License To Spill Tour with Chef Ryan Scott and SmartStrand Carpet

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There are two things that I love to talk about on this blog: good food and things that help make parents' lives easier.  When I visited the License To Spill tour event, at the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival, I found both!  I was excited to meet Chef Ryan Scott and taste his chicken sloppy joes.  Ryan Scott was a contestant on Top Chef and stars on his show Food Rush.  However, when I was waiting to taste his recipe my family and I had the chance to put to the test a tool that all parents could use--Mohawk SmartStrand stain resistant carpeting.

The License To Spill booth had a fun area setup for kids to smash food and drink into the Mohawk SmartStrand carpet.  My kids made good use of the time by messing up the carpet as much as they could.  Chip Wade, from HGTV's "Elbow Room," was running this area.  He was great with the kids and gave them some messy tips.  The Mohawk people promised to clean it all up later in the day.  I was skeptical the carpet would come clean.

In the meantime, I had the chance to test out the carpet myself.  Mohawk gave me a carpet square and let me spray it down with Powerade and soy sauce.  The last spray bottle they gave me contained red wine.  This bottle was especially interesting to me because it reminded me of my own wine and carpet story.  

Two years ago we instituted the "Terry" rule at my house.  This rule is no red wine in the living room.  Terry is my father-in-law.  He loves exuberantly telling stories and also drinking red wine.  Sometimes he combines the two.  On this particular occasion we were sitting in the living room and he was telling us about something that had happened recently.  All I remember was seeing his hands waving in the air, his full glass of red wine sitting on the edge of the end table  and then catastrophe.  It was one of those moments that seem to happen in slow motion.  His glass went flying and red wine spilled everywhere covering the carpet around where he was sitting.  It took one trip to the store for cleaning supplies, two hours of our time, and a ton of elbow grease to partially hide the stain.  Our carpet was never the same.  Spraying red wine on the Mohawk carpet samples brought back bad memories.  The amazing thing is, the stain washed right out.  With a little water it was as good as new.  

The Mohawk Flooring representative told me about how it has SmartStrand technology built into the carpet fiber itself.  It has permanent dirt and stain resistance that won't wear off.  Most carpets just have this applied topically and it wears off over time.  I was also surprised that she only used water to clean the carpet.  On tough stains you can add a little mild detergent.  I needed this carpet two years ago in my house!  

Chef Ryan Scott had his sloppy joes ready, and the line was growing, so I went to go wait my turn.  They smelled incredible but I had to hold tight a little longer.  The BetterTV crew was there to film the event.  Even Samantha Harris, from Dancing With the Stars, was there interviewing Ryan Scott about his food.  She then did a spot with Chip Wade.  Samantha took a sloppy joe, rubbed it into the SmartStrand carpet, and Chip cleaned it.  Once again, the food came right out.  Then it was finally time to taste what I had been waiting so long for.  The sloppy joes were being served and they didn't disappoint.  The tasty morsel consisted of tender chicken enveloped by a crunchy biscuit, topped with a couple Fritos, and smothered in a creamy cheese sauce.  I had to go back for seconds.  The recipe was fantastic and Chef Ryan Scott was very personable, even while trying to get everyone through the line.

All-in-all it was a great day.  I was able to taste a great recipe and find out about Mohawk, who makes a great stain resistant carpet.  Mohawk is even giving away a free 6'x9' SmartStrand Silk bound carpet rug.  Just go to their site HERE for a chance to win!  On my way to explore the rest of the festival, I grabbed a few more carpet squares to test them out at home.  After home testing, I was able to clean up coffee and red wine very easily.  

Oh wait, you never did see how that carpet cleaned up did you?  You know, the one that my kids threw food on and then trampled in the stain.  The picture is below and I personally watched the cleaning process.  They had to use a small carpet cleaner (the kind you rent at the grocery store) because the stains had been sitting in the sun for hours.  You can see the clean stripe down the middle.  I never thought it would come out but in a matter of minutes it did!  

If you are in the Phoenix area you need to check out the License To Spill tour because they are headed to you next.  Click HERE to find out all the details or check Mohawk out on Facebook HERE.  

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