“Let’s start at the beginning, a very good place to start”

I first heard of Nutrilite this Summer on my first trip to NYC. I was there for Blogher, the mega monster blogging conference. It was a blur of very long days, overcrowded sessions, thousands of women clamoring to get into VIP parties, and lots of swag lugging (not complaining about that last one.) It was in a word stressful and I remember escaping to run in Central Park just to find some peace like my best buddy Debra from MilestoRun had done earlier that day.

Later in my room, I found some magical twist tubes with no box and very little instructions. I felt a little like Alice; curious to a fault. I opened one and just like her made a mistake with how much I took or rather how much I added to a big 1 liter bottle of Dasani. I over diluted the flavor and in my haste didn’t try again before I left New York. I just tossed the rest in my bag and rushed out the door to another event.

When I returned home and had some of my sense restored, I tried it again in a normal sized bottle of water and had my mind blown. I couldn’t believe I had missed out on the incredible mango flavor these little twist tubes packed! Alright Nutrilite I thought, you have something going here. Little did I know how much I had yet to learn about them and how much they would change my daily nutritional intake.

Fast Forward to December and Day 1- NYC in Tribeca

All of the invited bloggers met in the lobby of our hotel The Smyth before walking across the street to David Bouley’s test kitchen. Before we knew it, we were heading up a floor, 5 at a time, in a small staff operated elevator. We nervously looked at each other as we crammed in and the doors closed. Before we could panic, the old elevator doors opened and we stepped into another world entirely.

Were we still in New York?? Not only was this space not cramped like most of the city’s spots but it was filled with homey touches that made it appear more like a well curated apartment than a test kitchen.

There were stacks and stacks of books lining two walls.

A Christmas tree all lit up beside leather lounge sofas.

And a kitchen surrounded by beautiful copper pots & pans, a large frosted glass shelving case with plates organized according to shape, and drapes filtering the sunlight in such a way that the room glowed ember.

We were greeted with a beautifully made cucumber lime drink that was so refreshing! I’m going to have to ask them for the recipe because my mouth is watering as I type. It really was delicious and yet still healthy.

Soon after my taste buds had a party, the chefs were introduced and we were instructed to don an apron. Yep, they were about to let us pull up our sleeves and learn how to truss a chicken, prepare Sea Bass, and make some chocolate mousse.

I wanted to learn ALL OF IT! See I have a mid-life crisis plan where I’ll enroll in culinary school and go all Julia Child on everybody. That includes moving to Paris and writing a cookbook after learning all the intricacies of being a chef. Hey dream big right? So these demonstrations were mega exciting for me and I tried to hop around to catch glimpses of each one as they went on simultaneously.

       

I even took some video because well frankly, I’m not Julia Child and if I were to describe to you how to truss a chicken you might end up tying yourself up instead.

Can’t say I never taught you anything Thanks Ryan!

We took notes, pictures, anything to remember the neat techniques they taught us like how to cook a chicken over hay in a simulated pressurized cooker created by rolled dough.

You can do this by buying regular pizza dough at Publix and stretching it out so that it fits the diameter of your pot.

You’ll know it’s secure when you close and press down on the lid until you hear a faint pop.

The chicken will cook perfectly because the pressure allows the heat to circulate evenly. All the juices stay locked in and I can attest that the result is very tender.

Beautiful no?

Next we learned how to prepare Sea Bass and how taking out the spines can be an exercise in patience. Follow me to Part 2 of this post to see video and more….

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