We enjoyed a slow morning with family the day after Thanksgiving. No Black Friday shopping for us.

Rose had pancakes, bacon, and coffee waiting for us when we woke up.

And she even made me some of her special oregano elixir since I’m feeling a cold coming on.

{Heidy, Mario, Sis, Rose, me, Ben}

We bid adieu to the family, and a smaller group of the young crowd headed out for our favorite Atlanta tradition – dim sum.

{Leo, Lindsay, and Sis}

We trekked over to the Oriental Pearl (where Sis and I went somewhat recently) in search of dumplings and other deliciousness. The last time I came here with cousins, a few years ago, the restaurant had converted from the amazing dim sum restaurant to a run-of-the-mill buffet. We were so sad to think our tradition had disappeared. It wasn’t until Sis and I made our trip to the OP in May that we discovered the dim sum was back in action! Hazzah!

The restaurant was far less busy and had a smaller selection since it was a weekday, but the carts were swinging by within just a couple minutes, and they proved to have most of our favorites.

We quickly snapped up some har gow, steamed BBQ pork buns, and shui mei.

We got one of the long shrimp dumplings (and a beef one – not pictured).

Crispy shrimp balls.

Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce.

Love their plates by the way!

Baked BBQ pork buns.

With a plate full of my favorite eats, I was one happy eater.

So was Leo.

And sis and I tried a new dessert – a sort of mango jello-type dessert with evaporated milk poured on top.

(I believe this is a photo from a dim sum trip from the early ninties – and do you recognize the girl to the far right?! )

As I mentioned earlier, we made many trips to visit our cousins over the years. Each trip ended with a family trip to the Oriental Pearl for dim sum.

The adults were busy this trip, so the new dim sum crew held down the tradition for this adventure. It’s interesting to think about the transition that is already under way – from the old crew to the new crew. And it’s fun to think about this table being filled in a few years with our children, who will be the next future dim sum crew!

sometimes the food is the best because of the context

The trip reminded me of something Anthony Bourdain said in that show I saw recently. When asked about finding the best food, Anthony said that sometimes the food is the best because of the context. He’s so right! I mean, the food at the Oriental Pearl is delicious, but what makes it so special is the company, the familiarity, and the sentimentality of the experience. We’ve been eating at the Oriental Pearl for about 20 years now, and I hope we get to enjoy at least 20 more years together.

After leaving the Tasting Pavilion, we decided that we had enough time to make a quick trip to Tartine Bakery before the Gala dinner.

We cabbed it over and got in line. Even around 3pm-ish (forgot what time it was exactly), the place had a wait.

Everyone huddled around the display case as they made their way through the line.

And you may be able to tell why from these photos – look at those sweets!

Want.

We were there for chocolate croissants primarily, but they were sold out! So, we picked up a couple things instead.

I’ll have to come early enough to get a table sometime so I can enjoy a piece of this yummy-looking quiche.

Mara and I split a gougere.

And I had a plain croissant. So buttery. So flakey. So right.

***

Soon enough, it was time to get ready for the gala dinner. I was sad it wasn’t going to be at the Ferry Building like it was last year, because that was so stunningly gorgeous with all the lights and high ceilings. But, I was happy that this year’s gala was in our hotel since it meant not having to walk very far in heels and rain.

{me, Lori, Christin, Karen, Maissa}

The gala started with french fry appetizers by Alexia, the sponsor for the evening. The fries were actually created using several blogger-created recipes by fellow Foodbuzzers.

{Teri & Me}

We had a special treat for the evening – a cooking demo by Tyler Florence.

Appetizers

Salad – bibb lettuce, honey-roasted pears, glazed pecans, blue cheese vinaigrette

Main course – Brandt Beef Farms Filet Mignon and Meyer Lemon Roasted Prawns – heirloom carrots, celery root puree and peppercorn demi glace.

I thought everything was cooked nicely and the steak was super tender. I really liked the prawns, as well.

We got not one, but 3 desserts! The San Francisco Trio – Sourdough Bread Pudding, Cowgirl Creamery Cheesecake, Scharffen Berger Chocolate Mousse. They were all nice. I would have preferred the bread pudding warm, but the flavor was nice. I thought the chocolate was rich and light all at the same time, but the cheesecake was my favorite.

Phew – after all that yummy food I was stuffed. Again, some people went out for a night on the town, but I headed back with my roomies to chill in the hotel room and relax. We had one event left, and I’d be heading to the airport before I knew it.

I actually spent some of the night packing my bags, setting aside my honey badger travel outfit, and calling in a reservation for an airport shuttle. I like taking the BART to the hotel and something more direct for the way back. After a pretty productive night, I hit the sack.

***

In the morning, I headed out with my roomies to the last event of Foodbuzz Festival – the farewell brunch.

The brunch was sponsored by Godiva Chocolatier, who gave us some pretty sweet swag in our swag bags – 2 bags of flavored coffee, a travel cup, and chocolate.

They had a coffee station, a cold buffet, hot buffet, as well as speciality Godiva coffee drinks available upon request.

I wasn’t much in the mood for eating since my anxiety was starting to build with the thought of hopping on an airplane in just a couple short hours, but I found a couple tasty things to eat.

And before I knew it…it was time to go.

I bid adieu to my friends – old and new…to my roomies…

…and to the crazy-hilly streets of San Francisco that I love so much…

I walked back to my hotel, got my bags, and waited for the shuttle. The shuttle service was really awesome. It picked me up from the hotel and dropped me right off to gate I needed at the airport. I loved how stress-free it was. For $16 (plus tip), it seemed worth it.

I grabbed a quick lunch at the airport and charged my phone before boarding the plane.

The flight took off at 1:30pm San Fran time and was roughly 4 1/2 hours long. The Foodbuzz swag came in handy as a snack. I really enjoyed this Bunny Bar by 18 Rabbits.

I thought it had a nice mix of oats and dried fruit. The flavor was good, too, and the texture was chewy.

I bought wi-fi for the flight home and caught up on emails and blog stuff. It turned out to be a good distraction from the flight itself. I even helped a football-loving couple next to me keep tabs on their team who was playing while we were in the air. Things were going pretty good until the crew announced that two of the bathrooms weren’t working (when we were about halfway through the flight). Then all by the first class worked. Finally, they announced none of them worked. Yikes! Luckily, by that point, we only had about 45 minutes left in the trip. I was just glad it was the bathrooms not working and not something more serious that could interfere with the flight of the plane, ya know? Anywho, we landed safely and early around 9pm Eastern time. It kind of sucked to lose the whole day to traveling, but I think it was better than doing the red eye like I did last year. I would have liked to squeeze in a couple more restaurant visits on Sunday, but since I’m low on vacation days for the rest of the year, I’m trying to save them for the holidays.

All in all, I had another great trip to Foodbuzz. Thank you to Foodbuzz Festival!

And to all my Foodbuzz friends new and old – it was so much meeting you and hanging out with you. I hope to stay in touch on the blogosphere and see you at another conference soon! I have all the cards I collected gathered, and I can’t wait to check out your blogs!

My roomies and I went a bit rogue Saturday morning. After accidentally sleeping in a little too late, we realized we’d miss the first session.

So, we headed to the Ferry Building and Marketplace in search of breakfast.

We tried hitting up a couple restaurants with no luck, which ended up working out in our favor because Mara saw this Mexican food stand instead.

After asking the nice lady taking my order which she preferred between two options, she offered me 1/2 and 1/2 of each. Score!

First 1/2: Chilaquiles Guanajuato – with organic, local, scrambled eggs, refried beans, sour cream, avocado, white onion, and cilantro

Second 1/2: Oaxacan Tlcaovos – 2 tamales with black beans and cabbage salad

Amazing, unique, delicious and perfect for breakfast.

Good call Mara!

After breakfast, we realized we were too far away to make it to the other sessions on time, so we walked around the market snapping photos as we went.

Melissa and I split one of these vegan Pumpkin Pie Scary Spice doughnuts.

Loved the concept of these bars (similar to TOMS) – Two Degrees. For every bar you buy, they give a nutrition pack to a hungry child. And the bars were tasty, too!

{Roomies: me, Mara, Bobbi, Melissa}

And we hit up a craft market just next to the Ferry Building.

Then, it was on to the Tasting Pavilion!

I got to sample some of the TCHO drinking chocolate that I’d purchased the day before at their store.

The best pears ever – Frog Hollow Farms!

Delicious spiced nuts

Wonderful teas from a lady with a really cool concept and very special teas.

I was really excited to stop by the Cascal booth. I sampled their drinks last year and fell in love. I’ve been purchasing them now and again ever since. And now they have new flavors! I got to sample the mango, which was really tasty.

The Foodzie peeps.

The Boat Street pickled figs were the biggest surprise – they looked like black sludge ina cup (sorry – it’s true!), so I was scared to taste it, but it was actually really delicious.

I saw Teri over at the Alaskan Seafood booth. She was giving out samples of one of her recipes.

I tasted milk and yogurt for the lactose-intolerant – so cool!

This elderberry syrup drink was super-cool.

And the same lady made shortbread cookies with mushrooms – candy cup mushrooms. They were really nice and didn’t taste weird at all.

This morning roll was to-die-for. It was exactly the type of sweet, baked goodness that I crave when I want a decadent breakfast item.

California endives

Fun sauces

One of my faves – specialty sodas. I’ve really been getting into fancy sodas, and these were really good. I tried the Cherry Cola Tree and Ginger Beer drinks, which were both great.

And if I remember correctly, they have these drinks on the East coast, so I may be able to find them! (A lot of the vendors were only selling in-state or regionally.

Really tasty fudge. If you live in Napa Valley – get this!

Elaine’s Toffee Company – lovely toffees.

Vegan breads, toasts, and other goodness.

{Courtney, me, Farihah}

And I saw even more fun bloggers at the Tasting Pavilion! I saw blog friends I haven’t seen since last Foodbuzz or HLS. I even got to meet a couple bloggers who actually read my blog! I didn’t think I’d run into any one who read my blog at Foodbuzz, so it was such a nice surprise.

And then we spotted…Tyler Florence!

I got to meet him and tell him we’re both from the same hometown. I got one of his cookbooks, his autograph…

…and a photo! The photo almost didn’t happen. My camera memory card filled up just after the previous photo, but Sarah saved the day by snapping this one for me. Yay Sarah – you’re my hero!

Next time on TCL – the Foodbuzz Gala dinner.

And we’re almost done with the Foodbuzz blog posts. Sorry it’s taking so long, but I have so many photos to share, and they take awhile to edit. Plus, I’m trying to not let myself get overwhelmed again, so I’m trying to pace things out.

Coming soon:

• an interview with the CEO of The Limited
• a giveaway of 2 gift cards to The Limited
• plus fun recipes: chocolate cake minis, Mexican hot chocolate dough balls, and more!

Reader question: I’ve never really eaten Mexican for breakfast before. Have you? What’s your favorite Mexican breakfast?

After our adventure at Fisherman’s Wharf, we were going to attempt to hit up Tartine but decided we didn’t have enough time to go there and back before dinner. And, after last year’s debacle with the shuttles, I was absolutely not going to be late for the shuttles this year.

After relaxing at the hotel for a bit and then a quick outfit change, I headed out with my roomies to the Foodbuzz Festival 2011 Welcome Reception, Dinner and Blogger Award Ceremony.

We were greeted with snacks and wine.

I went with the white option.

We grabbed a table…

…and then food. The focus was on hummus thanks to sponsor Sabra. I had veggies, a hummus tart, and chicken salad mini sandwich, which were all tasty.

{Me, Mara, Farihah, Megan, and Emily}

And one of the best parts was meeting so many fellow food-loving bloggers! I had so much fun hearing about what they did (in real life), where they lived, and what their blogs were about. Not to mention I got to see a lot of my blog friends that I’ve met before but don’t get to see very often since we live so far apart.

{Aubrey, me, Ilana}

{me, Ayah, Kailey, Mara}

After the welcome reception, we headed upstairs for the main-event eats.

There were a couple stations with different small bite plates of food.

I fit as much as I could on one plate (Tuscan beef stew, Butternut Squash Orzo, Brown Sugar Butter Roasted Chicken, Baked Four Cheese Macaroni, Whipped Potatoes with Pecorino Cheese on Meatloaf Muffins, Potato & broccoli soup)…

….and in my stomach.

I hit up the cook station area in search of scallops and pork belly.

Cha-ching!

I found both.

And then, even though I was feeling pretty full and trying to save room for dessert, I grabbed a couple things off the other table I missed.

Housemade Beet Ravioli and Mai’s Roll (Vietnamese spring roll).

All the eats (except maybe the scallops and pork belly?) were creations by fellow bloggers, so it was really cool to taste their recipes-brought-to-life. I think my favorite was the meatloaf, which just happened to be the recipe by my roomie, Mara.

We heard from the Federated Media CEO…

and Jennifer of Tiny Urban Kitchen who won Project Food Blog (and donated the money to a great cause – you can read more about it by clicking here – she’s so cool)…

…and then we had the awards ceremony. You can check out the full list of nominees and the winners by clicking here. Congrats to the winners!

After the awards, they brought out dessert.

I wanted to try one of everything and I think I nearly succeeded. I believe I only missed one. My favorites were the cheesecake and chocolate cake. Yea, I had two favorites.

After wrapping up eats, congratulating the award winners, and catching up with some blog friends, it was time to discuss what to do for the night. This working girl had been feeling on the brink of coming down with something for the last week or so, so I decided to call it a night and head to the hotel. I ended up staying up a bit late to catch up on some blog posts, but I was still happy to do it from the comfort of my bed.

Next up – a trip to the Ferry Building and breakfast at the farmer’s market.

Reader question: If you weren’t at Foodbuzz, based on the photos/descriptions you’ve seen (here and on other blogs), which food item would you most like to try? If you were at Foodbuzz, which one was your favorite?

As I work through editing the photos from Foodbuzz Festival, I’m realizing that there are so many that I want to share with you that many of the related posts will be pretty photo-heavy. This is one of them.

Remember that time I went to Chez Panisse? Did I mention that Mara and I went on a mad shopping spree just before dinner? Ok, not really. I only had one store I wanted to visit this trip – Zara. I’ve lusted after their clothes for a long time, but they don’t exactly have tons of Zara shops in the South. I wanted to go by this shop the last time I was in San Francisco, but by the time I swung by the store, it was closed.

This year, I was determined to make it, and make it I did.

I was like a kid in a candy store at Zara and oohed and aahed at all the pretty clothes. I haven’t had a chance to wear the goodies I bought very much yet, but so far, the store has impressed me. The clothes seem reasonably priced with up-to-date styles (that seem to be pretty well made). The huge plus is that the clothes actually fit me pretty well – especially the blazers, which is normally challenging for my wide shoulders.

Anywho, we actually really did go to Zara on Thursday, but it was too dark to take photos, so I snapped a couple when we happened to pass it Friday on our way to the Fisherman’s Wharf.

The first goal of Friday was to sleep in. We ended up waking up kind of early, but we still got to enjoy a lazy morning, which was close enough for me. No rushing to the office for me, thank you!

The second goal of Friday was to get a crab roll for lunch, thus the trip to Fisherman’s Wharf.

I had to snap a photo of Boudin at Pier 39. I really enjoyed bringing some sourdough home from my last SF trip, but since they sell it at the airport, I prefer to just get it there out of convenience.

The weather was gorgeous – i only wish we’d had enough time to go by the Golden Gate Bridge.

I got to see the famous sea lions again. Love those cute “little” guys.

Mara and I approached a row of restaurants and decided to go ahead and find a place to sit down and enjoy lunch.

We ended up going with Nick’s Lighthouse.

The interior had a funky, eclectic style.

Coca cola and a water to drink.

We each got a small cup of crab chowder. With the weather around 59 degrees F (which is cold for this Southern gal), this hot chowder hit the spot.

And we decided to share this crab roll with french fries. It was a good thing, too – do you see how big that sandwich is?!

The crab salad wasn’t at all what I expected. I thought there would be bigger chunks of crab so it more resembled potato salad or something. This crab salad had a texture and consistency like chicken salad made with pulled chicken.I actually found this to be a nice surprise, and I really liked the way they prepared it.

After lunch, we walked down to Tcho, a chocolate shop that Mara discovered on her last SF trip.

Tcho makes their chocolate from-scratch (like, from the cacao bean) right here. Love that!

Unfortunately, we missed the tour by 20 minutes (they only do two a day at this time – one around 10 am and one at 2pm – call Tcho for actual times), but there were at least plenty of samples around to taste.

We decided to bring some chocolate goodness home with us. This drinking chocolate caught my eye…

…as well as these Tcho a day containers that looked sort of like protein powder at first glance.

I got drinking chocolate, Tcho-a-day, and some cacao nibs to bring home. Gotta love an edible souvenir.

Next time on TCL – the first Foodbuzz event!

Reader question #1: Have you been to Fisherman’s Wharf? What was the most memorable place/restaurant/etcc of FW?

Reader question #2: What type of souvenir do you prefer – one you can keep forever (magnet, picture frame, etc.) or one you can eat/drink/consume (chocolate, spices, etc.)?

I had the pleasure of visiting one of the world’s most famous restaurants last Thursday with Foodbuzz roomie Mara of What’s for Dinner? I have to thank Mara for making the restaurant suggestion when we were deciding where to go for our splurge meal of the trip to San Francisco, CA.

Chez Panisse was co-founded by Alice Waters (chef/author) and Paul Aratow (film producer/professor) in 1971 and is famous for using local and organic ingredients. The restaurant has been entertaining foodies for many years – I like to think of it as the type of place my dad would love to visit. You may recognize Alice as being a pioneer of the local/organic/slow food movement, and she has even been called the “mother of American cooking.”

Note: Both of my nicer lenses broke before Foodbuzz, so I used the factory lens for my Foodbuzz trip. It works well with good natural lighting, but the quality of photos won’t be that great in low-lighting like the type we had at this dinner. Sorry!

(this photo – credit – Mara – What’s for Dinner?)

From the Chez Panisse web site:

“Alice and Chez Panisse are convinced that the best-tasting food is organically and locally grown and harvested in ways that are ecologically sound by people who are taking care of the land for future generations. The quest for such ingredients has always determined the restaurant’s cuisine. Since 1971, Chez Panisse has invited diners to partake of the immediacy and excitement of vegetables just out of the garden, fruit right off the branch, and fish straight out of the sea. In doing so, Chez Panisse has established a network of nearby suppliers who, like the restaurant, are striving for both environmental harmony and delicious flavor.”

We took a long cab ride from San Francisco to Berkeley for our late dinner out. A nice woman waiting outside offered to take the photo of Mara and me. As it turned out, the lady was Mary Jo – a pastry chef of the restaurant. She gave us the inside scoop to ask Pete (a busboy at the restaurant) to give us a kitchen tour, saying he did a wonderful job.

The menu at Chez Panisse is particularly interesting.

I found this note about the menu on the Chez Panisse web site:

“The menu which changes every night is designed to be appropriate to the season and composed to feature the finest sustainably-sourced, organic, and seasonal ingredients including meat, fish, and poultry.”

The restaurant has the same menu for all guests on any given day. I’d never been to a restaurant that didn’t offer at least a choice of two options per course, but I was down for whatever Chez Panisse had to offer. It was kind of like an eating adventure.

The menu turned out to be quite the experience for me, providing dishes that contained many ingredients I don’t typically like. I was ready for the challenge, though with an open mind and empty stomach.

The starter proved to be the first challenge – olives with fresh herbs and orange peel. I’ve never been a big fan of olives, but I recognize them as a delicious food item. I’ve been trying to eat them over and over the last couple years to no avail. But, on this night…they were absolutely delicious! I absolutely loved them and was really excited to finally get why everyone seems to rave about olives so much. I’ve been enjoying tangy flavors lately, so I’m thinking that helped me enjoy the flavor of these olives. The firm texture also helped.

Our menu for the evening.

Nice hearty bread with butter.

First course – from the menu – “Wild mushroom tart with watercress and rocket”

The first course was another challenge. Mushrooms and I have never really gotten along over the years. There’s something about the texture of mushrooms that I find unappetizing, though I adore the flavor. I frequently leave mushrooms in foods cooked with them, and though I will try to eat them, I can usually only down one or two in a sitting.

Of course, tonight was special, and I managed to eat the whole tart! This meal may have contained the most mushrooms I’ve ever eaten in one meal. And did I mention I enjoyed them? The tender mushrooms paired with the crisp tart shell – yum! The side salad was pretty nice, too – I love my greens.

Mara and I opted for the wine pairing that came with the meal.

The wine matched the dish perfectly.

Second course – (from the menu) – “Roasted Ling cod with shell bean ragout and herb butter”

I’m not much of a big seafood person, but I wasn’t going to let that throw me off. I was really excited about tasting such a well prepared piece of fish. The funniest part of the night was when Mara and I tried to figure out what the delicious “broth” in the bowl was. “It’s so rich…and…buttery? What is it?” Yeaaa, a quick check of the menu revealed that the “broth” was in fact melted butter with herbs. Niiice.

The fish was lovely, the shell beans were tasty, and the green beans were cooked perfectly crisp-tender. This course was paired with another white wine that again matched the course exactly.

As we were wrapping up the second course, I noticed that the same guy had been clearing our plates. Clearing plates => bussing => busboy Pete? As he collected the plates from our second course, I decided to go ahead and inquire further – “excuse me…are you…Pete?” He seemed surprised I knew who he was (even though I didn’t really know who he was…hehe), but when Mara and I referenced Mary Jo, he was all in. We asked if he’d have time for a kitchen tour, and Pete suggested we do one after finishing our entrees.

Third course – (from the menu) – “Spit-roasted Rancho Llano Seco pork loin with wilted greens and parsnip puree.”

The pork was melt-in-your-mouth tender, and though I normally like to trim all the fat off of my meat, the outside crust had an amazing flavor that couldn’t be missed, so I ended up eating some of it. The puree was silky and the greens was cooked just how I like them (not too soft, not too firm). Everything was seasoned perfectly and tasted amazing.

Within a couple quick minutes of finishing our main course, Pete whisked us away to the kitchen for the grand tour.

Spices and the old-school order board.

Dessert in the works.

I kind of wanted to have a Veruca-Salt-moment and jump onto the table digging into all the sweets. But I refrained.

Local produce!

The restaurant also had a map on a corkboard in the kitchen showing where all the farms in their network were located.

Our fabulous tour guide Pete showed us the biggest mushroom I’ve ever seen! Scary!

Back to the table – the view of the restaurant from the kitchen.

Pete surprised us with mint tea before the dessert course. The tea was piping hot when it came out…

…but just ready for drinking by the time they served dessert. I’m not sure if they did that on purpose, but I like to think they planned the timing perfectly on purpose.

Dessert course: “Pear sherbet coupe with Champagne glee”

I’m not a big sorbet/ice cream person when it comes to dessert (give me baked goods!), but I loved every bite of this.

This crispy cookie with almonds was quite nice, too.

And as though we hadn’t gotten enough nice little touches to our dining experience, Chez Panisse gave us a small plate containing tiny pieces of chocolate and pate de fruit. The chocolate was lush and creamy and the pate de fruit was chewy and sweet. They were both delicious, and I kind of wished I could buy more to take home.

Oh, and I can’t end this post without mentioning what a wonderful job the staff at Chez Panisse did for Mara and me. From the host who greeted us to the pastry chef waiting for her ride to the busboy who gave us a tour of the kitchen, everyone made us feel so welcome.

I was so thrilled to have dined at a restaurant so integral to the local food movement, and I can definitely see why Chez Panisse frequently ranks in the top 100 restaurants of the world. The biggest lesson – simplicity can be powerfully delicious. Each meal was so special and detailed as to appear extravagant, and yet it was so simply prepared. Though I already tend to be a simple cook, but this experience was great inspiration for me to strive to make simple excellent.

Reader question #1: Have you ever been to a restaurant that inspired you to change the way you cook?

Reader question #2: What’s the most famous restaurant you’ve been to?

Well, I’m currently typing mid-air over who-knows-where on my way back from Foodbuzz Festival 2011. We have about 2 1/2 hours left in our flight, and I’m really looking forward to seeing hubby and Bailey. I’m hoping to draft a couple posts before getting home, and I’m having a blast editing all the photos! It’s so fun to relive the trip through the images.

On to day #1 of my trip to San Francisco, CA…

***

Have I ever mentioned that I’m afraid of flying? Not sure where it came from but I’m blaming the fact that my family always did our family vacations as road trip warriors. I’ve never flown anywhere with my immediate family…seriously, not once.

I don’t know why I do it to myself, but I always try to score window seats on planes. Someone afraid of flying should probably not be staring out of a window – especially for take-offs or landings.

I thought I’d snap some photos of some scenic views from the plane on the way out to California, though.

The captain didn’t announce anything, but I believe these are the Rockies (can anyone tell?).

Soon enough, we were flying over the Bay towards the airport, and I was desperately hoping to see a runway under our plane soon. Have you ever landed over water?! It’s fine at first, but once you start being able to recognize individual waves, you start to wonder when you’re going to see land. I was so happy when I finally did. I swear there was only about 10 feet of clearance, but we were moving so fast, it must have been hundreds. At least, that’s what I’m going to tell myself.

I was the first to check in at the hotel. Our hotel was very close to last year’s and right between Union Square and Chinatown, which I thought was a pretty ideal location. The rooms were small-ish, but very nice. I spoke with the man checking in who mentioned they’d all been renovated within the last year. I only wish they would have added in a couple extra outlets (us bloggers need to use lots of cellphone and laptop chargers). And, I’m also waiting for the day when all hotels have free wi-fi for all guests. One fine day, right?

Within just a couple short hours of arriving, I met up with roomie Mara and my roommate from last year, Julie. We joked that we were having a reunion from our Cafe Gratitude trip from last year’s conference. Good thing we didn’t have to find a taxi again!

We knew we’d hit Chinatown when we noticed this gorgeous street lamps.

As we got further in, the store signs kind of gave it away, too.

You likey my travel-outfit? I know…stylin’! Seriously, I’m kind of like the honey badger when I travel – I really don’t give a **** (about my outfit). Comfort wins!

I loved seeing all the interesting things for sale in Chinatown – especially the food ingredients. It made you want to pick up something you didn’t recognize and go home and figure out something interesting to make with it.

We walked all around Chinatown trying to find a dim sum place that was open. Our original plan was to return to the dim sum restaurant I visited nearly 3 years ago on my first trip to SF – Hang Ah. Unfortunately, they were closed. I think they’ve started serving only on Fridays-Sundays since my visit there.

We then walked by a few other places that had good reviews on Yelp. Unfortunately, they had no where to sit down to eat (kind of like the place we visited last year), and us weary travelers were looking for a sit-down spot. We were about 5 minutes shy of making it to Hong Kong Clay Pot before they closed, but just missed cut-off. And after having traveled from pretty far and walking around in the rain, we ended up stopping at a buffet style restaurant that a kind lady on the street recommended.

It was pretty good, but I actually thought the fresh batch of stir-fried noodles with chicken was better than the dim sum.

We meandered back to Union Square in search of desserts.

Julie told us about a cupcake shop she’d read about online, as well as a delicious pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

The place – Cako.

They didn’t have the pumpkin cupcake, so I decided to go for the Banana Tella – a banana cake with nutella buttercream frosting.

The cupcake was really interesting and almost tasted like a banana muffin. The frosting was a nice buttercream with a light nutella flavor.

And do you see this sign?! I think I need this on a shirt.

***

Next up – a trip to a very famous restaurant – any guesses (no cheating if you already know the answer!)

After a weekend of fun with my bloggie friends, I wasn’t looking forward to Sunday. I wasn’t quite ready to leave Philly or say bye to my friends, and I certainly wasn’t looking forward to the 10 hour road trip ahead of me and my fellow road warrior Katie.

Catching Up? Here are my previous HLS 2011 posts:

• HLS or Bust (Pit Stop DC)
• DC Coffee & HLS Cocktail Party
• Notes from HLS 2011

Quaker Oats sponsored the breakfast, so I was really looking forward to a hot bowl of oats.

I also grabbed some fruit and a hard boiled egg (for extra filling power – we weren’t sure when we’d stop for lunch)

I put honey, ground flaxseed, almond butter, and nuts on my oats.

Shortly after breakfast, it was time to get our car and hit the road.

We made pretty good time for the first couple hours and even managed to find a Panera off the highway for a decent lunch. I had a Greek salad, black bean soup, and baguette.

Unfortunately, as we worked our way through lunch, we watched a thunderstorm roll up. And the next few hours looked like this. The traffic was pretty bad. Stop and go and stop and go for hours. Since Katie was driving, I monitored the weather radar from our phones. The storm spanned all up and down the east coast, but it was vary narrow. It appeared that although the rain was formed in a thin line from about Richmond to Philadelphia, we were managing to drive right through it.

We decided to pull over and let the storm pass. Best decision ever! We stopped, randomly, at a Target and hit up the Starbucks. We were hoping to take a blog break, but there was no wifi! But wifi or not, we were both super happy to see the SUN break through the clouds as the storms passed overhead.

There was lots of residual traffic from the rain storms, so things weren’t totally smooth sailing, but they were certainly better. The thing driving us the most crazy was seeing the sign for Richmond over and over again. We were moving so slowly, it felt like every time we saw the mileage sign, Richmond was only 1 mile closer each time. Richmond seemed so far away!

As you may guess, when we finally did see Richmond we were so happy.

We never thought we’d be so excited to see Richmond, but we sure were!

I shared the brownie I got from Evan with Katie as a pre-dinner snack (or was it a we-escaped-the-crazy-rain-storm celebratory treat?). Either way. It was delish!

One good thing that came out of the rain storm was a call I made to hubby’s brother, for help. I knew we’d be passing Durham on the way home and that he was quite the local restaurant expert. His suggestion – Broad Street Cafe. It would be open late (since we were running late…stupid storm) and had great food.

Perhaps the best surprise? A live jazz band!

I gotta tell you, after spending nearly 10 hours on the road, a relaxing jazz band was just the thing I needed to calm my nerves. It was so relaxing!

I scoped out the menu online prior to arriving and kept seeing two things pop up: sweet potato fries with homemade ketchup and the butternut squash pizza. I ordered both.

The fries were amazing! Mostly, I loved the homemade ketchup. The ketchup was spiced! Spicy and sweet…mmm. The two combined made for a dynamic duo of flavor and texture.

I was really on the fence about the pizza because it seemed so simple, but when I read the detailed menu description, I was sold. Perhaps it was the leeks and shallots? Or maybe just the unique combination of ingredients I’ve never seen anywhere else. Fire-roasted butternut squash, roasted leeks, shallots, Gorgonzola, and Applewood-smoked bacon all on the same pizza? SOLD!

The pizza was a perfect example of balance of savory and sweet. The smokey, salty bacon was perfect with the sweet shallots and butternut squash. The leeks were the icing on the cake. Who knew all these ingredients would taste so great together? Apparently Broad Street Cafe did.

The dinner stop was just what we needed to power through the last 2 1/2 hours home. We finally arrived around 11:15pm…phew! We had a long day, but we were home safe and sound. This definitely makes my longest road trip ever!

Bailey was especially happy to see me, and he practically tried to break down the door when he saw me coming. Cute little guy. His corgi butt was going a mile a minute shaking in happiness (they shake their butts since they don’t have tails).

HLS or Bust – Done and done!

I’d like to send out a thanks to Katie for being such an awesome road tripper. I’d also like to thank Mr. Philadelphia for his help locating a parking deck and offering numerous restaurant suggestions. And a big thank you to Meghann for organizing this year’s HLS.

And of course, I’d like to thank you, dear readers, for your many road trip tips and restaurant suggestions. I wish I could have tried some of them out, but it was hard because we were trying to stay close to the highway for the road trip portion and then close to the hotel for the conference. I’ll refer back to your suggestions next time when I have more time to explore!

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Missing my recipes? I have a bunch queued up and ready to share! Check back for more of those later this week/this weekend.

And click here to get free The Chic Life updates!

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Reader question: What’s the longest road trip you’ve ever done? How long was it?

So, where did we leave off!?

Ah yes, getting ready to hit the town after the summit wrapped up!

But quickly…a couple other HLS things:

Zumba at HLS: Unfortunately, Gina and I were not able to co-teach another Zumba class together. Click here to view the awesomeness that was Zumba at HLS 2010. The gym I was hoping would let us use their facilities tried to charge us $10 per person with a minimum of 20 people. Did I mention Gina and I wanted to teach for free? Anywho, then the hotel was actually willing to let us use a room, but we didn’t have any speakers. As much as I really wanted to teach Zumba with Gina again, I think it’s for the best it didn’t work out. I was going to press for a short class since I’m only able to lead about 3 songs at the moment and probably most (or all?) at low intensity. I think it would be better to be 100% for an HLS Zumba class.

Chic Sweets at HLS: I successfully gave away all the treats I prepared all week prior to HLS – chocolate chip cookie dough balls, sugar cook dough balls, Chic Bars, and coconut macaroons (the ‘roons were for my roomies). Did you get some at HLS? Hope you liked them!

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Ok, now back to our outing!

We took a quick trip through the Reading Terminal.

The cheesesteak signs were making me so hungry! I kind of just wanted a big Philly cheesesteak for dinner.

I loved seeing all the beautiful old buildings and taking note of the tiniest details in the sructures (must be my architect dad wearing off on me).

And the giant murals (this one is small in comparison to most of the others I saw) were so fun to see.

Bloggers take over Philly!

We didn’t have long to site see, but I’m glad we went by the Liberty Bell. The last time I saw this, the bell was still outdoors!

The group wanted to go to The Corner for dinner, and the restaurant kindly put a large table together for our group.

Cheers!

I went family style with Kelly, sharing an appetizer, salad, and entree.

Open kitchens rock – and this one was so pristine!

Leave it to Southerners to find the one Southern restaurant in Philly. Ok, there are probably others, but we did think it was amusing to see collard greens and BBQ on the menu. And we were given these mini buttermilk biscuits pre-meal. Southern eats in Philly, eh? I’ll take it…but I’ll probably order something I can’t get back home.

A quick, fresh-grated dusting of salt, and they were ready to go.

The tiniest biscuits I’ve ever seen!

For our app, Kelly and I shared the “seared scallops: cucumber salad, sour cream, peach compote”

Salad – “beet salad: sour cream (we subbed vinaigrette), capers, lemon, summer squash”

We subbed sour cream with vinaigrette. I like sour cream, but only in small doses.

The really interesting part of the meal came with the entree. Many of us were intrigued by the “Seafood Hotdog” on the menu and asked our waitress about it. She explained that the seafood hotdog was made with fish, scallops, and shrimp. Since the last time I’d heard of such an interesting hot dog was never, I had to try it!

The seafood hotdog was served with fingerling potato chips and cole slaw.

And the verdict? It was really good and totally worked! I thought it was a nice take on the hot dog, sans casing, with a much better filling.

I’d also like to throw in, since I read negative reviews for service for this restaurant on yelp, that our waitress was super nice and accommodating. She happily split up our many checks and took care of our table with a friendly smile.

Post dinner, we met up with some fellow bloggers for cocktails (none for me, thank you Asian flush) and a night on the town. Oh, and we totally saw someone get pulled over right in front of the bar we were chillin in and watched in shock as they got handcuffed and place in the police car. Doh! After getting a recommendation from a couple policemen who outside after all the drama-rama, our group hit up Woody’s for a little fun.

<insert fun, fun fun!>

And post Woody’s, and after a couple detours, we ended up in this line waiting for late night pizza!

Nom! Nothing like pizza to end the night.

Reader question #1: Have you seen the Liberty Bell? Was it inside or outside when you saw it?

Reader question #2: What’s the most unique hot dog you’ve ever had?

Hi friends!

I so wanted to put all my blog posts up as they were happening but the weekend was quite the whirlwind!

After a quick breakfast sponsored by Attune Foods, it was time for the conference to get started!

Here we go HLS 2011!

(I’ve posted notes from the sessions – some things I knew, some things I didn’t, but I’m sharing some that I thought would be useful for others)

First up, I did the session on writing better recipes with Stepfanie Romine. I must admit, this was the session I was most interested in since my blog has been including more and more recipes. I’m so glad I stayed for this session because I learned so much to apply to my many recipe posts.

Recipe Writing Key Take-Aways:

• Always Include: Title, headnote and tips, yield, prep and cook times
  ingredient list, directions
• Missing prep/cook times (or not including alternatives for people who don’t have specific tools/ingredients in the headnote/tips) can be a deal breaker for reader
• Be specific, but also creative (i.e. Fitnessista’s serving size “serves 1 hungry pilot, a Fitnessista, and her GF bun in the oven”)
• Use numbers instead of spelling out numerals
• Lowercase most foods (unless they’re proper nouns)
• Use articles in directions (say “place the onion…” versus “place onion…”)
• Put ingredients in the order you use them (I’ve gotten better on this in the last year)
• Start directions with a verb
• Know your tools and cooking terms
• Though it’s disputed, only the headnote and methods of a recipe can be copyrighted
• NEVER post another person’s (from a blogger, magazine, web site, etc.) recipe in full without permission (adaptations and inspired recipes can be posted if you’ve changed enough from the original recipe)

I also now feel the strong desire to not only re-photograph, but re-write all my older recipes.

What are your general recipe pet peeves?

Next, we had a session that surprised me with awesomeness. The agenda on the web site didn’t say what the post-break activity would be, but it was a presentation by Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of The Flexitarian Diet. She started by showing us the above photo and asking us to remember it throughout her presentation. She discussed easy ways to help people make better and healthier choices when they are unsure.

I wrote about her Action Mantras in the Project Think Positive {Week 4} post, so you can read about what they are there, but here are some of my favorites that she shared:

• To counter a sweet tooth, use Action Mantra “Social Sweets Only” – instead of downing a tub of ice cream solo at your house, enjoy sweets in social settings – ask a girlfriend to go out for ice cream, etc.
• To counter the issue of not having time to plan dinner, use Action Mantra “Dinner Deck” – keep 5-7 easy dinner ideas on cards and when you don’t have time to plan, pull one of the cards and use that to make a meal
• To counter unhealthy snacking, use Action Mantra “Plant + Protein” – combine plants and proteins for a better snack, for example celery and peanut butter
• To counter office sabotage, use Action Mantra “No Free Food” – pass on the free doughnuts in the office break room and choose a better snack/treat

Dawn also encouraged us to write our own Action Mantras. Here are some tips:

• Easy to memorize, 3-4 words
• Colorful language
• Rhyme
• Alliteration
• Positive/fun (Positivity Motivates)
• Remember: Repetition = Results

The Action Mantras reminded me a lot of Project Think Positive, and I’m really glad I was able to use the inspiration for this week’s challenge (click to view).

What’s an Action Mantra (listed above or one you make up) that you can use?

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After Dawn’s presentation, I headed to the “Rising Above Negativity” panel with Brittany, Heather, Julie, and Courtney.

The session was more conversational, so I kept my laptop shut so I could really listen and get into the discussions.

My main take-aways were:

• Create a comment (or comment deletion) policy
• As Caitlin says, your blog is your castle, so let in only what you want
• There’s a difference between constructive criticism and rude/mean comments
• You can decide for yourself how you want to handle a negative comment – sometimes the best way is to ignore it. Heather suggested you ask yourself the following when replying to a negative comment, is your response kind, true, necessary?
• Negative comments are often more about the person leaving the comment than you (Julie)
• Constructive criticism isn’t an excuse for rudeness (Heather)

Bloggers: How do you handle negative comments?

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Soon enough, it was time for lunch – a 100% vegetarian lunch on Great Harvest breads!

Everyone attacked the quinoa table. jk. We all attacked all the tables because we were hangry!

I went for lots of veg, 1/2 roasted veggie wrap, 1/2 tofu sammie. Nom!

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For the second to last session of the day, I attended Monica’s presentation on Blogger Safety – one that more people should pay attention to in everyday blogging/tweeting/etc.

Monica went over several tips, some resources, and even talked about one scary story that happened recently to a fellow blogger (who was actually at the conference).

Main Take-Aways:

• Check-in and blog about places AFTER you’ve left them
• Be careful of what information is in your photos/blog posts – your dog’s tag has address information, a piece of mail on a table could have personal details, restaurant receipts can have your credit card info
• Avoid blogging about, for example, how lonely you are since your roommate will be gone and you’ll be all alone for the next 2 weeks
• Avoid saying you’re not home (because someone could try to rob you while you’re gone, since they know your home will be unoccupied)
• Fightcyberstalking.org is a useful resource

Important stuff you guys! Be safe!

What are your tips on blogging/tweeting safety?

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And for the final session of HLS, I attend Katy’s presentation on How to Monetize Your Blog (Without Selling Out). I was at the very back of the room and couldn’t seem to get a photo of Katy during the presentation. Doh! But, she was lovely as ever, I promise.

Here are some of my key take-aways from this session:

• There are several sources: Sources: Ad network, private ads, affiliate sales, sponsored posts, event sponsorships, freelance/contract
• Private ads could be good for geographic blogs (for example restaurant blogs, etc.)
• Think you haven’t done an affiliate sale? Have you shared a Groupon link to get friends to buy stuff on Groupon so you get Groupon-bucks? Yea, that’s an affiliate sale. Gotcha!
• Try to ask yourself if your time is worth what your’re getting ($).
• Be open and honest with your readers so you don’t drive them away (if you’re going to do a paid blog post, consider telling your readers something like how you’re posting about a product because you really believe in the company/product and how it’s a paid post to help you cover hosting fees, etc. – tailor to your situation obviously)
• Create an easy-to-find media kit
• Pay it forward – if an opportunity doesn’t work for you, pass it on to a fellow blogger to help the community and your blend
• Know the laws – taxes! Do them.

Bloggers – how do you feel about monetizing your blog?

Readers – what do you think about bloggers who use ads, do affiliate sales, or any of the other money sources above?

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Next time on TCL, a bloggie night on the town in Philly!

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Catching Up? Here are my previous HLS 2011 posts:

• HLS or Bust (Pit Stop DC)
• DC Coffee & HLS Cocktail Party

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Also, I’m loving the fill-in-the-blank answers on the Project Think Positive {Week 4} post – you guys have some AMAZING ideas for responses to these tough questions! Nice job!

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I hope these notes were useful, and be sure to check out the reader questions embedded in this post throughout!