Cooking 101

Today I went to a live cooking demonstration by Dan Smith of The Next Food Network Star and The Party Line fame. He co-owns The Hearty Boys business with his co-winner of TNFNS, Steve McDonagh. They have a pretty neat idea of doing "cooking karaoke" in their Chicago-based TV studio.

Photo courtsey of Mr. Bean.

It was fun to watch (live) the process of making a meal by an actual professional. (If you only know me on this blog, you do not know that I am a HORRIBLE cook. Mr. Bean does the cooking in our house.) Besides sharing some history on how he got into the business, it was fun to hear some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of having a cooking show.

String Bean enjoyed eating his Orange Blossom Pancakes with Mascarpone Cream and Fresh Berries. Well, she didn't eat the mascarpone cream and only ate the blueberries, but she enjoyed those and the pancake quite a bit!

As an added bonus, the official photographer for the event took a lot of photos of the Bean family (including my in-laws) since we scored front row seats and we had an adorable child with us. How could he resist?

If you haven't had the opportunity to enjoy a live cooking demonstration, the mirror over the counter alone is reason to check it out. Free samples don't hurt either!