Hi Friends!
Welcome to my very first blog update. I'm not sure where this is going, but I know I want to share more from this culinary creative life. So I'm trying this on. I hope to log seasonal updates from my travels and projects and even share recipes in new ways. Please let me know what you'd like to hear, see, or know!
It's been a beautiful summer of feeling safer and finally seeing people! I kicked it off with a May trip to hug my family in Mississippi for the first time in over a year. It was glorious!
In June, I went on a delicious Summer Solstice camping trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan with dear friends. We cooked and camped, swam and kayaked our way into summer!
Urban Accents (where I do recipe development, food styling, and content creation by day) was acquired by Stonewall Kitchen earlier this year, and in July, I was invited to visit the headquarters near York, Maine with the UA creative team. We had a blast and ate as much lobster as possible. It felt so good to travel again and see new places. I can now check Maine off my 50-state list, and I already can't wait to get back.
I had the honor of attending an incredible chef's dinner with the duo behind Limón y Sal. My friend and cocktail Maven, Linda Sullivan, has been curating some incredible events, and I'm so excited to announce a fun holiday class collab coming up soon!
In August, I went North to Alaska to start a fun new project: The Black Bear Cookbook. My friend, Becki Klauss - owner of Denali's favorite cafe and coffeeshop, and I are making a shared dream come true. We laughed and planned, planned and laughed. We even had a virtual session with cookbook coach, Dianne Jacobs.
In between cookbook sessions, I had the joy of playing music with some of my best friends - just like the good ole days! We even drove to the end of the Denali National park road (right before the park closed it for a landslide!) and played at a remote, eclectic music fest: Kantishna Music Festival at the Skyline Lodge.
Want to know more about the Black Bear Cookbook?? Check out the interview we recorded for the Denali 360 podcast! (Release date TBD.) The Denali 360 website and podcast are incredible resources for anyone who loves Denali - visitors and locals alike. Watch out for the cookbook coming in 2023 (hopefully!)
This photo is courtesy of Whit Aldridge!
In between it all, I expanded my kitchen container garden this year! Last year with seedlings was so fun, I decided to buy some seeds and try my hand at that. It was a lot of work, but I learned a ton, and I've had loads fresh herbs and lots of tomatoes these last few weeks. And good news: I scored a community garden plot with Montrose Metra Community Garden! Next summer, look for even more garden love and updates as I figure out how to do all that.
(Steel Magnolias, anyone?)
Also in between things, I made a whole bunch of delicious coffee content for Super Coffee - only the third largest coffee retailer IN THE COUNTRY! Their stuff is really tasty, and I love their whole 'add something positive' angle. Watch for my Reels on their Insta profile! There are several more in the hopper. Exciting!
A few weeks ago, I attended the Renegade Summit in Austin, TX. It's a group of like-hearted, like-minded women entrepreneurs. It was incredible, but I took almost no photos because I was so busy living in the moment. I even ended up singing late one night after dinner! I'm really excited about what's next with those ladies. And if you're interested to hear more about Amy Jo Martin's Renegade Accelerator, you just let me know.
Looking Ahead:
As summer draws to a close (though I do have one last camping trip coming up this weekend!), I'm so looking forward to getting back to offering my virtual cooking classes. I'm releasing new October and November dates when I publish this blog post, so please check 'em out! I worked really hard on those new class pages. :)
Thanks for coming along, friends! Here's to trying new things and a beautiful, bountiful harvest season!
Lots of love,
SBT
ps: We also went to a Royals game in Milwaukee!
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