Friday, August 29, 2008

Buzzed on Food Blogging

While part of me still feels very new at this whole blogging thing and I still feel that I have a lot to learn, it has come to be part of my life and part of who I am. It is no secret that I love food and cooking and here I have a forum to share and talk about it. And all of you are so good as to come and visit and comment from time to time.

One of the great things about blogging is visiting others. Learning about their sites, lives, talents and recipes. There are so many interesting, creative and talented people within this community. But last week it went even one step further.

Thanks to Foodbuzz, I was invited to a dinner with several other Southern California bloggers. There were about 20 total and all had so much to offer in the way of knowledge, food and personality. It was an amazing and enlightening evening. I am so fortunate to have finally met some of you and gained some new friends! I also really enjoyed meeting our two hosts from Foodbuzz, Kristen and Ryan. You girls are so much fun and did such a great job. Boy! What a job you have. I am envious. It is so fun for you. And thank you for making us all feel so welcome and at ease. Thank you Foodbuzz for the great food and wine!

The lovely event took place at Blanca in Newport Beach. It couldn't have been a better setting with the water at our side and the twinkling lights of boats as we sipped our wine. The night was warm and the company warmer. Here is a list of some of those I met. DO check out their blogs. I know I will be stopping in for plenty of visits!

Blog URL Name
An Easy Recipe http://aneasyrecipe.com David
Eat in O.C http://www.eatinoc.com/ Daniel
Griffin Eats OC http://www.griffineatsoc.com Griffin
I Nom Things http://inomthings.blogspot.com/ Ila
LA and OC Foodventures http://la-oc-foodie.blogspot.com/ Hiu Chung
Orange County Mexican Restaurants http://ocmexfood.blogspot.com/ Christian
Pleasure Palate http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/ Abby
Rasa Malaysia http://www.rasamalaysia.com/ Bee
RumDood http://www.rumdood.com/ Matt
The Delicious Life http://thedeliciouslife.blogspot.com Sarah
This Man's Kitchen http://thismanskitchen.com Hal
Wandering Chopsticks http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/
Go Eggless http://goeggless.com Sarah
Panini Happy http://www.paninihappy.com Kathy
Gourmet Pigs http://gourmetpigs.blogspot.com


MENU

First Course
Asparagus Salad
Burrata cheese, toasted hazelnuts, arugula, truffle vinaigrette

Main Course
Roasted Dover Sole (pictured above)
Tuscan white beans, Spanish chorizo, market carrots, parsley espuma

Roasted Flank Steak
Whole roasted garlic, Taleggio cheese potatoes, red wine reduction, herb salad

Dessert
Manjari "Grand cru" chocolated decadence
Salted caramel, ice cream, coffee chips, Spanish almonds

16 comments:

Susan @ SGCC said...

It sounds like a wonderful evening! I'm glad you had a good time. How fun to meet all of those great bloggers!

Foodbuzz is doing a dinner in Orlando for its Florida FPs in a few weeks. I am so excited to finally meet some of my blogger buddies in person. Hope I remember my camera!

DanGarion said...

Woohoo, my arm is famous!

Nicole said...

Sticky- Oh it was so much fun! DOOOOO go to the one in Orlando if you can. I am sure you will have a blast.

Dan- Ha ha ha!!! I wanted to include one of the shots of the whole group but a couple people expressed issues with publishing their photo w/out express permission so I opted to go for something in which no one was too distinguishable unless you were there. Nice to have a famous body part huh!! ;-)

Lori Lynn said...

How fun for you Nicole. I attended the Foodbuzz dinner in LA at AOC on January 31. It was great!

Looking forward to visiting the blogs you mention.

Betty Carlson said...

Hi! I am back after not doing much blogging all summer. That Foodbuzz dinner sounds great! I'm on Foodbuzz but haven't done much with it yet. Once I do my blog redesign, though, I hope to get involved in that community.

Hope you had a nice summer!

Darius T. Williams said...

You know - I'm on foodbuzz - but I don't know what the hell I'm doing - lol.

Those white beans and chorizo - wow, totally inspired now.

Proud Italian Cook said...

How fun is that!! Maybe I should accept their invitation and join Foodbuzz after all!! Getting together with fellow bloggers for dinner sounds fantastic!

Emily said...

What a great idea. The food sounded very good too.

Anonymous said...

How fun!!! Meeting up with people you exchange comments with has got to be fun. You & I will have to have a glass (or 5!) together one day.

xoxox Amy

P.S. Sorry about my absence.... Vacations & summer are over now.

taste memory said...

yummmm looks fun + quite decadent!

Nicole said...

Lori- Wasn't it fun to meet other bloggers! Foodbuzz is great.

Betty- Hi Betty. Welcome back. We missed you. I hope your summer was great as well.

Darius- I really have no idea what I am doing either!!!!! Can't wait to see where that inspiration brings you in cooking.

Marie- It was so cool. You should join Foodbuzz. A really nice group of people running it too.

Emily- It was.

Amy- I missed you!!! Glad you are back. I would love to have that glass or 5 of wine with you. We will have to find a way to do it sometime.

Taste Memory- Oh yes. It was. I didn't even mention the amuse bouche and the tiny candies after the dessert!

Laura in Paris said...

Wow, that menu reads like a novel!

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Oh you can make ANYTHING look good!!

Jared said...

Sounds like a good time. Didn't realize there were folks out there who were getting together to talk food. Looks like a pretty good menu as well.

Anonymous said...

Oh what a fun time! I love meeting bloggers, but especially food bloggers!

Nicole said...

Laura- Doesn't it though! And what an ending....

Mamageek- Thanks.

Jared- I didn't know before I was invited either. Very cool though.

Kristen- It is all new for me but so fun. When/where do you meet bloggers?