Tasteful and Simple?

So last night I attended my first ever Tastefully Simple party. For those of you not familiar with the concept, essentially it's food and drink mixes that require very few additional ingredients and very little work. The party concept is so guests are able to try some of the items prior to purchasing them. For someone like me who tends to reinvent the wheel each time I plan a menu, I will admit I was a bit skeptical. How can something that takes very little work be good? Well, I will be the first to admit, I was wrong! (I also believe this is another step in the twelve step program I considered following for two minutes. Maybe I'm not done after all!) Everything I tried was delicious!

There were dip mixes such as the fiesta dip and warm spinach artichoke dip that appeared very easy to make and definitely worthy of serving to a group of people. I'm a food snob and I was truly surprised and impressed. I would not recommended any of these items if you were say, on a diet. Most of them are made with mayonnaise and/or sour cream. For those of you who could care less or who care a little but like food more, dig in!  I will also say, I've never been one to campaign on the behalf of drink mixes either, I tend to find them not strong enough for someone who likes to drink too sweet for my taste. Wrong again! The watermelon margarita was outstanding! All that is required is water,  tequila, and a freezer, (oh and of course the mix.)

So the rumor is true, I suppose the wheel doesn't always need to be reinvented and it is possible for food to be delicious and easy to make. Although I highly doubt I will apply this theory to all cooking and party planning I'm glad to know it's out there.

To find out more about Tastefully Simple, please visit their website.  http://www.tastefullysimple.com/

Twelve Steps

From what I'm told, any individual trying to overcome an addiction should follow a twelve step program.  The first step in any successful rehabilitation is admitting you have a problem, right? So, here I am and here it is: Hello, my name is Kayte, I have a problem, I'm addicted to food. There, I said it. It wasn't so hard now that I really think about it. I'M ADDICTED TO FOOD. Wow, that feels great! Unfortunately for the size of my waist, and the size of my wallet, that is the end of my participation in the twelve step program. (How very Lindsay Lohan of me, I know.)

You see, here's the thing... I love to cook, I love to eat, and to top it all off, I love to take photos of food. (Hence, Confessions of a Photograzer.) I apologize greatly if you've stumbled upon this blog hoping to gaze at fabulous mind-blowing food photography.  I am no photographer - I'm an eater. I'm still learning how to cook, and bake, and take photos, however, eating... eating I know how to do and need no help with that, thankyouverymuch. At breakfast I'm thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner. At lunch I'm planning a menu for a tailgate that is two months away. Frankly, my food obsession gets in the way of my own life. But between you, me, and the internet... I kind of like it.

I'm now taking my obsession one step further and writing about one of the things I love most in this world. I'm not sure what path I'm going to follow... will I just talk about what I eat? (If that's the case I may be forced change the title to, True Confession: How I gained 300 pounds blogging about food.)  I plan to share some photos and to hopefully share some of my cooking experiences, that much I know...  What about recipes? Gardening? God forbid, what if I decide to diet, how on earth can one blog about diet food? (Bleck!) All that aside - I hope you enjoy taking this food-journey with me.

I'm Kayte. It's been very nice meeting you and I hope we eat meet again soon. (Who needs a twelve step program anyway?)