Graduation & Holiday Party

Hope everyone’s had a great weekend. I’m trying to figure out how it went by so quickly!

Some things we’ve been up to … Erik officially graduated with his Masters in exercise science on Friday, woo hoo!

Yes, he meant to put that right in front of my face when I was taking a picture, why wouldn’t he?? Ha.

Holiday Party

On Thursday evening we went to a holiday party at Portfolio Kitchen.

I posted a little while back about their grand opening in which Thermador also launched a culinary studio with eight live professional appliances. Thermador’s chef, Chef Brad, who was at the grand opening event was also at this holiday party.

I’ve seen other bloggers talk about Thermador blogging events so I was already familiar with Chef Brad but we got an opportunity to talk to him this time. Chef Brad is passionate about cooking with grains, and we spent some time with him talking about different kinds of grains, flours, products, etcetera.

After finding out we’re vegan, he nicely made up special plates of food for us that included squash and quinoa topped with a tasty salsa/chutney. We were delighted to get our own plates and it was delicious!

Chef Brad’s website has a lot of great information with all kinds of tips, recipes, products, etcetera. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you want to learn more about fusion grain cooking!

Purple Carrot Portfolio Discount

Last, but certainly not least, Portfolio Kitchen would like to offer 10% off to YOU, blog readers, on any of their Portfolio Boutique merchandise! As you see from my last post, they have a wealth of local and national cookbooks and products that would make awesome Christmas gifts. They have signed copies of Bluestem the Cookbook, Jasper’s Kitchen Cookbook and Fresh Mozzarella Theater Kit, Kansas City Food Lover’s Guide, Foodie Fight and Foodie Fight Rematch games, and more.

All you have to do is stop in, check out what they have and mention The Purple Carrot to get the 10% off. Their hours are Monday through Friday 9-5 and Saturdays from 11-3, and they’re located in the historic Pershing building across from Union Station in Kansas City.

Have a great Monday!

Portfolio's 12 Days of Cookbooks (great holiday gift ideas!)

Happy December, everyone!

It’s hard to believe that it’s already that time of year, isn’t it?? And I have yet to get one Christmas present for one person! This is no surprise though, as I’m typically pretty good at doing such things last minute, ha.

Speaking of Christmas gifts, Erik and I went to an event last night at Portfolio Kitchen called The 12 Days of Cookbooks. It featured “12 Days” of cookbooks from renowned local and national authors to inspire great holiday gift ideas for the foodies in your life!

I thought it was a great idea to feature so many local cookbooks, and what a great gift idea, not only spreading good food, but supporting local authors. And not to worry … so none of you miss out, here’s a list of the featured “12 Days of Cookbooks”:

• Heartland by Judith Fertig
• Bluestem by Colby & Megan Garrelts
• The Bonne Femme Cookbook by Wini Moranville
• Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
• The Way to Cook by Julia Child
• Mozzarella Theater Kit & Cookbook by Jasper Mirabile, Jr.
• Venezia by Tessa Kiros
• Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas by Craig Priebe
• Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy by Lidia Bastianich
• Miette by Meg Ray
• Chocolat by Stephan Lagorce
• Luscious Chocolate by Lori Longbotham
• Milk & Cookies by Tina Casaceli
• Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor
• Foodie Fight, Wine Wars, and Food Fight Rematch Games by Joyce Lock
• Food Lover’s Guide to Kansas City by Sylvie Hogg Murphy
• The Artisan Bread Machine by Judith Fertig
• Cake Simple by Christie Matheson
• Amish Baking Book by Lovina Eicher
• Luscious Lemon Desserts by Lori Longbotham
• Wine Bites by Barbara Scott-Goodman
• Small Plates-Perfect Wines by Lori Lyn Narlock
• Cakebread Cellars’ American Harvest Cookbook by Jack & Dolores Cakebread
• Prairie Home Cooking by Judith Fertig
• Bon Appetit Y’All & Basic to Brilliant Y’All by Virginia Wills
• Casserole Queens by Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock
• Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi
• Homemade by Clodagh McKenna
• 500 Cupcakes by Judith Fertig
• The Pretty Cupcake Kit and Cutie Pies by Dani Cone

One awesome non cookbook item to point out are Joyce Lock’s Foodie games. She has three different games: Foodie Fight, Foodie Fight Rematch & Wine Wars, which are trivia all about food and wine.

Not only can they be great games for any foodie, but also a fun and challenging way to learn more about food and wine in depth. You can visit her Facebook page for more information. These would definitely make a unique holiday gift for the food lovers in your life!

Chef Jasper Mirabile from Jasper’s & Marco Polo’s Italian Market was also there last night doing a fresh Mozzarella demonstration.

You can even purchase a kit to very easily make your own Mozarella (just add milk), along with his cookbooks on his website. Both excellent holiday gifts!

It was a great event at Portfolio and hopefully you’ve been inspired in your holiday gift giving! I posted more pictures from the evening on my Facebook page as well.

How many gifts do you have left to get?? (For those of you that say “ALL of them”, I’m right there with you! ha)

Portfolio Kitchen & Home Grand Opening Gala

Happy weekend, everyone!

Portfolio Kitchen & Home

Last night, Erik and I got the opportunity to attend the grand opening gala at Kansas City’s premier home design store, Portfolio Kitchen & Home, which is located in the historic Pershing building across from Union Station.  I love admiring beautiful kitchens so it sounded like fun to me!

Thermador

As a part of this grand opening, luxury-appliance maker Thermador launched a culinary studio with eight live professional appliances at Porfolio’s Flagship Kansas City store and will feature a kitchen by Gaggenau, a sister brand of Thermador.  The Thermador studio will be used as the facility’s showcase kitchen where Portfolio will host cooking classes, demonstrations and culinary events.

I was excited to check out the Thermador appliances because I absolutely LOVE fellow blogger Maria’s (of  Two Peas & Their Pod) recently remodeled Thermador kitchen.

As expected, Thermador’s kitchen studio was awesome. I would take it any day! ha.

Thermador’s executive chef, Brad Petersen, was also at Portfolio doing live cooking demonstrations and serving up delicious food! Chef Brad and other prominent chefs will be conducting cooking classes and live demonstrations in this Thermador Culinary Studio as part of Portfolio’s ongoing culinary education program.

Aside from Thermador’s cooking studio, Portfolio was full of numerous other beautiful high end kitchen displays, food, and drinks!

Complete with live music:

There was a definite buzz in the air that only grew as the store began to reach capacity. It was obvious that guests were having a great time due to Portfolio's 5-Star service.

We also had a great time at Portfolio’s grand opening gala, and we loved checking out Thermador’s top of the line studio! So glad we got to be apart of this wonderful event.

For more information, visit http://www.portfolio-home.com/flagship.html

What would your dream kitchen look like??