{"id":2197,"date":"2010-11-07T22:42:44","date_gmt":"2010-11-08T06:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/?p=2197"},"modified":"2010-11-08T13:06:28","modified_gmt":"2010-11-08T21:06:28","slug":"san-francisco-foodbuzz-festival-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/?p=2197","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Foodbuzz Festival – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>I spent my weekend<\/span> in San Francisco at the 2nd<\/span> Annual Foodbuzz<\/span> Food Blogger Festival. I had a great drive into the city\u00a0from Sacramento. Light traffic and<\/span> beautiful weather. I\u00a0pulled\u00a0up\u00a0to the\u00a0front of\u00a0the Sir Francis Drake Hotel and<\/span> handed my key to the valet. Overnight parking was\u00a0$55\/night –\u00a0thank.you.very.much. I checked in and<\/span> had a few hours to hangout in my room before the evening welcome reception.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Cute boutique hotel room. I had a corner room with a great view of Union Square. I threw my bag of “sweet” festival swag on the bed and watched some TV before meeting everyone in the lobby.<\/p>\n

It seemed like\u00a0people already\u00a0knew each other. I stood off to the side and bumped into another blogger that didn’t really know anyone. Her name was Tsz\u00a0and she\u00a0blogs over at gastrophoria<\/span><\/span><\/a>. She’s a designer like me. We chatted the entire way to the Herbst<\/span> Pavilion (at Fort Mason) for the <\/span>Welcome Reception and Street Food Fare<\/strong> (10 local street vendors provided the food).<\/p>\n

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There was an amazing cupcake display from Mission Minis<\/a>\u00a0of San Francisco – totally cool that the table full of\u00a0cupcakes spelled out Foodbuzz<\/span>. The Food Network had us sign a release at registration – they were filming some footage for a reality cupcake show\u00a0and<\/span> lots of bloggers <\/span>were interviewed. I stood in the background <\/span>with another new blogger friend<\/span>, Laura – \u00a0from <\/span>Family Eats<\/a>\u00a0and<\/span> <\/span>Edible Tidbits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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There were 3 different cupcake\u00a0flavors – pumpkin, green pistachio spice, and vanilla bean. I tried both the pistachio and pumpkin flavors – they were both excellent! Pumpkin was definitely my favorite.<\/p>\n

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The second thing\u00a0 that caught my eye was the “Spencer on the go!” truck from the Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race”\u00a0–\u00a0very cool because I watched the show. Their menu included the following: New England Lobster Cappuccino, Braised Lamb Sandwich and Escargot Puff Lollipops – they served a lot of those on the show. The line was super long and I knew I wanted to try other things, so I skipped the truck.<\/p>\n

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I waited in a very long line to try\u00a0the pork loin sandwich and the chicharrones<\/span>…<\/span><\/p>\n

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It did not disapoint<\/span>. The cornmeal crust and<\/span> pork flavors were amazing… and<\/span> the pork rinds? I don’t normally eat pork rinds, but I did Friday night, and<\/span> damn they were super tastey<\/span>!<\/span><\/p>\n

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I also got a yummy\u00a0pork belly\u00a0taco from Tacolicious<\/span><\/span><\/a> and a slice of pizza from Pizza Politana<\/span><\/span><\/a>. They\u00a0had a tomato sauce, spicy salami, spinach, dry cured olive, red onion and Parmesan pizza – it was thin crusted and fabulous!<\/p>\n

Other vendors served up beer and <\/span>wine, vegan paella from Diamond<\/span> Lil,\u00a0Caramel Toffee Crunch\u00a0Straus<\/span> Organic Ice Cream, pork belly sandwiches\u00a0w\/potatoes from Roli<\/span> Roti! and<\/span> I’m sure I missed a few. I didn’t try everything, but it was fun to pick and<\/span> choose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each blogger in attendance\u00a0was supposed to bring\u00a0a\u00a0“foodie” gift that represented themselves\/their blogs and\/or the region\u00a0they were from.<\/p>\n

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I received an awesome cookbook from Suzanne over at You Can’t Eat What?<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 –<\/em> She’s an allergy conscious blogger. While I have no food allergies, I have several friends that do, so this will be a great add to my cookbook collection for sure. Thanks Suzanne!<\/p>\n

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I brought a cookie cookbook and\u00a0four Alternative Baking Company, Inc.<\/a> cookies as my gift – they are vegan cookies. No dairy, eggs, honey, hydrogenated oils, cholesterol, preservatives, artificial ingredients or refined sugars and they taste AWESOME! They also have some wheat free cookies too! – They are a Sacramento based company and I’ve been buying them at the co-op and Nugget market.<\/p>\n

I was nervous going into the first night, but ended up meeting some really great bloggers<\/span>. Turns out, lots of people went without knowing anyone and <\/span>food sure does bring people together. Much different than the fashion conferences I used to attend<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I got a great night of\u00a0sleep and headed to my morning breakout sessions.<\/p>\n

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First up was Food Blogging Guide to Success (Whatever that is!) <\/strong>Ryan Stern, Vice President of Community & Publishing\u00a0at Foodbuzz<\/span> moderated the session. The panel included 3 Foodbuzz<\/span> bloggers<\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Damaris (Da<\/span>) Palmer from <\/span>Kitchen Corners
\n<\/a>Stephanie Hau<\/span> from <\/span>Lick my Spoon<\/a>
\nTina Haupert<\/span> from <\/span>Carrots ‘N’ Cake<\/a><\/p>\n

The only blog I read on a regular basis was Tina’s – it was so nice to learn about the others. All 3 bloggers<\/span> were asked how they measured their success. The answers ranged from life balance to connecting with readers and<\/span> knowing that they’ve had a positive impact on people’s lives. They all do freelance writing outside of their blogs. Some write for their\u00a0local newspapers and<\/span> other websites. They talked about ways to grow your blog readership and<\/span> gave lots of good tips and<\/span> ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second breakout session was Fast, Fresh, Delicious <\/strong>– sponsored by Fresh Express. Chef Todd Fisher, from\u00a0the Monterey<\/span> Peninsula, demonstrated blogger Ashely McLaughlin’s (<\/span>The Edible Perspective<\/a>)\u00a0winning\u00a0recipe.<\/p>\n

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Link to Ashley’s winning Fresh Express Challenge Recipe<\/a><\/p>\n

My third session was Food Porn 101 – Taking Sexy Pictures<\/strong>. I had the pleasure of meeting session presenters Laura Flowers\u00a0who blogs over at\u00a0The Cooking Photographer<\/a>\u00a0and<\/span> Marc Matsumoto<\/span> who blogs over\u00a0at <\/span>No Recipes<\/a>.\u00a0We learned that good composition and good lighting is key. We also\u00a0learned about the rule of thirds, props to make ugly food look better, shadow and light, 12:00 – 3:00 – 6:00 and 9:00 positions… and then we got to play with the props in professional lighting, not so professional lighting and natural light. I quickly discovered that I need a new camera stat! I had so much camera envy the entire 3 days of the conference. There were food paparazzi everywhere.<\/p>\n

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Cheap lighting option…<\/p>\n

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Not too shabby! Note: must run out to IKEA tomorrow to pick up a similar light. Daylight savings is going to kill my after work photography.<\/p>\n

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My burger photo with the pro lighting…<\/p>\n

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and my fruit bowl…<\/p>\n

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We had an hour break between the morning sessions and<\/span> the afternoon Taste Pavilion. I went back to the room to chill for a bit. I then walked by myself to the Metreon<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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My late husband and I went to the Metreon the night we got engaged.\u00a0We saw\u00a0the premiere showing of\u00a0James Bond’s –\u00a0The World is Not Enough. I was not prepared for the flood of sadness that hit me when I walked through the front doors. I was all by myself and the 11 years that had passed since the engagement, felt like 11 minutes. I took some deep breaths, composed myself, \u00a0and made my way to the roof top… where I soaked in the beautiful sunshine and gorgeous view.<\/p>\n

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I waited outside until they started letting bloggers<\/span> into the pavilion. More than 50 producers, brands, wineries, breweries, demos and<\/span> chefs were featured. First\u00a0up – I\u00a0grabbed a glass of wine \ud83d\ude42 Can’t even remember from who or where – just knew I needed it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I got to sample new Alexia fry flavors…<\/p>\n

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Carolina BBQ Sweet Potato, Chili Lime Sweet Potato, Caribbean Jerk Russet Potato and Parmesan Lemon Russet Potato.\u00a0They are going to pick a winner based on voting. We got lucky to actually taste samples – other people just vote online without getting the chance to try them. The Carolina BBQ Sweet Potato was a total win for me. Loved it!<\/p>\n

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Cupcake stickers… Ticings<\/span><\/span><\/a> edible sheets are so freakin’ cool. Weddings, baby showers, birthdays, holidays, company branding. Super excited to learn about this product. The inner event planner in me can’t stop thinking about the possibilities.<\/p>\n

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Praise the Lard – awesome T-shirt! Prather<\/span> Ranch Meat Co. cooked up some hotdogs <\/span>that were beyond<\/span> ballpark amazing. Perfect for the SF Giants victory!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Juicy with lots of flavor!<\/p>\n

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This shrimp cocktail sample was “Out of this world” – I must preface this with letting you all\u00a0know that I am a HUGE shrimp cocktail fan.\u00a0From what I could tell, Miss Pearl’s Jam House in Jack London Square provided the samples.\u00a0 Things started to get confusing after a few hours. I should have taken notes.<\/p>\n

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Todd Fisher, Fresh Express Chef from the morning session… whipped up an incredible salad.<\/p>\n

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Sierra Crisp Herb Salad with Toasted Quinoa<\/span> and<\/span> Smoked Pecans in a Cranberry Vinaigrette. The smoked pecans gave it great\u00a0flavor. He said everyone kept thinking there was bacon in the salad. Super swanky mini bambo<\/span> serving plates and<\/span> forks.<\/span><\/p>\n

I sampled so\u00a0much more. Halibut and<\/span> salmon tacos from Alaska Seafood, s’mores<\/span> from Ghirardeli<\/span>, cheese from Jarlsberg, Moovision<\/span> smoothies, etc. Trust me, it was a good thing my jeans had stretch in them.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I also got to catch Kath Younger\u00a0from Kath Eats Real Food<\/a>\u00a0cooking up her Thanksgiving side dish – Figgy<\/span> Wild Rice, Mushroom and<\/span> Sourdough Dressing<\/span><\/a>. The pavilion smelled awesome and Kath did a great job!<\/p>\n

I’m saving the Saturday Night Gala Dinner<\/em> and the Farewell Brunch<\/em> with new friends for another post. I took so many photos – it’s hard to know when to stop.<\/p>\n

Thank you Foodbuzz – it sure was a great time and so nice to now have it documented here on the blog. I already miss my new blogging buddies and look forward to their recaps as well… but it sure feels nice to be home with Dan and Higgy.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent my weekend in San Francisco at the 2nd Annual Foodbuzz Food Blogger Festival. I had a great drive into the city\u00a0from Sacramento. Light traffic and beautiful weather. I\u00a0pulled\u00a0up\u00a0to the\u00a0front of\u00a0the Sir Francis Drake Hotel and handed my key to the valet. Overnight parking was\u00a0$55\/night –\u00a0thank.you.very.much. I checked in and had a few hours … <\/p>\n

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