I think anytime you visit a new city or place, you’re usually pleasantly surprised by some little gems and local spots that you find. Upon moving to Wisconsin, I knew about the weather, Madison, the university, the Farmers Market and all the glorious cheese. I would soon learn about the fabulous food scene here, restaurants owning farm-to-table, 
Recently, I attended the 
Upon checking in and entering our room, we were given a huge (and heavy) gift bag and found some lovely and delicious chocolates in our room. Now, obviously, if the resort is owned and operated by the Kohler Company, you know the rooms and the bathrooms are nice. To call them “nice” is an understatement. I truly felt like I was staying in luxury and just absolute innovation and comfort in the bathrooms.
I didn’t want to leave the bathroom you guys. Everything was amazing.
This was the coolest shower ever. It was hard not to take an hour long shower.
I was able to bring a guest with me for the weekend and, because it was my birthday weekend, my awesome husband let me take one of my girlfriends, Rina, so we could have fun and enjoy Kohler and the Food and Wine Experience.
The first evening, we attended a welcome reception, where we tried this fabulous martini, The Carrot 43. Significance of 43…It took 43 tries to get it right! This delicious martini was created by a team at the Forbes Four-Star 
Friday started with cooking demonstrations, a Cabernet and Beef Academy tasting, a knife skills 101 class and much more. There were so many different sessions going on (and some at the same time), so I was not able to attend all of them. All of the main cooking demonstrations took place on the 
The first cooking demo in the main stage was Graham Elliot, of 
Next up was one of my absolute faves: 
My Friday high continued as 
Friday night, we attended a party, Taste of the Vine, in the beautiful Kohler Design Center. There was food and over 40+ different brands of wine to sample. Here’s me and 
The design center was so cool. . with . . you guessed it, toilets and bath tubs everywhere. How could I not get in one?!
Saturday was another jam packed, wonderful day .. the highlight? Seeing GZ do another cooking demo and being able to sit and chat with him for 30 minutes with other media reps. He does so much, just wrote a cookbook, 
And the guy’s got mad style. Just look at him.
Saturday ended with a fabulous dinner at 
The weekend ended with a complimentary spa treatment (on my birthday!) at the beautiful 
Photo credit: The Kohler Company
The Carrot 43 Martini
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ oz Hendricks Gin
- ¾ oz Cointreau
- 1 oz Fresh Orange Juice
- ½ oz Fresh Carrot Juice
- ½ oz Fresh Lemon Juice
- ½ oz Simple Syrup
- Garnish: Fresh Sliced Cucumber
Instructions
- Shake all the ingredients together in a martini shaker and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a fresh sliced cucumber and enjoy!
A huge thank you to the Kohler Company and The American Club for sponsoring this trip. This was the media trip of a lifetime and I was honored to be a part of it. And, as always, all opinions expressed here are 100% my own.
