Taste of Home
Last night I served as emcee for the Taste of Home cooking school. While it isn’t my first time to be on the stage at the Bell Auditorium as an emcee, the experience is never something I look forward to. I’ve got a pretty good case of “public speaking paranoia” and getting up in front of a crowd of say, 1,000 of my friends and neighbors, isn’t high on my list of “fun things to do on a Tuesday night.”
Since I’d have to go straight to the event after working at the Augusta Family Magazine office, I spent some extra time (and about half a can of hairspray) on my hair in the morning. I picked out a suitable outfit and packed two backups in case of an emergency—I didn’t want any reason to cry over spilled coffee.
Guests began arriving at 4:30 to visit the many booths and vendors and the stage was set to begin the event at 6:30. Students from Augusta Tech had been prepping all day with Taste of Home Culinary Specialist Michelle Roberts. A blank stage had been transformed into a kitchen with two huge screens that would give a view of Michelle’s in-progress cooking. More than 1,000 goody bags had been packed and delivered to the auditorium.
The night was really enjoyable as we watched Michelle prepare temptations like Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Taco Meatball Rollups, Herbed Cornish Hens and much more. The lemon twists she made (yeast dough packed full of brown sugar, pecans and lemon zest made into twists and drizzled with lemon glaze) looked and smelled absolutely divine. I hope everyone had their dinner before their arrival, because the aromas were sure to get an empty stomach growling.
One thing I really liked about the Taste of Home Cooking School was that the foods Michelle prepared on stage were given away as door prizes—all beautifully presented on serving pieces from Taste of Home Entertaining that the winners got to keep.
Sarah Childers in The Augusta Chronicle’s marketing department did a masterful job of planning the event and I hope we’ll do it again next year. As much as I don’t enjoy my “public speaking paranoia,” I’d be happy to do host the event again.
If you liked (or hopefully LOVED) the event, send me an e-mail or give Sarah a call.