eat – Mel's Mosaic

Aspen – many times I only correlate that name with skiing. But every once in a while something else gets partnered with the name. For me this time it was the Aspen Food & Wine Classic. I had heard about it awhile back and it sounded amazing. But when I glimpsed at the ticket price I had no interest in going; costs a little shy of $2,000 to attend.

But this year a company that I work for reached out because they needed some help at their table. So, that meant free entry. Bring it on! I got to experience this at no cost.

This festival is amazing. While I didn’t get to take part in most of the seminars or do as much wine tasting as I would have liked, I still got a feel for all of it. Was able to get some quick sips of wine here and there, little nibbles of during prep time and meet lots of folks. Many regions of the world are represented, so many varietals of wine, so many cultures, so much fun. And you get to see the town all around you. These pictures are just a tidbit of it.

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I found out that volunteers at the event get a one day free pass. Going to consider doing that next year…help out the amazing event then enjoy it, too.

Cheers!

T minus three days until Easter. What does that mean? Only a few more days of walking into stores and being surrounded by chocolate eggs, loads of colorful jelly beans and both chocolate and marshmallow bunnies. Want some crazy stats?

According to the National Confectioners Association,

The first chocolate eggs were made in Europe in the early 19th century and remain among the most popular treats associated with Easter
90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made for Easter each year
16 billion jelly beans are made for Easter
Each day, five million marshmallow chicks and bunnies are produced in preparation for Easter
Easter is the second top-selling confectionery holiday behind only Halloween
88 percent of adults carry on the Easter tradition of creating Easter baskets for their kids
76 percent of people eat the ears on chocolate bunnies first
Red jelly beans are kids’ favorite
According to the Guinness Book of World Records the largest Easter egg ever made was just over 25-ft high and made of chocolate and marshmallow. The egg weighed 8,968 lbs. and was supported by an internal steel frame.

Dang! Need some other good numbers to give you a sugar high as we head into the weekend? Check out The Fact Site. After reading all this, what do you plan to load up and/or munch on the next few days?