Lights! Camera!! Icing On The Cake!

I ran into a friend at the grocery yesterday...and she asked...

Astonished... 

"How is all this happening??"

By "all this" she was referring to the 
recent flurry of media activity... 

abundance of good karma and the outpouring of

fabulous opportunities...

The reason for this post...  

"All this" very wonderful stuff...

... it's kind of a mystery... 

...except for the fact I am doing what I love... 

Could it really be that simple??

***

How did I get here? --to this place in time??

And

Where am I headed??

Do you ever ask yourself those things...

I do.

 ...ALL the time.

I can never quite figure "it" out...

Is my journey made from luck, 

hard work
or divine intervention??  

Maybe a little of all three??

Whatever the case...I am usually in awe.

Do you ever step back and connect 

all the dots to see how you made it

from point A to point B??

I do that too...

A lot of dot-connecting...
and to me, making those connections...
Well,...it's beyond amazing.

Thinking about how all the little bits of
experience and choices add up to today...
Feeling so lucky I picked curtain number 3...
and not curtain number 2...
(My throwback reference to 1980's game shows)
Not to say there haven't been a few "zonks"
along the way... but man, oh man...

I wonder sometimes...What lead me to my husband...?

So many seemingly random events
 had to take place...
--in just the right order to make our 
introduction even possible...

When we bought our home... 

I had to be at the exact right place 
at the exact right time... 
to make it happen.

Was it meant to be??

What was the tipping point for me to
begin writing this blog...??

How about the first time I attempted
 to make a cake...from scratch??

... and the subsequent nerve to take it to be judged...

untasted...and untried...?? (oh, my goodness)

Where did that come from??  

I'm still working on those answers.

Like a good recipe and like life...
I tweak things as I go.

It isn't until I look back that I
can see how beautifully things fell into place...
or many times didn't...
... there is something to be said
 for a few unanswered prayers...

...and speaking of recipes and connecting a few dots...

I have some pretty super-exciting news...

Which goes hand-in-hand with all the other super-fun and 

exciting news I've been enjoying in the last few weeks...

The "all this" that has been abuzz...

Let's connect the dots for a moment:

Remember those fun "If You Give a Pig a Pancake" books? 

 My kiddos loved them...as did I...

(if you're not familiar... Imagine you give a pig a pancake...
she'll want syrup... and then she'll need a napkin...
and probably she'll need a bath from being so sticky with maple syrup... 
you see the direction it takes??
...One thing leads to the next and before you know it... 

you have a big adventure underway...)

And right now... 

I feel very much like the similarly titled book:

 "If You Give a Baker a Blog"

(And here's where the big adventure starts!)

So here I sit, writing my blog,

 sharing recipes, baking and winning a few ribbons
along the way.

A high school friend invites me
to teach a baking class.  (How fun!!)

At the baking class... 

A lovely woman says "I'd like to share your name with the 

Fine Foods Show, part of the Cincinnati Horticultural

 Society's Flower Show..." (How exciting!!)

The Flower Show asks 

"Would you consider being a speaker and
doing a pie demonstration??"...

(Yes, Of course, I would LOVE to!!)

As part of the press for the Flower Show, 

a teeny-tiny photo of yours truly and a 

brief description was featured in
 Edible Ohio Valley magazine:  (Very thrilling)

The Flower Show asks, 

"Could you also do a TV morning show visit on Fox ??"

(Yes!!! I would LOVE to!!)

In the meantime... 

I was contacted by my most favorite foodie-grocery store

-- ever in the history of the world...

 Dorothy Lane Market.
Visit this link to learn more about DLM

(DLM saw my teeny tiny photo and 
visited Blue Ribbon Kitchen blog)

Dorothy Lane Market asks

 "Would you teach baking classes here at our 
super-amazing, beautiful Culinary Center??"

 (I added all the extra-lovely adjectives... 

but the culinary center deserves every bit 
of those fantastic adjectives and more) 

Yes!!  
(Yes, I would LOVE to teach baking classes
 at your super-amazing, gorgeous,
 state-of-the-art DLM Culinary Center) 

 ( I really only politely said "yes"
... but I thought every one of those adjectives...
--every single one.)

So, I did my morning TV appearance on Fox...
and I was asked back...
(Oh, my goodness!!)

I did a second appearance on Fox....
( Really...wow...is this really real??)

And now... I am scheduled again to appear on the
 Fox 19 Morning Show.  
May 27, 2016...
Where I will do a little PR for my fist baking class at 
Dorothy Lane Market...

My first class is "Margaritaville at the Culinary Center"
June 28, 2016, 6PM -8:30PM

Class Schedule/Registration

 We will be making a Margarita Key Lime Pie...

this pie...

This pie was a winner in the NBC TODAY Show Pi-Day
contest in 2015...

Folks that take the class from Dorothy Lane Market

will enjoy fresh margaritas, guacamole and chips, 

a sample of the key lime pie and they
get to make and take home their
very own margarita key lime pie!!  

Quite the class...and a perfect night out!!

As if all this were not enough...
(And it is...believe me when I say "all this" is so
much more than I imagined)

Two weeks ago,
I was visiting DLM (Dorothy Lane Market) 
for an interview and photo...
which turned into a pie photo shoot...


It was a mid-morning meeting, that turned into an afternoon of
getting to know the culinary center kitchen,
 while whipping up a key lime pie...in a navy blue blazer...
Of course, because that's what baker's getting their
picture taken do...
...they wear cute navy blazers, make pies...and smile...

--the blue blazer will make more sense when I share the article,
and the behind the scenes photos...
 Let's just say, whipped cream and blazers are
not a match made in heaven...

(A big thank-you to Jessica for the outstanding photos, 
the attention to detail and  your amazing patience...
patience --with me and the whipped cream
that needed to be ready for her close-up...
*
Thank-you to Jessie for the sweet article... 
and thoughtful interview questions.
*
and a  sincere thank-you to Peggy 
who I interrupted more times 
than I can count... finding my way through a 
new and unfamiliar kitchen...we made it!! )


Today, I just received the final copy of the article
 with the photos from that day...

The article is the perfect introduction...
and the photos are so fun...

 I can't wait to share the article and photos with you...
...however, that will have to wait until the
Dorothy Lane Market Report 
is published, on June 1, 2016....
soon...very soon...I promise.

 I'm not sure which direction
 this amazing adventure
 will go in next... 

I'm simply happy I get to be on this ride....

No GPS for this kind of adventure...
no maps...
(which is really OK, I was never a great map reader anyway)

Just me...doing what I love.

...I am so happy I took a chance
and followed my heart to pursue what I love...

 Even if "all-this" never existed...

If I had never been given the opportunity
 to teach about baking...

 or to do a 3 minute TV spot...
or get to be interviewed for an article
 and take part in
a photo shoot...

I would still be happy and satisfied
 to be doing what I love. 

All this fanfare is simply the icing on the cake.

granted, it's probably a cake I baked... 
but it's icing none-the-less.
All this icing is pretty amazing.

I have so much gratitude and not nearly the
 sufficient words to express it all...

--just know that I am
so grateful.

If you see me out and about... 

sipping a coffee with a dazed look...

it could mean a lot of things...

but...

You can bet I am still trying
to figure all this out...

 I might even be connecting
a whole new set of dots.

Thanks for taking the time to read all updates
about Blue Ribbon Kitchen...
I am so happy that you do.

I love sharing this journey with you.

-Karri