Journeying to Seattle for the International Food Blogger Conference!

Sitting in LAX, I can hardly keep my mouth from watering when I think about the culinary adventure I am about to experience in the next few days. The time has come for The Great American Bakery Hunt to roam from our Los Angeles headquarters to Seattle for our first ever blogging conference. Tomorrow, around 250 food bloggers will step away from their keyboards and transport themselves to a whole new world of face to face culinary discussion with simultaneous mobile blogging! The results, I anticipate, will be nothing short of extraordinary. Most of all, it will be exciting to learn more about food writing, taste great food while doing it, and be in an environment where it is socially acceptable to talk to a nerdy extent about culinary topics! I'm giving mobile blogging the old college try with my recently purchased iPhone, and I'm crossing my fingers this works out swimmingly. Stay tuned for more updates from the road.

The only thing better than Magnolia Bakery in LA...

The only thing better than visiting Magnolia Bakery's LA location for the first time: finding a broken parking meter right in front of the shop.  Here's to the small victories of LA life!

In lieu of the roux

Since my grandparents grew up in Louisiana, I have always been enchanted and intrigued by the gumbos, cornbread, and okras that were a part of my childhood during many family dinners.  I'm convinced that it is in my genetic makeup to one day to create a respectable roux, and maybe even a few homemade beignets, although I am still figuring out how to dedicate myself to this project while working full time.  All I know is that I feel a deep connection to this food-- one that started with my great grandmother cooking up a storm when I was a little girl, and ended with us all gathered around the family table. 


My summer work schedule is fairly non-stop, so in lieu of studying my roux, I decided to visit The Gumbo Pot at the original LA Farmer's Market.  A temporary substitute to a home-cooked meal on a rare day off from work, The Gumbo Pot was just what I needed.   Once there, I warmed my summer up with some spicy gumbo, balanced it with a cold beer, and to top it all off, enjoyed a piece of their chocolate pecan pie.