IFBC - Day 2

The day got an early start...sessions started at Theo Chocolate at 8:30 am.  The chocolate factory is in a great location near the water and the vendors had a great breakfast for us.  The pastries and fresh fruit were dee-lish and POM provided a large bin of pomegranate teas.  The coffee was good too!

Each session today provided us with great information about different aspects of food blogging:  The Art of Recipe Writing, Search Engine Optimization/Building Traffic/Social Media, Writing with All Five Senses, Law & Ethics of Food Blogging, and From the Source: People Who Will Change the Way You Think About Food.  The Power Point presentations from these lectures will be available on the IFBC site after the conference so check back soon.

The Wi-Fi was amazing and much appreciated.  We blogged & Tweeted & Facebooked all day.  There were plenty of electrical outlets on each side of the room and people were very considerate about sharing plugs when battery power got low.  I have never Tweeted so much! 

Go Royal Restrooms!  The porta-potties were very nice (and roomy). So many people are blogging about this that I won't.

Today's shout-outs go to:

• Dr. Jean Layton - the Gluten-Free Doctor (http://www.gfdoctor.com/)
• Wendi Mosteiko - Bon Appetite Hon! (http://www.bonappetitehon.com/)
• Melissa McLean Jory - nutritionist and gluten-free expert @ Gluten free for good(http://www.glutenfreeforgood.com/)

I ate my first gluten-free product today, a lemon muffin that wasn't dry and tasteless as I had anticipated.  It was actually good and I met quite a few gluten-free advocates.  We had some great discussions about gluten-free high-altitude baking challenges.  If anybody has any high altitude gluten-free cake recipes, please share!

Portable farm!

Platter of Theo Chocolate

My favorite Theo Chocolate

Thanks Foodista!

Thanks to all the 2010 sponsors!

Cupcake Royale - Seattle

Cupcake Royale was on my list of bakeries to visit in Seattle, but I didn't even have to go there....they came to me!  While talking to a blogger at the IFBC opening reception, I learned that the back hallway was filled with cupcakes from Cupcake Royale! 

I enjoyed talking to the bakery staff and I was treated to their best-seller:  the salted caramel cupcake.  However...my favorite was the red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing.  Now ya'll know that I have strong opinions about cream cheese icing and their recipe did not disappoint! We had a discussion about red velvet cake being a hard one to pull off.  So many times the cake is dry and tasteless - but not this one.  Their red velvet recipe was moist and dense and would be welcome on any southern table!  As for the cream cheese icing, it exceeded my expectations.  It wasn't just buttercream with a little cream cheese thrown in....I could taste the cream cheese!  BRAVO!

salted caramel cupcakes

IFBC - Day 1

The line for the IFBC registration seemed like five miles long, but the hotel staff was there to serve wine & sangria (which was excellent BTW) and talking with other bloggers helped to pass the time.  It actually moved faster than I thought. 

After registration, we headed downstairs to the meeting rooms to pick up the most awesome of goody bags (the french press is my favorite item) and have some fantastic food.  POM was there to offer pomegranate cosmos, and they gave us recipe cards so we can make a batch when we get home. 

Morgan Spurlock (Super-Size Me) shared some of his food experiences and offered insights about blogging and the importance of building relationships with our readers. 

I met so many bloggers tonight and I wish I could mention them all.  Tonight's shout-outs go to:

• The Taste of Oregon guys (http://www.thetasteoforegon.com/) - for lively conversation while waiting to register
• Lisa Dupar & staff (http://www.duparandcompany.com/) - for good food and giving us a recipe sample from their new cookbook Fried Chicken & Champagne due out in November
• Alaska Seafood (http://www.alaskaseafood.org/) - for the food & recipes
• POM (http://www.pomwonderful.com/) - for the POM cosmos and recipes
• Cupcake Royale (http://www.cupcakeroyale.com/) - for great conversation and for proving to me that somebody out there understands cream cheese icing! 
• Erin of The Endive Chronicles (http://www.theendivechronicles.com/) - food editor & columnist for Mutineer Magazine
• Nancy of deVine Table (http://table.food-wine-pairing.com/) - for blogging about inspired food & wine pairings AND most of all for telling me that Cupcake Royale had a display in the back hall

Thanks to all the vendors, chefs & their staff and the Hotel Monaco! 

Come back tomorrow for a recap of Day 2!

IFBC attendees

Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook

coming in November 2010

Cupcake Royale

so many cupcakes...so little time

Morgan Spurlock interview

POM

pomegranate cosmos

the awesome goody bag contents

International Food Bloggers Conference

I registered for the International Food Bloggers Conference today.  It is hosted by Foodista and is being held in Seattle August 27-29, 2010.  I am looking forward to interacting with food bloggers from all over the world.  Here is a descripton of the event from the IFBC site: 

The International Food Bloggers Conference is the premier event for food bloggers, chefs, journalists, editors, publishers, food-lovers and more! The conference, co-hosted by Foodista.comfoodista.com and Zephyr Adventures, will explore the intersection of food, writing, and technology. This year, the weekend event will be held at Theo Chocolate, the first and only all organic and direct trade chocolate factory in the United States. James Oseland, editor-in-chief of the magazine Saveur, will give a keynote speech. Returning premier sponsor Sur la Table is set to provide each attendee with another spectacular goody bag of kitchen tools and gadgets. To top it off, there will be lots of fabulous food and wine!

Leading bloggers, authors, editors, publishers, and technologists will speak on a variety of topics, including:

■The Art of Recipe Writing

■Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Building Traffic and Social Media

■Food Writing with All Five Senses

■Law & Ethics in Blogging

■Pitch to Publish

■Digital Food Photography