Posts Tagged ‘Chez What?’
Char-Broil All Star Blogger Event at Serenbe
May 9th, 2012 | 
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A couple of weeks ago I had the great opportunity to head to Atlanta Georgia for the Char-Broil All Star Blogger Event. It was a really interesting event that brought together some of the fine folks from Char-Broil and some of the All Star Bloggers:
Julie Reinhardt From She Smoke
Catherine Mayhew -Put Some South in My Mouth
Christo Gonzales-Chez What?
Scott Thomas-Grillin’ Fools
Curt McAdams-Live Fire
David Olson-A Bachelor & His Grill
Barry Martin – Chief Grilling Officer Charbroil
Attending from Char-Broil
The team from Char-Broil did an exemplary job of going through the amazing technology of TRU Infrared grilling and the entire lineup of Char-Broil grills and accessories. We also discussed the Company and its strategic goals. In addition we also talked about the Corporate culture of Char-Broil. They take great care and pride in their employees.
The backdrop for the event was a beautiful place called Serenbe.
Serenbe is a 1,000 acre community located under 30 minutes from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport. It is a national model for the future of balanced development in the U.S.—
focusing on land preservation, agriculture, energy efficiency, green building, walkability, high density
building, arts and culture, and community living for multiple generations. With a projected 70% of
future building occurring in the greenfield, Serenbe demonstrates how urban development models
can succeed on the edge of a metropolis while preserving a vast majority of the greenspace. Serenbe’s
ultimate goal is to demonstrate how development can accommodate the need for housing with minimal
impact on nature—Serenbe’s land plan call for a preservation of at least 70% of the acreage, while
accommodating as many or more people as traditional subdivision-style development, which would
disturb nearly 80%.
To say Serenbe is beautiful would do it a disservice. It is an absolute haven. It was incredibly relaxing to stay there. At every corner there was organic vegetation, hundreds of trails and beautiful gardens.
The private home I shared with Catherine and Julie was amazing. Just a lovely home that was warm and accommodating. So much better than a hotel.
We had the opportunity to dine at the Farmhouse a couple of times.
It was a great place to also converse with everyone from Char-Broil and the All Star Bloggers. The food was very good and the hospitality incredible.
The event culminated in a BBQ battle of epic proportions. A Grilling event like no other. A black box event which pitted the bloggers in teams to use any Char-Broil grill to the best of their abilities in a timed contest. We had no idea the contents. To say it was challenging was an understatement. The ingredients were Whole chicken, pineapple, crunchy peanut butter, fennel, bacon and blue cheese.
The judges were VP of Marketing Michelle Giroux Zeller, Jose R. Mendez, Director of Innovation and Alex Gafford Vice President, Director of Research and Development.
*Picture courtesy of Char-Broil
The ingredient lineup. Lots of great sauces and rubs from Char-Broil too!
Chief Grilling Officer Barry Martin & I sharing a laugh.
By good fortune I was partnered up with Catherine Mayhew. She is such a lovely woman and has some terrific skills.
It was truly a collaborative effort. We worked together and made a beautiful dish of grilled fennel salad with grilled pineapple orange chicken, blue cheese crumbles and topped with bacon. We also made some very unique tropical appetizer bites of grilled pineapple with a very unique chunky peanut butter Char-Broil Memphis BBQ sauce glaze and topped with grilled bacon and segments of orange.
We came in second and received an honorable mention. The winner team was the dynamic duo of Chef Christo and Scott Thomas. They had an outstanding chicken dish chock full of flavor.
In addition to the fun chopped competition we got to play on a variety of Char-Broil grills. It was really fun to see so much creativity on the grills and it was a great experience. I liked understanding the versatility of the Char-Broil product line and how they can compliment my own charcoal and pellet grill line up at home.
The last stop of the day for me was a tour of HGTV’s Green Home Giveaway at Serenbe. I can’t post the pictures of the interior until after the giveaway but the home was really interesting to tour. Very interesting design.
I realized just how different all of our personalities were and how much I enjoyed being with my fellow bloggers. All of us have unique passion for food and fun. Great to meet them all and get reacquainted with the people I knew already.
The trip was very fun and I came home with lots of ideas on how to utilize my Char-Broil Infrared Grill. Its a great addition to my backyard lineup. Many thanks to Mary, Barry, Michelle and the entire staff at Char-Broil for inviting me to this event. It was great fun and educational too.
Here is how you can follow the Char-Broil All Star Bloggers that attended the event- they have a terrific assortment of blogs, pintrest, twitter and facebook accounts.
Julie Reinhardt
She Smoke on Facebook
She Smoke on Twitter
Chef Christo Gonzales
Chef Christo on Facebook
Chef Christo on Twitter
Curt McAdams
Curt McAdams on Twitter
CurtMcAdams on Facebook
Catherine Mayhew
The South in my Mouth Pinterest
Scott Thomas
Grilling Fools Website
Grillin Fools on Facebook
Grilling Fools on Twitter
David Olson
A Bachelor & His Grill Blog
A Bachelor & His Grill Facebook
A Bachelor & His Grill Pinterest
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