Thursday, January 29, 2015

Empanada Cook-Off Party



Sunday, January 25, 2015

Friday, January 9, 2015

2014 - A Year In Review


2014 was a huge year for CCKS! We had so many firsts, so many exciting events, and so much to look forward to! 

We started out 2014 with the first CCKS Cook-off, ramen!! To say this was an amazing party is an understatement! There was ramen as far as the eyes could see, and not a one went home with an empty belly! I know we are still dreaming a bowl of it, especially considering how frigid it has been here lately! Oh, and of course we crowned our first cook-off winner, Susanne Podheizer! 

Next, we celebrated our 1-year anniversary! A lot of planning went into this event, it had to be one for the books, we wouldn't have it any other way! We roasted a whole lamb, made homemade pita, and partied with ouzo and red wine into the late hours of a beautiful spring evening! We are already setting the wheels in motion for our 2-year anniversary party! 

Moving into summer, it was time to celebrate our second cook-off! This time: burgers! We had 4 Weber charcoal grills set up, with two competitors at each! We had everything from a caribbean burger (complete with music, flowers, and cocktails) to an amazing turkey burger! Shelburne Vineyard was in attendance serving a variety of their fabulous wines! 

The fall brought the launch of out CCKS Culinary tours, the first of which will in March to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico! 
For the first time at the store, we also had a nationally (if not globally) know chef come to the store for a book signing and cooking demo! Renee Erickson, of Seattle, launched her book in the fall of 2014 and was able to make a stop along her book tour at the store. She prepared a number of dishes from her book and restaurants and then took the time to sign books and chat with guests! We can't wait to host more chefs and cookbook authors at the store (hopefully this time we wont have to spend hours tracking down the shipment of books that was set to arrive for the event, but for some reason failed to show up!) 

Then it was time for our final cook-off of the year and what better theme than apple cake! As you can imagine, it was very gluttonous! All the cakes were so delicious, and it was amazing that all of them seemed to have a very special story to go along with each contestant's recipe! 

Once Thanksgiving was over, it seemed like the holidays whizzed by and by the time we were able to come up for air it was 2015 and time to start planning another amazing year at CCKS! 

We cannot thank all of our wonderful friends and customers for an amazing year, and we cannot wait to share with you some of the amazing things that are going to come in 2015! Cheers!!