Juneteenth in Sacramento

Saturday, June 18. Today was a pretty good day - Juneteenth! I spent the day at Williams Land Park in Sacramento with my girls, Princess and Katie, and with Chef Pannell. Chef signed on to do a few cooking demonstrations for the Health and Wellness tent at the event, and I agreed to support him as his assistant. While there was no true cooking involved (hot foods), he prepared about 4 heart healthy salads -- a blackeyed peas and mango salad, black bean and corn salsa, fruit salad, watermelon salsa and cold slaw. All of them turned out pretty damn good and the feedback we received was overwhelming positive.

The turn out at this year's event was surprisingly high. Last years' experience was disappointing. I was actually the first public event I attended after moving back from Portland. Boy, did I want to hit I-5 and go back! I remember leaving after only about 30 minutes there. There were no vendors - food or craft - to speak of. But this year I was amazed to see so many more offerings and two stages of entertainment. The weather was nice and there was something to do for all ages.

Next year I will definitely have a mobile food truck at this event. They need me.

Sweet Potato Waffles

OMG! These puppies are DElicious!! Now, I only need to perfect the texture; the flavor is amazing. I am not a baker -- not by any stretch of the imagination -- so I reached out to Chef Nancy Rostomily. She is Ms. Chef Baker extraordinaire at The International Culinary Schools... hope she can help. They are just a little too gooey in the center. If you have a little advice for me, please let me know. Leave a comment or two; I would love to hear from you! I'm thinking that adding a little less of the sweet potato mixture into my batter will solve the situation, but what do I know about these things?? My area of expertise lies in the savory, not so much the sweet.

Any plans for Juneteenth? I will be participating in a competition for the American Heart Association...a chef cook off, if you will. We'll be given a few "mystery" ingredients and about 45 minutes to come up with a heart healthy dish. I think it will be fun. Come out a show some love if you're in the area. It will be held at William Land Park in Sacramento on June 18th. Go to SacramentoJuneteenth.com for more information.

Tomorrow is another day. I am excited about moving on to the muffin trials... let's see how that goes.