Warning, this is a photo heavy post! Why??
This weekend was the First Annual FoodBuzz Blogger Festival!
I arrived to a somewhat gloomy, and slightly damp, afternoon in San Francisco. Our flight, which was blessedly smooth, was on time and we arrived at our hotel just after lunch.
Thanks to Bertolli my hotel, air and transportation to and from the airport was taken care of because I was one of the lucky scholarship winners. I also got to meet the other winners at a champagne toast they had for us before the face stuffing began!
Who did I meet?
The Duo Dishes – Chrystal and Amir are as cute in real life as you think they are, and so friendly!
Healthy Delicious – Lauren who is as nice as can be! I am gonna miss her!
Eat, Live, Travel, Write– Mardi is an absolute charmer! I’m gonna miss her, too!
Fotocuisine– Christey and Peter are so elegant and charming, and they introduced me to fresh oysters that were not bad. Really.
There was a Welcome Reception at the hotel followed by a sampling of San Francisco street food. There were meat pies, pork sandwiches, pizzas, French Vol au Vent with mushrooms, mini-cupcakes, homemade ice cream, beer, wine, and so much more! It was all really lovely!!
Here is where I met Natalie of Natalie’s Killer Cuisine! She is a fellow Dallas Blogger and a blast to talk to!!
I also met, and kept running into, Esi of Dishing Up Delights. Talk about beautiful, and so funny! She had me cracking up more than once!
After stuffing myself silly I went back to my room and lapsed into a food induced coma. It was bliss.
The next day dawned clear and bright! The first order of business was to explore Ferry Plaza. If you have never been there it is loaded with all kinds of lovely shops and restaurants.
As you can see, I did a lot of tasty exploring!
After I did more face stuffing … you will notice it becomes a trend … I had my first seminar with Cowgirl Creamery, where I met the lovely Gudrun from KitchenGadget Girl. She was a real delight! Loved her!!
The display of cheeses was beautiful, and while I am not always a fan of cheese I found two cheeses here I may be in love with.
The cheeses, from left to right, are Fromage Blanc, Inverness, Mt Tam, and Batch 11 which is not available to buy just yet, but when it is you need it. You really do.
My two favorites, you ask? The Fromage Blanc, which has a touch of Creme Fraiche in it which adds a nice tang to the cheese. It is mouth watering! The Mt Tam was creamy and lush and by far my very favorite. I would eat that with every meal!
Next on my agenda was a visit to the tasting pavilion and the sparkling wine tasting. The sparkling wines ranged from $36 to $80, and while they were all nice I prefer Extra Dry sparkling wine and these were all Brut. (I also sat facing a window and this was the only picture I got that looked any good. Bah!)
That evening was the First Annual FoodBuzz Awards Dinner at the Greenleaf Produce Warehouse. I was nominated for Best Recipe Blog, but sadly did not win. It was ok, however, since I lost to SimplyRecipes!
The dinner was provided by Outstanding in the Field, which presented a lovely dinner. The most outstanding dish was the braised beef cheeks … sadly I sat in the darkest part of the warehouse and only got a few pictures.
I met Amanda and Andy, the Two Boos Who Eat. They are a lovely couple who are brilliant conversationalists and run a fantastic blog.
After the dinner I went back to my hotel to have a few drinks with some awesome bloggers, then it was off to bed. I stayed a few extra days for some sight-seeing, and you can see more of my vacation snaps here.
Thanks to FoodBuzz I am going to have to rearrange my kitchen to find room for all this stuff! I had a wonderful weekend, but I am not ashamed to admit I am glad to be back in Texas!!