We held this month’s Partners in Design event in our Lansing, MI showroom on November 15th, and it was well attended by cooking enthusiasts. Denene Vincent, founder and executive chef of Le Chat Gourmet, shared her top “Turkey Day Survival Tips”. She also told us her inspiring story of finding her passion with cooking, culinary trips to Italy and France, and passing on her love of cooking through her classes. She prepared an antipasto board with fresh pesto made on the spot that was as beautiful as it was delicious! McDaniels designer John Michael even got in on the action, helping to prepare the pesto!

cooking demonstration at McDaniels

Denene is an inspiring chef, who shares her passion for preparing food through her hands-on cooking and baking classes. These classes are available for all skill levels in their state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor kitchens at their Eaton Rapids, MI location. She has also started a kids’ cooking and baking summer camp, where they make dishes with produce picked fresh from her gardens.

The McDaniels team partners with leading local businesses every month for our popular event series. We highlight products, services, and expertise offered in our area, as well as the inspiring stories of local business owners. Our monthly design partners join us for an afternoon of education and fun, where they share their knowledge and expertise on topics ranging from gourmet desserts to photo restoration and more. These events are an opportunity to learn about a local business, pick up a new skill, and to share in the dedication, innovation, and enthusiasm of our Michigan design partners. Every month is a fresh topic, so there’s always something new to discover at our Partners in Design events.

cooking demonstration at McDaniels showroom

At our November event, Chef Denene Vincent amazed the participants with her passion for cooking with fresh, local ingredients, for teaching others to cook, and for travel. The skills she teaches are accessible to anyone with an interest in expanding their cooking repertoire. Everyone who attended signed up for her newsletter so they could stay in touch with her tips and events, and there was plenty of interest in pursuing her cooking classes to learn even more. Participants even stayed on past the hour scheduled for this event, as there was such interest in discussing cooking and asking more questions!

Chef Denene Vincent at McDaniels showroom

Follow our Facebook page for more updates on the latest events offered by McDaniels Kitchen and Bath. Our next Partners in Design event will welcome Nicole Raysin of Custom Cake Designs to our Lansing, MI showroom on December 6th. Check our Facebook page for more details soon and learn more about Nicole in our featured partner bio below. This year’s events have been such a success, we are already planning our 2023 Partners in Design events. Check our Facebook page regularly for updates!

antipasto platter

Whether you plan to join us for one of our events or are looking for design expertise and products to update your kitchen or bath design, we look forward to welcoming you to our Lansing, MI showroom soon!

Featured Partner Bio for Nicole Raysin:

Nicole and Chris Raysin established Custom Cake Designs in 2003 and run this local business from their home in Vernon, MI. Nicole embarked on her passion for baking custom cakes by making a birthday cake for her own daughter. She combined her background in art and love of baking to hand draw in icing a “Zoe” from Sesame Street on a sheet cake. From this simple beginning, a profitable and fun business blossomed. She now designs custom cakes, gourmet cupcakes, chocolates, and full stunning dessert bars. She has designed almost 400 wedding cakes, had a cake featured on Gene Simmons’ personal Twitter, and was hired to design a cake for the Michigan premier of The Simpsons movie by the movie producer. Her expansion into dessert bars began in 2021, and she now offers these custom creations for graduations, showers, birthdays, and weddings. Her passion for sweet treats and custom creations is infectious, and we can’t wait to hear about her inspiring story and learn more about her business. Nicole will demonstrate how to make peppermint bark (just in time for the holidays!), offer a taste testing of chocolates and sweets, and showcase examples of holiday baskets. Mark your calendars for this not-to-be-missed event on December 6th.

Our upcoming Partners in Design events include:

December 6th – Custom Cake Designs with Nicole Raysin

January (date TBC) – Where the Wild Things Bloom with Brit Simmons