My last post left you in the midst of my East Coast to West Coast journey.  If you will remember, my sweet hubby took the kiddos home after our whirlwind college tour up the East Coast.  I am currently awaiting my “mother-of-the-year” award for enduring that insanely exhausting trip.  I plastered a smile on my face even after the fifth budget hotel because I knew that I had a reward waiting for me at the end. My “spring break” trip was extended… sans the family.

If you have been reading my posts, you will know that I find food competitions a bit stressful (in a good way), exhilarating and super fun. The super fun part comes in the way of the people I have met through competitions.  My other favorite aspect about food competitions is the not-so everyday experiences that most of the competitions bring. These food competitions let me step out of the day-in and day-out routine and into some adventure.

Getting involved in food competition often means traveling to new cities, having your food judged by celebrity chefs, and if you win, well… you are in for a treat because the prizes can be darn-right awesome. So, this post is about all of the above… the friendships, the celebrities, the amazing prizes … oh yes, and my ultimate reward!  Wait ‘til you hear this one; it’s good. Really, really, really good!

It all started after I had just won a slot for the Sterling Wine Ultimate Host competition.  I was trying to figure out how to host a party in NYC with only a little bit of time and a small stipend. The day after I announced that I had won a slot to head to NYC, a new friend appeared in my life. I got a message from Lorin Cook from NJ. Lorin and I had known of each other based on food competitions we both had entered. Lorin had been a finalist for Sterling the year before.  She picked up on my win and gave me a call to congratulate me and give me some tips.  As our first conversation went on, we knew immediately that we liked each other. Much like me, Lorin has a pack of kiddos (a couple the same age as mine) a dog and house full of family fun.

After we chuckled and connected on our first call, Lorin invited me to use her home kitchen. Turns out, Lorin lives right outside of NYC; it was perfect! On top of offering up her kitchen, she offered up all of her tips and tricks for winning the competition. Immediate support and an immediate friend. It was kind of freaky how easy it was and how immediately comfortable we were with each other. I think we may have known each other in another life!

So, it went. Weeks of planning and Lorin helped me all along the way. The day before the event I spent the entire day and on in to the evening, cooking in her kitchen. This was a frantic day of cooking, baking and several belly laughs and a little swearing. Our day ended late with some seriously failed mini hot dog buns. Why the heck was I making mini hotdog buns? Ugh… I was exhausted.  Lorin looked at me and said. “Go back to the hotel and rest. I will take care of it in the morning.” And that is just what she did. She ran all over NJ and NYC calling and stopping in at bakeries, and she did it! Lorin saved the day! She walked into the swank party studio with the cutest little mini hotdog buns- my hero! Bring me mini hotdog buns in my most frantic of moments, and that’s it…sealed. You are my friend for life, Lorin!

She continued to support me throughout the whole event. She even spoke her mind because, I had been the crowd favorite… and yet, I didn’t walk away with the win. She stuck up for me, and again, the friendship was sealed. No need for a pin-pricked finger friendship dealie… nope… it’s just this great bond. She is amazing, even if she lives in the cloisters (sorry, inside joke; had to).

After the Sterling competition, it was my turn to prove my undying friend-love for Lorin.  She had entered a competition with Tyler Florence Wines and was a finalist, but she still needed votes.  This all happened just as she and her sweet family were about to head out of the cold NJ weather to the tropics – a remote place with no internet connection.  Now, I would have done this any way, but Lorin offered up an especially sweet opportunity.  If I plugged her recipe for votes on social media and if she won, Lorin would share her prize and would take me on the trip to visit San Francisco and Napa.  “Of course, let’s do this thing,” I said. And away she flew and I began promoting the “brilliant” recipe (Tyler Florence’s words).

Lo and behold, the girl won! Yep, she picked up one of five grand prize slots to head to San Francisco and Napa! We were barrel tasting wines at the Michael Mondavi Vineyard, visiting Tyler Florence’s Restaurants, Wayfair Tavern and El Paseo in Mill Valley and there would still be time for our own exploring around San Fran.  Even writing about it now, it’s hard not to be excited. It was a trip of a lifetime and a wonderful gift from my dear new friend. It was everything we thought it would be and more. But let me backtrack. First, we needed to get there. The hard part was over for me. All I needed to do was arrive at Lorin’s and get set to get on a plane. But for Lorin, who has a hubby with a serious international travel schedule for work (he was in China for the week), Lorin had the giant task of organizing the Cook household to run without parents for five days. No small task getting the schedules of four very active kids arranged with a nanny and some grandparents for five days!

As timing would have it, I arrived a day before our flight and was excited to spend some good time with the Cook kiddos.  I had met them when I was frantically cooking in their kitchen earlier in the year and was excited to enjoy time with them rather than just be the weird, frustrated lady making badly baked mini-hotdog buns in their kitchen…Also, I was really hoping to be some help to Lorin as she got ready to go.

After I took a little nap in the luxe family massage chair (it was all set-up by the kids for me), my goal was to entertain the kiddos and let Lorin get some stuff done. As luck would have it, Lorin has a sweet ping-pong table, which just happens to by my favorite! After getting my ping-pong-lovin’ butt beat by a 9 year old, Lorin, the kids and I decided to run errands. Suffice it to say, my time with Lorin and kids was a whirlwind of getting prescriptions, cars cleaned, driving carpool, watching basketball practice…etc. etc. It all made me feel right at home.

Finally, we packed Lorin, tucked the kids in and did a quick sleep before heading to the airport. It was finally time for these two mommas to get a little kid-less fun in! Yay! Wait ‘til you hear about who was on our plane with us!  Come back for my next post! It’ll give you all the incredible details on our amazing trip to San Fran, Napa and my favorite spot on our trip…Mill Valley.  Oh and I will give you some good 4-1-1 on the sweet, talented and yes, cute, Tyler Florence.