I was in Cabo San Lucas last week, hence the dearth of posts. I was there for a stiletto ninja training workshop, aka rest, relaxation, food, drinkies and fabulousness.  I committed the cardinal blogger sin, you know what I mean, don’t pretend you don’t. Yes, I forgot my camera. Ok, so I brought along the video camera, which helps, but still! You will sadly miss out on all the enticing foodgasms I experienced in Cabo, but I may just have to feature albondigas in a future post they were so freaky-deaky good.  Meanwhile content yourself with a video short of a few of the foodie fashionista finds I stealthily unearthed while streetwalkin’ in stilettos through the cobbled avenidas of Los Cabos. Loves you til next time, and what a good time it will be, xo, l.

Duck Confit gets an Olive Oil Drizzle

I found myself in a very fortunate situation at The Spotted Pig in NYC’s hip Meatpacking District a few days ago.  Because of Electrolux’ generosity  I flew to NYC along with 14 other food bloggers to help Kelly Ripa and Cake Boss Buddy Valastro raise awareness and funds for ovarian cancer research.   Electrolux launched their US line of kitchen appliances two years ago, and they wanted us to see them in action, so they put together a dinner at The Spotted Pig. 

Not only that, but they convinced head chef April Bloomfield to demonstrate the appliances while she cooked for us in a private open kitchen at the restaurant.  I think the shutterflash descent of 15 foodbloggers into the cozy demo space probably startled the chef and her crew just a touch, but they didn’t let it phase them and proceeded to whip up decadent delights perfect for showcasing Electrolux’ versatile appliances. 

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The last few days have been a whirlwind of jet-setting and a true taste of la dolce vita for yours truly.  Electrolux appliances requested food blogger submissions to win a trip to NYC and help raise awareness for ovarian cancer research via Foodbuzz a while back.  I have reasons close to home for entering the contest, and I was over-the-moon when I found out I would be amongst the pool of 15 bloggers selected to go.  As details of the event unfolded, my excitement grew.  Hang with Kelly Ripa? Check.  Stay at the über-chic Hotel Gansevoort in the Meatpacking district? Check.  Get ferried from place to place by an amazing chauffer service during our entire stay? Check.  Attend a private demonstration at the Spotted Pig by their world-renowned head chef  April Bloomfield? Also check!  A couple of days before the event it was revealed that TLC’s Cake Boss himself, Buddy Valastro, would give us cake decorating tips, choose themes, and help us to decorate five cakes that YOU can vote on for free, and every time you vote Electrolux will donate a dollar to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.  What an adventure! 

The event day run of show reads just like something out of a trendy novel about a girl getting whisked into the NYC adventure of her dreams for a day.  I woke up at 6:45am (mind you after a night cavorting with meatpacking glitterati at the Spotted Pig and Gansevoort rooftop lounge) which is 2:45am Seattle time.  After sloshing on a few strokes of makeup and munching a hurried breakfast hosted by Electrolux, a fleet of SUV’s shuttled the 15 of us to the “Live with Regis and Kelly” studio to attend a taping.  By a stroke of dumb luck, I happened to get the best seat in the house, front and center, and thoroughly enjoyed watching Kelly Ripa make chocolate-dipped strawberries and Regis do his comic thing.  After the taping we had two free hours before we were required for cake decorating, and what’s a girl to do with extra time in NYC? You guessed it, I hit up the divine shops peppered about the Meatpacking district.  Sales abound since apparently someday soon winter will give way to spring, so I managed to pick up three dresses in 10 minutes flat at Scoop.  I was really on a mission for boots since winter blizzards were all anyone could talk about and I’d only packed Manolos and Louboutins, but a few new dresses couldn’t hurt, right?

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Sometimes I can be a bit daft.  When a last minute opportunity to head to Vegas complete with a built-in babysitter/Grandma and a reservation at the coveted Atelier de Robuchon jumps into your lap, the least you could do is remember the damn camera, right? Not I so consider yourself warned: the photos in this entry were all lovingly taken with the very best in iPhone technology, sorry for my forgetfulness. 

It just so happened that last week when Jonas and I were trying to cobble together a plan for New Year’s Eve that didn’t involve driving, hanging with 18 year olds or hanging with 80 year olds, but did involve Grandma’s babysitting assistance, a fair amount of imbibing, and a bit of reveling thrown in for good measure, the phone rang.  A good thing too, as we were in the middle of a heated discussion regarding the merits of an aquarium versus a bowling alley on the biggest amateur night of the year- two options I’m glad we didn’t have to explore.  It so happened that my sisters’ boyfriend of several years had hatched a plan to propose to her in Vegas on NYE (since they live there) and at the last minute he decided it might be fun to have her family around.  I think his secret motive was to ensure she would have a heart attack one way or another- if the shock of the engagement didn’t do it the fact that her sister who she hasn’t seen in a year popping up at their table five minutes later yelling “surprise” surely would. 

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I had the wonderful fortune to attend the Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco this past weekend.  It was the most well-organized event I have attended in recent memory; watch out online world of food, Foodbuzz is THE force to be reckoned with and after the festival I know why.  Can you imagine hosting an event for 250 discerning, top-shelf food and drink bloggers from across the world? I would be quaking in my boots knowing that each and every one of them was calculating, composing, photographing and judging everything you put before them in order to head back home and shout about it from the (virtual) rooftops to all their readers.  If you think of the viral networking aspect of that, 250 people could conceivably reach half the population of the world pretty quickly considering the 6 degrees of separation.  Every event I attended- from a street food dinner composed of a dozen stalls of local cult eating establishments distilled down to their very best item or two to a dinner put on by Outstanding in the Field conisting of a single table set for 250 people- was beyond spectacular in its own right.  The oyster in the shot above is from the street food extravaganza, and was the single best oyster I have ever eaten.  It was from the Hog Island Oyster Company- an establishment that deserves high praise.  The other standout from the street food faire was the steak and gruyere mini pie from The Pie Truck. 

The most informative portion of the festival was a Farm to Table discussion led by Chef Paul Arenstam and the amazing spreadsheet cowboy Brian Kenny of Hearst Ranch.  Kenny is a picture-perfect cowboy upon first glance, but the second he opens his mouth you can tell he mixes in a bit of street and book smarts with his affected Western drawl.  He has been helping the Hearst family (of publishing fame) convert their gargantuan cattle ranch to free-range, grass-fed and finished beef, and boy does the man know his stuff.  He’s the kind of public speaker college commencement commitees lust after- presence, humor and the ability to command the room in an unassuming way all contribute to his trademark charm.  More importantly, he’s on a proselytizing mission to create a truly sustainable model of agriculture that other ranchers can mimic in order to improve the health of the overall industry.  The Hearst Ranch sells their products online, and for a limited time they are offering my readers 30% off their beef.  Just type in the coupon code “foodbuzz” upon checkout and enjoy the taste of superior-to-Whole Foods beef at less than Safeway prices!

The title is erroneous right off the bat, but Clippertrip just doesn’t have the same ring to it as roadtrip.  The Clipper is the nautical vessel one takes from Seattle to Victoria. It is essentially a high-speed shrunken version of a ferry, though it feels eerily like an airplane inside.  In any case, the whole fam hopped the Clipper for the two hour jaunt up to Victoria for the weekend as I had a half marathon to run on Sunday.  We spent Saturday tooling around Victoria- this is a city I could really get into.  I pictured it as a quaint little burg lost in time. It actually was very cosmopolitan and wore the inevitable rustic charm that comes with being a seaside tourist town known for High Tea with understated cool.  Off the main drag, the shops were edgy and on-trend and the locals could not have been nicer. 

There were no dearth of dining options; however it being marathon weekend I knew I wanted to steer clear of the herds clamoring for plates of linguine in all the Italian joints, so I chose French.  This may not have been the wisest meal to consume the night before running 13.1 miles, but I was very happy with my time so I’ll leave carbo-loading to those who wish to indulge in bland potatoes and limp noodles.  We selected Matisse based on its reputation as one of the finer French restaurants in town, and we came away quite pleased. 

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