This past weekend, I traveled to Seattle to attend the International Food Bloggers’ Conference, 2010. I’m still mulling over the main takeaways I have from the weekend, which will come in a separate post, but I thought I’d share with you all some of the details of the event. I will say that while the schedule was jam packed, the content was generally excellent. I know that Foodista and Zephyr Adventures, the organizers of the event, will have several of the sessions available online at the conference website, and if you are interested in the whys and hows of food blogging, they are definitely worth watching. The sponsors listed on the site are also worth checking out. I was incredibly impressed with the commitment of all the sponsors to creating and producing amazing food and food related products. The sponsors were chosen well, and were a terrific fit for the conference attendees, all of whom care deeply about food, how it is produced, and where it comes from. What the website can’t provide is the amazing food we were offered and the amazing people in attendance. To every single person I spoke with this weekend, I want to say this: “I’m so glad we got to meet and talk at IFBC. I just wish we had had more time for conversation!” Food bloggers and food producers are quite an amazing group of people, and the passion in the room was palpable. Sadly, I was too busy talking to people to photograph them, but, true to my calling, I did make pictures of a lot of the food:
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Tags: IFBC·Photo
So this weekend I went to camp. Those of you who know me will be unsurprised to find that camping and I don’t exactly mix well. I’m not as bad as my father, who defines “camping” as a suite at the Ahwahnee, but the history speaks for itself. Age 9: Girl Scout Camp for the weekend — got a 103 degree fever, couldn’t take part in any activities. Age 11: School Camping Trip, Catalina Island — strep throat. Age 13: School Camping Trip, Zion National Park — badly sprained ankle (I STILL have problems with that ankle). Age 16: School Camping Trip, Snake River, Utah — Broken Heart (fortunately, I’m over that one). I somehow conveniently forgot this fact when I was planning for a weekend in the mountains at Camp Blogaway. I was counting on a relaxing weekend in the mountains with a lot of quiet, a lot of birdsong, and some time for reflection.
Instead, I woke up Saturday morning with headache, nausea and sleeplessness (classic symptoms of altitude sickness), I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. Clearly, even if I’m theoretically behind the idea of camping (and this was camping lite — electricity, hot showers, and bunk beds in heated cabins), my body rebels. And the mountains were quiet, but that was difficult to hear beyond the chatter of many, many food bloggers. And the weekend was jampacked with activities and friends, instead of quiet reflection. But like me and camping, I shouldn’t have been surprised — I’ve come to realize that blogging isn’t a solo occupation.
Thankfully, with the help of a lot of water and a lot of advil, I was still able to participate in the weekend’s activities and spend time with the group. We heard a host of great speakers, and I got to meet a host of terrific fellow food bloggers. When I started this blog, I didn’t know what I was in for. I wanted to share my recipes, inspire people to cook, maybe garner a little fame and a (very) little fortune along the way. But what I didn’t expect was the level of community I’d discover. And this weekend just reinforced that. Not only did I get to have great conversations with people who are starting to feel like old friends (including camp organizer Patti Londre of Worth the Whisk and my bunkmates Rachael of La Fuji Mama and Marla of Family Fresh Cooking), I got to meet people I’ve only known via the internet (the lovely Casey of Tastestopping and Vanessa of Chef Druck) and discover some new blogs and the bloggers behind them.
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Tags: blogging·campblogaway·conferences
One year ago today, I was sitting around with nothing to do, and so I started a food blog. OK, it didn’t exactly happen like that. If you’ve been reading along, you have probably realized by now that I have a life that’s rather full, what with my full time (not food-related) job, a wild monkey of a two year old running my household, and a husband to boot (though given his childcare and dishwashing contributions, I think the husband nets positive in the time calculations). But I still make the time to cook. It was my hope, when I started this blog, that I could give a little insight into how real people prepare their meals. Cooking good food, from scratch, can fit into a busy life. And I hope that in this past year this blog has inspired you — to cook when you otherwise might not have, to change up your routine, or to try something new.
This blog has certainly inspired me. It’s challenged me to figure out how recipes can be made more flavorful, more streamlined or more consistent. I’ve gone outside my comfort zone and discovered new foods. And I’ve been able to write down and record some of my family favorites.
So happy first birthday, Savour Fare!
Now let’s talk about a party.
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Where would a birthday be without cake? Since I and all of my immediate family members have fall birthdays, I never get to indulge my yen for a creamy, dreamy light springtime birthday cake … until now. This cake is four layers of fluffy orange butter cake, sandwiched together with fresh strawberries and the simplest fluffy whipped cream frosting. The whole thing is not too sweet and very satisfying. I served it to the ladies in my book club (sadly, a blog can’t eat its own birthday cake), and not to brag, but almost everyone had two slices. These are Los Angeles ladies who lunch people. We are talking serious cake.
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Tags: birthday·birthday cake·cake·strawberries
