As many of you know, we had our official ‘launch’ for Where Women Cook at Chelsea Market in New York City on December 10. (Yup, we ARE announcing the winner of the Kitchen Aid giveaway, but let me fill you in on New York City first!)

New York was fabulous. So was Chelsea Market.

The building itself is amazing. It was a Nabisco factory at one point and every single inch of it is a work of art. Especially at Christmas.

The huge archways laden with thousands of lights (and earth-friendly ornaments) stole the show.

(*Chelsea Market sign and lights photos by A Gilded Life. We love them. They are pretty and smell like freshly baked bread.)

The arches may have stolen the show at the market, but our event stole the day!

It was a great success.

And, like everything Jo Packham does, it was BEAUTIFUL.

People were lining up well before we had everything all tucked in and squared away to open the doors.

We had 300 very special aprons sent from fans of Where Women Create strewn about the hall on clothes lines, fresh flowers, and gorgeous kitchen items (graciously loaned to us by Howard, from Bowery Kitchen, which is the MOST excellent restaurant and kitchen supply store in Chelsea Market) filling every nook and cranny of one wall with banks of lighted, glass displays. This below is just one tiny section of the display, so you can imagine just how gorgeous it all was!

The lovely lady that graced our inaugural issue was on hand to sign for 3-straight hours. (With how loved she is at these signings, I am seriously surprised that her hand hasn’t fallen off yet, y’all!)

So many women from our first (and second!) issue were on hand to greet fans and sign books, magazines and even aprons!

By the time we got to the after party, everyone was more than ready to partake of the lovely wine from The Chelsea Market Wine Vault and munch on baked goodies from SarahBeth’s Bakery. (SarahBeth is in our second issue and people, you just have not lived until you’ve eaten her cheese straws. And her gingerbread. And her quiche. AND I HATE QUICHE. But I LOVED HERS. To die for. Seriously. And last but not least, you MUST try her “They-are-so-divine-I-kissed-her” pumpkin muffins (Ok, that is not really what they’re called. But I DID kiss her out of sheer appreciation for creating them.)

So many amazing women (and men) were there: MaryJane Butters, Alice Bradley, Molly Wizenberg, Elizabeth Maxson, David Lebovitz, Ree Drummond, David Leite, Marinka, Serena Thompson, Liz Gumbinner, Jen O’Connor, Megan Halsey, Celeste Shaw, Mary Cleaver, Patricia Helding, Sarma Melngailis, Sarah Egron, Amy Scherber, “Bossy”, Suzy Eaton, Wendy Addison, Debbie Murray & Shea Fragoso, Marsey Iverson, SarahBeth from “SarahBeth’s Bakery” and Chiara, who flew in all the way from the Amalfi Coast in Italy to sign for her mother, “Mama Agata”! And so many more!

We had so much fun with you all!

Just being together and thumbing through the pages of something all of us have worked so hard to bring to fruition was unforgettable. The rest was pure icing.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all that you (and yes, I mean YOU, the person sitting in front of their screen reading these words, looking at these photos and hopefully munching on something really yummy while you do so) that you have done to help make Where Women Cook the success that it is.

We simply cannot thank you enough!

And now, for the moment many of you have been waiting for:

The winner of the Farm Chicks goodies and The Kitchen Aid Mixer is:

AIME FROM MAMALOVES (See, people? Not only can early entries on a huge giveaway walk away with the prize, but Twitter entries can totally come in useful!)

We were stunned and grateful for the overwhelming response to our giveaway. Much love to you all. We wish everyone could have won. But worry not! Besides tuning in every day to catch the goodies we post here, be sure to tune in for more Friday “Blue Plate Specials”!

See you soon!

xo,

Loralee

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