The Incredible Food Show & Suggestions

The Incredible Food Show was sponsored by Kentucky Proud, a "buy local" initiative created by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Inside of the convention center there were over 100 booths and tables set up with local suppliers. There were so many different foods to sample and they were all local creations.

There were local wines; cheeses; chocolates; local dairy barns with ice cream; bakeries with cupcake buffets; barbecue stations; gourmet sea salts and spices; fishmarkets, beef, lamb and goat farmers; jams, jellies & preserves; gourmet foods; and of course everything made with Bourbon. After all, if there is one thing that Kentucky is famous for, it would be bourbon. What is your area famous for?

There were also local restaurants and caterers with stations set up like this for food demonstrations. I went to one presentation on cheesemaking, which was really interesting. It was put on by Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese. I was hoping it would be more about the process of making cheese, but the owner shared some interesting stories of how he got started. He also said that dairy farmers are really having a hard time right now. Evidently, when the milk goes to market, it is selling for the same price it sold for back in the 70's. Because of the low prices for milk, he is converting even more and more of his milk into cheese products and is thankful that there is such a huge market for cheese.
I loved these Halloween-themed wines. They were $15 a bottle, but I didn't buy any. I am slapping myself for that now. Aren't they cute?
After much shopping around, I bought these two products below from Bourbon Barrel Foods. Their foods are aged in bourbon barrels, leaving a slight hint of bourbon in the products. The Bourbon Vanilla Sugar smells so good and is made with demerara (raw cane sugar) and vanilla beans. The Bourbon Smoked Sea Salt smells slightly smoky.

I would love to hear your ideas and thoughts about how I can use these two products. I definitely want to make a steak and serve the bourbon smoked sea salt on top. Besides the steak, I can't think of how else to use the bourbon smoked sea salt. I'm looking forward to some great suggestions.