Sushi in the City

My sister is pretty cool.  Don't let her know that I said that because we don't want her getting a big head or anything. 

Source

She sent me a text this afternoon asking me if I'd heard about 'Sushi in the City'.  Of course, I had not.  And because she interns for a local philanthropic magazine, she knows of all the fund raising events in the area.  And she definitely fills me in on the food-related ones (remember Desserts First?)

So of course, the minute I got home tonight from class, I had to look into it.  It's pretty much all of the local sushi restaurants competing for "Best of..." this and that.  And I love me some sushi, so I'm pretty sure Andy and I are gonna head on out there March 16th.  For only $50 a person, proceeds going to the Family Scholar House, and all the sushi one can manage to eat in a few hours... what's not to like? 

In other exciting news, my first 5k in 2 years (maybe even 3?) is on Saturday.  Guess how many days I went running since I signed up last month?  Yep... only 1.  Am I gonna suck or what?  Oh well, at least I'm still going through with the race, whether I keel over from exhaustion or not.  It's my own fault, but hopefully I'll be okay.  After all, I did used to run cross country, so it can't be that bad.  I'm sure I'll inform you on Monday!

Check back tomorrow for the Nutella cupcakes that won the last poll (I know, I held out for too long!).  And there's also going to be a new poll tomorrow too with lots of goodies!

Desserts First!

Today was really fun!  My sister and I got to go to the Louisville Marriott Downtown and check out the Desserts First event!

All proceeds go to the Kentuckiana Girl Scouts.  About 20 or so local Louisville restaurants and bakeries participated in an event that let the chefs be creative with the ever popular Girl Scout cookies!  Check out all the good eats!

Samoa Cheesecake

Salted Caramel Goodness from Sweet Surrender (favorite bakery in town, hands down!)

Make Your Own Sundae from Proof On Main (I had a Vanilla Gelato with Do-Si-Does and a Mixed Berry Sauce)

Tower of cupcakes from Adrienne's Bakery

White chocolate dipped Samoa with a zabaglione filling - to. die. for.

Lemon Grass Chicken Skewer from Blu Mediterranean Grill

Jambalaya

The best, most untraditional bourbon ball that I've ever had - Browning's

Chili thickened with Do-Si-Does - JCC Culinary School

PB&J - Varanese

Strawberry Milkshake - Bluebell Creamery

Thin Mint Torte - this sucker was RICH

 There was definitely more, but we couldn't stuff our faces with everything!  And we could even buy to-go boxes for $5 before the event was over (so guess who is the best fiance in the world, and brought her beau a to-go box home... yep.  I think I'm owed a back rub or something, hehe)

 So who knew Girl Scout cookies could be so decadent!  I definitely want to snag some boxes and experiment!  Have a great Thursday guys!

Louisville Uncorked!

Just got back from an awesome charity event that was hosted in Louisville tonight.  I wish I had brought my camera, but unfortunately I didn't know if I would be able to or whatnot, so you'll just have to settle on these default pictures instead.  I do know that we took pictures at the door with their event photographer and they should be up on the website later on this week, so I'll post an update later on!

Flame Run Art Gallery on Market St. in Louisville, KY where the event was hosted

The event was called Louisville Uncorked!  It's a charity event that focuses on wine tasting and getting the 25-40 year old crowd together in the city's art museums or other big space places (for lack of a better wording to put there, hehe).

The concept is actually pretty cool.  Entry is a minimum $20 charitable donation and each event has a wine theme (tonight's theme was Australian Reds).  You form teams of 3 or less and each team brings 3 bottles of the same wine to the event in the theme category.  2 out of 3 of the bottles are wrapped up (concealing it's identity) and the 3rd is set on a main table.  Everyone has score cards to rate the wines (there were OVER 200 bottles there!) and go from table to table, tasting and rating each wine on the scorecard.  Of course, it's impossible to go to each one, but we made a decent effort. 

The concept is being taken nationwide too, this is from a Baton Rouge Uncorked!

So at the end of the night, votes are tallied up and the Top 3 get to split the reserved bottles of wine.  So it's a win-win event.  Proceeds go directly to a charity, and the people who bring the best wines get to take home a crap-load of wine!

Unfortunately... we did not end up in the Top 3, but we still had fun.  We were fed, we drank, and we people watched (quite possibly my favorite part!)  We tried to guess which wine was ours, but don't think we were very successful!  They had a list that was being passed around after the winners were announced of what and whose bottles of wine were which, but we didn't stick around long enough to find out if we actually had that numbered bottle.  Oh well... I figure we're better off not knowing, because who knows, it could have been the one we voted the worst!

What about you guys?  Do you have anything like that where you live?

Brew @ The Zoo!

This weekend was a blast. In particular, on Saturday, the Louisville Zoo held their annual Brew At The Zoo. I can't believe I've never been before, but I am so glad my friends urged me to go this year! For $45 (if tickets were purchased online), you gain access to the zoo, all the craft beer you can drink (from 4pm to 8:30pm), all the food you can eat (from 4pm to 6:30pm), and all the debauchery that ensues. Trust me, well worth it, in my opinion. So instead of a recipe today, we'll go through the day's activities... (and just some warning... there are a TON of pictures!)

My friend Matt, ready for the Brew

We got these cool mini beer mugs to drink our various craft beers in.

The New Albanian... quite possibly one of the best breweries in Southern Indiana.

Za's Pizza... always a winner.

The Whole Foods table: Hummus w/ Pita Chips, Sesame Crackers w/ Goat Cheese, & some Mixed Nuts

Ribs from Chili's (Normally I wouldn't eat at Chili's, but hey, I couldn't resist some ribs with some beer!)

Brew from Brownings

Hummus from Shiraz

Pulled Pork Sliders from Buckhead's


Mini Bruschetta from... ??? (This is probably the point where I've become a little tipsy and things become harder to remember)


Fall's City Beer, quickly becoming a new favorite!

Some Sausage & Slaw from BBC

Having a little pow-wow


This was supposed to be "famous" spread...

The Wine tent... my ass was smart and did not step foot in there... mixing beer AND wine on a hot summer day does not equal a good next morning for this girl.

I HAD to post this just because it was so funny. White Castle was there!

Short Rib & Mashed Potatoes from Maker's Mark Lounge

My manly crew

Boneless Chicken Wings from Roosters

Some Kentucky Ales

Founder's Brewing Company (& that guy on the right has the best shirt ever: Godzilla vs. Bigfoot!)

Yup, caught Selene off guard!

These brownies went quick!

Schlafly, always delicious!

This is me next to a camel... I think I was frightened AND excited at the same time... hence the stupid face.

I don't think I had any of this one, but their flag was cool.

Yeah, I wish I had this set up on my back porch.

There was definitely more food and more beer, but a girl can only function properly for so long without causing personal harm to herself or her camera. Right?

So yeah, all in all... moral of the story is... I will go to every one of these now. And if you're in the Louisville, KY area next August, I suggest you do the same! What kind of crazy festivals do you guys go to in your area?