Paula Deen & Metro Cooking Show

My friend and I went to the Metro Cooking Show this past Sunday at the Dallas Convention Center. We went because I found out Paula Deen is going to the be celebrity guest and will be doing a cooking demo. I LOVE HER!!!! And I can't believe she's going to be in Dallas! There was also a groupon deal out for discounted tickets. SCORE! This means I HAVE to go!!

The Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show
September 22 - 23, 2012
Dallas Convention Center
www.MetroCookingDallas.com

These are some of the Marketplace Exhibitors:

Lemon Cake Cafe
Houston, TX 77055
(281) 841-3782
www.lemoncakecafe.com
Their lemon cakes are made with freshly squeezed lemon juice and all natural ingredients: fresh eggs, butter, milk, vanilla, and sugar. They are super moist and stay fresh for weeks without refrigeration. I bought one home for my parents. :)

Enstrom Candies
http://www.enstrom.com/
Almond Toffee (Milk & Dark Chocolate) I bought a few small boxes of the Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee for my co-workers.

Custom Cafe Foods
http://www.customcafefoods.net/
They sell quick and easy dry mixes of gourmet soups, quick breads, savory dips, muffins and specialty drinks. We tried their pumpkin dip with ginger snaps. YUM!

Texas Toffee Queen
http://www.texastoffeequeen.com/
They had some interesting flavors such as White Chocolate Mango Chili, Dark Chocolate Salted Blood Orange, Dark Chocloate Salted Jalapeno. All pretty good!

Fat Sister Southern Foods
http://www.fatsisterfoods.com/
They had some various pancake samples. The texture seemed ok but was kind of salty?? Definitely needed maple syrup. I think I tried the pumpkin pancake.

Texas Best Fudge? Not sure if that's the actual name of the business. But the fudge was super rich!

Quintessential Chocolates
251 West Main Street
Fredericksburg, TX 78624
www.chocolat-tx.us
American-made Liqueure Praline (cast liquid center chocolates) These chocolates were pretty awesome. The outer shell is really thin and there's liquid on the inside. I tried the Southern Pecan Coffee. You let the chocolate melt in your mouth. Then suddenly it pops and you taste the liquid inside. They have coffee, chai, liqueurs, etc. A really neat experience. It was quite expensive though so I didn't buy any.

d'marie inc.
http://store.dmarieinc.com/storefront.aspx
We tried the Frappe Vino. It's like a sweet wine slush. Soooo good. Neither my friend or I like wine, but we both loved it. I was very tempted to buy one. You buy the kit. And just combine wine, water, the mix and stick it in the freezer. Then a few hours later you have a frappe! Very cool party thing.

Workshop:
“Easy Chocolates for Home Entertaining” by Sue Williams
Dr. Sue’s Chocolates
http://www.drsueschocolate.com/
I've had Dr. Sue's Chocolates before. They are awesome! She will be doing a workshop and have a booth at the Chocolate Conference in Addison this coming Saturday, 9/29. I'll be helping her out during the day. Come by and visit us!! :) 

Finally to the main attraction! Paula Deen!!!!! OMG. So star-struck. I watch Paula's show on Food Network daily. She's so much fun and of course her food is always so sinfully good! To see her in person was a bit surreal. She's so energetic and bubbly and extremely real. I found that really awesome. She didn't try to be scripted or proper, she was just herself and it was great. Her husband, Michael, and his brother came along too. They were all on stage helping with the cooking. They are just too cute together! And they brought their newest addition: Lulu! So cute!

I never knew she was THAT funny! The crowd laughed A LOT! I love her even more after seeing her in person. She's just a burst of sunshine and full of positivity and hope. She told us she hoped we would remember her not as the person that loved butter, but as someone that inspires hope. I could really tell that she cared about her fans and the people that can relate to her with the whole diabetes thing. It was a great presentation by Paula Deen.

The food became secondary. (She made Chicken & Dumplings and Apple Cobbler I think.. haha. General seating didn't get samples...) I was honored to see her. And she looks FABULOUS after her weight loss. Although I always thought she looked great before! That shiny silver hair and piercing blue eyes!! Love you Paula!!! :D And I definitely need to go visit her restaurant in Savannah!!

I thought it was a great event overall. We had so many samples and bought some goodies and cool stuff. I hope they do the Metro Cooking Show again next year and I look forward to attending it!!

Paula Deen:

Overall Event:


~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~