The University City Night Market was tonight. We were filming a video of the event for Philly Homegrown and so spent five hours out on a parking lot on a 100 degree day.

Duff Goldman from Food Network was there, filming a segment with Sugar Philly for a show he’s doing. We asked if he’d go on camera for us and say a few words about Philly and he was so accommodating and helpful. He raved about Philly. If we had written a script for him, it wouldn’t have been nearly as complimentary. Truly a major coup for us.

He also did something wonderful for me. I told him I’d just finished my first cookbook and he offered to write a blurb for it. Amazing. I was so struck by his generosity and friendliness.

Today was incredibly busy work-wise and then I got home and had to make a bunch of things for the photo shoot. So nothing more exciting than my lunch. Still, it was a yummy lunch and a nice break from a nutty day.

The photo shoot for my book started today. Truly, I still can’t quite fully grasp the fact that all that stuff I spent the last year writing is actually going to be a real, live book. What’s more, the pictures look absolutely beautiful.

The other thing I did today was speak to a new media class at St. Joe’s. We talked blogging, social media, building audiences and other fun stuff. They were engaged, curious and totally interested in the topic which made it so fun for me.

There was also a request from the group that I take a picture of them and post it on the blog. So here it is! Thanks guys for being so energized!

We’re deep into Philly Beer Week. My company is co-sponsoring the With Love Beer Garden at the Four Seasons and so the entire office knocked off a bit early today and headed over there to enjoy the beer, food and perfect weather.

The beer garden will be there all week long, so if you’re in Philly, I recommend strolling over to check it out. What’s more, if you check in on Foursquare and show the information table your check-in, you get a free beer koozie, like the one that LeeAnne is showing off in the picture above.

I made a small batch of refrigerator pickles earlier today. Because the cucumbers weren’t super crisp, I didn’t want to process them and have mushy pickles. So instead, into the fridge they go.

I ran around the city today like a crazy person. Up at 8 am for strawberry picking in South Jersey. Then to home to the farmers’ market to pick up a CSA share and then lunch at The Dandelion with Scott.

An hour at home and then a visit to the mini-shiva for a friend’s mother-in-law, an hour and a half at beer camp and then dinner at JG Domestic for the final Philly Homegrown press trip. I got home a little past 11:30 pm. What a day.

I spent the day on the Philly Homegrown press trip, touring the mushroom capital of the world, Kennett Square. We had the opportunity to pick the mushrooms straight from their beds. Never before have I had a more delicious and fresh-tasting mushroom.

For more pictures from the press trip, click here.

Local strawberries and honey. Truly one of the world’s best treats.

A grilled chicken wrap at Trax Restaurant in Ambler, PA. What a lovely little spot it is.

The roasted vegetable plate at Zavino. Those perfectly peeled tomatoes were ever so slightly pickled.