Adventures in Event Reporting Part III: An Event at Blue Cashew

This is the third and final part to a three part blog.

About a year ago, I applied for a position with Apartment Therapy as an events reporter. The experience was absolutely amazing. Part I gives you some background and talks about my work with a well-known writer, Cynthia Kling, who stepped in as my writing coach. Part II and III is more about the work itself.

I needed to produce two samples with photos. This is one of those samples. In this piece, I met some heavy hitters in event planning and food styling-all in addition to meeting the cake goddess, Rose Berenbaum Levy. I would like to extend a special thanks to Sean Nutley of Blue Cashew Kitchen Pharmacy for being such a great host and so supportive of my efforts.

Heavenly Hudson Valley

A Book Siging Event for Rose Beranbaum Levy

 Up the river a piece, about two hours north of Manhattan, is a new place where cool things happen-even in February.

I walked into this  kitchen supply store/book shop, Blue Cashew Kitchen Pharmacy on Main Street in Rhinebeck and was met with a bevy of activity. This was a party and book signing for Rose Beranbaum Levy, author of every sugar-lovers favorite book, The Cake Bible. 

 Renowned food stylists, event designers, photographers, chefs and fans from the metro area all gathered to celebrate Beranbaum’s new book, "Heavenly Cakes". Patrick Decker whose clients include the "Rachel Ray Show" and "The Chew" was in attendance along with Eric Hildebrand, a visual merchandiser and food stylist based in New York City.

In a low, almost-seductive voice, I hear Rose say "you should roll the pie crust until it's very even, it makes it so easy to work with and it's so beautiful and when things are beautiful you feel good about them."

The cake goddess, as she is called, was charismatic, quirky and creative who, even in her story telling about her hippy days created a captivating journey-much like her recipes.

Rose with her food photographer, Ben Fink

I watched as she talked in an almost intimate way with fans, offering baking advice and generous insight into having fun while getting a cake right. I've always been confused about flour, Rose set me straight, telling one fan that "...it's important to use bleached flour for the best texture unless otherwise specified."

After getting to know her, it came as no surprise, she sometimes invents a cake name before baking it. Chocolate Tweed Angel Food Cake, anyone?

There are a zillion recipe books out there. This one is an inspiration. It begs you to get off your derierre and pre-heat your oven. A book like this starts with its writer, a visionary. Other than the writing and recipes, Heavenly Cakes is a giant success because of the beautiful pictures by brilliant food photographer, Ben Fink.

Fink is not only  a good shooter, but an ace videographer. He was there to celebrate both his new book and his app, The Professional Chef app for iPad. Professional Chef, written by the Culinary Institute of America, was a textbook first, but quickly became a bible for advanced cooks and extreme foodies across the nation.

The new app is the most expensive one on the market at fifty dollars,  but maintains a user rating of four and a half stars. It is also more affordable than it's hard-copy counterpart. ($75.00)

Is it worth it?  The app has the many features of an e-book, the beautiful photography of a hard copy, but what makes it really special are its just-as-pretty instructional videos,

The app boasts 125 of them and according to CIA administrator, Natalie Fischer, they narrowed it down from 450. 

She said with emphasis "...Ben could make a pile of flour look beautiful."

I found the example in a heartbeat in Chapter 10, Dry Goods Identification by using the search function. Ms. Fischer was right. The flour was beautiful and so were the oats, dried pasta, nuts and seeds and dried spices. 

As an events reporter, and avid cook, it was tough to stay focused in a shop like this.

The event was sponsored by the makers of the picnic-safe, stemless champagne flute, Govino and champagne producers, Nicolais Feuillatte (was I really in The Hudson Valley? Yum!).