OK, I'll talk about the CL weekend. . .

[food girl]

I had a great time at CL last Friday. It was so fun to put faces with screen names and real names with faces and real names with screen names, ok . . . I got confused as to who was who. I do remember that emilycat is a teensy little thing and Laden has the most beautiful skin you have ever seen.(Beauty tips please!)

The "focus group" activity was interesting to me. I liked seeing what other BB'ers think of things like beauty wise and what covers appeal to people.

The lunch/taste test was very yummy, I cleaned my plate. I was interested to hear that anyone can come to the taste-testing. They announce it over the intercom! Can you imagine why you wouldn't go? The staffers did say that the taste-test is a "working time" not social hour and sometimes the meals are not well-balanced, i.e. you may get only desserts or breads. I was surprised to hear that they try most recipes 3 or 4 times!

The tour of the test kitchens was fun. Yes, I saw the canned green stuff. The photo studio was amazing. All of the "stuff" they use for props would just blow your mind. Every kind of cool plate, glass, beaker, caraf, napkin, fork, bottle you can imagine was in that room. Every so often they have a prop sale and the staff is invited. Our guide said that she had purchased several treasures at these sales. (please insert whining here -> ) I wannna go!!

On our way down the hall we saw the Southern Living Test Kitchen windows. The blinds were askew and we could peep inside. It looked like a "real" kitchen - it was a mess of flour and other ingredients. It was not unsanitarily messy, you could just tell that someone was making several things in there. The CL test kitchens were spotless. Our guide said that the SL test kitchen staffers all gain weight at first because those recipes certainly are not light.

We all met with the editorial staff of CL and learned that they frequent the BB! Several of them check in as frequently as we do! We are being watched! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif Maelynn has a regular screen name that she posts under! Isn't she sneaky? She said that she noticed that the threads would 'get quiet' after she posted as administrator.

Several times during the taste-test and when meeting the staff we heard about recipe "developers". The test kitchen staff does not develop recipes as much as they just test the ones sent in by these developers. The food editor said that the delopers live all over the country and they get paid by how many recipes go into print. So you know that my burning question was HOW MUCH? Was I the only person dying to ask this? I was afraid that it was a tacky question akin to asking the staff "Sooo how much do YOU make"?

It was so nice of them to stand around answering our questions on a Friday afternoon. I know that I am itching to get on with the weekend by 4:30 on Friday!

The cooking demo was very enlightening. Kathleen (?) kneading the dough was pure poetry to those of us who end up with dough stuck to our hands, in our hair...
I can honestly say that Beth and I felt like kids taking candy from a stranger when someone handed us the July CL. We both hesitated, like we knew that we shouldn't...
We even said that this would make it hard because we had not even fininshed with the June issue yet.

I did not make the rest of the events for the weekend because I was visiting with a friend in Birmingham. But for those staffers who might be reading I did get to eat at Sol y Luna(yum) and I got my required Milo's tea!

I hope that EVERYONE can go next year!

Lisa

[BlueMoose]

Lisa...
It sounds like you had a lot of fun! I would have loved to have been there! Thanks for filling us in on what you did.

Maybe next year... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif
Chrisi

[SandyM]

Thanks Lisa! So glad to hear you had a great time.

Like Chrisi - maybe next year........ http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

and....ummm......who else is trying to figure out Maelynn's other name??? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by SandyM (edited 06-13-2001).]

[BlueMoose]

Maybe BB can stand for something else, too...Big Brother? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[KValley]

Lisa,

Thank you so much for such a great description! Now, CL- when and where is next year's CL Weekend? I am so ready to go...

Maelynn- this is torture! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif You must be giggling madly at the thought of us perplexed, curious, wondering who in BB-land you are...

[Susann]

Lisa-Thanks for sharing the weekend with us. It sounds like everyone involved had a great time. CL certainly put together quite a shindig!

[Jewel]

Lisa, thanks for the great description. You just fueled my fire for wanting to go to the next one. Hello, CL?? Pacific Northwest please!!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[BethH]

Lisa--It was so great to meet you last weekend!!! It's too bad you had to miss the dinner on Sat--it was fabulous. We loved whatever was served--whenever they come out with the recipe for asparagus with brown butter and balsalmic vinegar, don't hestitate to make it! Yum.

Bart and I actually went on the Historic downtown walking tour on Sat. and hoped to run into you, but didn't! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif Weren't those lofts fabulous?

We also ate at Sol Y Luna on Friday night and thought it was very yummy too! Their guacamole didn't hold a candle to CL's version to be featured in December though!!

Glad to hear your 'voice' out in BB land! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[BethH]

Oops--double post.

[This message has been edited by BethH (edited 06-14-2001).]

[Mamasue]

Thanks Lisa and other who have posted their experiences of CL weekend. This is an experience I am sure that none of you will forget. Wish I could have been there with all of you and so glad that you are sharing it with us.

So Maelynn has another name....hmmmm.... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Lynn B]

Lisa,

Great recap! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

It was SOOOO good to hear from you!!! I posted a new thread a day or two ago looking for you!!! It was such a pleasure to meet you. And I was wondering what happened to you! I was so disappointed when I realized that you left early and we didn't get to visit on Saturday. I was really looking forward to that. But at least now I can quit worrying, because now I know that nothing was wrong! And as I said in the other post, I missed saying goodbye to you, but you DID get out of signing my CL!!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

It was a wonderful time, wasn't it? I would go again in a heartbeat!

Lynn

PS Did everyone see the photos Maelynn posted! Check out the Weekend w/ CL board for the link! They are SOOOO cute!

[kwormann]

I was also IMMEDIATELY trying to figure out who Maelynn might be.....Are we nosey or what!

Kim

[SoCal]

Thanks for the post Lisa!! I really appreciate everyone that has reported back for those of us that didn't get to go!! Sounds like everyone had a wonderful time.

LynnB - thanks for letting us know about the pictures that are posted...I'm going there now!!!

Hmmmm, I thought Maelynn posted as Gail http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif !

[This message has been edited by SoCal (edited 06-13-2001).]

[KValley]

Lynn or someone- the nametags are too faint to read- could you pretty please identify who's who-at least on the first page? I'd love to have faces to put with names!

Thank you! Julie

[luv2cook]

I did photo 5 and part of 4 (as a test) to see if anyone can figure out who they are. I am trusting that others will do the rest of the pics, right fellow B'hmers?????

[Gail]

Originally posted by SoCal:
...Hmmmm, I thought Maelynn posted as Gail http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif !

[This message has been edited by SoCal (edited 06-13-2001).]

SoCal, you may be interested to know that when I introduced myself to Maelynn, I held out a hand and said, "Maelynn." She said, "Yes, that's right-- " to which I replied, " I meant I'm Maelynn."

Dunno why. Somehow she figured out I was Gail.

Odd...

[SoCal]

Too funny Gail!! I'm sure Maelynn and the rest of CL get as much of a kick out of your posts as we all do! BTW, I thought you weren't going when this trip was originally being planned. Glad you were able to make it though! I'm sorry I couldn't go since I would have liked to meet you and the rest of the CL BB gang that were there! Please keep on posting http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif !!

********************************************

To the rest of the CL BBrs that participated in the trip, can you please verify that there is indeed a Maelynn and a Gail???? I still have my doubts....

[This message has been edited by SoCal (edited 06-13-2001).]

[laden]

Lisa (food girl)

Thanks so much for the kind words! That's about the best compliment I've ever gotten.

It was so much fun meeting everyone. Wished you had been able to be there for the dinner on Saturday night. I would have enjoyed getting to know a fellow Tennessean a little better!

The dinner was so nice along with the wine, the setting, the company and the conversation.

Lisa (laden)

[This message has been edited by laden (edited 06-14-2001).]

[Natasha]

Originally posted by SoCal:
To the rest of the CL BBrs that participated in the trip, can you please verify that there is indeed a Maelynn and a Gail???? I still have my doubts....

Well, others have already verified it, but if there was still any doubt, yes, there is definitely a real live Gail out there.

- Signed, her virtual and now real-life drinking buddy
Natasha

P.S. Thanks again, CL http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif
P.P.S. Glad to know that all made it home safely. Elinor, sorry to hear about your hassles on the return trip. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif

[Gail]

Originally posted by Natasha:
Well, others have already verified it, but if there was still any doubt, yes, there is definitely a real live Gail out there.

- Signed, her virtual and now real-life drinking buddy
Natasha

P.S. Thanks again, CL http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif
P.P.S. Glad to know that all made it home safely. Elinor, sorry to hear about your hassles on the return trip. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif

...like they're going to take the word of the other camera-shy person... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/tongue.gif

[Gail]

Now that I’ve got a bit of time to just sit back and be, I thought I’d throw in a bit of my perspective on the CL Weekend. Since my travel in Southern states has pretty much been confined to the New Orleans area and Florida, this was uncharted territory for me—therefore I was fascinated. Just flying over the area told me at once I was in store for something different. The area was so wonderfully green! Trees and foliage everywhere, unexpectedly lovely. CL’s headquarters itself seemed a haven in the city, tucked away uphill and off a busy street, accessed by a long, narrow drive. If you’ve got to go to work in the morning, this would seem to be an easy place to do it. The place reminds me a lot of the chapel in which I was married-- a place built to
blend in with the natural beauty of the area, nestled among pines and poplars and a million different shrubs. Amazing place, really-- lots of stone, glass and wood-- centered around an open-air atrium, completely woodsy in atmosphere; a man-made waterfall/fountain type affair off to one
side, providing continuous white noise. There's a lot of stairways, different
levels, multiple buildings-- interesting wall hangings and sculptures from local
artists-- but the general feel of the place is as close to being outdoors as indoors
can be.

Both the welcome breakfast and farewell dinner were served in the open-air atrium—and I’m afraid the photos don’t really do the place justice. You don’t really get a sense that you’re downstairs in with the building all around you, nor can you see the greenery or hear the water. You’ll just have to close your eyes and imagine, and take my word that it was lovely.

I also wanted to touch a bit more on the consumer research and brainstorming sessions. Since we were splintered off into three groups, I'd imagine our sessions had at least certain things in common. As mentioned in food girl’s message, we pretty much went through an issue of CL cover to cover, discussing the strengths, weaknesses and our various reactions to each section of the magazine. We rated our interest in cover photos and article teasers (sorry, I’m not sure for the technical term—I’m referring to those attention-grabbers on the cover which relate to articles inside). We discussed what we liked best and least in the publication, and those things that we would like to be included. Hopefully as a group we succeeded in giving enough feedback representative of most everyone here on the board. (and then, there was me with my own weird take on things.)

I’m not going to cover the topic of what we ate, because SusieO et al already did a bang-up job in that department. We ate well, we ate a lot; and there was more than enough wine at our farewell dinner to satiate even this wino. In addition to the foods mentioned on SusieO’s thread, we were also given a list of the foods sampled at the taste test as well as the printed guide to CL’s taste-testing criteria. Sampled were old favorites including: Double Mushroom Bread Pudding, Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish-and-Roasted Garlic Crust, Grilled Thai Chicken Salad with Mango and Ginger, Spicy Shrimp with Udon Noodles, Chocolate Mousse, White Russian Tiramisu and Lemon Swirled Cheecake. In addition, we sampled six dishes to be included in the November and December issues, blissfully chomping away on our goodies as various members of CL’s staff bantered back and forth as to their thoughts on the flavors and textures. (Yes, one recipe was even sent back to the drawing table)

On the whole, I’ve got to say it was a highly successful “behind the scenes” insight for those of us visiting. The folks at CL are real, live, honest-to-goodness people with senses of humor and an all-around open and friendly nature. In our “Meet the Editors” session, we discussed such important topics as the “exotic dancer names” of various staff members (I’m still chuckling over Monday Ho), learned one fellow could shake a pretty mean bootie, and that Maelynn has a bulletin board alter ego. I also learned—just in case anyone wondered whatever happened with the cover photo on which we voted several months back—that apparently we were ALL wrong—CL ended up using an entirely different photo!

In conclusion, I’d like to thank CL yet again for the great opportunity, as well as to thank the Birmingham locals who posted so many helpful suggestions relative to dining, shopping and sightseeing. Sorry we didn’t see all of you there!

[SoCal]

Oh Gail, what a great 'story' of your CL experience! I love the description of the surroundings as well as the CL facility. I wondered if the pictures Maelynn posted of the atrium was actually at CL or not. It all sounds (and looks) so beautiful! As one of the many that wished they could have gone, I honestly appreciate that you and everyone else that participated took the time to post your thoughts. Now I don't feel quite so left out!! Thank You!! I'm so glad that CL had the consumer research and brainstorming sessions and that our own members of the BB were able to share ideas for all of us. I know we had great representation in Birmingham that weekend! Thanks again.

[Mamasue]

Thank you Gail...I couldn't say it any better than SoCal. You truly took me there visually to such a beautiful place! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif