Cooking with Chobani {giveaway}

It’s NEW YEAR’S EVE!  Which means everyone’s focus has shifted from Christmas cookies and eggnog to carrot sticks and excessive exercise.  Well, that’s where our heads will be after one last night of cocktail wieners and glasses of bubbly, that is.

This past month has flown by.  I guess that’s typical for December, isn’t it?  From Thanksgiving to Christmas, it’s all about squeezing in time with friends and family and bouncing from one party to the next.  The end of the year always leaves me with a bit of PHD (post-holiday depression).  You too?

One of my favorite holiday get-togethers this year was a cooking event at the Chobani offices here in Charlotte.  Several local food bloggers and friends joined up for a night of wine, laughs, and yogurt-filled recipes cooked under the supervision of Chobani’s own chef, Tim Reardon.

If you aren’t familiar with Chobani, stop what you’re doing and head to the grocery store.  Chobani makes some of the best Greek yogurt on the market.  I’m partial to the pomegranate.

At the event, we were paired off and assigned a healthy Chobani recipe to cook.  I was in charge of the Steamed Asparagus with Chobani Hollandaise.

It was my first time making Hollandaise, and I was nervous.  I knew the key was continuous whisking to prevent the eggs from scrambling, so I kept my arm moving.  Every five minutes or so, I’d waive the chef over, confused why my sauce was not thickening.  He assured me that hollandaise just takes time, so I kept at it, arms burning from the exercise.  About 30 minutes later, when my sauce STILL had not thickened, we realized my flub…  The pilot on my burner had gone out.

Where’s the wine??

Two of my favorite recipes from the evening were the Butternut Squash Risotto and the Iced Gingerbread Bundt Cake.  You can find these plus lots of other great recipes that incorporate Greek yogurt over on the Chobani Kitchen site.

The finishing touches:

Once all the food was ready, we lined up buffet-style to load our plates.  And then we took over the Chobani conference room to eat, drink, and be merry.

The foodie crew:  

(front row) Kelly of Foodie Fresh, Brittany of A Healthy Slice of Life, Brittney of Life in A Holding Pattern, Lauren, Andrea of Thin Thighs & Sweet Potato Fries, ME!, Jen of Peanut Butter Runner, Keia of The Sunnyside Up, Assistant Chef, Jarvis of  Grown People Talking and Charlotte Magazine

(back row)  Amy from Chobani, Terra of Cafe Terra Blog, Man Candy, Chef Tim Reardon

(not pictured)  Taylor Mathis of Taylor Takes a Taste

At the end of the evening, the awesome Chobani gang handed out Chobani swag bags loaded with Chobani cooking goodies.  I figured since I got to have all the fun cooking and eating, I’d spread the JOY and give away my swag bag to one reader!

The Chobani swag bag giveaway includes:

• Chobani oven mitt
• Chobani apron
• Chobani burlap bag
• Chobani water bottle
• Chobani wooden spoon
• Measuring cup set

Please enter below using the rafflecopter — giveaway ends Saturday, January 5th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Chobani for taking these great photos of the event!