Taste Of Home

On Thursday night, I joined a bunch of ladies for a Girls Night Out at the Taste of Home Cooking Show. So fun! Before the show we wandered around the showcase room and stuffed our faces with yummy samples from dozens of food vendors. I think I ate my own weight in pretzel chips and jalapeno havarti...which may have added to my swollen ankles a little. I did have my feet propped on a chair in front of me during the show, but it didn't seem to help. The swelling has since settled down a bit....I still have cankles, but at least my shoes fit.
The funniest part of the evening had to be waiting in the crowd to get into the show. MY goodness. I've never seen so much blue hair outside of a nursing home. I think the crowd covered every shade of L'oreal from blue to purple to "ash". Grandmas in rhinestone studded velor pantsuits everywhere you look! And BIG diamonds on those wrinkly fingers...these ladies brought out ALL their bling for Taste of Home! When the doors finally opened, about 1000 people rushed the door...the kind of pushing and shoving you expect to experience at a rock concert, not a cooking show! It was like WalMart at 5am on Black Friday!

Ok...so the video is only like 2 seconds long...I ran out of memory on my camera. But it gives you the idea of the crowd we were standing in when the doors opened. Crazy hungry ladies!

In fact, there WAS a little old lady that either passed out, or was mowed over and trampled in the crowd. SERIOUSLY.
Took. her. right. down.
We saw her later on a makeshift stretcher with oxygen, surrounded by a gaggle of EMT's. She was all sweaty and mad. It was a horrible situation, and yet I couldn't stop my giggles...to the point that I tried holding my breath so I wouldn't laugh out loud and ended up SNORTING wildly when my will power gave out. So embarrassing.
Anyway, I can't wait to try some of the recipes and cooking techniques we saw. I was disappointed that we didn't win one of the 100+ door prizes they gave away throughout the night. I think I could have put good use to the 3 night stay in a condo on Holiday Island, Dinner for 2 at Colton's, $300 spa package, or even the giant box of Ziplock Tupperware. Thanks girls for a fun night!