super taste

Indianapolis received a taste of the NFL this past week while hosting its first Super Bowl. There were the standard football players, celebrities, traffic, crowds and beer drinking on the streets that you would see at any Super Bowl, but what I enjoyed most was the great vibrancy in the city that made me proud to live here and soak in the fun. I volunteered at the NFL Experience a few days and will continue to wear my super scarf proudly for years to come; however, the event I'm most proud of participating in is the "Taste of the NFL" charity event this weekend at Gleaner's Food Bank. It was the first time the $600 ticket event has been held on site at the benefiting food bank and I think it helped make even more of an impact on all of the chefs volunteering their time and the many cocktail attire attendees. I was in The Chef's Academy pastry booth with my Chefs from school and we had one of the favorite displays of the night. Let me show you why. First, there was the pastillage centerpiece with chocolate abstract Lombardi trophy on top.

Then there was the second chocolate display complete with an edible football.

But it was really the desserts themselves that stole all of the attention. 

We lined up rows and rows of petit fours on a large mirror at our booth. There were four delicious varieties including (in lament terms): a New York style cheesecake with chocolate mousse, a strawberry shortcake flavored cake, a sachertorte complete with raspberry jam, and my favorite: a white chocolate mousse hazelnut crunch variety with real gold leaf on top and a short dough crust on the bottom. It was definitely the fan favorite of the night as well. One of the Colts Alumni players at our booth had four pieces.

While I didn't make the beautiful cakes, I did help plate and serve them to approximately 3,000 guests. We eventually had to serve pieces from the mirror display and actually turn guests away at the end of the night when service was supposed to stop and we were trying to clear the table. The evening flew by and it was a ton of fun, plus I got to work with my favorite chefs. Here I am with the fabulously French Chef Pierre.

I know what you're thinking. You want to see pictures of celebrities. While there were plenty of chefs, celebrities, and football players I didn't know in attendance, I did see a few famous foodie folks that you may know. Ted Allen from "Chopped" was the host of the event and he seemed very friendly and down to earth. Also, two stars from the "Cake Boss" were on site and made a special cake for the event. I didn't see the boss men themselves, but I did snap a photo of their cake while it was being stored in the large freezer room.

That is all edible. It was crazy to see up close - the jerseys looked so real that I almost stomped on the Brady one, but I managed to hold it together and backed away from the cake.

Greg and I also saw several celebrities downtown during the week. We spotted Jimmy Fallon doing an interview with Al Roker from the Today Show. There were several hosts of various ESPN shows and countless football players. I did snap a photo of a local sports icon who was on hand for the Super 46 sandwich contest rally in Super Bowl Village. Blue II - the Butler Bulldog mascot with taste buds of slobber!

I was also lucky enough to get a picture with the winner of the Super 46 sandwich contest, Fritz from the Schnitzelbank Restaurant in Jasper, IN. Here he is ready to squirt mustard on a brat-covered soft pretzel.

And what better to wash down the sandwich with than a special Super Bowl edition Bud Light? You may question this decision, but this souvenir gave us the experience of walking around the streets of Indy with a beer in our hands and no one to stop us. And it's all about the experience right? Yeah, in this case it was because the beer tasted like water.

To make up for this bad judgment call, I ended the weekend with my new favorite winter treat - Rumchata.

For more celebrity sightings, I recommend browsing a gossip site. For more delicious baked goods, I recommend coming here next week. I'll be back in the kitchen with new tastes soon.