FOOD BLOGGER EVENT: International Food Blogger Conference - Day 2 & 3

After a great first day at the IFBC, I was really looking forward to the next two days. Saturday started off with a delicious breakfast hosted by Pastry Smart. While we enjoyed our breakfast, Pastry Smart talked about What matters most in food regarding humane, organic and sustainable food production practices in a millennial world.

The next seminar was one of my favorites. It was a food photography and cooking demo presented by renowned New York Times food photographer Andrew Scrivani and Chef John Mitzewich of Food Wishes. Andrew and Chef John were hilarious. Throughout the demo, they were both cracking jokes and taking shots at each other. You can tell they are good friends and enjoy working with one another. Chef John talked about how to properly prepare and plate food, and Andrew demonstrated the proper way to get the best photos of food. Below are two photos I took of two of the plates that were prepared during the demo.

For lunch we were treated to the Discovery Expo that featured delicious food and drink samples from a bunch of vendors. Below is a listing of those vendors.

Veggie Grill @VeggieGrill
Allrecipes @Allrecipes
DRY Soda @DrySoda
Yelp @YelpSeattle
WordPress.com @wordpressdotcom
Natures Path @NaturesPath
Cascade Ice Unique Beverage Company @CascadeIceWater
California Strawberry @CAstrawberries
Le Cordon Bleu
Readers Digest | Taste Ad Network @TasteAdNetwork
Alaska Seafood @ASMIAkSeafood
Sahale Snacks @SahaleSnacks
Simple & Crisp @SimpleandCrisp
mallow Artisan Marshmallows @shopmallow
Pastry Smart @PastrySmart
La Panzanella Artisan Crackers
Rogue Creamery @Rogue_Creamery
Oxbow Organic Farm and Education Center

The next session I attended was again presented by New York Times food photographer Andrew Scrivani. This session went through the food photography workflow from A to Z. Andrew offered tips on how he handles his photography workflow, and how to improve our post-production skills.

The third session of the day that I attended was the food and wine pairing presented by Chateau Ste. Michelle Culinary Director John Sarich. John gave some advice on how to properly pair food and wine, and also had us test some pairings that did not work out so well.

Food and Wine Pairing

After sampling some great wine, we were then treated to a Taste of Alaska Seafood Reception hosted by Alaska Seafood. We were treated to Alaska Halibut Corn Dogs, Buffalo Alaska Cod Quesadillas, Sockeye Salmon Bites, and Bacon Wrapped Scallop Sliders. All four were very delicious, and my personal favorite was the Bacon Wrapped Scallop Sliders!

Alaska Seafood

Later in the evening, we were taken on a Surprise Saturday Supper sponsored by Urbanspoon.com. You can check out all the photos from that dinner on my previous blog post.

On Sunday, I attended the Tech Session that focused on Google+, AuthorRank, and where search is going. Ian Lurie discussed how Google is using Google+ as an effort to track and rank writer significance across the web. It was a very informative session, and I think I just might create a Google+ account for my blog.

After that session, the International Food Bloggers Conference came to a close. Unfortunately, Sheri Wetherell and Barnaby Dorfman could not be at the closing of the conference due to a family emergency, but Zephyr Adventures, co-planner of the IFBC, announced that next year's IFBC will be in Seattle again! Next year it will be at the Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle! I'm already registered for next year's conference! I can't wait to meet more food bloggers, learn some more new ways to improve my food blogging, and make some good friends. See you all next year!

Here is a photo of all the free swag I got at IFBC!!