Away From Home

Hey there! Remember months ago when I came here asking (or begging) for votes in the hopes of having a chance at an amazing prize package offered by Extended Stay America Suites? Well, Guess what?

I got in! I got one of four spots as a finalist!!

I think I actually laughed at the woman on the phone when she called to deliver the amazing news because I just couldn't believe it!

Even though I was super excited, I really had no earthly idea what I was about to experience and I'm excited to share every step of this amazing journey with you!

Before leaving for the actual competition, I made a little trip at 4am to the news station in Austin and talked about my dish there

The next day we headed to NYC and as soon as we walked in the lobby guess what we saw?!

We got to our room and had a beautiful welcome basket waiting for us

I will be honest, I was a little nervous to meet my fellow contestants. You never know when there is a large prize at steak how people will act, but I was so relieved once we got talking and it seemed like a group of friends that I've always known. I had a really great time getting to know these ladies and chatting with them helped calm my nerves when I started to feel frazzled and doubt myself on the big day

After meeting my fellow contestants we made our way to Whole Foods to pick up our ingredients

I really appreciated being able to pick out my ingredients myself. No one likes to show up at a cook-off not knowing what to expect inside your bags and this really put my mind at ease

After shopping we got back to the hotel, went to dinner with a group of marketing people, Extended Stay execs and all of the finalists

After dinner I tried my best to go to bed early but I was too nervous and ended up reading Sunny's cookbook that was in our welcome baskets. I really love Sunny's Kitchen and couldn't believe it when I saw this recipe:

I had no idea Sunny lived in Kenner! I sent a text to my mom, aunt and cousin who live there showing them the recipe and will definitely be trying this one in my own kitchen soon!