The day has come – our celebration of National Grilled Cheese Month must draw to a close. We’ve had a great cheesy run this year with some great new sandwich recipes and interviews with a few of my favorite cheese experts. But before we bid farewell to grilled cheese for a while (at least a week), I have one last topic to cover…

…The Grilled Cheese Invitational! You may remember when I judged the event last year – over-cheesing aside, I was eager to return again this past weekend at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Even the weather was toasty – I downed six bottles of water throughout the afternoon! – but I had an incredible time nonetheless witnessing (and tasting!) the profuse amount of grilled cheese creativity among the amateur and professional competitors. The event is a little quirky, very cheesy and a ton of fun.

The event has grown so huge, it moved to the Rose Bowl this year.

I asked this guy how much cheese was in this enormous tub. His response: "About $300 worth!"

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There was no containing the excitement I had over the opportunity to spend a morning exploring the Lower East Side of New York City with Ruth Reichl. A lucky group of about 25 of us, in conjunction with last week’s IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) conference, joined the iconic Gourmet editor and food writer to experience the rich history of this area of Manhattan come to life through food.

The Lower East Side tour – I’ll tell you all about it in a minute – was just one of a myriad of “wo0 hoo!” moments I had on this packed, whirlwind New York trip. I could go on for post after post about meeting Sara Moulton and getting to tell her that Sara’s Secrets was the first cooking show I ever watched regularly, trying and liking my first bone marrow on toast at Prune (and seeing Top Chef Masters winner Floyd Cardoz there too!), touring the test kitchens at Food Network and Bon Appetit, spotting Jacques Pépin in the hotel lobby and Wolfgang Puck across the street at Good Morning America, having an amazing Ethiopian meal up at Massawa near Columbia University with my local Manhattanite friend Rachel followed by a forty-block walk back down to Momofuku Milk Bar for a slice of their famous crack pie (oh yes, it’s addictive!) – but how about I just share the details on the Lower East Side tour, which was probably my favorite highlight of them all.

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Suited up and ready for our plant tour

No, these aren’t early Halloween costumes. Our stylish regalia – hair net, hard hat, glasses, plastic shoe covers and an enormous lab-style coat – are what one wears on a tour of a salami plant. Columbus Salame (you might remember the Columbus salami and cheese plate I posted earlier this year) was kind enough to invite my husband Mike and I to visit their South San Francisco production facility while we were in town for my 15th college reunion last weekend.

A little known piece of trivia about me – my first job after college was as a financial auditor and one of my first assignments 15 years ago was to visit the Columbus Salame factory. I’ve come full circle!

It was like jumping inside an episode of Unwrapped, if you know that show on the Food Network. Joined by the plant manager, vice president of operations and senior marketing manager, my husband and I had the chance to step (carefully) through the cool rooms and hallways, observing the salami-making process from start to finish. While I walked around wide-eyed with my little iPhone camera, snapping away, Mike took on the role of scribe, thumbing out copious notes on his Blackberry. This two-hour outing turned out to be a real highlight of our weekend.

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© Panini Happy®, 2011. Panini Happy is a registered trademark of Kathryn Strahs.
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Those of us who love to cook know how it is. Nothing makes us happier than to pour our hearts into preparing a special meal and see delight on the faces of our guests as they enjoy it. I spent a good chunk of last week chopping, slow cooking, baking and caramelizing to pull off a lunch party for the staff of our preschool last Friday.

In conjunction with their National Sandwich Day Challenge, Arnold/Oroweat asked me to host a sandwich party featuring their Health-full bread (see the giveaway at the end of this post). I saw it as the perfect opportunity to show my appreciation for all of the teachers and aides at our school by treating them to a special lunch just before their weekly staff meeting. After much frantic scrambling that morning and some last minute packing help from my babysitter (thanks again, Jo!) I managed to get all of my trays and bowls transported to the school and set up under the big tree in the play yard.

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Sharone Hakman of Masterchef and Hak's BBQ Sauce (and me)

I love to watch entrepreneurship in action – people with a dream and a business plan (or perhaps not) and the moxie to see it all come to fruition. When I went back to school for an MBA  my hope was that some day I would run my own successful business. That dream is still alive – and to an extent, through my blogging, I’ve already started to realize it. But for the time being I live vicariously through the men and women who are truly taking the plunge and rockin’ it out. I encountered many such individuals this past weekend at a trade show called The Gourmet Experience here in San Diego.

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Marco Pierre White and me

Attending blogging conferences, for me, is all about gathering up all of my extroverted tendencies I can muster, sticking my neck out there a little and making the most of the experience. At BlogHer ’11, which took place right here in San Diego this past weekend, I jumped in with both feet and had an absolute blast.

If you recognize the gentleman in the photo above, then you know how thrilled I was to be standing on that platform with him. I’m confident as a cook and all, but when faced with the opportunity to cook alongside Marco Pierre White, “the original celebrity chef”, a man who was the youngest (at the time) ever to receive three Michelin stars, who was a mentor to Gordon Ramsay and who, early on in his career, regularly ejected restaurant patrons who made comments to which he took offense…well, my nerves were running high.

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Mark your calendars – Saturday, May 14, 2011 is the date for this year’s National Food Blogger Bake Sale!

Organized by Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking, the National Food Blogger Bake Sale is now an annual event in which food bloggers from across the country unite to end childhood hunger by holding bake sales in their states. Funds raised through the Bake Sale support Share Our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger in America.

Chances are there will be a National Food Blogger Bake Sale location near you – please check the full list of bake sale locations. If you’d like to make a donation to Share Our Strength, please visit our team page.

I’m very excited to be joining our local San Diego Food Blogger Bake Sale:

Saturday, May 14, 2011
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Great News! Discount Cookware and Cooking School
Pacific Plaza
1788 Garnet Avenue
San Diego, CA 92109

The following local San Diego food bloggers will be participating:

• Marie from Meandering Eats
• Kendra from The Best Zest
• Kathy from Panini Happy
• Darlene from My Burning Kitchen
• Leanne from Three Dog Kitchen
• Jenny from Foray Into Food
• Mary from foodies: a so cal food blog
• Kirbie from Kirbie’s Cravings
• Averie from Love Veggies and Yoga
• Kelly from Sass and Veracity
• Kim from Liv Life Too
• Amanda from Food Porn Daily
• Amanda from The Cilantropist
• Lauren and Chrissy from From the Little Yellow Kitchen
• Lori from Recipe Girl
• Heather from Bake My Day!
• Melina from Graciecakes
• D. aka Mr. Meandering Eats
• Kelsey from Happyolks
• Snehal from Foodilicious
• Stephanie from Recipe Renovator
• Christina
• Lydie from The English Pantry
• Michelle from Berrylish
• Rachel from Bakerita
• Heidi
• Lisa from The Gonzo Gourmet
• Ashleigh from Chantilly et Foie
• Jenny from Vintage Sugarcube
• Amy from Do You Know the Muffin Pan?

I hope you’ll all come out and help support Share Our Strength (and enjoy some fabulous baked goods along the way!).

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Greeting the Mayor and Minister of Cheese

What better way to conclude our celebration of Grilled Cheese Month on Panini Happy than with an inside look at a one-of-a-kind event that draws 300 amateur and professional competitors and thousands of grilled cheese fans annually: The Grilled Cheese Invitational.

The event, founded eight years ago by Tim Walker, started out as a friendly competition between friends. It has since blossomed into a full-blown national grilled cheese movement, with regional competitions across the country. I was honored to participate as an executive judge this past sun-filled Saturday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles. I had myself an absolute cheesy blast.

This was my first time attending the Grilled Cheese Invitational and I have to say, being an executive judge for the event was definitely the way to go. I had the chance to chat up all of the competitors, watch them assemble their amazingly creative sandwiches and, at the end of the event, bestow a judge’s award on my favorite sandwich. Of course, I also got to do one heck of a lot of tasting. Like a lot!

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When Foodbuzz presented me with the opportunity to cover the San Diego installment of Taste of the Nation I absolutely jumped at the chance. Spend a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at a sculpture garden in Balboa Park, indulging and imbibing on food and drink from twenty of the city’s finest dining establishments? You need not ask me twice.

“Kid in a candy store” is (almost literally) the best way to describe me snapping up little plate after little plate as I slowly but surely made my way to each restaurant’s table. Candied sesame seeds, sweet pea blini, pickled heirloom carrots, mango mojito, Rocky Mountain oysters (yup, I even gave those a try, courtesy of our local “celebrity” chef, Oceanaire’s Brian Malarkey from Top Chef Season 3) – my taste buds were very happy indeed. It was a real treat to see so many executive chefs taking the time to staff the tables for this event, which benefited Share our Strength.

Without further ado, here’s a little photographic “taste” of Taste of the Nation – San Diego for you. Feast your eyes!

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