One item was a 2007 calendar….some got kitten calendars…other people got puppy ones. One lady who sat in front of us got a kitten calendar. Apparently she wanted puppies because she went through a whole row of un-taken bags just to find a puppy calendar to exchange. We went on to hear her say that it had been almost a year since her little pookie had died. Hmm.
Okay, so our host was this peppy, 30-somthing who made the show both fun, entertaining, and information. She took us through a Taste of Home magazine and demonstrated how to make about 10 different recipes. I finally got to see how you’re really suppsoed to cut a chicken up, among other things of course. Overall, it was a fun night and I was inspired to spice up our menu a little. It’s so easy to get into a cooking rut.
Somehow though, after filling out numerous door prize cards….neither Alison or I won a thing! Not even a free ham. Oh well. At least now I know how to cut a chicken. Thanks Taste of Home Cooking School!