FoodBuzz Festival Photos

Looks like I'm going to make my two posts this week! It's a pre-Christmas miracle.

As promised, here of some of my photos from the I <3 FoodBuzz Festival. If you're a food blogger and you didn't make it this year, I'd highly recommend attending the 2012 festival. It was inspiring.

Sabra sponsored the welcome reception, which meant hummus, hummus everywhere. I've never seen so many flavors of hummus together in one place before, which, coincidentally, was a big improvement from a grocery store experience back when I lived in Georgia. Me: "Excuse me, where's the hummus?" Him: "What's hummus?" Oh, and these toasted chickpeas with coarse salt shown in the photo were amazing. I think I'll be making these at home for a healthy snack.

The Electrolux Comfort Food Buffet was especially impressive because 1. It's comfort food (duh!), and 2. the dishes were inspired by FoodBuzz blogger recipes. Jessica Merchant inspired the Brown Sugar Butter Roasted Chicken, Georgia Johnson inspired the Tuscan Beef Stew, Mara Rosenbloom inspired the Whipped Potatoes with Pecorino Cheese on Meatloaf Muffins, Jenna Weber inspired the Baked Four Cheese Macaroni, Jean Pope inspired the Potato-Broccoli Soup, and Susie Anderson inspired the Butternut Squash Risotto.

I loved how everything was bite-size -- perfect for sampling. The desserts in this photo are: Heirloom Pumpkin Tart, Creamy Italian Nougat and Valrhona Chocolate Ganache Bites, Double-Gem Pate de Fruits, Colorful Christmas Macaroons, and Silky Pome egranate, Candied Kumquat and Fresh Pomegranate Seeds and Candied Kumquat.

Farihah Ali of Spice's Bites was the only person I knew before I attended this show. We were friends from back when Atlanta was my home, and I hadn't seen her in five years. In addition to having an amazing food blog, she's one of the most genuinely kind people I've ever known. (She gave me a lot of pointers when I was trying to get saagAHH off the ground.) And on Saturday night, some amazing news was announced about her blog -- Spice's Bites is a finalist in the Alexia "Reinvent a Classic" competition. Go to www.facebook.com/alexiafoods to vote for Spice's Bruschetta Waffle Bites to be the next Alexia fry flavor.

Cheese is probably my all-time favorite food item, so of course I was thrilled there were so many cheese manufacturers represented at Saturday's Tasting Pavilion. This photo is of some of the deliciousness at the Jarlsberg booth.

Of course I had to stop by the booth of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, since my hubby Nick is from Alaska. We both love Alaska seafood -- though can be frustrating that Nick pretty much refuses to eat seafood from places other than Alaska. (One night I made tilapia for dinner, and Nick actually resorted to fast food instead.)

Hell yes. Indian food was represented at this event with The Chai Cart, a San Fransisco-based company that sells ready-made chai in a bottle (just add milk). The company is in the process of getting a permit for an actual chai cart, which sounds better than an ice cream truck if you ask me. Speaking of ice cream, I just checked out The Chai Cart's website and it looks like Masala Chai Gelato bars are available as well. Yes, please.

Godiva was one of the festival's sponsors, so we got to try so many of their products. Can you believe I just bought my first ever coffee maker, just so I could drink the samples they gave us here at home? Usually I tend to give away food freebies that I can't use, but in this case I just invested $30 (not bad, right?) for a coffee maker instead. This photo is of some of the chocolates that inspired the company's coffee flavors

I get a kick out of pretending to be more sophisticated than I really am, so tasting different vinegars was right up by alley. These vinegars were by Saporoso, which ages them much longer than most store-bought vinegars.

Here are Spice's Bites amazing Bruschetta Fries, served as an appetizer before the Saturday Night Gala Dinner. Go to www.facebook.com/alexiafoods and vote for them, so you can try them too! (The winner will become the next Alexia fry flavor.)

More India representation with these Vegetable Samosas, served with Tamarind Dipping Sauce, as the appetizer course for the sit-down dinner.

So terrific to meet Ngoc of San Jose Food Blog. We have a lot in common; her blog is all about dining out and home cooking in the San Jose and the Bay Area. What else do we have in common? We're wedding twins. What does that mean exactly? We both tied the knot with our hubbies on July 30, 2011. (Clearly, the best wedding date ever ;) )

More dessert-y things to sample. The San Francisco Trio consisted of Cowgirl Creamery Cheesecake, Sourdough Bread Pudding, and Scarffen Berger Chocolate Mousse.

By brunch on Sunday morning, I was so satisfying stuffed that I wasn't planning on eating much or taking any more photos. But then I saw this dish. Sorry the photo is horrible (I have obviously not mastered the art of the iPhone photo yet), but I had to share this cool Indian breakfast idea. It's Sindi Breakfast Daal with Curry Roasted Cauliflower and Crispy Almond Slivers. What a cool idea.