Choco ~ Crazy!
Happy Hump Day all! I LOVE hearing all the cool things you’d LOVE to own from My Open Sky Shop and how you all plan on using them. Remember you have THREE ways you can enter to win one of the THREE Eat Smart Precision Pro Digital Food Scales I am giving away ~ Make sure you Tweet, Facebook, Link and tell everyone you know to improve your chances to WIN 
I have sort of a funny story regarding my breakfast this morning. I was pondering all the ideas you shared with me to help break me out of my Breakfast Rut when I randomly recalled my visit to Europe a few years back. I LOVED how they served up meats and cheeses to make sandwiches for breakfast. So, I thought, why not do that?
1 Whole Wheat Bagel Thin
1 oz LEAN Honey Ham
1/2 oz Lean Honey Roasted Turkey Breast
1 Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Wedge
It was good, but, you know, I really think you have to be in EUROPE to actually appreciate having a sandwich for breakfast. It wasn’t bad for 3.5 points, but, I am not sure it was as COOL as I remembered 
. I served it up with 1 cup of strawberries.
4 points of Europeanness 
LOL
My Mid Morning snack was a 3 point repeat of yesterday ~ 4 Kashi Bruschetta Crackers with 1 Sargento Low-Fat Colby Jack Cheese.
It has been pouring rain here all day and I have to admit I got REALLY excited when I saw the sun come out. I thought for sure that I could squeeze in a quick run before the rain came back even though there were a million signs telling “Don’t Do It!” (Rain, forgot my water bottles for my fuel belt, forgot my headphones = no music)
I laced up my shoes, found some spare headphones in my desk and headed out. 3 minutes in it started to sprinkle. I thought, ok, I can handle a little rain….then, the drops got bigger and BIGGER and I thought ~ wait, I don’t want to ruin my shoes & I have my WEIGH IN tonight so I don’t want wet hair (you know that could be like an extra 1/2 lb LOL).
I reluctantly turned around and changed up my lunch plans. I ran to Whole Foods to pick up some PLANTAINS to make Cheesy Chicken & Plantain Enchiladas later this week.
Guess what I found when I was there????
CHOCO-LOVE!!!! Not, just any flavored Choco-LOVE, but the TWO flavors that everyone has been searching for to get me ~ DARK CHOCOLATE SEA SALTED ALMOND & TOFFEE+ALMONDS IN MILK CHOCOLATE!!! Notice how they have MINI bars now – so cool! Don’t worry, I went Choco-CRAZY, but, I shared with two of my friends
Lunch started out with a 1/2 cup Sweet Potato “bowl”.
Topped with 1 cup of leftover Black Bean & Sausage soup. tomatoes, 1/8 AVOCADO, 3 FoodShouldTasteGood Tortilla Chips and Sriracha! (6.5 points)
I honestly think that my favorite new way to enjoy any beans is in a sweet potato bowl ~ I LOVE the salty, sweet, creamy combo!
I am pretty sure you could guess my afternoon snack ~ 6 squares of ChocoLOVE Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almonds for 3 points. SO GOOD ~ It’s totally LOVE
My Weigh In today was a totally bust ~ I lost .2 lbs ~ really, that’s all?! I am happy it’s down, always better than up, but I honestly felt I earned so much more, but, for whatever reason, I am doing a great job maintaining. I am going to see if I can shake things up this week and make the scale go down again.
Our topic was pretty cool ~ It was all about spicing things up and trying new things. Definitely something I will be focusing on this week.
I had a fun, unexpected package on my door when I got home from Bertolli.
I had forgot I had signed up with FoodBuzz as part of the Taste Maker Program to receive TWO Bertolli Sauces ~ Four Cheese Rosa & Arrabbiatta. I am so excited to try them out.
I LOVE that they fed my recipe addiction by including recipes too!
The Husband and I did some shopping after my meeting and decided to have some of my FAVORITE Spicy Chicken Tacos at Vasquez for dinner. I had two for 8 points.
I am such a good wife because I shared my Choco-LOVE with The Husband! I totally wanted to have more but, I refrained and opted for some 1 point Annie’s Organic Bunnies to satisfy my sweet tooth. Yes, I totally should’ve had fruit since I am lacking in the f/v department, but, sometimes you just have to go with what sounds good, right
Keep those emails coming because we have such a fun group ready to meet up. If you are interested in participating (or driving from anywhere to meet us) in the Bay Area Blogger Meet Up with TJ & I, send an email to me at danicasdaily at gmail.com.
Just TWO more days….Yeah!
Night all!
Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Quiche
I am a big fan of CHEESY BREAKFAST casseroles, especially quiches. This recipe puts a healthy spin on a a classic Broccoli Quiche by using low fat cheeses, buttermilk (for a rich creamy buttery flavor) and whole wheat flour. I LOVE having the crust mixed IN the quiche because it makes it dense, creamy, cheesy and crunchy with the FRESH broccoli.
My inspiration for this recipe comes from my NEW Weight Watcher’s Slow Cook It cookbook I showed you all last week. I modified their Broccoli Frittata Bite recipe to make it into a quiche.
The key to making this recipe a success in the crock pot is to remember ONE RULE ~ when it comes to eggs, cook them slow and low. High heat tends to burn the outsides before the inside has a chance to cook.
Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Quiche
INGREDIENTS:
2 tsp olive oil
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 package FRESH organic broccoli, chopped ~ 10 oz
1 1/4 1% buttermilk
3 large eggs
1/2 whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tsp of your favorite Hot Sauce
1 c shredded low-fat sharp cheddar cheese
Crockpot liners (recommended since eggs always stick) or nonstick cooking spray
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Spray a large 3-4 quart crock pot dish with nonstick spray or line with a crock pot liner and spray with nonstick spray.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and very soft, about 15 minutes. Add broccoli and cooking, stirring occasionally, until all the flavors are blended, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Whisk buttermilk and eggs in a medium bowl. Whisk in flour, baking powder, sea salt, black pepper and hot sauce just until blended. Stir in broccoli mixture and 3/4 c cheddar cheese until combined.
4. Transfer mixture to slow cooker; sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese over the top. Cover and cook until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 6-8 hours on low. Crock pots do vary on temperatures so be sure to adjust the time according to your crock pot settings.
NOTE: Using the HIGH setting does not work with this recipe as it cooks unevenly (burned on the edges and soggy in the middle)
5. Transfer stoneware to rack and let quiche cool slightly, about 15 minutes. Slice a butter knife around the edges to loosen. Cut into 10 slices. Serve warm.
Makes 10 servings, 2 points each or 8 servings, 3 pts each
Nutritional information per serving
100 Calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated Fat, 0 g trans fat, 67 mg cholesterol, 406 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 7 g protein
STEP-BY-STEPS:
INGREDIENT NOTE: As part of the FoodBuzz Tastemaker program, I received a carton of Eggland’s Best Eggs to taste test. I figured this quiche recipe would be a perfect way to “test them out”.
I am not sure that I buy into the whole adding things to your eggs, especially when your eggs are not organic. However, if you are going to add things, why not have them be good things for you like Vitamins and Omega-3’s I do like that they treat their chickens humanely, they are vegetarian fed with no hormones added. 
I did smile when I saw that they stamped EB on each egg ~ funny, my eggs are branded.
Step 1 ~ start off by heating your olive oil over medium heat and adding your onions to caramelize. I LOVE caramelizing onions because it really brings out their sweetness.
Step 2 ~ After your onions are soft and caramelized, add your broccoli for a few minutes to mix the flavors.
Step 3 ~ while you veggies cook, whip up the egg part. The Eggland’s Best eggs look like normal eggs and they taste like regular eggs too
Add your buttermilk.
Whisk in your whole wheat flour, pepper and pink sea salt.
Plus some heat! I LOVE pretty much every egg dish with a little hot sauce.
Step 4 ~ Stir your veggie mixture into your egg mixture.
Step 5 ~ Stir in 3/4 c of your low-fat cheese. I used low fat Monterey jack because it is what I had on hand.
Step 6 ~ Pour your mixture into your prepared crockpot and top with your remaining quarter cup cheese.
Step 7 ~ Cook it slow & low for 6-8 hours or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool slightly, slice a butter knife around the edges, cut and serve.
You can get really creative with this recipe by mixing it up and using different vegetables or flavored cheeses each time. You can put this in the crock pot before bed and wake up to a delicious breakfast that took not time at all to prepare. Another option is to put it on a Sunday morning and enjoy it for dinner.
Try it ~ you’ll like it!
FoodBuzz Festival ~ Grande Finale
After the tasting, The Husband met me for a little walk and we headed back to our room to relax for a bit before the awards dinner. The entire FoodBuzz Blogger Festival has been a blast, but, it was go go go the entire time. We sent The Husband off to play poker and ordered up our TAXI for the night
Can you believe it was actually cheaper to get a LIMO in San Fran for 6 people than a taxi?! This is totally how we roll! 
We got to the Green Leaf Produce Warehouse super fast ~ I really think our Limo driver knew the in’s/outs to avoid traffic. I think we were the 1st to arrive – yeah! As soon as we walked in the door we were greeted with wine!
We wondered around snapping pictures of the warehouse. This warehouse is used each night to package and send off fresh fruits and veggies from the farmers to everyone out in the city ~ LOVE that!
I really wanted to pick my produce from here like you do at the market
The dinner was hosted by Outstanding in The Field. They set up so the Chefs cook right there in front of you. It was pretty cool to watch them prepare food for over 250 people. It totally reminded me of Dinner Impossible ~ would they complete their mission with success?! Yes, I am a total Food Network dork ~ is there really any other channel worth watching…..
Fun quotes were posted on every door. One the workers asked me if I liked the signs since I went from door to door snapping like 15 signs ~ I am such a tourist!
The tables wrapped around the entire warehouse in a big circle. Hi Janeeeetha (she’s hiding can’t you tell!!!)
Each worker for Outstanding In Their Field brings a set of plates with them when they join the crew at Outstanding In Their Field. I really thought that was so cool and it added a personal touch as you wondered who brought which ones.
The Menu! The dinner had a korean inspired theme complete with bamboo chopsticks that they let us all keep.
On the back, they listed all the Farmer’s who helped contribute to the nights dinner.
More Wine!
They placed Spicy Shrimp Fries on every table. They were super fun to eat, light and crunchy, but, as soon as you stopped eating them you had that “dried shrimp” taste in your mouth ~ ick.
We didn’t know what to do with ourselves while we waited for the buses to arrive so we all snapped pictures since there wasn’t any food to snap yet
We had a mini cocktail hour and they brought around Double Poached Ahi on crunchy bread croutons. It tasted like a fancy tuna salad cracker. YUM!
After a bunch of fun socializing and MORE wine, we sat down to dinner. They brought out a big plate of Bread N Butter Pickle flavored veggies. I honestly think that everything on this plate was AMAZING.
The beets were my favorite by far and I LOVED the spicy Kim Chi.
Each wine was paired with everything we ate. This was a light 2007 Cigare Blanc ~ the flavor was so light it was almost like a watery wine. I LIKED it, but, I am sure the wine connoisseurs reading this think I am crazy for describing wine as water
SOUP ~ The next course was a Mushroom Dashi Soup. I LOVED this soup ~ it was like the sweet teriyaki broth you get with udon soup and the veggies completely complemented it. I was bummed it was cold since I was looking forward to hot WARM soup as we froze in the back of the warehouse (the temp at 64 degrees naturally!)
SALAD ~ I experienced Calamari in a way I never have before ~ Grilled in a browned butter ponzu (think teriyaki/soy sauce) reduction. I LOVED all the vegetables and the spicy kick that was added with the sesame vinaigrette.
They brought out an Antique FIZZY WATER bottle from the Seltzer Sister’s! I think this makes having fizzy water even more fun!
We also moved onto the Red Wine of the night ~ 2005 Le Cigare Volcant~ I LIKED it ~ whose shocked to see me loving all this wine?! I really did though so maybe my taste buds are finally growing up lol….
MAIN COURSE #1: Mushroom Risotto ~ The best part of this dish was the Crispy Maitake Mushrooms ~ they had such an earthy and crunchy flavor.
The risotto was served with a Curried Salmon with Fried Garlic. It looks pretty cool but all the flavor was in the skin and the entire fish was raw and cold inside 
I actually LOVED the salmon they selected though – it was so fresh and not fishy at all. I just wished the curry and garlic went through since fish skin scares me.
MAIN COURSE #2 ~ Roasted brussel spouts with more fried garlic and guanciale (fried pig cheeks ~ funky!) I LOVED this dish and honestly need to figure out how to recreate it with REAL bacon. I had 2 servings of this but probably could’ve eaten this entire plate.
The brussel sprouts were served with……ready for this…..Soy Braised Beef Cheeks and Oxtails! You’d be proud, I did try a cheek and it was ok ~ it was super fatty and I am not big on fatty meats. The flavor of the dish was fantastic though and I LOVED the carrots the best.
Ashley LOVED the cheeks!
Dessert was served while they announced the Blogger Awards. Congrats to all those who won ~ there are too many fantastic blogs to list! Dessert was a pear rice pudding that I had a bite of before setting down. It was eh ok, but, not worth it. After the awards we all headed back to the Hotel Vitale for celebratory cocktails.
I had the BEST Chai TEA ever in my life. I really think I want one of these TEA PRESSES. Who knew that they made french presses for tea?! So cool!
The Husband met up with us and ordered a thin crust salami pizza. I stole a slice ~ it was awesome! The crust was a thin as crackers and loaded with crispy flavor.
It was a fun filled dinner and I was so glad to finally sit down to a meal. We woke up bright and early on Sunday morning for a quick workout then packing before heading off to brunch.
Brunch was hosted at Cafe LuLu and sponsored by Nature’s Pride.
I tried a little bit of everything x’s two with OJ and decaf coffee.
I LOADED up the salads since I was seriously missing veggies and fruits ALL weekend. The pear walnut was my favorite sans stinky cheese of course.
The bread croutons in the panzanella were so buttery and sweet….mmmm! Seeing these pics makes me want those two salads all over again!
I LOVE my bloggie friends that stayed with me at the Wyndham. Janetha, Allison, Jasmine, Quinn and Ashley all got together and gave me this cute Thank You card and a HUGE gift card to Trader Joe’s to say thanks for getting them a room. So nice of you all ~ you seriously didn’t have to do that, but, you sure know my true love ~ TRADER JOES!
They also gave me a bottle of Vino ~ yeah for more wine! I may just turn into a wino after this weekend
SWAG!!!!! I picked up al this at the lunchtime tasting!
Plus the fantastic Authors of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day gave me a FREE cookbook!!!!
With their signature of course!!! Yeah for feeding my recipe collecting addiction! I LOVE their concept of how they prepare a bread starter and use that to make all sorts of breads ~ I NEED to try that!
The FANTASTIC peeps at FOODBUZZ hooked us all up with a HUGE bag of goodies to take home.
Yeahhhhh for more Made In Napa Valley Products!!! The Pear Balsamic Vinegar is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE vinegar – you need nothing else on your salad but this to dress it up.
Sea Salted Dark Chocolate Caramels ~ Need I say more…..they didn’t make it home
As fun as the festival was, I was definitely ready to get back home. We headed out of San Fran a bit early and headed up to Sacramento to watch our nephew play in his peewee playoff football game. We stopped at Starbuck’s on the way and since I didn’t seem to have enough food all weekend, I indulged in pumpkin scone and latte for lunch
Fall colors are everywhere ~ this picture makes me smile looking at all the trees. It’s seriously the little things!
We stopped at Rubio’s on our way home. I stole one of The Husband’s Chicken Taquitos ~ it was the guacamole that got me. Crunchy good!
I ate all of my bean burrito and had a few chips. Surprisingly I didn’t want this chips which never happens to me.
We came home to this ~ I think next time she wants us to take her with us
Dessert! Have you ever seen cute little Toblerone’s? I NEVER have but I LOVE their chocolates. I cannot buy the big bar or I eat the whole thing so these minis are perfect. I wish I could find them
Yeah ~ I finally made it through 3 BIG Foodbuzz recaps for 3 FANTASTIC days!
Thanks again Foodbuzz for hosting such a fun event! I honestly LOVED being able to put so many faces with their blogs and feel like I each and everyone of you is one of my great friends I could call up anytime. I can’t wait for the next event that we can all get together again!
Regular blogging to resume tomorrow along with a CHOBANI GIVEAWAY!!!! Be sure to check back tomorrow for your chance to win an entire case of CHOBANI!!!
Nite all!
Foodbuzz Festival Day 1.5 ~ Little Bites!
I woke up bright and early to head out with “The Girls” for a walk and I saw this!!! The Husband said while in San Francisco for the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival he wanted to see if they would let him audition to become a Hibachi Chef (you know where they cook the food in front of you at a Japanese restaurant!) Luckily I convinced him NOT to wear his “new hat” on our morning walk.
We headed out the door and down our super cool looking stair case. I LOVE the colors of the carpet and the stair rails.
We warmed by the fireplace while we waited to meet up ~ did you know this is ACTUALLY HOT and the fire moves
We stared at the Golden Gate Bridge too
Then, we were off walking up and down the hills by our hotel. We counted blocks at first, then, we just forgot as we chatted away for an hour long walk. I think I’d be totally skinny if I had to walk these hills every day and lug groceries, my work laptop etc.
After our walk, we got ready and headed over to the Ferry Building for the Foodbuzz Breakfast.
But, there was NOTHING but grapes and coffee Since there was no food, we opted for a photo op instead (Total Random Food Guy we didn’t know stood in our pic and smiled – cheese!)
We sampled our way through the Ferry Building as we headed out to the HUGE San Francisco Farmer’s Market that goes on year round EVERY Saturday from 8-2pm (sigh ~ I WISH it was closer because I’d be there EVERY week)
We bought an order of Organic Potstickers and each had one ~ yeah for having 6 in a serving and there were 6 of us.
I think I fell in LOVE with the California Coffee Cake Company. They were giving out samples of buttery Walnut Cinnamon Coffee Cake and PUMPKIN Pecan Spice Cake.
They were both ABSOLUTELY amazing! I “almost” bought one other than I knew I’d someone managed to eat the entire thing in one day and wonder where it went. I refrained
MUSHROOMS!!!!
The HUGEST chunk of chocolate nutty fudge I’ve ever seen.
As we headed out to grab breakfast, we came across a few street performers. I think this is one of my favorite things about San Francisco. You can seriously spend hours walking up and down the streets and see a bunch of people doing crazy fun things.
These were the Cirque Du Soleil characters advertising their act at the AT&T ball park.
The two, er, three person band.
After all that fun and excitement we were STARVING. We headed over to “Rose Goes To Market” for breakfast.
Ashley and I split two dishes. She ordered the FANTASTIC Pear French Toast with Cinnamon Whipped Cream!
I had two bites of my half before deciding it was too early for sweet stuff. It sounded better than it was.
I picked an eggy-sandwich that was eh ok, but, totally not worth $10! I had half.
But these potatoes made up for it – SO GOOD, I think I could’ve eaten a plate of them alone.
I was SO SAD we didn’t have time to actually explore the market. I was totally looking forward to ooohing and ahhhing and BUYING all the fresh organic veggies, but, bummed we didn’t have time to before our morning sessions started. I convinced The Husband to come back another day to stock up – yeah!!!
The breakout session I signed up for was the Farm to Table. It was all about BEEF and how to bring the cow to table, not veggies/fruit, no recipes, no chef talk I wonder what the vegetarians thought Ooops ~ It was great to listen to all that goes into raising the grass fed beef, but, I had hoped to learn more about seasoning cooking.
After our breakout sessions we ran into all of our favorite bloggers and headed over to the afternoon tasting session. Kath surprised me with a little gift of SEEDY DAKOTA BREAD that Matt prepared. Yeah ~ I can’t wait to try it since she always raves about how AMAZING it is
Brandi from Branappetit got the chance to host her own cooking show and presented her Pumpkin Stuffed French Toast ~ it was delish!
And Sabrina from Rhodey Girl Tests also hosted her own show for her Mini Frittatas too!
After the demonstrations, I made the rounds tasting a bite of two of just about everything you see. I started off with Frog Hollow Granola.
Then, grabbed a Sea Food Ceviche. I was too scared to try must past the shrimp (the octopus tentacles freaked me out!), but, the flavor was awesome!
Bertoli’s Sun Dried Tomato Gorgonzola Bruschetta with Pine nuts. Can you believe I ate stinky cheese and liked it?! It wasn’t strong and I sorta heard the gorgonzola part as I bit into it ~ oops
I LOVE the concept of these Vibrant Flavors pretzels, they are baked with no oils and everything is 100% natural. Oh and they are ALL flavored. I tried the Maple Bacon – it was salty, sweet, maple like with a hint of bacon and totally crunchy – YUM!
The same company is spinning of a version of something I’ve never heard of ~ Dry Dip! You dip your bread in the oil then roll it in this spicy hazelnut sunflower seed blend. It is surprisingly good and HEALTHY! It might be the only healthy thing I came across all weekend
I skipped all the flavored Olive Oils when I saw that they had flavored Marshmallows!
Cranberry, Pumpkin Spice and Tahitian Vanilla Marshmallows – super soft and loaded with flavor. The concept is kinda cool and perfect for the season.
I think my FAVORITE candy place was the BonBonBar.
I sampled the Pumpkin Spice Caramel with Vanilla Marshmallow in the middle – OMG!!! I so wanted to buy this on the spot. Their caramel is so buttery, sweet, creamy with a hint of saltiness and it finishes with pumpkin spice and vanilla = LOVE!!!!
Peanut Butter Filled chocolates that I skipped (what’s wrong with me?!)
LOCAL & ORGANIC ~ totally my type of company. I am pretty much going to Berkeley to their store.
The next chocolate I tried was from Neo Cocoa.
Creamy Apple Wood Smoke Sea Salt with ALMOND BUTTER!!! Need I say more?! These were so soft like fudge but super smooth/creamy like a good chocolate should be. She said her secret was that she didn’t start with a hard chocolate shelled chocolate…Hmmm.
i was SO EXCITED when I saw my ABSOLUTE MOST FAVORITE BAKER IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD was there ~ Annie The Baker!!!! I have been going through COOKIE withdrawals now that the Farmer’s Market isn’t going on and I can’t get my weekly fix.
She totally hooked me up with Toffee Chocolate Chip cookies and for the first time ever I actually managed to save one for The Husband – it was so hard to
More fancy chocolates that I skipped because I saw….
THESE! Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Plus Pumpkin Butter…..
So GOOD! I was trying to think of a way to smuggle the dish and jar home
After all that sweet, I decided I needed something salty. I picked their spicy curry pumpkin calzone thing. So GOOD! I need to try curry pumpkin.
BRIE CHEESES!!! The first I tried was a RAW Brie Cheese. It was interesting because it was firm and had a sort of stinky cheese taste at first. It was good, but……
I LOVED the TRIPLE CREAM BRIE best!
With my cheese, I had wine and wine and more wine!
I totally took a grape flavored chap stick too – fun!
I came across one of my FAVORITE vendors there ~ Made In Napa Valley. You can buy their products online or at their store located in Napa. I am sure you all will remember the delicious eats we had when we went to their restaurant Centre Cafe. This is the place that I buy all my flavored Balsamic Vinegars and Spicy Mustards from. I think their pasta sauces, marinades and BBQ sauces rock too. I LOVE their products because they are CLEAN and 100% natural.
I have some super cool things that I will be sharing with you all about Made In Napa Valley in the future and I cannot wait to share! I will be doing some recipe development and a few other things ~ yeah!!! They made sure to hook me up with some a couple of things to take home with me. TASTY Blue Cheese Dijon Mustard (no, you don’t taste the stinky cheese it adds flavor!) and a Smoked Chile Brown Sugar Rub. Julia shared a spicy peanut recipe using this rub that I HAVE to try!
Thanks you two ~ I LOVED chatting and cannot wait to try out my new products!
Next stop was Irish Butter! I have always wanted to try Irish Butter because I’ve heard it’s sweeter than regular butter. I actually LOVED the unsalted version and it’s super creamy in comparison to regular butter.
CHEESE!
I had to stop by the Bertolli Stand again when I heard him say he had Slow Roasted Beef over Polenta ~ YUM!
Mushroom, stuffed, mushroom plus cheese and cheese and spicy Italian Sausage.
You knew it would happen! I started with and ended with MISSION MINI’S!!! I LOVE these cupcakes and am seriously thinking of ALL the reasons I can order them. I had TWO Classic Mini’s.
Plus a two of their new flavor for the day ~ Banana Nut with a Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting. I totally agree that this can be a Breakfast Cupcake
Phew!! Can you believe that only takes you through lunch at the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival?! It was totally fun to sample my way through dinner last night and lunch today, but, I have to admit, I was definitely looking forward to sitting down to dinner.
Tomorrow I will post the Grande Finale ~ dinner, breakfast and SWAG!!!
Off to catch some zzzzzzz’s!
Let the Food Buzz Fest Begin
Ahhh ~ Why did I start my day off working?! I knew I should’ve taken the day off because I think I literally watched the clock go tick tock (yes, the digital clock does that) the whole time until it was time to drive to San Fran for the 1st Annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival.
I couldn’t wait to start my day off with one of my new yogurts, Chobani 2% Pineapple Greek Yogurt! Did you all guess that was the first flavor I’d try?
I topped a mango that I couldn’t chop up for the life of me with Pineapple Cobani Greek Yogurt and Nature’s Path Organic Pumpkin Flax Granola. Delish! I LOVED the pineapple flavored GREEK yogurt and that they used natural ingredients. It’s not as thick as other greeks, but, I still totally LOVED it.
I had breakfast # 2 (ok, well snack) when they announced they were throwing a send off party for 3 of our co-workers who are going with In Good Company for a whole week of restorative work in Louisiana. They are pairing with a bunch of other companies (Clif Bar, etc) to help rebuild LA after the hurricane Katrina damage. It is the COOLEST project ever and I honestly hope to be able to do it one year.
After the party, I headed home where I packed like a mad woman (seriously, I think I scared The Husband). I packed more for one weekend that I do for our week long trips. Oops
We arrived to San Francisco starving, got lost, then, met of with Janetha and her seriously cute family at Taylor’s Refresher. It was such a funny experience for me to be with someone else taking pictures. Oh and the best part was sharing
I ordered the Spicy Ahi Tuna Sandwich with crunchy slaw and ate half. So AMAZING!
Plus Janetha talked me into the VANILLA BEAN shake. One mention of it and I was pretty much ordering it. My new phone tried to pop into the picture too
MMM ~ Check out the vanilla beans.
I think I drank this in about 5 minutes.
This bird was flying around the INSIDE of the restaurant and snagging peoples leftovers. Funny!
We are staying at the Wyndham Canterbury with a BIG group of fun girls ~ Janetha, Allison, Jasmine, Quinn and Ashley. Our room is the presidential suite and it’s freakin’ AWESOME!!!
KITCHEN!
Love the light fixtures.
HUGE @$$ BIG SCREEN TV!
Janetha calls this our porno couch It does sorta look like one….just saying especially since it folds out into a bed.
The shower has TWO heads, one on the top that is spa like and one that is normal.
BEDROOM
Our window has a view of a window LOL
Super cool art decko flat screen and dresser.
The Husband made sure to have some PIMP JUICE to get the party started LOL.
Oh and they gave us a bunch of chocolates when we check in. I think that pretty much made me like the place as soon as I walked in
I do have to say other than being a bit challenged with the check in process the Wyndham Canterbury is pretty darn awesome. We’d definitely come back.
Once were we settled, we quickly changed and headed out to the Cocktail hour. It was set on the terrace at Hotel Vitale. The views were AWESOME since there was no fog at all surrounding the bridge.
Jasmine and I tried to make our way through the crowds, but, there was very little room for walking and talking. We did meet up with a bunch of other bloggers and it was so awesome to put blogs names with faces. So fun.
They had a menu of appetizers that we never really saw or had any of. Jasmine did “buy” (they were all free) me an Autumn Apple drink – it was pretty tasty other than it was like 80% vodka and 20 % juice.
I snagged a little ramkin of Bacon Macaroni and Cheese when it walked buy ~ so good. I need to seriously consider adding bacon to my mac n cheese
Next, up we all headed over to the Street Food fare. I have to admit we all thought we were going to be walking the streets looking for food LOL. But, they had it all caged off with a TON of vendors handing out a bunch of AMAZING food.
I hung out with these girls too – Me, Janetha, Quinn and Allison.
First stop was to grab something to drink as we worked our way down the line. I LOVED the Teas’ Tea! They are 100% Natural and UNSWEETENED. I snagged a couple other flavors on the way out too.
We decided to start with DESSERT first as soon as we saw these little mini cupcakes from Mission Minis. I LOVED these cupcakes – they frosting is totally real, creamy, vanilla like, some with cream cheese and not FAKE lardy tasting at all. I totally want to order these for some special occassion
Kath, Jasmine and I got smart and shared I think almost every flavor taking a bite of each to try them all. The cinnamon was by far my favorite – picture cinnamon cream cheese fluffy frosting on a spicy, soft cinnamon cake – SO GOOD!
They had the BEST ice cream ever there~ I LOVE Straus for everything they stand for and represent. Their ice cream is seriously the real deal made with natural ingredients you recognize and it’s organic too!
TACOLICIOUSNESS!
You got to pick your taco then you add your spicy sauce.
I got a braised beef taco.
They had platters of these homemade spicy pork rinds being walked around. I had one ~ WOW, the homemade version is WAY better than any bag and I am not even a huge rind person.
Next up was these little mini Meat Pies from The Pie Truck.
HOLY YUM! The pastry bread was soft and crispy and totally loaded with buttery cheese flavor. The meat filling had such a steak and wine flavor. I devoured it all and wish I had room for more
Oysters that I watched others eat. I couldn’t convince myself to try them – it’s a texture thing.
I think the BIGGEST hit of the night were these Min Rotisserie Porchett sandwiches on an Acme Roll with Curly Cress and Onion Marmalade.
They actually crisp the pork skin and add rosemary plus balsamic onions.
Served with roasted potatoes. I had a few bites of the sandwich and potatoes. They were interesting with different layers of flavor. I wasn’t a fan of the big fat pork pieces with fat on them but I LOVED the crispy bacon like skin with onions.
The next stop was Alive! I totally want to visit this restaurant. It’s a 100% Vegetarian, Raw Food place.
Tomato Bruschetta with avocado and cashew butter on a pita flax cracker ~ need I say more – so good.
Sun Dried Tomato spread with an olive bruschetta.
Pomegranate Lavender cheese cake, I didn’t have these since I am not a fan of lavender in my food.
Funky foods The mushrooms were tasty though.
I had NO ROOM left at all when we made it to the pizza so I took a picture to share
Phew! That was day 1. We finished in style by chatting it up with wine in our room. It was such a fun day and it was only day 1. Yeah!
Off to get ready for the awards dinner! More to come tomorrow
Sponsors
MY OPEN SKY SHOP
Just a few of my favorite things
