Texas Chef Weekend

I left for Houston on Thursday with friends Rosemary and Lana.  We arrived in Houston about 3:30 and met up with Patti from New Hampshire and Charity from California.  Lana picked up the car and off we went to Sharon's house in The Woodlands.  We greeted the others from all over - Mia from Toronto, Sandy from near Dallas, Donna from Austin, Diane from College Station, Cathy from Lufkin, Sherry from the neighborhood, altogther about 20 woman ready to eat, cook and shop.

Thursday night was dinner courtesy of Sharon contributing Tortilla Soup.  Julie brought almond toffee, key lime parfait, we had chips, guacamole, wine and beer.  Lots of food, lots of fun.  We ate, talked, met new friends, relaxed together. 

We had several people who had volunteered to be drivers for our weekend so we all chose a driver and went to bed to get ready for shopping Saturday.  

Friday morning started with Carne Asada tortillas and Chile Relleno Casserole, several kinds of jam and a couple kinds of breads.  So very good!  Donna made the carne asada and Cathy the casserole, or Julie, not sure but all was delicious.  We got into our cars and off we went. 

First stop Sur la Table. I think we had 14 in the group.  From there we headed to two different grocery stores and then I think it was home to get ready for pizza night. Don't worry, we had lunch at the second grocery store.  We are good about eating! 

Patti and Diane made pizza dough for pizza night.  The rest of us were responsible for salad stuff and pizza toppings.  Yes, 18 chefs, pizza and toppings.  The sky is the limit! 

We had cheeses, vegetables, meats, sauces, about anything you might have wanted on a pizza was there.  Another wonderful evening with friends.  

Of course we needed more dessert so Julie brought forth a Dulce de Leche cake, still had almond toffee and lime parfait, Diane had truffles for us, Patti had two kinds of homemade caramels and Rosemary had chocolate cake with chocolate ganache.  Remember 20 chefs in one place! 

Saturday started a little earlier and we had no time to eat at Sharon's before heading out in our designated cars.  My awesome driver was Diane.  Our first stop about 11:00 am was Goode Company Texas Seafood where everyone ordered Campechana of all shrimp, all crab, or mixed.  I went with mixed.  Delicious!

After our brunch we headed to a middle eastern store The Phoenician for some shopping, then to the Asian store, then to get barbecue.  I'd like to say we didn't eat between the seafood and the barbecue but that would not be true.  After the barbecue it was back to Sharon's where Julie pulled out Chocolate Caramel Brownies.  We still had the previous desserts too.  As chefs we like to make sure no one is ever hungry.  

We snacked on desserts, talked around the outdoor fire, helped with business logo decisions and had a great time.  We were a little tired after all of our food adventures and it was a relaxed night. 

Sunday it was back to the airport and back to reality today.  I've had a productive day at the desk creating summer classes menus, confirming a library program and getting some laundry done.  I think it may be time to fold while having some tea.