BlogHer 2010: Chef Scott Leibfried at the Bumble Bee Foods Reception

On the evening of August 5th, I attended the Bumble Bee Foods reception, which took place at the Viking Demo Kitchen on Third Ave in New York City during BlogHer 2010. Even though I am not a huge fan of seafood, aside from shrimp and lobster, my husband is a seafood-lover through and through. So I was curious to see what new ways I could incorporate seafood into my family's diet.

The catered event was intimate, which was perfect. It was the night before BlogHer Day 1, so I was happy to meet some bloggers I have collaborated with online face-to-face, as well as to become acquainted with some bloggers I was not familiar with already.

The best part of the evening was watching Chef Scott Leibfried of Fox Network's Hell's Kitchen create three fairly easy recipes using some of Bumble Bee Food's new seafood products and then being able to sample the results. I was so pleased to find that Mr. Leibfried was exceptionally personable and approachable.

Here are some photos from the event . . .

Although I am not usually a fan of tuna, I actually very much liked this new product . . . the Bumble Bee Easy Peel Sensations Spicy Thai Chili Seasoned Tuna Medley. This product made me look at tuna differently and could lead to something good. I do intend to experiment a little bit. If any of these experiments turn out to be a hit with my family, then I will definitely share them under Easy Recipes.

Thank you to Bumble Bee Foods for hosting such a great event and for providing us with information, recipes, and coupons so we are able to try these new products in our own kitchen.

Giveaway & Review: Chili's New Menu Items ($50 GC) [CLOSED]

Last week, my family of five ventured out to our nearest Chili's Restaurant for dinner. There use to be one located less than a mile from our house, but it closed sadly. So we went to one a few towns over to try out some of their newest menu items.

I was a little nervous. I liked the old faithful . . . Country-Fried Steak with mashed potatoes and seasoned corn on the cob. I also do not like especially strong southwestern seasonings. When we sat down and perused the menu, I was pleasantly surprised. There was quite a variety of new items, including appetizers, soup, salads, sandwiches, a burger, tacos, fried shrimp, a sundae, and an assortment of margaritas.

We started off with an old classic . . . Hot Spinach & Artichoke Dip, which was huge enough for us to have leftovers even with all five of us munching on it. My husband had a tough time deciding between the Steakhouse Sandwich and the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich for his entree. He ended opting for the Steakhouse Sandwich. He found it to be excellent. The sirloin was extremely tender and he very much liked the horseradish cream. He said that the portion was perfect even though he wanted more because it was so good.

I knew what I wanted to try right away . . . the Fried Shrimp! There was lime to squeeze onto the shrimp instead of the usual lemon. The breading was light and crispy. I had enough shrimp to give a few away and still have a good quantity leftover for myself. This dish came with my favorite fries in the whole world . . . Chili's seasoned french fries. The shrimp was also accompanied by a tangy tequila lime sauce and spicy cole slaw. I gave my cole slaw to my husband because he usually orders cole slaw every chance he gets. This version was not really sweet like regular cole slaw, but rather it was peppered. My husband thought the red onions were what made this cole slaw top notch.

Our children gobbled up their Pepper Pals Little Mouth Cheeseburger, Cheese Quesadilla, and Cheese Pizza . . . well, all except my daughter because she eats like a bird. We were all pleasantly full, but made room for the brand new Brownie Sundae. All five of us agreed that this sundae was delicious. I think "decadent" is the word I'm looking for.

Coming soon, Chili's will be launching their Shout Out to Eat Out Video Contest where one Chili's gift card will be given away each day. All you need to do to enter is to upload a 10 to 30 second video stating why you don't want to cook tonight. Watch for the contest to go live soon on ShoutOutToEatOut.com .

Thank you to the Chili's marketing team for sending us a gift card, which allowed us to try the new menu items reviewed in this article, and for providing a second gift card for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive a $50 gift card to Chili's.

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Take a look at the current Chili's Menu. Then leave a comment telling me one menu item you've never tried before, but would like to. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2) For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND Chilis.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

4) Friend me on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 2 extra entries, share the link to this contest post on Facebook. Then leave TWO separate comments with the link to your Facebook profile.

6) Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7) Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8) Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9) Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10) Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

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11) Add my Blogoversary Celebration tag to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

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(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!

Easy Recipe: Popcorn Shrimp & Spinach Pasta

Both my husband and I love to eat shrimp. The problem is that cooking with uncooked shrimp can be more work than one hopes for when trying to prepare a quick meal. With a few exceptions, quick meals are usually the goal around here for our busy household. That is why we were so happy to discover frozen SeaPak Shrimp products.

SeaPak offers breaded butterfly shrimp, popcorn shrimp, shrimp scampi, and several other varieties of shrimp and other seafood products. The selection of SeaPak products was limited at our local supermarket, but we were extremely thrilled to discover that BJ's Wholesale Club carried the Popcorn Shrimp. The larger size was an excellent value and gave us enough shrimp to make the following pasta dish twice.

Recipe: Popcorn Shrimp & Spinach Pasta

INGREDIENTS:

1lb penne pasta

baby spinach

12oz of SeaPak Popcorn Shrimp

4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 heaping Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 Tbsp basil

lemon juice

grated Parmesan cheese

Step 1. Start water boiling in medium or large pot. Cook penne pasta as directed on package.

Step 2. Preheat oven and bake popcorn shrimp as directed on package.

Step 3. Five minutes before pasta is done cooking, put the olive oil in a french skillet over medium heat. Then add the minced garlic and basil. Once the garlic aroma becomes strong, turn the heat down to simmer to prevent the garlic from burning while the pasta and shrimp are finishing cooking and baking.

Step 4. Add the cooked pasta to the garlic mixture.

Step 5. Add the baked popcorn shrimp on top of the pasta. Then drizzle lemon juice (to taste) over the shrimp.

Step 6. Turn the heat up high and throw in the baby spinach. Toss the contents of the skillet to coat with garlic mixture. Remove from heat promptly to prevent the baby spinach from shriveling up and losing its fresh green color.

Step 7. 5 minutes after the skillet is removed from the heat, toss with grated Parmesan cheese (to taste). If done too early, the cheese will melt and loose it's grated texture.

This recipe should serve 4 to 6 adults. Ours fed 2 adults and 3 children with a whole adult serving leftover. This past dish would be great served with freshly baked bread sticks or garlic bread. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave. The breaded coating on the shrimp will not be as crispy, but they still taste great.

You can use the SeaPak product locator to find the popcorn shrimp or other SeaPak products at your local retailers. I hope the selection of SeaPak products will improve in my area. I am anxious to try some of the other products. We will definitely be buying the SeaPak Popcorn Shrimp again from BJ's.

Thank you to SeaPak for sending us a coupon to use towards one shrimp product free of charge to base this article upon.

My Photos (W/E 12-12-09)

I must be taken an unconscious hiatus from taking photos of my children these past two weeks. Usually I have tons to choose from. Hope you enjoy these offerings instead . . .

"Festive Lights"

"Shrimp Soup"

"New Bed Officially Approved"

Thank you for taking the time to view my photos this week! If you'd like to play along or see more great photos, stop by to see Lotus at Sarcastic Mom.