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Double Feature

March 22, 2012 By Laura

Remember double features at the movie theater?

 

You could pay for one ticket and see 2 movies.  Some of you just snuck in, I know. 😉

I haven’t seen them do that in so long!  We should start a petition to bring it back in time for Oscar season next year.  This year I spent too much money going to see the nominees.  And I did NOT like Shame.

 

While this post has nothing to do with movies, it does contain some features!

First up, I was THRILLED (and shocked) when Fitness Magazine reached out to me and asked if I’d be willing to do an interview and submit a recipe for a spot in their “Fit Blogger We Love” series.

 

 

Click here for the full interview and to find out what my fitness mantra is.

 

Feature #2 is a guest post.  I’m guesting Kimberly @ Badger Girl Learns to Cook (not to be confused with Honey Badger).

 

 

Click here to check out my reasons for seasonal eating, and for one of my favorite spring recipes: Meyer Lemon Ricotta Penne with Asparagus.

Note to my plant-based peeps: You can use the “cheese” from the recipe in the Fitness Mag feature to make the penne dish vegan.

 

Annnnd a Bonus Feature:

My Raspberry Baked Oatmeal To-Go made the Food Buzz Top 9 today!

 

 

Thank you SO MUCH for the Buzz, and welcome new readers!

***

My mantra right now is “one more day until Friday!”

What was your favorite Oscar-nominated move this year?

Do you have a fitness mantra?  What is it?

 

Filed Under: Baking, Fitness, Guest Post, Recipes Tagged With: Fitness magazine, FoodBuzz, vegetarian, workout

Butternut Squash-Cherry Bomb +WIAW

February 15, 2012 By Laura

We’re half way there… whoaaaa, livin’ on a prayer…

Last Wednesday I shared with you all that 2 friends and I began the Standard Process Cleanse.  Which means this is another super-clean What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW).  And by Wednesday, I mean Tuesday. 🙂

10 days in to the cleanse (half way – woot!), I can honestly say that I haven’t been hungry one time.  Veggies are really filling!  Admittedly, eating and plant-based diet with no processed foods or breads is more time consuming.  The key is to be sure you are prepared.

For instance, on Sunday I roasted beets, butternut squash, and spaghetti squash.  Easy fixin’s for smoothies, salads, and “pastas.”

Don’t forget to check out Jenn’s blog to see what everyone else at this Wednesday during this veggie-centric month!

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Breakfast:

Ice cream isn’t legal, but that didn’t stop me from a Neapolitan smoothie.

It didn’t stay so pretty after it was fully mixed… but these things happen when you mix green, red, and orange.

Trust me, it tasted better than it looks here:

Butternut Squash-Cherry Bomb Smoothie

  • 1 C spinach
  • 1/2 C butternut squash, roasted
  • 1/2 C black cherries
  • 1/2 C unsweetened vanilla coconut milk (a la So Delicious)
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 5-6 drops vanilla stevia
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp guar gum (optional)
  • Shake of allspice
  • Shake of salt

Looks bad, taste good. 🙂

Lunch:

The deliciousness below is brought to you by a new (to me) blog: The Vegetable Centric Kitchen.

Rande makes some delicious-looking, vegetarian dishes.  This is her Zucchini Pasta with Lemon Tahini Sauce and Roasted Crimini Mushrooms.

Since I don’t have a spiralizer, I used the nifty orange tool picture below to peel my zucchini.  I’m not sure what it’s called other than a peeler with razor teeth, but thanks to OXO from gift from the FoodBuzz Festival!

My tweaks:

  • Used a mix of crimini, oyster, and shiitake mushrooms
  • Sautéed my mushrooms and onions in coconut oil
  • Edited the sauce: 2 T tahini, 1/2 lemon juiced, 1 garlic clove (pressed), heaping 1/4 tsp sriracha, S+P, and a bit of water to thin it out.

I’ll be making this on the regular – especially that sauce.  It’s going to be making an appearance as a sauce for broccolini tomorrow night!  Thanks, Rande!

Snacks:

More veggies! (Try to hide your surprise.)

This dip was ah-mazing with my celery and flax cracker (flax seeds are cleanse-legal!).  Recipe to come! 🙂

 

Pre-dinner snack was another shake – this time with avocado!  Nothing earth-shattering in this one…banana, avocado, protein powder, almond extract, cinnamon, vanilla stevia, water, and ice.  You’ve seen it all before… I’m scared my shakes are going to bore you! 🙂

Dinner:

I mentioned yesterday that I had some super-cool Valentine’s Day plans cleanse dinner with by best friend!  And her baby boy.  And her mom.  These are some of my favorite people in the world, so it was actually a really nice way to spend Valentine’s Day.

This un-photogenic brown soup was my contribution.  It’s a Sweet Potato-Pineapple-Eggplant Curry soup served over wild rice.  I’d had it pinned to try for a while, but it was just ok.  I’d try again to tweak it to my liking… but honestly it was so time-consuming I don’t think it’s worth it.  That takes A LOT for me to say.

More delicious was the raw French green bean salad Mallory made.  She tossed them with olive oil, lots of lemon, dill, and a few other herbs.  It was fantastically light and the dill was wonderful.

Note to self: use dill more often!

Lastly, I received the nicest surprise – Mallory’s mom brought us both flowers!  I was the lucky Valentine’s recipient of a gorgeous bouquet of white tulips.

Overall, it was a nice V-Day.  Even if it was chocolate-free.

***

I’m driving to AL for a client meeting with my boss.  It’s my first one to lead in this role… nervous!!!

What was the best Valentine’s treat/dish you had yesterday?

Do you prep food for week on Sundays?

Filed Under: Recipes, Smoothies Tagged With: breakfast, dinner, FoodBuzz, lunch, protein, smoothies, snacks, So Delicious, soup, Standard Process Cleanse, Valentine's Day, vegan, vegetarian, WIAW

Guilty as Charged

February 6, 2012 By Laura

Are you a Foodie?

 

Watch Shit Foodies Say for help deciding:

 

If I’m guilty of saying nearly everything in that video… am I a Foodie?

Just please tell me I’m not intolerable… 🙂

____________________________________________________________________________

Speaking of foodies… we had an Atlanta Blogger Potluck on Saturday night.

It was awesome to get to try the food from the people whose posts make my stomach growl.

Photo Courtesy Lee @ inmytummy.com

 

In attendance: Emily (former blogger), Tina, Stacy, Carol, Traci, Laura (another former blogger), Alayna, and me.

 

Lee was the photog… and was also nice enough to offer up her house to us, which was fantastic because we could all sit around a coffee table and talk.  It’s hard to have a group conversation in noisy restaurants at long tables!

 

 

The food was delicious, as you might imagine.

 

At our table:

  • Sweet Potato Tot Casserole from Stacy (Mama Pea recipe!)
  • Greek salad from Tina
  • Japanese Sweet Potato Casserole from Alanya (which is going to be in her cookbook!)
  • Broccoli Salad from Carol
  • Spinach Balls from Laura
  • Spinach and Artichoke Dip from Lee
  • Olive tapenade on toasts from Traci *I think*
  • Brie and apples on water crackers from Emily *I think*
  • My Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
  • My Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies
  • Nutella Sandwich Cookies from Laura *I think*
  • Carrot cake from Alanya

 

My plate didn’t have an inch of room to spare…

 

 

And you better believe I cleaned my dessert plate too!

 

 

We sat around talking and eating for 4 hours!  Topic ranged from running to general gossip to horror stories.  Seriously – do NOT ever see the Human Centipede.

As you might imagine, it was all amazing and I left Lee’s house smiling and stuffed.

____________________________________________________________________________

Now that the gluttony portion of this post is complete… it’s time for the workout recap.

The Dr. said to take 2 weeks off of running and focus on correcting the balance or strength between my hamstrings and quads, so I’ve been good.  Today’s 70 degree Southern California-esque weather made me miss running a lot, but I did get out for a good walk.  And a treat.

 

 

Workout Recap (1/30 – 2/5)

  • Monday -Back/Bis, 1 mile run, 100 push-ups
  • Tuesday – P90X Plyometrics, 100 push-ups
  • Wednesday – Rest
  • Thursday –  Elliptical (intervals), This Body Rock Wk 2 Day 3 (which left me SORE), 100 push-ups 
  • Friday – P90X Bis/Back, Ab Ripper X, This “pinned” workout, 100 push-ups
  • Saturday – Elliptical (intervals), This Body Rock Wk 2 Day 4, 100 push-ups
  • Sunday – 4 mile walk, This Body Rock Wk 2 Day 5, 100 push-ups

***

Three exciting things to cover:

  1. Thanks to all for the “Buzz.”  I made the FoodBuzz twice this weekend!!!  Check it out here and here. 
  2. I actually wrote a weekend post in honor of the #ChocolateLove Bloghop.  Check out my Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies here and link up your favorite chocolate recipe.
  3. Stay tuned for an AWESOME giveaway tomorrow!!!


What did you think of the Super Bowl?  (By Super Bowl I mean Madonna’s rockin’ performance.)

 

If you could have a dream-blogger potluck, who are a couple of bloggers you would invite?

 

Filed Under: Baking, Core, Fitness, Giveaway, Recap, Recipes, Running, Weights Tagged With: cookies, dessert, dinner, entertaining, FoodBuzz, P90X, running, workout, Yoforia, yogurt

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

February 2, 2012 By Laura

These Chocolate Zucchini Muffin sound a little strange, but you’d never guess the sneaky zucchini add.  Best of all, these 100 calorie bites are vegan, gluten-free, and almost sugar-free.

This deliciousness took me a week to get right.  But when I did… oh lawd they were good!

Judging from the reaction these chocolate muffins got at this week’s dinner party, I found the right combination of ingredients.

Chocolate-y and moist, these are muffins you could chow on for breakfast without guilt.

Why guiltless?  Because you would be starting out your day with veggies!

The “secret” ingredient in these is zucchini!  Fool your kids, your partner, your co-workers… yourself… you cannot detect a trace of the veggie.  I’d put money on it.

I love making these as mini muffins.  It makes them perfect for snacking, and they remind me of those trashy-but-delicious brownie bites from  the grocery store.

These zucchini-filled treats please basically everyone.  They’re vegan, gluten-free, almost sugar-free, and a mere 100 calories!  Unicorn brownie bites! 

I realize the ingredient list is long, but it doesn’t take much time to throw it together and the end result is well worth it!


 

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

  • 1/4 C cocoa powder
  • 1/4 C coconut flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp guar gum (or cornstarch)
  • 2 T Xylitol
  • 2 T NuNaturals Fiber Baking Blend (or other sweetener)
  • 1/2 tsp instant coffee
  • Shake of salt
  • 1 flax egg (1 T ground flax + 3 T water)
  • 1/4 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or other milk substance)
  • 2 T coconut oil
  • 2 T unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1 T almond butter (or other nut butter)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 C shredded zucchini
  • 1/4 C chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Set aside.

In a small bowl mix egg, milk, oil, nut butter, and vanilla until well-combined.  Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until just combined.

Squeeze out zucchini to remove excess moisture, then add to batter along with chocolate chips.  Gently fold to combine – don’t over-mix!

Place 12 muffin liners in a muffin pan (or lightly grease a mini muffin pan) and spoon the mixture into each tin so they are about 1/2 full.

Bake on the middle rack for 10-15 mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.

Makes 12 small muffins or 24 minis.

Approximate Nutrition for small muffin: 100 calories, 7.4g fat, 9.5g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, 2g sugar, 1.5g protein

Notes:

  • I have tried this with a full 1/4 C of coconut oil (rather than 2 T oil and 2 T apple sauce) and found it to be too greasy, but you could try it either way
  • You could also leave out the guar gum; however, it helps the muffins to stay together better (coconut flour can result in crumbly baked goods)
  • If you can’t find Xylitol or the Baking Blend, you can use any sugar/sugar-replacer

***

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the Buzz… my “Beefy” TVP Chili made the FoodBuzz Top 9 today!

How do you sneak veggies in?

If you have worked with coconut flour, what’s your favorite recipe?

Filed Under: Baking, Recipes Tagged With: breakfast, coconut flour, dessert, FoodBuzz, gluten-free, muffins, snacks, vegan, vegetarian

Citrus Chickpea Cilantro Salad

January 26, 2012 By Laura

Are you ever shocked by how interested people are in a recipe?

You guys were all over the Portobello Jerky yesterday!  I’m a little sad that it’s all gone.  If you make it, be sure to make 3-4 mushrooms at a time.  1 = gone to fast.

The second most-commented on item was my lunch, a Citrus Chickpea Cilantro Salad that I promised to share today.  Well, I promised to share the recipe today.  If you were here I’d be tempted to share my physical lunch if you had some of Ari’s Ding Dongs to trade.

Due a bookmarking addiction, I’ve had Heather’s recipe for Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad for months.  With a huge bunch of cilantro in my fridge, this was the perfect time to try it out.  As soon as I made this, I emailed the recipe to my mom.  It was that delicious.

With the abundance of delicious winter citrus, I used fresh orange juice rather than sugar to sweeten the vinaigrette.  I also changed up the spices to make this more Indian-influenced.  Use your imagination here – this salad is nice base for a variety of spice blends.

The first serving I ate in a rustic fashion (read: with my fingers right out of the mixing bowl).

The second serving I jazzed up.  I spooned out the salad on top of an eggplant patty and then diced a carrot over the top.  Colorful and delicious!  I love the crunchy carrot against the soft chickpeas and the slight tang of the mustard with the sweetness of the orange juice and fresh carrot.  I also sprinkled a shitload few red pepper flakes on top because I’m not happy until I’m crying.

The 3rd serving I added diced avocado and blood orange segments.  Best idea ever.  If you make this, try it at least once with the avocado.  It was phenomenal with the cilantro and the citrus juices – like chickpea chunky guac!  As usual, I got too excited and forgot a pic.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Citrus Chickpea Cilantro Salad

  • 2 C chickpeas, cooked or canned
  • 2 T shallot, chopped finely
  • 2.5 C spinach
  • 1/2 C fresh cilantro
  • Zest from 1/2 large lime
  • Juice from 1/2 large lime
  • Juice from 1/2 medium orange
  • 2 tsp whole grain mustard
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • S+P, to taste

Drain and rinse chickpeas and place in a large bowl with chopped shallot.

In a food processor, pulse cilantro and spinach until fairly finely chopped.  Make sure you don’t let it run and turn to mush.  Add to chickpea bowl.

Next in the processor combine the zest, juices, mustard, garlic, oil, and spices.  Adjust spices, salt and pepper to taste.

Pour dressing over the chickpea mixture and stir to combine.  Adjust spices and allow to rest for 15 mins in order for flavors to marry.  

Plate with grains, create a veggie sandwich (awesome in pita pocket!), or enjoy as a side.

Makes 2 mains or 4 sides.

Note: I started with dried chickpeas.  I soaked them in water over night.  The next morning I cooked them in a pot with a bay leaf and 2 garlic cloves over low heat for 3 hours.  The bay leaf and garlic gave them a great, subtle flavor!

***

I am over-the-moon today because yesterday I made the Daily Buzz Top 9 and today I made the FoodBuzz Top 9!  Thank you for the buzz – I’m truly honored. xoxo

Do any of you have that genetic thing that makes cilantro tastes like soap?  You could try this with parsley. 🙂

Make me feel like less of a dork… do you call your mom when you make something really awesome?

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: Daily Buzz, FoodBuzz, lunch, salad, snacks, vegan, vegetarian

What I Ate in Maryland

January 18, 2012 By Laura

Travel can be an adventure in eating.

 

It can also be an adventure in finding workspaces with outlets, tables, cell phone signals… yesterday I worked all afternoon in a flatbread pizza place.

Barnes & Noble was closed for MLK (WTF?!  That’s like Starbucks closing – it just doesn’t happen!).  This meant that Starbucks was even more crowded than usual.  Flatbread it was.  I left the store having been cured of craving pizza for a while and smelling like an Italian mamma.

At least I had a wonderful dinner recommendation from Kimberly @ Grubarazzi to look forward to – Woodberry Kitchen.  They even celebrate Meatless Monday!

Side note: check out her blog – she makes some rockstar dishes!  

Goldeneye

 

Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore is incredible.  It was a little dark for pics (I was ill-prepared in the camera department), but everything was delicious.  Don’t skip the Goldeneye drink.  It was stellar.  Say hi to Conner the bartender for me.

If you ever go, DO NOT skimp the CMP for dessert.  Malted ice cream, chocolate sauce, marshmallow fluff, and wet peanuts.  All house-made.  It was one of those “moment of silence” desserts.

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This is What I Ate Wednesday, not what I drank Monday.

 

 

Breakfast:

An adventure in hotel icky oatmeal.

 

I grabbed some of the hotel’s runny, mucus-like oatmeal and made it edible with a few mix-ins:

  • Double vanilla ice cream-flavored protein powder from home (really good, btw)
  • Peanut butter
  • Apple
  • Coffee

It was not Sweet Potato Pie Oatmeal, but by the time I got done with it these oats were not too shabby!

 

Lunch:

We ate at a burger place.  I had a salad and a sweet potato.  It was underwhelming… this is what was left when I remembered to take a pic:

 

Dinner:

I don’t care what Hollywood says, the Grubarazzi won’t lead you astray.  Thanks to another of her recommendations we dined like A-listers in a Vietnamese restaurant located in a strip mall.

 

The Saigon Noodle House doesn’t look like much from the outside, but their summer rolls and pho were ah-mazing.

Tofu Summer Role with peanut sauce and sriracha

Tofu Pho with Thai basil, jalapenos, and bean sprouts to garnish

Shrimp Curry (I picked around the shrimp)

Chicken and Rice Clay Pot… in an aluminum pot

 

Verdict:  Do NOT miss the summer rolls and the pho.  I could to skipped the other two dishes, but – to be fair – I picked around all the seafood/meat and didn’t get the full effect.

 

Snacks:

B&N-Starbucks-style.  Raspberry Oolong tea and the best KIND bar I’ve had to date – Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew.

 

There was also some late-night chocolate that had to be eaten. 😉

***

I made the FoodBuzz Top 9 today with these Chewy (Vegan) Granola Cookies!!!  Thanks to everyone for the BUZZ and welcome to any new visitors!  Check out the Top 9 by clicking here.

Have you ever had pho?

What’s the best “bar” you’ve tried lately?  Have you had a KIND bar?

 

Filed Under: Breakfast, Products, Restaurants, Travel Tagged With: Asian, Baltimore, breakfast, cocktails, cookies, dessert, dinner, FoodBuzz, oats, protein, restaurants, Saigon Noodle House, salad, soup, tofu, WIAW, Woodberry Kitchen

Holiday Wine-ing

December 16, 2011 By Laura

As we approach the holiday season, planning becomes more important.

We all get insanely busy and it’s necessary – for me at least – to have a play book.

My calendars are coordinated (work and personal), “to make” items are noted, grocery lists are written (in excel, if you’re a dork like me).  Lastly, drink pairings are solidified.

Drink pairings are important.  In order to get a good deal you need to shop NOW.   Wine “specials” wane (at least on the stuff you’d actually want to drink) as Christmas nears and the price of champagne/sparkling wine increases just in time for New Year’s Eve.

What should you buy now?

  • Beaujolais – This wine has been overlooked for years.  The French red is not overly complex; it’s a fruit-forward, drinkable wine is what I think is nice about it for parties.  2009 was a great year for Beaujolais-Villages, and you should be able to pick up a satisfying bottle for under $15.  You can even find a Cru (Cru is a designation meaning it came from one of the 10 best Beaujolais-Villages) for less than $20.  Plus, it sounds fancy when you say it.
  • Champagne/Sparkling Wine – The wine that was made for celebrations!  Significant discounts will end about 2 weeks before Christmas.  Plan ahead for NYE and pick up a few bottles of bubbly this weekend.
  • Wines from up-and-coming regions – You know how you can get clothes or art for great prices if you catch the creator before they really hit it big?  It’s no different with wines – you can find some wonderful bottles on the cheap if you branch outside of the norm.

A Few Specific Suggestions:

Beaujolais

As I said above, 2009 was a great year for Beaujolais.  The 2009 Marcel Lapierre Morgon is a great choice for a holiday meal.  it is light in structure, with lots of red fruit and a slight earthiness.  You can drink it with your pre-dinner charcuterie, a roast chicken or pork dinner, and a chocolate tart.

Also good is the  2009 George Debouf Beaujolais-Villages.  I picked up a bottle for just $10!  This wine is a well-balanced red with subtle berry notes (think currents and raspberries) and little herbiness that is perfect with a variety of foods or on its own.

Interesting side note: It is against French law for Beaujolais producers to release the wine before midnight on the 3rd Thursday of November.  No one remembers why.

Champagne/Sparkling

My latest affordable find is a 2009 Argentinean Sparkling Malbec from Ernesto Catena’s Alma Negra(translation = black soul) line.  It’s a beautiful salmon color with notes of rose petal and strawberry.  Not too sweet, the finish is smooth and elegant.  The price for this bottle is about $16… not as cheap as Cooks, but your head won’t be pounding in the morning. 😉

Side note: Catena also makes one of my favorite, affordable Malbecs.

Up-and-Coming

This recent article picked up by Reuters lists the Top 10 Up-and-Coming Wine Regions.  I remembered reading this article when I picked up this bottle from Portugal:

Portugal has long been known for sweeter whites, but it’s the dry reds that are gaining notoriety.  This 2005 Alentejo Roquevale Redondo is one of the regions successes.  Smooth in the mouth without compromising structure.  It’s a figgy, a little dark, and perfect for red meats or game.  It is a blend largely comprised of Tempranillo (Aragonez in Portuguese) and it was a steal at $12.

If nothing else, remember this helpful piece of advice:

Or you could always buy some of wine in a can.

***

Christmas came early – I made the FoodBuzz Top 9 with my Sweet Potato Pie Oatmeal!!!   Thank you everyone and welcome new readers!

What is your favorite wine to serve/bring to parties?

Do you ever buy bottles because they are “pretty?”  No shame – we’re ALL guilty.

Filed Under: Wine Tagged With: Beaujolais, champagne, Christmas, dinner, entertaining, FoodBuzz, Portugal, wine

A Taste of Everything

November 8, 2011 By Laura

Saturday was one of those days where I feel like I never stopped eating.

In other words, it was a perfect day.

 

 

After the panels, we made our way to the Tasting Pavilion.  There was definitely a buzz in the air as the bloggers lined up to be let in.

 

 

Inside there were companies offering samples of everything from coffee to wine, chocolates to endive, vegan meal bars to lamb-filled phyllo.

 

 

I left no corner undiscovered as I bounced from table to table in a state of foodie euphoria.

 

Some favorites:

 

Oren's Nuts

 

Espolon tequila drink made with COCOA bitters (recipe at the end!!!)

 

Decadent, thick balsamic (aged 8 years) from House of Balsamic

 

Mission Minis Cupcakes – the chocolate PB (eaten, thus not pictured) was the best

 

21st Amendment's craft brews - loved them all, but Allies Win the War took the prize

 

The Girl & The Fig’s Black Mission Fig Jam

 

 

The best part was yet to come…

at 2pm a crowd formed around the Alexia display.  None other than Tyler Florence had arrived.

 

Everything was fine until someone shouted and a mob formed!  Tyler was surrounded and security couldn’t restrain the hysterical group of women (and a few men).

 

The police arrived with tear gas and mob shields.  It was like a scene from a movie!

 

 

I’m kidding.

 

It was a very calm line.  I waited patiently, along with the other bloggers and received an autograph photo.  Tyler and I chatted for a moment about the demo he would be giving at the banquet later that night, and I got a pic with him.

 

Why doesn't Picnik have an "add lipstick" feature?

 

 

Tyler’s demo that evening was also mob-free.  Pre-demo/dinner there was a cocktail hour where we snacked on the 4 finalist recipes for the new Alexia flavor.

 

 

No surprise, my favorite was the Thai-Spiced Sweet Potato

 

 

The reception was a great experience because I was able to meet even more bloggers – including Mamma Pea (who told me she thought I would be taller in person… I thought she’d be shorter 🙂  ).

 

 

 

I also got to hang with some of the same people we met the night before.  Our table was a fun one!

 

Pictured: Karen, Lauren, Maissa, Christin, Me, Sarah, and Lori.  (Thanks to Sarah for sharing this pic!)

 

Last but certainly not least – I spent some QT goofing off with my new favorite person – Andy (a.k.a. orange pants).

 

Andy and Me

Andy's pants

 

 

For his demo, T-Flo (his new nickname, pass it on) made a fantastic-smelling sage pork chop with sautéed cabbage.

 

T Flo's meat

Gentle hands to saute the cabbage

TV screen shot of the plated dish

"My name is T Flo, and my pork is fantastic."

 

 

Unfortunately that was NOT what we had for dinner.  It was kind of a cruel tease because Tyler’s sage and seared pork smelled incredible.

What we had:

 

Banquet menu

 

Even FoodBuzz couldn’t make hotel banquet food taste good…

I requested the vegetarian meal, which consisted of wheatberries, leek, tomatoes, and carrots.  Sounds ok, but in reality it was overall greasy and tough.  Ho hum.  

 

Looking on the bright side, I did get to practice my iPhone photography on Karen’s surf n’ turf main!  The lighting was terrible, but one of these was shot with a point-and-shoot and the other with my iPhone.  

Can you tell which is which?  

 

I like to call these “I’m still learning.”

 

 

Until next year, my friends!  P.S. Come to Atlanta!!!

 

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Here’s the tequila-cocoa bitters recipe, as promised.  If you serve this at your next party, please invite me.  So.  Good.  🙂

 

La Bandita

  • 2 oz Espolon tequila
  • 3/4 oz Wild Turkey American Honey
  • 1/4 oz Frangelico
  • 2 dashes Angostura cocoa bitters

 

Shake and serve chilled!

***

If Thomas Keller had been there, I probably would have started a mob.

 

Have you ever had good banquet food?

 

Who is your favorite “celebrity” chef?

 

Filed Under: Products, Travel, Wine Tagged With: Alexia, beer, cocktails, dinner, FoodBuzz, San Francisco, snacks, tequila

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Food lover. Constant Wine-r. Gym Rat. More is more.

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