Keep It Sweet Desserts Weekly Wrap-up 6

Posted on June 7, 2013

It’s funny, last weekend when I wrote this post, I really didn’t have too much to say. This week on the other hand, so much has happened. It was such a crazy whirlwind that I’m not even sure where to start. However, those of you who follow me on Twitter and Instagram are probably wondering about the details regarding this picture below, so I’ll start there.

To be honest, it is a good thing I took that photo because otherwise I might not believe it happened.

Okay, so hopefully I can tell this story without completely embarrassing myself in the off chance that Johnny happens to read this post…. A few days ago, Johnny Iuzzini popped up on my “you should follow” list on Twitter (how was I not following him before?). Considering the coincidence just a few days before I had mentioned the fact that I would die/be terrified of him ever trying my desserts, I thought, “why not?” and hit “follow”.

Well, a few hours later I got a tweet from him that he wanted to try my brownies (hello shameless brag in my twitter profile). Immediately I responded with a few overeager tweets and to make a long story short, we agreed to meet at the OddFellows grand opening. An opportunity to meet Johnny Iuzzini, share some samples of my desserts AND eat incredible ice cream? I was sold.

So, here is where I don’t talk about how incredibly nervous I was so that he doesn’t think I am a complete dork. (Hint: I was really nervous.) Just read his bio and it is pretty self-explanatory.

Lucky for me, he was so incredibly nice in person that it was really just a great experience to meet him! When he introduced us (I brought Matt for moral support / ice cream eating) I was pretty flattered to find out that he had taken a few minutes to check out my website and read my story. We got to meet everyone at OddFellows and they were all pretty awesome. Being around a couple of culinary geniuses in the pastry world is pretty freaking cool. They treated us to samples of almost all of the flavors and I have to admit, I liked every.single.one (even the Maple Bacon Pecan!).

Sidenote- check out their Facebook page for updates on OddFellows’ daily selections

I finally decided on Caramel and Chorizo Caramel Swirl. Yes, I promise, chorizo + ice cream seriously works. I think that Matt had Cornbread and Buttermilk Honey Blueberry. It was all so good, another trip to Williamsburg is definitely in order.

But I digress. Talking to Johnny Iuzzini was just a bit surreal. He reminded me very much of almost any other pastry chef I have met (if you set aside his incredible talent for a minute) in that he was really energetic, really excited about desserts, funny, likes to have a good time, and slightly “off cuff” so to say, in conversation.

Before he tried my brownie, I told him that I was a little nervous after watching him on Top Chef Just Desserts. He assured us that he generally gives people 9 positives and 1 negative when he eats something. Well, he tried my brownie and only said positive things. Hopefully that means he really did like it and wasn’t just being nice:-) I’ll go with the former. And in that case, WIN. Is this real life? My only regret is that I didn’t get to hang out longer and I didn’t get a picture with him (yes, ladies, he is as good looking / better looking in real life as he is on TV). Hopefully we will stay in touch (again, is this real life?) and this won’t be the last time we meet!

The rest of my week feels somewhat insignificant in comparison to that, but it was a good and busy one. Last night I celebrated the opening of the Le Gourmet Factory cooking school and got to share samples of blondies and brownies with a ton of people. Today I teach my first class to a group of Girl Scouts.

And if you made it this far, here are some highlights from the past week:

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