I’m sore.  The hills and 6.43 miles I walked yesterday won the debate with my butt and thighs.    No matter, I managed to drag myself out of bed and to breakfast for one of the highlights of the conference — breakfast by Pastry Smart @PastrySmart! Was it delicious? Fantastic? Filling?  A resounding yes to all 3.  For Francophile, it was heaven, charcuterie, freshly made biscuits, yogurt and fruit (who cares?  it was about the biscuits) and other deliciousness.  I stopped at 3 biscuits filled with black forest ham!  Oh my.

Let’s see this from a different angle. 🙂

The breakfast topic was “What Matters Most: Conversations on Humane, Organic & Sustainable Food Production Practices in a Millenial World”  Choosing the food we eat is no longer about going out in the yard and selecting what’s available — it’s a trip to the market to pick from thousands of choices of good-looking food-type products.  But most of us don’t consider where it comes from or, in the cast of protein sources, how it was raised.  I enjoyed hearing about the Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) and its certified program.

The special part of the evening was dinner.  Urbanspoon Dine-Around Dinner ! Urbanspoon sponsored over a dozen tables at some of Seattle’s best restaurants.  Quite a feat on a Saturday night at prime dinner time.  Somehow I was grouped with a Gluten Free table but it didn’t matter. 

The meal and wine pairings were delicious.

IFBC 2013 – Day 2!  Weather in Seattle remains perfect so I spent the morning walking and wandering the city, looking for thrift stores.   Should’ve thought about Seattle being a city of hills – steep ones.  I made it back to the conference in time to 1) register, 2) grab a bite to eat – chipotle sponsored bowls and 3) hear the keynote speaker, Dorie Greenspan.

I’m sorry I didn’t know of Ms. Greenspan before her speech.   She is self-effacing, modest, a genuine personality with a subtle wite.   Her success is the result of hard work, a passion for baking and also a desire to share great chefs and their recipes.  Her message was clear:  BUILD COMMUNITY.

A great benefit of IFBC in general is a chance to meet other bloggers.  Definitely one of the conference’s best benefits.

Following Dorie and her uplifting message, we had a live blogging session, sponsored by Amazon.com Grocery.  This was similar to last year’s live blogging where small business owners presented their products to each table.  I preferred last year’s format, to be honest.   This session felt as if we were being sold products, not introduced to new exciting products.

And the sugar – Most of the products were overwhelmingly full of sugar.  Does it matter if the sugar is organic or not when there’s too much of it?  Of the 10-15 products, I would buy 3 and yes, made sure to have extra to pack in my luggage.

Sahale Snacks

Manuka Doctor Honey

Sujacleanse

After the sugar rush, most of us needed naps.  Instead I sat in WordPress session.  Oh my.   Where the heck is my pillow?

On a positive, we each received coupons for a free 3-day cleanse from Suja Juice.  Can’t wait.

As usual, IFBC 2013 had an incredible assortment of items for SWAG.  Old favorites and new exciting products (lagrima vanilla, anyone?) Bob’s Red Mill is always a favorite and I’m thrilled to have a bag of their granola.  Don’t know why I only eat granola in Scandinavia.  Maybe Bob’s Red Mill granola will change that.  🙂

From gift bag to food — some of the best in Seattle!  I cannot lie.  I didn’t experience all the fine restaurants represented but I did find 2-3 favorites and went back repeatedly!  I mean repeatedly!   My personal favorite being huitlacoche tamales!  I lost count at 4.

Stuffed with SWAG and food, off to bed I went. (no there are stories of crazy late night adventures.  I save that for my European trips!)

Jetting off to Seattle Washington for IFBC 2013 in Seattle from Sep 19-22, 2013.  Very excited to visit Seattle again and hopeful I’ll get re-energized with my blogging.    Summer has taken a toll on my desire to cook.

The main point of heading to IFBC 2013  early to join an excursion to Chateau Ste Michelle.  I have to go to pay my respects to the winery that gave me my first wine love, its Reisling.   I was barely a drinker of anything alcoholic and when I did imbibe it was rum & pineapple.  At some point after 1991, I tried a Chateau Ste Michelle wine, fell in love and it’s been a fun ride ever since.  I seldom drink Chateau St Michelle now but I can’t forget my first love, who can?

Arrived SEATEC and took the light rail into downtown.  Gosh, love these!  I’m happy that LA finally has a metro to downtown but a train to LAX would be fantastic.   Just enough time to grab a quick lunch before the bus headed out to Chateau St Michelle.

Without much detail, let’s say I had to TELL my server I wasn’t paying for my sushi because of the fruit flies all over it.  Really?  Why would I pay $20 for a roll I’m not eating and you, Miss Server, clearly saw the 4-5 fruit flies flying and landing on it.  Ugh.

Could only get better.

A lively group boarded the bus, heading to the winery.  Chateau Ste Michelle is approximately 15 miles SE of Seattle and the day was perfect!

Folks living in Washington warned us visitors that the weather was atypical.  Atypical or not, I see why people fall in love with Seattle, its greenery and its water.

Woodinville, Washington would make a great day trip for wine tasting!  Even with rush hour traffic (3p?), we arrived at the vineyard in less than 35 minutes.

Turning into the winery grounds was being transported to a chateau in France.  Such a welcoming feel as we drove down the drive.  The welcome continued with our tour guides graciously offering glasses of Domaine Ste Michelle Brut Rose, a refreshing salmon colored bubbly.   If you’ve ever gone on a wine making tour in France, then you’ll appreciate the similarities.   Wine is wine everywhere in the world!

It was the end of the tour that impressed me.  The group was treated to a wine/food pairing session with John Sarich, Culinary Director.  What a charming highly knowledgeable man with a clear passion for Chateau Ste Michelle wines.   I found his approach to pairing food and wine more open than most pairing rules.  One quote “There’s hardly a food that doesn’t go with Riesling.” I’d agree with that!

The wines were delicious and perfectly paired with John’s appetizers.  I fell in love with the lamb and hummus appetizer, can’t wait to try that recipe from John’s cookbook.  Oh yeah, the parting gift was a  signed copy of John’s latest cookbook, “Chef in the Vineyard.”

The lively group settled down for naps on the return trip to Seattle.

What a start to IFBC 2013, spending an afternoon with my first love and finding it’s still something special.  Thank you Chateau Ste Michelle.