The Everywhere Society and Macy’s Culinary Council invited me to attend this event and provided me with compensation for this post. However, as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
When I think of summer, one of the first things I think of is firing up the grill. When the weather gets warmer, I look forward to spending extra time outside instead of the kitchen and I really love not heating up the house by cooking with the oven and stove.
I know I’m not the only one looking forward to grilling season this year because there was a very excited crowd this past weekend at the Grilling Guru event that happened at the Alderwood Macy’s in Lynnwood, WA. Macy's is looking for America's Greatest Grilling Guru and they have sent chefs from their Culinary Council around the US to pick the best of the best. 
At the Lynnwood event they were also hosting the Macy's County Fair with booths, games, a bouncy house, and tons of other activities for families. We got there early to enjoy the event with the kiddos and they had a blast playing carnival games and talking to vendors. 
And, when it was time to sit down for the event, we were all ready to relax and watch some grilling. Seattle’s own Tom Douglas was the celebrity chef from the Culinary Council and he was there cooking up shrimp and salmon to share while keeping the audience entertained during the grilling challenge. 
The three contestants had an hour to grill up their signature dishes for the judges – beef short ribs from Jack Scalfani, grilled sweet chili salmon noodle salad from Edwina Gadsby, and smokin' hot summer wood planked shrimp tacos with seared slaw from Margee Berry. 
At the end of the Lynnwood Grilling Guru event, Tom Douglas declared Edwina Gadsby the winner who would then go on to compete in NYC for the #GrillingGuru challenge later this month. The Grilling Guru Sizzle Showdown Finale winner receives $10,000 and a trip to the 2015 Macy's 4th of July Fireworks.
To learn more about the Macy's Culinary Council and upcoming events, log on to macys.com/culinarycouncil and follow them on twitter @culinarycouncil. You can follow the Grilling Guru fun on twitter under the hashtag #GrillingGuru
I love Tom Douglas!