My friend, Kiel, just recently moved to Jacksonville, Florida, and she sent me some recipes from her “Girls Night Out” dinner. She and 10 of her friends get together every Tuesday night and alternate at their different houses trying new, fun and creative recipes. One night, they made Panini sandwiches and homemade tomato soup. Recently, they had an abundance of healthy, fresh salads. She sent me some of the recipes from her latest dinner. This Tomato-Avocado Appetizer with Boursin is such a breeze and tastes delish! It is so perfect for a crowd, especially during the summertime (such as this weekend for July 4th) celebrations. Thanks Kiel and your wonderful friends for sharing your recipes with me.

Last week I had the luckiest and most wonderful opportunity to attend EVO, a conference focusing on the evolution of Women in Social Media in Park City, Utah. It was beyond my expecations, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect as this was my first “blog” conference. I usually attend the yearly IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) conference, and this conference was even more unique in many ways. Read below for some of my favorite highlights.

THE TOP 10 THINGS I lOVED ABOUT EVO (in no particular order) :

1. Making so many new friends

2. Learning so many new things from so many talented people and new great blogs to follow.

3. Seeing beautiful scenery set in the most beautiful part of the country. I could almost move there..

4. Staying at the Canyons Resort: Great huge hotel room, great views, great staff, comfortable beds. I highly recommend it!

5. The Food seminar located at Alpine House: Wonderful food and goodies, cooking demos, speakers and mouth-watering Watermelon-Mint Punch

6. Laughing and crying listening to so many wonderful speakers’ stories, specifically the “Make a Wish Foundation” speakers

7. Meeting Jill, Founder of “Mom it Forward” and Rachel, Founder of “Today’s Mama”. The most incredibly organized and talented women I have ever met.

8. Closing party at Park City Resort (although I had to leave early and miss it ugghh!)

9. Listening to the Producer and Creative Directors from Oprah.

10. Meeting the wonderful sponsors and learning about new businesses and products (great meeting Park City Mountain Resort, City Deals, Think Thin, The Giving Tees, Nu Skin to name a few)

I have had a super busy month. Busy is good, but it’s almost unbelievable. It’s the heart of summer, and I am working at home with 3 kids going in 3 different directions. Besides my normal recipe development work projects, my cookie event at Pepper Place farmer’s market last week, 4 television segments this past thursday for NBC 13 “Daytime Alabama”, monthly work for the Birmingham magazine, and a new huge holiday recipe project for an international client, I can’t believe I am finding time for this blog post. In light of all this, I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to Park City, Utah for Evo 10, a conference featuring women in social media. It’s been called “a summer camp for bloggers” taking place in a beautiful setting. Forgive me for no recipe today, but I have a fabulous one coming tomorrow.

Come see me this Saturday, June 12th at Pepper Place Farmers Market and my Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips Cookies. It’s a great way to spend saturday morning purchasing the best of the best in fresh produce, flowers and other great items. I went last weekend, and I purchased the most delicious and fresh blackberries, squash, tomatoes and peaches. Hope to see some local friends there.

Yesterday, I had so much fun with Lillian! I was asked to do a private one-on-one cooking class for Lillian, an incredibly talented second grader for one of her birthday presents. She has a passion for cooking, and wow was she fabulous! I tailored the class specifically for her, and we made an array of healthy snacks, desserts and she even decorated these awesome cupcakes for Halloween. We set up the food for a photo-shoot, just like I do on the set with national food magazines, such as Southern Living. We prop-styled, food styled and critiqued the photos. If you’re interested in this type of class for your child, parent-child, groups of four, college age, newlyweds or yourself, contact me for more information.