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The Kenmore Holiday Blogger Summit brought out the cook in me. The plan for the event was simple. Meet other food bloggers, enjoy learning about the fabulous Kenmore products, and take pictures.

On Friday night we gathered together at the Craftsman Studio to enjoy dinner cooked by Jeremy Levin, chef and founder of Chicago underground supper club Tuesday Night Dinners. Each dish he made was more fabulous than the last and we ate in the very studio they film their shows. We were surrounded by Kenmore and Craftsman products. There were tools and gadgets everywhere.

All of our Instagram photos and tweets were shown live on the screens at the front of the room. If you tweeted back to any of us who were at the event, then your tweets were shown too. This feature played during the entire weekend’s events. If you are on Instagram, look up the hashtag #cookmore to see all of the amazing photos from the event.

While we ate and enjoyed meeting each other was when I began to realize most everyone else there was a cook. They actually create their own recipes and share them on their blog. I was clearly out of my element and totally amazed.

When dinner was over the fabulous Kari Karch started the event and began by talking about a little homework assignment we completed before ever flying to Chicago. Sitting there among great food bloggers listening to Kari turned into a head spinning moment. The second dish selected from the top five favorite dishes was my pumpkin chili recipe I uploaded to Kenmore’s Cookmore website. I was speechless.

No longer was I just a photographer capturing the event. This meant I was chosen as one of the five team leads to lead our team through the competitions the next day. Oh, and did I mention my little secret? I am not a cook. At all.

First task of a team lead was a taste testing competition. One of Jeremy Levin’s sauces from the dinner was presented and we were responsible for tasting it to determine what ingredients were used. The winner had first pick of teammates. Although I failed miserably at nailing down the ingredients, our team was amazing.

The real competition began the next morning. This was my first experience with a reality tv show. It also involved live cooking.

Did our team win or lose? Part 2 reveals the answer — stay tuned for my post on Friday!

 

Disclosure: I attended the 2012 Kenmore Holiday Blogger Summit in Chicago as their guest, with all expenses paid as a representative for 5 Minutes for Mom. My heart was beyond blessed by this amazing experience.