The Highlight of Fall

Earlier last week I found out that Scripps released a statement on the next season of The Next Iron Chef and I won't lie, I was a giddy little schoolgirl when I found out who was competing to be a part of the Chairman's culinary crew.  I was so giddy that when I met Broccoli for lunch on Wednesday that the first words out of my mouth after hello were, "you have got to read this press release!" and I handed him a copy of the info I found online.  And, I do believe he was nearly as excited as I was after reading it.
Perhaps the funniest thing comes down to the fact that we have so much invested in catching our favorite Food Network or food competition shows that we knew of nearly all of the chefs competing giving each other our opinions as to how the competition will play out.  We're even working on our own The Next Iron Chef fantasy team and of course, we've pegged who the other person will pick as the winner.

You may not be as excited as we were, but here's the release from Scripps:

Food Network Selects Roster of Ten Superstar Chefs for the Ultimate Culinary Battle - Each Looking to Become The Next Iron Chef

Elite Chefs Go Knife-to-Knife in High-Stakes Challenge to Become ‘The Next Iron Chef’ 
Hosted by Alton Brown, Season Four Set to Premiere Sunday, October 30^th at 9pm ET/PT

NEW YORK – April 18, 2011 - Food Network, the leader in food and lifestyle entertainment, today announced the all-star casting and start of production for the ultimate season of The Next Iron Chef.  Slated for premiere on Sunday, October 30^th at 9pm ET/PT, Alton Brown will again host this 8-episode, top-rated series, which will shoot in Los Angeles and New York. The elite cast includes ten renowned chefs:

 

• Anne Burrell – Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Worst Cooks in America (Food Network)
• Michael Chiarello – Bottega Restaurant (Napa Valley), Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello (Cooking Channel)
• Elizabeth Falkner – Citizen Cake, Orson (San Francisco), Iron Chef America – challenger (Food Network)
• Alex Guarnaschelli – Butter, The Darby (New York), Alex’s Day Off, Chopped (Food Network)
• Chuck Hughes – Garde Manger (Montreal), Chuck’s Day Off (Cooking Channel), Iron Chef America – challenger (Food Network)
• Robert Irvine – Robert Irvine’s eat! (Hilton Head Island), Dinner: Impossible, Restaurant: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America (Food Network)
• Beau MacMillan – Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain (Phoenix), Challenge, Iron Chef America – challenger (Food Network)
• Spike Mendelsohn – Good Stuff Eatery (Washington D.C.), Kelsey & Spike Cook (Food2.com)
• Marcus Samuelsson –Red Rooster Harlem (New York), 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, Chopped (Food Network)
• Geoffrey Zakarian – The National, The Lambs Club (New York),  24 Hour Restaurant Battle, Chopped (Food Network)

 

Judges include the original ‘Next Iron Chef’ Michael Symon, esteemed food journalist Simon Majumdar and UK Iron Chef Judy Joo.

 

In The Next Iron Chef, the contestants bet on their culinary skills and put their reputations on the line for the chance to compete in legendary Kitchen Stadium.  The winner will join the ranks of chefs including Bobby Flay, Marc Forgione, Jose Garces, Masaharu Morimoto and Symon as a member of the Chairman’s team on Iron Chef America.

 

I'm definitely not wishing the summer away but I can't wait to catch this series!

Not a Good Friday

A very scary evening here -- storms and tornadoes have pummeled us for days and tonight it was a little too close for comfort.
A tornado touched down at Lambert Airport tonight around 8:15.  You're probably saying, "So what?  The Midwest is known for their crazy springtime weather and chances for tornadoes."
And I would agree with you, of course when you live less than a mile from the airport, it starts to freak you out a bit.  Tonight was one of those nights when I was at a complete loss as for what to do and where to go.  I saw the circulation in the air and couldn't believe it.

Definitely don't think I could be a storm chaser.

Saturday morning update:
After all of the devastation last night, here's the latest from KMOV.com..

Now the fun begins -- figuring out which areas that I regularly travel were hit and avoiding them until all of the damage is assessed and cleanup begins.  Thank goodness most of my friends in the area were not seriously affected by the storms and are safe and sound!

Just like old times...

I took today off of work and decided to just have a day to enjoy the spring weather and recharge myself.  I was planning on meeting my Dad this afternoon for lunch and to hang out with him for a bit.  Come to find out, my brother was also going to be able to meet us.  We ended up having the best afternoon!!
 
It reminded me off all of our Thursdays nights growing up.  Thursdays used to be the night my Dad came to pick us up and we would bum around town for a few hours and grab dinner and just catch up.  Some nights we'd go to the park and play, other nights we'd go to the library and then other times we'd go shop for school supplies or clothes or whatever we were in need of at the time.

Today we grabbed lunch, all shopped for new tennis shoes at Kohls (yes...New Reebok Retones!!), stopped into Verizon for a new phone for my Bro (I was too chicken to upgrade my LG EnV2, which I'm still in love with), picked up a new spring skirt for me at Old Navy and browsed Best Buy.  It brought back many good memories of all the time we got to spend together as my Bro and I were growing up and it made me cherish the great relationship I still have with both my Dad and Ryan.  It's not all that often anymore that our schedules all work out to enjoy time together, but I'm so glad that I had the opportunity today. 

I may have to take days off and do this more often....

Afternoon surprise

Guess who gets to ditch work early tomorrow and go to the afternoon Cardinals game?!?

This girl does!  Woo hoo!!

My boss emailed me today and told me that an opportunity presented itself and if I was available, he would like for me to attend the baseball game with him and our bankers.  I was excited and after re-arranging a few things, I am all set for the game!

The bonus -- the weather is supposed to be a perfect spring day as well!!

The wildcard -- whether or not the Cards can pull off a win against the Pirates!  LET'S GO CARDS!!
 

How 'bout them apples?!?

The company worked for during college throws together an NCAA March Madness basketball pool every year and while I know next to nothing about college basketball, I still enter a bracket or two, just for the fun of it. 
 Most years, I end up middle of the pack and just donate my $3.00. 

This year, I will either finish tied for 2nd if UConn beats Butler or 4th if Butler wins.  Either way, I'm thrilled!  What's even funnier is that I offered one of my current co-workers a shot at entering a bracket into this pool as well and he's in the money as well.

I'm not sure if we'll be invited back into this pool next year, but you can bet, I'll be watching the game tonight!!

Experimental Baking

I decided to try making a somewhat healthy egg-less chocolate cake today.  Not sure how its going to taste but I figured it might be a nice complement to the dinner I'm hoping to whip up before America's Next Great Restaurant and the finale episode of Chopped All Stars.

On a semi-related note, I totally want this game.

USAopoly Scrabble Cooking Edition: 

The Cooking Edition of Scrabble includes classic Scrabble fun with a cooking twist allowing players to earn bonus points for words related to everyone's favorite past time. Recipe cards are the perfect mix as players double and triple their scores with directives for all new custom game play. Become the master chef as you spell your way to victory with tasty abbreviations and names of your favorite celebrity chefs. Can you spell D-E-L-I-S-H?

 I love playing Scrabble and cooking is one of my favorite hobbies, so why not combine the two? 
Sounds like a great idea to me!