{"id":1054,"date":"2009-08-04T00:51:06","date_gmt":"2009-08-04T00:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kathycasey.com\/blog\/?p=1054"},"modified":"2009-08-04T00:51:06","modified_gmt":"2009-08-04T00:51:06","slug":"dishing-with-kathy-casey-the-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dishingwithkathycasey.com\/?p=1054","title":{"rendered":"Dishing with Kathy Casey: The Newsletter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer fun keeps going\u2014travel, travel, travel and lots of tasty projects!<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a whirlwind of a summer, with tons of travel \u2026 and a lot of fun, too. First off this month, I headed to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans<\/strong> for the biggest cocktail-and-spirit event of the year. Attending were world-famous experts, mixologists, liquor companies, writers, bloggers, filmers and cocktail geeks. The week-long event featured lots of exciting seminars\u2014from trends and innovation to the art of shaking and a multitude of spirit tastings\u2014all day long. There were even \u201ccarnivorous\u201d cocktails\u2014these are meat-inspired, such as fat-washed liquors: bacon bourbon and Serrano ham bone infused reposado tequila (for an excellent account of this, check out \u201cWaiter? There\u2019s a Pig in My Cocktail!<\/a>\u201d) In between and after all the learning was lots more drinking and dining \u2026 laissez les bon temps rouler!<\/p>\n

Eating highlights included a \u201cspirited dinner\u201d at GW Fins<\/a>, where industry tiki gods Jeff \u201cBeachbum\u201d Berry and Martin Cate paired fantastic \u201cMiehana\u201d<\/a> and \u201cPupule\u201d<\/a> cocktails with a very tasty menu. See my whole account of the dinner on my Amazon blog<\/a>. We just felt sorry for whoever had to core out all those pineapples!<\/p>\n

Other dining highlights included muffulettas and Pimm\u2019s Cups at the Plymouth House and then dinner at Cochon<\/a>, one of my favorite restaurants in New Orleans. Chef Link and partners, by the way, have now opened Cochon Butcher<\/a>, which my Seattle compatriots stopped by for giant tasty sandwiches on the way to catch their flights \u2026 Darn! I missed that one! But before Cameo, my \u201cpartner in crime\u201d and chef at the Food Studios, and I headed out for our flight, we joined friends at Stanley\u2019s by Jackson Square for super-yummy Eggs Benedict. I had the Eggs Stanley with fried oysters; others had theirs with soft-shelled crabs and boudin sausage\u2014all topped off with Cajun hollandaise. D\u2019lish!<\/p>\n

Saturated and satiated, I headed back home\u2014just to turn around 4 days later and head back to NOLA to judge the Great American Seafood Cook-off<\/strong>! Another day of flying, running to my room at the Royal Sonesta<\/a> (which by the way is a fantastic hotel located on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter\u2014check out the concierge level for the ultimate royal<\/em> treatment), then jumping in a cab to go dine some more! The dine-around that the Cook-off organizers planned started with a parade (or \u201csecond line\u201d as they call it in the Crescent City) down the street with a dancing chef on stilts, horns playing good old New Orleans jazz and glittery gals dressed up in crawfish and crab suits. First, we marched to Cochon, where we snacked on boudin balls and fried oysters that were superb! Then we hopped a bus to our remaining destinations; chefs, judges and sponsors were all aboard, including celebrity judge Sig Hansen from the Deadliest Catch. Our bus MC was Ewell Smith, who entertained us and started the \u201cstate singing competition\u201d\u2014he challenged each participating state to sing, karaoke-style. Oddly enough there was no entrant from Washington State; California, Oregon and Alaska represented the West Coast. (Entrants were sent by governors\u2014so what\u2019s up with this, Christine Gregoire??? Kind of embarrassing that we had no Washington State chef in the competition!) And by the way, the entire dine-around trip was escorted by New Orleans\u2019 finest police bike brigade! Hey, where else will the cops let you pose on their bikes with them??? Then back on the bus, where I was bullied and peer-pressured to sing for Washington State. So out popped the song that longtime associate Ann Manly and I wrote years ago for an \u201coyster fashion show,\u201d \u201cIn Your Oyster Bonnet\u201d; <\/em>it\u2019s even been published! Okay, I sang on the microphone and, I am sure, made a total fool of myself\u2014but it\u2019s the Big Easy, right?<\/p>\n

\"kathyneworleans\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our police escort and I \u2026 watch out, New Orleans!<\/p>\n

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The big Cook-off finals were the next day, with glitterati judges such as chef Michel Richard and Chicago Tribune<\/em> food editor Carol Haddix. Thirteen chefs from 13 different states were setting up; the tension was mounting as they competed for the bragging rights to be Great American Seafood Cook-off winner.<\/strong> For the next few hours, we tasted and nibbled a new dish every 10 minutes!! I tried to just take tiny bites of each\u2014but it was hard to do! New Orleans PBS was there filming our every move, bite and comment \u2026 so look for the special on your local PBS station over the next few months.<\/p>\n

So, after hours of eating, the scores were tallied and the big moment had arrived! 1st place went to Louisiana\u2014Tory McPhail from Commander\u2019s Palace was crowned King of American Seafood. (He grew up in Washington State, so we have a little NW connection to the winner!) 2nd place went to New Jersey\u2014Peter Fischbach, from New Jersey Institute of Technology; and 3rd place to Alaska\u2014Patrick Hoogerhyde from WildFin Seagrill. Congrats to all!<\/p>\n

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But enough with the touring\u2014I\u2019m a bit traveled out. On to the home front \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

My book Sips & Apps<\/strong> is doing really well, so, thank you, everyone, for your support! It has been getting super-great coverage on blogs and websites galore. One of my favorite interviews was actually for a piece on lemon meringue pies<\/strong>\u2014my favorite! How does this tie into the cocktail book? For Sips & Apps<\/em> I created a dessert cocktail called the Lemon Meringue Puff,<\/strong> which truly does<\/em> taste like a real lemon meringue pie. So now you can have your pie and drink it, too! Check out the fun article on Love To Know.com<\/a>. Also the sassy Strawberry Shag<\/strong> seems to have struck a chord out there somewhere because even one of my friend\u2019s mothers called me to say she saw it featured in their local newspaper. It just goes to show you America loves its strawberries! The recipe features sliced fresh strawberries lightly macerated in a touch of powdered sugar and then shaken with fresh basil, vodka and fresh lemon juice with a splash of soda for a refreshing fizz. Check out the recipe on my Amazon \u201cAl Dente\u201d<\/a> blog while local strawberries are still in the summer markets.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you would like receive an autographed copy of Sips & Apps<\/em> for yourself or for a gift, just order it from our website<\/a> and let us know who you want it made out to. You can also call us at the Studios to arrange to come by and pick up a copy.<\/p>\n

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Also, it\u2019s never to early to start thinking about fall and holiday parties.<\/strong> We have a couple of fun events you can book for company team building\u2014or just for fun\u2014centered around Sips & Apps<\/em>\u2014because that\u2019s really the way we all like to eat and drink these days, right?<\/p>\n

Our Sips & Apps event packages are: <\/strong><\/p>\n