Food Blogging in the Real World

[are you the photographer of this favorite shot?
please let me know, I'd love to give you complete credit]


"And when we meet for the first time, we're already friends."


And so it's been, meeting food bloggers I've 'come to know' online but only recently met for the first time in person in the real world. It's an amazing experience!

Online, food bloggers share a common curiosity about food. But in the real world, food bloggers share a more important dimension: call it "nice".

LAST WEEKEND
Genie from The Inadvertent Gardener, who's finding her 'Iowa Eyes' between the rows of an urban garden
Laura from My Sister's Kitchen and my home state of Minnesota, who's lucky-lucky to blog with her sister Barb from North Carolina
Kate from Kate in the Kitchen and Minnesota, who's a culinary grad still exploring and learning

THIS WEEKEND, THIS AMAZING WEEKEND
The St. Louis food bloggers and some nearby food bloggers gathered on Saturday for a plating, styling and photography workshop. What an amazing few hours! The write-ups are inspiring, be sure to check out the links below.



Top Row:
  • Gunjan from Vyanjanaa, the first to practice new techniques and build a Leaning Tower of Bruno
  • Me!
  • Food stylist, food consultant Linda Behrends, who so generously shares her time and expertise: what an inspiration she is!
Middle Row:

Bottom Row:
  • Bruno from Zinfully Delicious, who smiled and nodded when I first fantasized about a gathering of St. Louis food bloggers (if he hadn't, would it have happened?)
  • My first- and forever-blogging friend Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen, who traveled all the way from Salt Lake City and who is hereby dubbed an honorary St. Louis food blogger, even if she tells way too many secrets!

Present but not pictured
  • Food / professional photographer Michelle Havens who opened up the ultra-chic loft space of Studio 360 for our gathering and shared so many real-life tips for those of us who first photograph but then -- surprise! -- eat our food
  • Anne Cori, chef and owner of Kitchen Conservatory, St. Louis' premier kitchen store and cooking school

Present in spirit

My sincere thanks to all who made this wonderful gathering possible, the presenters, the participants, the encouragers: it shall not be our last!

(c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade
Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. I'm so jealous that you got to go do that!

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  2. That's quite a large group of bloggers you've got there! It is great to meet bloggers in person - I've enjoyed meeting the foodbloggers down in London, always a wonderful occasion indeed.

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  3. Alanna, thanks for the wonderful post about this fun event. I'm honered that I got to take part.

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  4. Alanna, thanks for including me in this post! I wholeheartedly agree...in the past three weeks, I've made three offline connections with wonderful women I discovered through blogging -- it's been such a treat and so fun. Can't wait to do more of it!

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  5. Great write up about your adventures meeting other bloggers. I love the photo of the two little girls. Just priceless. Thanks again for all your wonderful hospitality. I like being an honorary St. Louis food blogger.

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  6. Alanna,
    Great post on the "event"! It was fun meeting some local and not so local food bloggers. Thanks again for organizing the workshop. The day was very memorable!

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  7. Peabody ~ I've seen your notes around, so sweet. How 'bout we make you an honorary St Louisan?! And when I went looking for St. Louis food bloggers, there were only a handful and so I 'stretched' our borders and am I EVER glad I did. It was really special meeting people from nearby too, gave our group an entirely different dimension. I think you're in Redmond, yes? Maybe if you stretch a bit, you can "create" a group, too.

    Pille ~ Your London group was definitely an inspiration for my wanting to gather the St. Louis and nearby bloggers, especially watching people travel to get together. You'll miss them, soon, going home to Estonia.

    Lisa ~ Having you and Keith come so far made the event extra special. Thank you!

    Genie ~ (All, you've never seen two bloggers talk as fast and cover as much ground in an hour as Genie and me ...) MY pleasure

    Kalyn ~ Don't you let your membership expire or I'll start my "10 things you don't know about Kalyn" list. And I have PICTURES!

    Bruno ~ Of anyone, you get all credit for making this event happen. It's a good lesson: what even a small measure of encouragement can mean.

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  8. That's wonderful, Alanna!

    I hope I can take part in one of these meetings some day soon!

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  9. Alanna!!! Many many THANKS! It was LOVELY meeting everyone and learning new techniques. Please lets have another on soon!

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  10. Alanna - what a special day! Congrats to everyone for pulling together on behalf of the food blogger community! I'm having (my first) potluck with some NYC food bloggers in a week or so and am VERY excited!

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  11. Congrats for putting together such a success! I'm sad that I couldn't be there, but I learned a lot from the recaps alone. Thanks!

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna