The Chicago Blogger Network was asked to cover the action at this year’s annual Time Out Chicago Eat Out Awards, where they honor chefs and restaurants with a variety of accolades. Five of us were invited to sit at a press table and exclusively announce the winners live. It was my first event of the sort and I certainly learned a lot.

What I learned on Monday:

1. I am incapable of adhering to a diet plan when I encounter a table full of interesting foods and a sampling of fine beers.
2. I have a lot of work to do. The list of nominees and winners for the Time Out Chicago Eat Out Awards looked a lot more to me like a “to do” list.
3. Gregory Hall, who was the brew master for Goose Island Beer Company for almost 20 years, also knows how to make very good cider.
3. Though salad in a cocktail glass served with a fork makes a pretty presentation, it doesn’t really work.
4. The Doughnut Vault makes 1,000 donuts a day and the bakers wake up at 3:30 in the morning. (Oh yeah, THAT’S why I never started the doughnut shop I dreamed of years ago.)
5. Mini chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches are messy but really worth it.
6. Time Out Chicago is now available on iPad. A light bulb went off – get weekly publications on iPad and avoid the piles and piles of magazines that clutter my house.
7. I can take classes to learn how to butcher a pig or clean my own fish at the same place that I can eat the reader’s choice “best burger” in the city.
8. It feels oddly intimate to plug your iPhone into a stranger’s computer.
9. You can combine two different passions and be successful – like serving good food and selling handcrafted bicycles.
10. Chefs don’t have too much to say when they receive an award. And, that’s okay because the award ceremony goes a lot faster than the Oscars.
11. I am a grandma in the world of social media. Because I am in my 30s, I was referred to as the “older set.”
12. Eating food off a stick is fun.
13. Meeting other bloggers in person is enjoyable. If you are in Chicago, consider joining the Chicago Blogger Network. Or, look for similar meet ups in your city!

I love new experiences and covering the Time Out Chicago Awards was quite a happening. Once again, Whipped takes me into uncharted waters!

[I promise I will be back to sharing new recipes soon.]

If you are looking for some new reads, the other bloggers at the event:

Lori from Glori of Food
Drew from Table in the Corner of the Cafe
Joelen from What’s Cookin’ Chicago
Sarah who writes for the Rundown and Zagat

My appreciation for Valentine’s Day is growing. Sure, the incessant marketing and the pressure to make a big splash for your significant other can be overbearing. But underneath all the hype, I appreciate the idea of a day focused on love. As I mentioned in the previous post, February 14th has additional significance for me as the day I met my husband and as the day Baby Whipped was born (Happy 1st birthday little one!)  Beyond my own special circumstances, I am growing more and more fond of  this day dedicated to matters of the heart.

Love is one of the most powerful forces in the world. Why not have a holiday to celebrate it? There is always need for more love as the antidote to loneliness, indifference, anger and the many challenges people face. Valentine’s Day is primarily promoted as a romantic holiday. But today, I have been thinking about the other types of love that warm one’s life – unconditional companionship of a pet, little kisses from children, charitable acts, passion for one’s job or interests.

Perhaps I am coming off as a real sap. I am not the overly sweet or gushing type. I can be demanding, judgmental and bossy.  But I do love to love. I have been fortunate to have received a lot of love in my life and I take pleasure in giving love to those close to me. Thanks to my parents, I learned to be comfortable expressing love. We kiss, we hug, we snuggle, we hold hands, we say I love you.

In the same way that New Year’s Day serves as a time to make resolutions and reflect on life changes you want to make, Valentine’s Day can serve as a day to reflect on your relationships and how you are giving and receiving love in your life. Humans are born with the ability to love. But, I think that loving and being loved is a skill that can be practiced and improved. Whether through flowers, sweets, favors, donations or just words, expressions of love can carry great weight.

On a lighter note, if you are still reading, thank you for joining me at my virtual table and chewing on a heavy topic with me! Initially, I began this post with the intention of extending a simple Valentine’s wish to all who are reading. I offer you a small heart cookie decorated by my daughter’s small hands along with a small dose of love from me to you. Thank you for visiting.

The random number chosen was 27 and that makes Jess the winner of the Tate’s Bake Shop cookies. I’ll be in touch via email to get your address. Happy baking and thank you for reading.

These little cookies have a lot  to prove. I don’t participate in giveaways (other than books) that often on Whipped but when I read about Tate’s Bake Shop cookies, I wanted to put them to the test. Some of the accolades include:

- Best Cookie In America, Consumer Reports 2011
- Top Honors Fancy Food Show 2011
- America’s Best Tasting Cookie, Everyday with Rachael Ray

So, I gave Tate’s Bakeshop Cookies a try. My conclusion? I have decided that “chocolate chip cookies” is too broad of a category for me to choose one favorite. This cookie was about the best crunchy, thin chocolate I’ve ever had. But is it best in show? Well, that depends on overall chocolate chip cookie preference.

I love a little gooey in the center of my cookie surrounded but perfect buttery crunch. And, I’m a sucker for the massive Carols Cookies but I think their size and consistency put them in a category all their own, hardly comparable to Tate’s thin, crunchy disks.

For me, the story and people behind the food make a difference and I enjoyed learning that Kathleen began selling her cookies at age 11 to neighbors. Eventually, her cookies helped get herself through college and now they not only support her family but likely many other families judging by the size of her company.

Want to put some Tate’s Bake Shop chocolate chips to your test? Leave a comment and tell me about your favorite chocolate chip cookie and on Friday I’ll randomly choose a winner.

For the coming months, I invite you to visit me here where I will be blogging as the new Spice Islands Flavor Explorer. I am honored, humbled and excited to be part of the team. I have some big shoes to fill. Past Flavor Explorers include David Lebovitz, Matt Armendariz of Matt Bites, Alice Currah of Savory Sweet Life and Pim Techamunavivit of Chez Pim.  I encourage you to click through the archives and drool over the recipes that these talented bloggers have shared thus far.

When I was first contacted by Spice Islands, they described their customers to me as people who are adventurous in the kitchen, enjoy traveling and consider themselves life long learners. Check, check and check – sounded like a perfect match. As I continued to learn about Spice Islands and their products, my ideas began flowing and my eagerness to get started grew.

Shortly after finalizing my plans to be a Flavor Explorer, a large box arrived in the mail. My in-laws were visiting and together, we gathered around the heavy, mysterious package. Inside, we discovered over 100 glass bottles individually protected with bubble wrap.  One by one, my Dutch mother-in-law, Greek father-in-law, my husband and kids and I unwrapped each bottle and excitedly announced what treasure we had discovered: Organic Sweet Basil, Red Thai Curry, Louisiana Style Cajun Seasoning, Pure Vanilla Extract, Snipped Chives…. like a mad scientist who had just received her ultimate chemistry set, I nearly threw back my head and let out a delighted, satisfied bellow as I imagined the concocting that was to come.

Through March, I will be doing a lot of baking (I’ve already been through nearly 3 bottles of Spice Islands Pure Vanilla Extract) and I will devise a number of recipes using other Spice Islands spices, herbs and blends. Keep your eye out for a few videos and find fun facts and conversation on their Facebook page here. If you have Spice Islands favorites or recipe ideas, send them my way.

A note for my swimming pals – I’ll scare up some other books for you two to read :)

From looking at this unassuming facade, it is hard to know that miracles are happening just inside the door. My family visited the LakeView Pantry last week to drop off a donation and we are still in awe of all that is done in this small building to help those in need.

Writing a food blog is so enjoyable for me and I know I am fortunate to have the resources to do it. Sometimes, I feel a bit of hestitation about how much time is spent cooking, photographing, talking and sharing about our abundance of delicious foods when I know that so many people do not know where their next meal is coming from.

In the same way that I am drawn to the consumption of food and drink, I am drawn to food-related causes. Our family began donating to money to the Lakeview Pantry a few years ago. With two little kids, we have not been able to volunteer as I would have liked. This holiday, Mini Whipped is 3 1/2 and we decided that it was time to introduce her to charity and help her understand our good fortune.

The kind people at the Lakeview Pantry agreed to give us a tour when we dropped off our donation. My husband and I explained to Mini Whipped what a food pantry is and that we were going to give some of our money to them to help those that are less fortunate. We had Mini Whipped bring her purse with some of her money (piggy bank funds and birthday gifts) but we told her that she could decide if she wanted to give money to the pantry or not.

Inside the bustling pantry (it was a food pick up day), we all found more wonder than we ever could have imagined. We learned that the Lakeview food pantry gives away more than 1.8 million pounds of food a year! Volunteers were moving to and fro stacking food, cleaning and helping pantry customers.

What really touched me was how this organization is not just offering nourishment to those without food, they are offering a serving of dignity along with it. Bouquets of flowers laid on the counter along with the groceries. A room filled with non-food items was set up like a store – clothing and toys hanging neatly for easy browsing. Dog food is available so that people can keep their pets during their hard times. Baby care necessities were stacked up in the lower level.  There is even a special storage shelf designated for food items that don’t require any cooking equipment for those who have no access to simple kitchen tools like can openers.

At the end of our visit, we wrote a check and gave our donation. Though Mini Whipped was a typical 3-year old and somewhat antsy during part of our tour, something clearly sunk in. She opened her Hello Kitty wallet and produced a $20 bill that she handed over to our new friend June who works at the pantry.

It is nice when your parenting turns out the way you hoped! We have continued to talk about the Lakeview Pantry and Mini Whipped has explained to a few people what she learned. We were also invited to volunteer since children as young as 3 can help sort cans of food. In 2012, we will make it a point to continue to visit and lend a hand.

Our trip to the Lakeview Pantry was much more powerful than I anticipated. I am working on plans for the new year to forge partnerships with organizations that tackle food-related problems. And, I have decided that regularly exposing my children to things outside their circle of comfort is a priority.

If you are in the Chicago area and interested in helping the Lakeview Pantry, you can find information on their website here. If you would like to volunteer, contact Erin Stephens, Director of Volunteers (erin @ lakeviewpantry.org, 773.525.1777 x15). To donate money, you can make a secure transaction through our website or send a check payable to Lakeview Pantry. Additionally, they always accept non-perishable goods Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm.

I am humbled and honored to be featured this week as Saveur’s “Site We Love.”  Cooking and baking, writing about food and family, connecting with people and taking photos are all things I love to do. Thank you to all who visit this site and take an interest.

p.s. JUNE – the email on your comment didn’t work. Please email me at caroline AT whippedtheblog.com to claim your prize!