I had an incredible opportunity to go to the McCormick Gourmet Kitchens last week with some other wonderful bloggers: Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, Shauna of Gluten Free Girl and Nicole of Pinch My Salt. I am really excited to work with these talented women and McCormick Gourmet.
We all met for dinner where the Chef mixed up some drinks and prepared a gorgeous dinner. After not eating all day from traveling this was quite the treat. I snapped some photos of our time with McCormick Gourmet, take a look 🙂
When we arrived to the McCormick Kitchens we were greeted by the lovely McCormick staff. Chef Len fed us some delicious appetizers. Tale a look below 🙂
Here is our menu for the evening.
Curried Chicken and Mushroom Spring Rolls. INCREDIBLE! Will definitely be making these again.
Marinated Shrimp with Mango and Radishes. Perfect little appetizer.
Dirty Martini Steak Kabobs and Salad. What a creative recipe for kabobs, full of flavor. Loved these.
Sweet and Smoky “Pork and Beans.” I think we all had a few helpings of this one 🙂
Cheesecake Tart with Popcorn Crust and Berries. This cheesecake caused quite the uproar, not kidding. The flavor combinations here are unreal. This will be made at my house very soon.
The next morning, we met for breakfast and enjoyed: Tomato Zucchini Frittata, Cinnamon Apple Nut Muffins, Pepita Pumpkin Bread.
How good does this look?!
…and this?
This was one of my favorite parts of the trip…..along with the incredible meals, but learning about the history of the McCormick Spices was so fascinating. Made me appreciate what goes into each jar I see at the store.
We also got to sample and smell a variety of spices. The vanilla test was the most interesting. If you’ve ever doubted buying pure vanilla….don’t. It wasn’t even a comparison when sampled side by side.
Later in the day, we each whipped up 2 simple recipes that used a regular spice and then a roasted spice to sample and see the difference in taste. I had a creamy cinnamon dip that I wanted to bottle up and eat with a spoon. It was delicious!
Making my dip!
The other ladies Jaden, a sweet McCormick rep, Shauna and Nicole making their recipes 🙂
It was time for lunch and talk about a feast. This salmon was one of the best salmon I have ever had. Will be making it for my family. Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon
Will be making these too! Harvest Vegetables with Roasted Ginger & Cumin
This was another recipe that we couldn’t stop eating, so delicious and I think it was unanimous that we will all be making these ribs! Chipotle Cinnamon Baby Back Ribs
As if we hadn’t had enough food, we ended our meal with these cute “cup” cakes with a bite. Loved the heat that came through with each bite . Mexican Hot Chocolate “Cup” Cakes
Giveaway: An assortment of McCormick Spices with Spice Rack
3 winners!
CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED, Winners have been emailed 🙂
Here’s How To Enter:
1. Leave a comment and tell us, what are your favorite McCormick Spices?
2. For extra entries, Follow Picky Palate on Twitter, RSS Feed and Like us on Facebook. Leave 3 separate comments for this.
3. Contest ends Monday January 24th 8pm PST. Winners will be chosen by random.org and will be notified by email. Giveaway provided by McCormick Gourmet.
*Spices will not be exactly as pictured in Photo 🙂
Good Luck!
*Disclaimer: I have been hired to work with McCormick Gourmet as part of their McCormick Real Gourmet Program and am being compensated however the thoughts are my very own :)
I love the ginger, cinnamon, and steak seasoning! All amazing!
I am a FB fan 🙂
Has to be Cumin. I use so much of it!
I follow you on Facebook.
as I’m Cuban, My mother always filled the house with the scent of Cumin and your Roasted Cumin always takes me back to my childhood days of watching her cook. It’s always in the pantry.
I use McCormick spices exclusively I go thru cinnamon because I use it to make pies for our local restaurant. The cream of tartar for the meringue on pies, the vanilla, I could go on and on.
Cinnamon!
McCormick’s Smoked Paprika, I hadn’t been able to find any brand of smoked paprika in my neighborhood until just recently when McCormick’s magically appeared on the shelf at the grocery store! I used to have to order it online and the cost of shipping was more than the spice itself!
Sounds like a wonderful time! My favorites are cumin and garlic. Can’t wait to try some of these recipes!
For savory-garlic powder, and for sweet-the “pumpkin pie” spices (nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, cloves…).
Facebook fan!
I love the smoked paprika…yummy addition to many meals!
I seem to be on a mexican kick lately and use Cumin A LOT!!
I already “like” you on FB.
Smoked paprika! Just started using it and I LOVE it. It seems to go really well with chili powder.
Cinnamon is by far one of my favorite spices! It’s a stape at breakfast time.
The spices I tend to use most are cinnamon, and thyme.
and I follow on Facebook
My newest love is the Mediterranean Spiced Sea Salt 🙂
I subscribe to your blog through google reader.
I am a fan on Facebook
I love spices! Hard to pick just one!
I LOVE the Montreal Steak and Montreal Chicken seasonings. I use them in so many different ways. The two spices that I seem to buy more frequently than anything else are cumin and oregeno.
cumin!!! i also like some of their seasoning mixes for meats.
I use curry powder, cumin, and cinnamon all the time. I follow you on twitter and now on facebook as well.
Grill Mates Montreal Seasoning…can’t live without it!
I like you on Facebook!
Wow, it is so hard to narrow it down to just one, but the 2 that I personaly use the most often would be the garlic and cinnomin! I love Mccormick Spices!
I love the McCormick Grinders. I have Italian Herb and the Steakhouse Grinders. What kitchen couldn’t use this awesome spice rack!!
I’m a fan on FB!
I just liked you on facebook!
I’m addicted to ancho chili powder and cumin!
I LOVE the spice blends collection.The Cajun and the Herbes de Provence get a lot of use as does the Italian seasoning. Wonderful. Always can trust high quality from McCormick!That looked like such a fun event!
I already follow you on twitter (I am @drwinnie)…
I love cinnamon and any of the baking spices.
I have followed you on Facebook from day 1.
I like you on facebook