Lost in the supermarket ... for a good cause
COEUR d'ALENE - Ready, set, shop!
The competition will be fierce at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Super 1 Foods in Coeur d'Alene. That's when local celebrities will roll out the shopping carts for a Super Market Dash.
The public is invited to attend this free event, to watch and cheer as television anchors, a resident Ironman and several community leaders race through the supermarket aisles to fill their carts fastest with the proper ingredients to create a culinary masterpiece.
Will Ironman Derek Garcia be a speedier shopper than KXLY sports anchor Ben Kaplan? Can Kootenai County Boys and Girls Club director Ryan Davis overtake both of them? Perhaps we'll discover that Jame Davis, Ryan's wife and vice president of tourism at the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce, is also a food shopping ninja. Derek Garcia's wife, Shannon, could surprise everyone and take them all down between the meat department and the deli counter.
The winner will receive a $100 Super 1 Foods card to donate to the charity of his or her choice.
Supermarket race spectators will have a chance to try some free food samples prepared by national television celebrity chef Jon Ashton, who is also chef for Relish magazine.
Later, Ashton will head on over to Rosa's Italian Market and Deli, 120 E. Fourth Ave., Post Falls, where at 4:30 p.m., he will create panzanella from a classic Italian recipe.
Members of the public are invited to come watch the chef at work and have a taste.
Tuesday's food shopping and cooking fun is a preview for the upcoming Relish Magazine Cooking Show and Expo 2011 taking place Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Greyhound Park and Event Center in Post Falls.
Ashton will conduct a lively, two-hour show featuring authentic recipes, useful cooking tips and new ideas for the kitchen.
Designed to entertain, educate and empower home-kitchen chefs, the show's menu includes fare ranging from breakfast tarts to vegetable lettuce wraps, salmon burgers, and peanut butter mousse.
The event includes a pre-show expo showcasing products and services presented by local vendors. Each show attendee will receive a gift bag that includes coupons, special discount offers and the Relish Magazine Cooking Show keepsake cookbook.
Relish magazine appears in the Press the first Wednesday of each month and has a nationwide circulation of 15.5 million copies.
Tickets to the Sept. 15 show are $13 and can be purchased in advance online at www.nicookingshow.com, or at the door for $20. VIP tickets are $45 and include early entrance to the expo, front row seats for the cooking show and a private pre-show party with Chef Ashton.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Kootenai County.
For more information, call Jennifer Alexander at (208) 664-0237.