For Show #84, I attended and the United Fresh and FMI conference in Chicago. I did cooking demos for IFCO and did floor interviews of growers and producers at the conference. I also talked about my trips to Lake Tahoe, the Carson City Lit Fest, and my culinary adventures in Chicago!
United Fresh Produce Association is the industry’s leading trade association committed to driving the growth and success of produce companies and their partners. United Fresh represents the interests of member companies throughout the global, fresh produce supply chain, including family-owned, private and publicly traded businesses as well as regional, national and international companies. The association was founded in 1904 to represent the produce industry, and recently took the name United Fresh as a result of the 2006 merger of the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association and the International Fresh-Cut Produce Association.
Food Marketing Institute proudly advocates on behalf of the food retail industry. FMI’s U.S. members operate nearly 40,000 retail food stores and 25,000 pharmacies, representing a combined annual sales volume of almost $770 billion. Through programs in public affairs, food safety, research, education, and industry relations, FMI offers resources and provides valuable benefits to more than 1,225 food retail and wholesale member companies in the United States and around the world.
This blog post is going to be soooo long because I have so much to cover!
First, my trip to Nevada from June 5-9, 2014. My mom, Author and Storyteller Dianne de Las Casas, and I were featured authors at the Carson City Lit Fest. We arrived a day early and took a trip to Lake Tahoe, renting a car and driving all the way around the lake.
Lake Tahoe was so gorgeous. My mom and I stopped at all the vistas to take pictures! LOL
We went pedal-boating at Pope Beach and the water was so beautiful and clear… but it was COLD!
We stopped to see the magnificent Fennett Island in Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe.
I did cooking demos at the Carson City Lit Fest hosted by Ellen Hopkins to benefit the Ventana Sierra Foundation, which provides housing, education, and job training to at-risk young adults. I had so much fun and everyone loved the food!
We had a 24-hour turn-around and had to re-pack for our trip to CHICAGO! I love Chicago. It’s such a pretty city! I was doing cooking demos for IFCO at the United Fresh Conference and they put us up at the Hard Rock Hotel.
On the first day of the conference, I did three cooking demos for IFCO. I am the IFCO Youth Produce Ambassador and I had so much fun showing people how to make my Creole Pasta Primavera.
After each demo, I signed my Cool Kids Cook: Fresh & Fit book, which IFCO gave away. Pretty cool swag, right?!
Then IFCO surprised me with a birthday cake! They are soooo awesome and I love working with the whole team, especial Susan Atwater, Hillary Femal, and Dana Embry! Thank you so much!
That night, we dined at Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and Lidia Bastianich’s Chicago Eataly! We went with Pam Young and her 17-year-old son, Marc, whom we met at the conference. Here we are having three different kinds of Focaccia!
On Day 2 of the United Fresh and FMI conference, I did floor interviews of the movers and shakers at the conference. Here I am with Celebrity Chef Jill Davie of Sunkist.
I then interviewed George Shropshire of Love Beets. I really love their marinated, packaged beets.
Then I ventured over to Melissa’s Produce, where I talked with Richard Hiltz and saw all kinds of new produce. He even gave me samples of cool produce like Kiwano melons and black garlic to try. I developed new recipes with them, which I will share in an upcoming show.
Next, I interviewed Harry Stigter of NatureFresh Farms and learned all about growing tomatoes with hydroponics, biological science, and computers! It was sooo cool!
I met Mariah Grashoff of RAAW juice. The juices are soooo delicious. There are no added sugars and they are so sweet! My favorite RAAW juice was the strawberry purple carrot.
Then I was off to explore the FMI side of the conference. I met Corporate Chef Kevan Vetter of McCormick. I use McCormick spices so it was so cool to meet him.
Goya makes some of my favorite Latino products so I was excited to speak with Marcelo Roman. I didn’t realize that Goya had over 2,000 products! I LOVE their Adobo seasoning! Mmmmm!
Then I was off to check out Louisiana company, Bruce Foods! I spoke to Allen Dugas and I learned that Bruce Foods produces the Casa Fiesta Mexican line of foods. I’m a big fan of Bruce Foods’ Louisiana hot sauce so that was awesome. I got some samples I can’t wait to try!
My last floor interview was of Miriam Wolk of United Fresh Produce Association. I learned more about the conference. It’s in Chicago for the next two years and will also be co-locating with the floral industry!
After the conference, my mom, dad and I ate dinner at Yum Cha, a new restaurant by The Food Buddha, Chef Rodelio Aglibot, who has been a guest on Cool Kids Cook.
We had the most amazing food and you can hear all about it on the show. I was even given a birthday surprise dessert… fried coconut milk! It put the YUM! in Yum Cha! LOL
The next day, we dined at Celebrity Chef Rick Bayless’ restaurant, Frontera Grill. It was the best Mexican food we have ever eaten. I mean the smoked chicken taquitos were AMAZING! Ms. Whitney, the manager, sent out her favorite dessert for my birthday too! It was a strawberry shortcake with super tasty whipped cream made with Mexican crema!
As if that wasn’t enough Mexican food… we were invited to my friend, Chef Sean Karaffa’s house for dinner. We met his wife, Ms. Dolores, at her building on South Wacker and got a panoramic view of the city!!! Her building is next to the Sear’s Tower. Look at this!
Chef Sean and I cooked together. He made lemon garlic mushrooms and we made Avocado Fries together. Then I made a Kiwano Melon Chunky Salsa, Black Garlic Guacamole, and a Sweet Fire Grilling Rub for the pork spare ribs. Delish!!!
This is how the ribs came out and they were every bit as tasty as they look!
The last restaurant we dined at in Chicago was Portillo’s.
I had their famous Italian Beef Sandwich, dipped, and topped with mozzarella and sweet and hot peppers. It was scrumptious and filling!
My last Chicago stop was at Bloomingdale’s. It just so happened that a cooking demo was in progress. I met the culinary director, Gerardo Valadez, and he wants me to do cooking demos there! I also picked up some really cool new cooking tools! I can’t wait to use them!
Chicago, IFCO, the United Fresh & FMI Conference, and all my culinary adventures were soooooo much fun! I can’t wait to return to Chi-Town again! There is so much to explore and eat! LOL
That’s all for this week.
Bon Appetit,
Kid Chef Eliana
