I had the opportunity of attending Food Blogger Connect 2010 in London, June 5-7. I met an amazing group of food bloggers from all over the world. Amidst great people, great food and a great location, I had the opportunity to learn a lot from the presentations by:
Jaden Hair from Steamy Kitchen on Monetizing Your Blog
Jeanne Horak from Cook Sister! on Effective Recipe Writing, Copyright, and Plagiarism
Hilda Saffari from Saffron and Blueberry on Dissecting Your Camera
Jeanne Horak from CookSister!, Kerrin Rousset from My Kugelhopf, and Jamie Schler from Life’s A Feast on Writing Style and Voice
Meeta Kurana from What’s For Lunch Honey? and Mowie Kay from Mowielicious on Food Styling and Shooting Food Porn
Kerrin Rousset from My Kugelhopf and Julia Parsons from A Slice of Cherry Pie on How to Get Published and How to Get Feature Work
Niall Harbison from Simply Zesty on Marketing, Social Media, and Word of Mouth
Like Pam from Cooking Ninja, I also had an interesting interaction with the immigration officer at Heathrow Airport. He asked what brought me to London, and I said a Food Blogger’s Conference… “A what?” I proceeded to explain what a blog is. “Show me documentation of this Conference,” he asks. I show him the itinerary. His eyes go straight to Shooting Food Porn… “What is that?” he asks. I proceed to explain that food porn is just taking pictures of food that look so appetizing that you want to lick the screen. “Why would you want to attend this conference?” he asks… My quick answer: for a different type of vacation. “Ok,” he says and off I go…
The first order of business was a wine tasting
Socializing in the Garden at the Hempel Hotel
Julia Taking Pictures
Hilda, Kerrin, and Bethany Relaxing
There was delicious food for photographing (and eating!).
Tart Au Citron
Watermelon
Strawberry Shortcakes
Julia and Chocolates
Giulia of Jul’s Kitchen brought everyone a little jar containing her magical Italian ingredients, which she calls Tuscany in a Jar. I leave you with a simple recipe for roasted fingerling potatoes using her Tuscan concoction.
Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Tuscany in a Jar
Ingredients:
1lb fingerling potatoes, washed clean
1 ½ teaspoons Tuscany in a Jar
1 tablespoon fruity olive oil
½ lemon
1 large clove of garlic
Procedure:
1. Place the potatoes in a small saucepan and cover them with water. Bring to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Drain.
2. Cut each potato in half lengthwise and combine with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Bake at 425ºF for 20-25, or until golden brown. Squeeze the roasted lemon over the potatoes before serving.
The recipe for Tuscany in a Jar can be found here.
Serve with your favorite roasted meat recipe.
Watch the Food Blogger Connect Trailer here.
For more pictures and narratives of FBC10 please visit:
List of Everyone Who Took Part in FBC10
Adrienne http://www.gastroanthropology.com
Andrew http://winit-theblog.com
Anne http://www.anneskitchen.co.uk
Aoife http://www.thedailyspud.com
Arthi http://debugcooking.blogspot.com/
Bethany http://www.dirtykitchensecrets.com
Bron http://practicallydaily.blogspot.com
Carla http://domesticventures.squarespace.com
Catherine http://www.thecattylife.com
Cecilia https://onevanillabean.wordpress.com/
Charlie http://eggsontheroof.com
Chris http://www.soulmekanik.com
Elisa http://www.aussiefoodie.blogspot.com/
Eunice http://heavenwildfleur.blogspot.com
Gemma http://dressingfordinner.blogspot.com
Giulia http://www.julskitchen.com
Heather http://www.eggscreamandhoney.com
Hilda http://www.saffronandblueberry.com
Jamie http://www.lifesafeast.com
Jasmine http://www.labna.it
Jeanne http://www.cooksister.com
Julia H http://www.alwaysleaveroomfordessert.com
Julia P http://www.asliceofcherrypie.com
Julie http://alkalinesisters.com
Karin http://yumandmore.com
Katharine http://www.agirlinmadrid.com
Katie http://katielousbites.wordpress.com/
Keith http://www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk
Kelly http://www.tastour.co.uk
Kerrin http://www.mykugelhopf.ch
Leen http://zibdeh.wordpress.com
Leila http://www.delishvillesemgluten.com
Ludger http://www.none.de
Manuel http://www.labna.it
Matina http://www.fetaarepa.com
Mayssam http://www.deliriouskitchen.com
Meeta http://www.whatsforlunchhoney.net
Mowie http://www.mowielicious.com
Nando http://www.cucabrazuca.com
Natashka http://peanutbutterandjealous.blogspot.com
Pamela http://www.cookingninja.com
Pascale http://www.extra-relish.blogspot.com/
Rachel http://www.cookyourlife.com/
Reena http://coconutraita.blogspot.com/
Sarah http://blog.maisoncupcake.com
Sarka http://sarkababicka.blogspot.com
Sharon http://www.seasontotaste.co.uk
Stacey http://peanutbutterandjealous.blogspot.com
Suzannah http://www.officelunches.blogspot.com/
Tiina http://www.sparklingink.com
Tracey http://www.international-foodie.blogspot.com/
Valentina http://www.cupcakestrembom.com
One Vanilla Bean 
Look at your potatoes!! They look absolutely amazing! I’m happy you liked it! and I’m happy to have had the chance to meet you! Hugs!
Giulia–thanks so much for the yummy Tuscany in a jar, as you can see I put it to good use! It was so nice to meet you too! xoxo
That’s so funny, I can just imagine the immigration officer’s eyes flying to the word “porn” on your itinerary, no wonder they asked you to explain!!!
Can’t believe I missed out on Julia’s chocolates, I’m wondering where on earth I was when they were handed round.
Great to meet you even if it was brief, the weekend went so quickly and there were so many of us there but I’m glad to have been introduced to your blog because of it.
I know, for a second there I thought I was in trouble! It was a pleasure to meet you too. Julia’s chocolates were divine, maybe Julia will bring some more next year 🙂
Hi Cecilia – what a great round-up of photos of FBC! Brings back all those memories. And I laughed so much at your immigration officer incident. I can only imagine all these immigration officers going back home that night thinking ‘there are some weird people in this world’ =)
Mowie–I could tell he was wondering why people would want to get together to learn more about food porn! What a bunch of crazies we are! ;O)
That is so hysterical! Food Porn! What? Why? LOL! You are so lucky they let you pass through! I am starting to think one should never try and explain food blogging! Ha! And I love the potatoes! Great thing to do with Giulia’s spices. Fab! And it was so wonderful meeting you!!!
Jamie–So nice meeting you as well! I will never again try to explain food blogging or anything related to it. When I think about what I said to him it really comes across as a phony story, lol, but it isn’t!
[thought I’d commented but it seems to have disappeared?]
Hahahaha – those poor customs officers! They must have been thinking “what a lot of weirdos at one conference!” We sometimes forget that all the stuff we do might strike “civilians” as a little odd 😉
Lovely to have met you & lovely looking through your photos remembering such a fun weekend!
Hi Jeanne–Thank you for stopping by! Next time I travel for food blog related stuff I will make sure to definitely take Food Porn out of any itinerary. ;O) It was such a pleasure meeting you, and thank you for all the information that you shared!