Conference Days: Local Love And An Olympic Champion

The first full day of the conference had flavor to spare.  Chef Jordan was working the action stations front and center at breakfast and lunch.  The spinach and feta omelet at breakfast was very good, but the Italian-style lunch was top-notch.  Red and white checkered tablecloths dotted the Upper 88 and pasta made-to- order stations featured a plethora of ingredients, including locally produced pasta from American Italian Pasta Company.  The antipasti platter and grilled squash and eggplant were beautiful, but the highlight for me was the pickled vegetables in decorative jars. I am,as ever, a fanatic for pickled okra and the pickled artichokes were quite good as well.  Of course, the wow was truly reserved the decadent cannoli and mini-tiramisus.  

The morning break featured local popcorn sensation Bobkorn (I finally got to try the elusive cherry mash!) with mango and "mean green" smoothies and the centerpiece of the afternoon break was KC's own Shatto milk.  Several bottles of some of Shatto's most popular milk flavors like chocolate, root beer and banana were offered, as was Capone root beer for root beer floats.  Shatto's chocolate and vanilla was also present, as were assorted warm cookies from our bakery with flavors including cranberry-pistachio.The day was filled with informational sessions and motivational speaking and this day's highlight was a presentation from Olympic champion Jackee Joyner-Kersee.  She spoke of her struggles with mental clutter and how she overcame it to become Sports Illustrated's Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century.  

The evening's adventure was a road trip to Boulevard Brewery but we'll catch up with that next post...