The National Peanut Board had peanut-bacon brittle and a cookie made with peanut flour. High protein. Our host for Saturday and Sunday, Theo Chocolate had samples everywhere. I would be taking the factory tour on Sunday.
Cheese nirvana thanks to Beecher's Handmade Cheese.
Syrah Bistro in Santa Rosa, CA had two chilled soups. A melon and jalapeno and this watermelon gazpacho. neither tastes how you'd expect and both are fabulous!
Chef Jason Wilson of Crush and Alaska Seafood had cod BLT's.
Tuna salad and a spicy tuna Asian-inspired slaw from Tonnino Tuna.
I'm not a huge cupcake fan. Cupcakes just don't tempt me. But put the words "salted caramel" in front of just about anything and I'm in. Cupcake Royale had several varieties, including Red Velvet, but Salted Caramel was the hands down winner and it was luscious and decadent and smooth and buttery.
I had more than a sip or two of wines from Walla Walla Wine Alliance, Rodney Strong Vineyards, and Jordan Winery.
Chef Lisa Dupar from Pomegranate Bistro and Lisa Dupar Catering had these delicious tiny baguettes with roast beef, julienned veggies and a mango sriacha sauce. They also had marinated tomatoes which I didn't get to try.
The beer is from Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. This one here is the Deadlift IPA. I really enjoyed this because of the fruity finish. More specifically, the grapefruit finish. The Six Arms has a beer with a grapefruit finish and I really like it. I also sampled their Oktoberfest which is malty and a little darker. Really nice.With this tender, juicy, thick and rare lamb chop from The American Lamb Board, I had some Cabernet Sauvignon from Chateau Ste Michelle.
These lamb chops were a total hit. Got the biggest applause, literally.The folks at POM Wonderful were pouring POM Cosmos. Crisp and refreshing. I also picked up a couple bottles of POM tea because I knew I couldn't just drink wine and beer all night and expect to walk all the way back to the parking lot where I work and then drive my tipsy ass home.
I needed a break from the wine and beer so headed over to the Rishi Tea table for some chai. Very yummy.
Olive Oil from Spain had at least two dozen varieties to sample. Tired a sought-after and then an every-day oil on plain crusty bread.
First time trying geoduck so I thought, what better way to introduce myself to this Northwest gastronomic adventure than to eat ceviche from Taylor Shellfish. I mean, these guys know what they're doing. It didn't taste like I expected. I probably didn't know what to expect. It wasn't fishy yet tasted of the water. It was chewy yet had body and tooth. It wasn't slimy but was moist. Honestly, I probably won't buy and prepare geoduck but now I will order geoduck because I know I will like it.
2 comments:
Sitting right now in the Modernist Cuisine lecture at the third day of the IFBC. The conference itself has been just the same wonderful whirl you describe above. One of the most enjoyable aspects, though, is the multi-dimensional experience of reading about it on so many blogs while experiencing it firsthand. Thanks for blogging it!
Liz, me too! Love the exploding popcorn.
I'm having so much fun! Can't keep up with the blogging. Will be covering some of the sessions throughout the week after I have time to even think about them. For now, just soaking it in. Thanks for visiting!
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