welcome to bourbon country.

I suppose there’s more to Louisville than just bourbon.

{from left: debi, paula, moi, irvin, brian, maggy}

To start, there’s the ridiculously rad 21c Museum Hotel, where all of the lovely photos in this post were taken (see the rest here). What a concept! It’s a hotel with a contemporary art museum built right in. Great bar, fabulous cocktails (I had a lavender-infused gin concoction that I fell in love with) and, yes – lots of funky art. The fashion-geek inside of me lusted over the dining room, its walls lined with the most fantastic images of luxury-branded car interiors.

Also, there just so happens to be … soy sauce! I bet you’re surprised to hear that. Not just any old soy sauce, mind you, but the only micro-brewed soy sauce in America. Soy sauce that’s made by hand, in a big warehouse … in – here’s the part that really gets my heart racing – Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels.

I mean, seriously … how cool is that?

And what’s even cooler is that GE Monogram made it all happen. I truly feel honored and blessed to have been invited along with such a talented (and awesome!) group of food bloggers. All expenses paid, GE Monogram planned this trip so that we could visit their “Experience Center” – and discover all of these other fun things Louisville has to offer.

Important things. Such as, “bourbon ice.” Yes, bourbon ice is a real thing. GE Monogram makes an ice dispenser that produces it, so they would know. It’s that super-clean and clear ice that comes in perfect little cubes … the kind you can drop into your glass of high-roller bourbon and not taint it with any crusty, funky-smelling situation that might be lingering in your freezer. (The non-Bourbon ice I rock at home is the precise reason why I typically go ice-less when I’m drinking water.)

Really, it has nothing to do with bourbon, but when you’re in Louisville … bourbon is EVERYTHING.

Aside from hanging out with super-awesome food bloggers all day and night, ghost hunting in the gorgeously historic Brown Hotel where we stayed (that.  happened. – this hotel is “officially” haunted according to books that list haunted hotels, which apparently are a thing – just ask Irvin), playing in front of this ridiculously cool alphabet wall at 21c {shown in photos} for arguably way too long, scoping out Churchill Downs and in turn becoming even more obsessed with going to the Kentucky Derby someday …

… we also learned a lot about all of the fabulousness GE Monogram’s got going on in terms of appliances – I mean, duh! One super-cool thing is what’s called an induction cooktop, where the burner only gets hot when a pan is on it.  Here’s a great shot that sums it up from Lisa of With Style & Grace (she’s an absolute doll – and if you’re in need of gluten-free recipes, she’s your girl!) That’s a specially-made pan showing you that water is boiling, and those are ice cubes on the same burner … not melting. The burner is only hot where the pan touches it directly. Crazy, right?! It also gets hot super-fast, perfect for those I-want-pasta-and-I-want-it-now kinda nights.

There was also a very cool technology they introduced to us called “speed cooking” – it’s sort of like a microwave and oven combined. And, be still my heart, THE most gorgeous pro range I’m still dreaming about. You should totes check out this fabulous post by the lovely Sandy of Reluctant Entertainer for more deets about the trip and our experience. Very thorough and lots of photos – yes, please!

Paula, who runs the GE Experience Center in NYC, was such a fabulous host and planned a lot of great eating and drinking activities for us (clearly, the woman knows the way to a food blogger’s heart) like dinner at a fabulous restaurant called Marketplace, home of the Cider Manhattan – best-Manhattan-in-the-country-award-winner. I’m a total sucker for things like this … not to mention they also set the cocktail on fire just before serving. Hook, line, and sink ‘er! Gets me every time.

Oh. Annnnnd there was also an Iron Chef-style cooking competition. And my group (please go visit Jenny + Teri of Spoon Fork Bacon and Brian of A Thought for Food – I heart them!) just happened to win.

NO BIGS.

The only sad part about the trip was that we never got to try the legendary “hot brown” sandwich – a Kentucky Derby staple – which was kind of a big deal, since it was invented at the hotel we stayed at. The good news is, my new BFF Debi made one when she got home and blogged it, so you can still see what it’s all about!

As for me, I’ve been dreaming about one thing and one thing only … can you guess what it is?

Bourbon is involved.

I’ve been digging both bourbon and gin as of late. I’m typically a vodka or tequila kind of a gal, but I’ve gotten a little bored with my routine, so I’ve been experimenting. I’m finding Bombay Sapphire to be quite lovely with club soda and lots of lemon, especially this time of year – so refreshing! And as for the bourbon, I took inspiration from my friend Kathryne and decided to do an infusion. I had a “peach tea” cocktail in Louisville made with bourbon, peach schnapps, and iced tea that was just so YUM – but since I’m not a huge fan of schnapps, I figured infusing the bourbon with fresh peaches would be more up my alley.

This weekend, I’m hosting a dinner party for Foodbuzz’s 24×24, so stay tuned for my peachy-bourbon cocktail recipe, along with a fabulous Southern feast – including Thomas Keller’s fried chicken (with video)!

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, dolls – stay safe, eat well … and hey, why not drink a little bourbon? xxSAS