GA & KY chefs show off

Must tell you about two irresistible gourmet opportunities.

First up, Chef Laurie Erickson is holding two cook-in sessions for select groups of guests at Little St. Simons Island, GA, Aug. 27-29 and again Sept. 22-24.

The first night (guests depart St. Simons Island for LSSI at 4:30 p.m.) she cooks for you; the second she cooks with you, harvesting vegetables and herbs from the Island's USDA Certified Organic Garden and preparing dinner of fish and perhaps crabs that were caught that morning by you and the naturalists.

It sounds like a fun and memorable experience at one of the world's most relaxing getaways. Cost, $389 per couple per night, includes transportation to and from the island, accommodations, a gift, all meals and beverages and all cooking and island activities. Go to www.littlestsimonsisland.com or call 866-855-0718 for details.

At Cookin' in the Bluegrass: a Celebrity Chef Dinner series all the preparation - and how! - will be done for you by 48 chefs during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY, Sept. 25 through Oct. 10.

Working with the James Beard Foundation, organizers have put together once-in-a-lifetime dining experiences. On each of the 16 nights, 75-80 guests will gather at the Kentucky Horse Park's historic Farmhouse restaurant for meals and wine pairings worthy of James Beard House.

The best regional chefs will pair with notable chefs from around the country to prepare the best and freshest of regional ingredients. And what pairings; for example, Jonathan Lundy (I recently featured his shrimp and grits recipe) cooks with Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in Miami and Traci Des Jardins of Jardiniere in San Francisco. Eric Fowler from Dudley's cooks with Marc Vetri of Vetri in Philadelphia and Tim Byrnes of Smoke in Dallas.

Tickets are $300 per person and you can find out all the details, from chef and wine pairings to menus by clicking around www.alltechfeigames.com.