BBB Cook Off

The day of the contest started bright and early as all the contestants met for group pictures before the grilling began. We got to hang out on the fabulous rooftop while we waited for our turns to enter the kitchens. At about 9:30am I heard the first cork being popped and glasses of wine were being poured.

Believe me, having a winery put on an event like this is so much fun and I was loving every minute of it!

When it got closer to my time I waited right outside the sliding glass doors that led to the kitchens. this is definitely where the butterflies in my stomach started picking up!

Here was my outdoor grilling station. It was funny to look over at the office building across from us at all the people going through their normal workdays.

My time started and after a brief run through of how the appliances worked form the fabulous Chef Starr I started making the burger I had cooked 1 million times before

I don't know about you, but for me, I don't handle chaos well. It took me a little while to get comfortable and get in my groove. Even thought that prize money was in the back of my mind and the people and reporters were all around me I tried to block that out of my mind and just concentrate.

This usually doesn't happen when I'm making dinner on a Tuesday night

And these guys usually don't pop up when I'm at home making a sandwich

My kids don't ask me what my inspiration was for making my burger while packing school lunches for the week.

But I wish it did!

It was so much fun I think my face hurt the rest of the day form smiling so much

After all my prep inside I headed outside to grill

Getting ready to go inside and serve the judges my hands started shaking a little

And once I was in front of them my hands started shaking a lot

Luckily they were all so nice and I was honored to listen to the compliments they had for what I made for them.

I was so relieved that I finished without falling, dropping anything or causing a fire on my grill!

After presenting to the judges we each took a picture with our burger and wine pairing

Early in the morning I was too overcome with nerves to eat. Louis had left our hotel room and got me breakfast and coffee at Starbucks and I couldn't even touch it. Once I was done cooking and presenting I got to taste the other contestant's burgers.

Louis has an amazing ability to get pictures of me when I look my worst!

In the end I got the "First Runner Up" prize. It wasn't the grand prize but I had such an amazing time that I was ok with that. And I already have 9 ideas for burger recipes to turn in next year!