Kenmore Blogger Summit 2012 – Day 2 #CookMore

Day 2 of the Kenmore Bloggers Summit was our final day and it was a full day from 7:30-5.  After a nice breakfest buffet at the LM Bistro at our hotel (Hotel Felix) we were again off to the Kenmore Live Studios.  The day was going to be full of cooking demonstrations, challenges (using Kenmore products of course) and food.  The focus on this years Summit was on food as Kenmore has just launched their website Cookmore.  It is a site where you add you own recipes to create a digital cookbook and then share with family and friends.  Its like Pinterest but all the recipes are on the Cookmore site!

So first we had two food photographers talk to us about how to take amazing food pictures.  I mean as bloggers (many of the attended bloggers were food bloggers) we all want to show off our creations and we learned a few tricks.  Like use white plates, white foam board behind as a prop can help light bounce for no shadows and don’t overwhelm the picture with props.

Now we were ready for our first challenge, it was a cooking challenge of course that we were totally in the dark for.  We were told to as a team pick one protein and two sides.  We picked Chorizo (Mexican sausage), avocado and a tomato.  We were then randomly picked a stick that said we had to create an Asian dinner with those key ingredients, plus anything else we wanted.  The team leaders stayed and started cooking, then a next teammate and so on.  The problem was though we didn’t obviously know what the other was thinking so we had to each add our own thoughts on what the recipe should be!  It was then judged by the Kenmore reps and unfortunately we lost, but it was definitely fun to try out and see how we all used different ingredients.  We got to cook on the Kenmore Induction cooktop and it was so amazing to see how an electric cooktop worked – the heat was amazing how it distributed and the buttons were digital!

Sorry I didn’t get a picture of our finished product, but here is me cooking thank to Kenmore photographers!

Some cooking demonstrations:

Next up was the Slow Cooker Beverage Challenge.  We had ten minutes to throw ingredients into the Kenmore Slow Cooker, with the hitch that we could use liquor!  We made a Slow Cooker beverage with fruit, Rum and juice.  It was a drink you’d love to sip on a cold Chicago day!  It was amazing how I would have never thought to use my Slow Cooker to make an alcoholic drink, but it was so simple and perfect for a party!

Before we started our next challenge, we watched a cooking demonstration where she cooked up a Brioche with leftovers from a Thanksgiving dinner.  What a great way to use up some leftovers! A Brioche is a pastry where you have a dough spread out, you toss whatever you’d like inside and then you roll it closed.  Our challenge of course was to use the Brioche dough and create something with it.  We decided to make a breakfast Brioche and added apples, spices and topped with cheese.  Think cinnamon rolls but ours were called Apple Pie Brioche Rolls.  They were absolutely amazing and I ate probably five of them!  It was so easy to throw together!  You could even buy your pre-packaged pastry dough and then toss in ingredients – although homemade dough is probably better.  Oh and for this challenge we got to try out the Kenmore Ovens, which again are so amazing and easy to use!

Finally we had our last challenge.  As part of our “homework” all of us Summit attendees were asked to submit a recipe to Cookmore.com.  The Kenmore reps then picked a side dish where we were asked to use at least four ingredients from that recipe to make an Asian inspired side dish.  The recipe was Corn Casserole – yeah try to go Asian inspired with that!  Well our team decided to make an Egg Drop soup, where all the other teams made various Corn Fritters (cakes.)  We used the Jiffy cornbread mix as a base to thicken the soup, corn, butter, and an egg to drop in from the recipe and then added chicken broth and some spices.  Our team won for originality and taste – yeah for a new Kenmore blender!  This challenge was fun because it made us think outside the box and use ingredients on hand to come up with a certain themed side dish.

The day was now done and it was a fun day of creating recipes while using the fabulous Kenmore products.  From their fridges to stoves to Induction cooktops, to hotplates and slow cookers – they were fun to try out.  I met so many great bloggers and ate pretty dang good.  Oh and did I mention that I won a fridge!  Yes at the end of the Summit it was announced that me and Hope each won a new Kenmore refrigerator!  I had no clue they were even giving one away and all I did to enter was answer a Facebook question on how the new Kenmore Grab-N-Go fridge would help my family.  I answered that with three kids, they are constantly going in an out of the fridge to grab milk or snacks.  Well the Grab-N-Go has a “secret” door that allows quick access – don’t worry pictures will come soon on my new fridge!

Overall, I love how Kenmore showcases their products to us bloggers in a fun and creative way.  I mean how better to review their products then with cooking challenges!

Thank you Kenmore for the awesome experience and opening my mind to creative cooking!  (Yes I am totally a by the book recipe girl and our challenges were quick on-the-spot recipes we had to make up!)

Mom and More Disclosure: I attended this event with all expenses paid and received gifts. I am sharing this post and my honest opinion. Please see my Disclosure Policy.