BlogHer Food 14

Hello! You may have noticed that I was in Miami this past weekend attending a BlogHer Food conference. This was my first ever food conference and I reeeeeally enjoyed it. I learned a ton, ate some good food, and met a bunch of wonderful women who share the same passion as I do. It was inspiring, motivating, and most importantly fun. Here are some photos that I took over the weekend (all pictures were taken with my iphone)!

My friend Julia form A Cedar Spoon and I arrived Thursday evening. I have no idea how, but we missed all the crazy storms happening in Florida and our flight was as smooth as butta. We were hungry and excited so we headed to South Beach to grab some food and drinks even though it was 10:30pm, well 9:30 Chicago time so it wasn’t thaaaat late. 😉 So we grabbed some delicious seafood, sipped on chilled champagne and people watched. South Beach is crazy. That’s all I have to say about that.

Here are some pictures of the actual conference!

In between our break out sessions we had the opportunity to chat with brands and munch on all of the goodies they were offering. I just happen to LOVE Babybell cheese, Jamba Juice, Bailey’s Creamer, Pomepian Vinegar, and Kerrygold butter. How convenient. 😉 Julia and I took a picture in the ocean – well a simulated ocean, but it really did sound and smell like the ocean!

On Saturday we had a break during the day so Julia and I along with some new friends from Foodie Fanatic headed to lunch at Swine. Their web address is runpigrun.com. Hilarious!

Swine focuses on Southern regional food and of course, pork. First, it smells amazing – the first thing I said when I walked in was “we are going to smell like bacon!” The dim lights, wood floors, exposed brick walls, and family style tables made the restaurant feel cozy and welcoming – I sure as heck did not feel like I was in Miami. I LOVED the bar with the wall of mason jars, fire wood, and booze – I want that in my house someday, a wall of booze and pickled veggies.

I munched on a swine pork cheeseburger (short rib, brisket and smoked pork blend, homemade dill pickle, thick-cut house-smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, American cheese, Swine special sauce). There you have it. I will be eating Swine pork burgers in heaven.

We also shared mac & cheese and sticky icky buns (not pictured). Let’s just say the mac & cheese was prepared with 5 different cheeses, bacon (eyes popping out of head). The sticky buns were prepared with maple-bourbon toffee, syrup, pecan cream cheese, candied smoke bacon (I need to figure out to make this!), and sweet potato “pie” ice cream. The flavor was incredible, I truly have never experienced a dessert like that.

It all went down with a smoooooth and tangy southern cocktail.

We were full, but happy full. 🙂

Stephie, Julia, Me, Toni

Saturday night we headed to a cocktail party hosted by Duda Farm Fresh Foods and some fellow bloggers, Aimee of Shugary Sweets, and Julie of The Little Kitchen. We sipped on cocktails and enjoyed sweets. The party was located at the Epic Hotel which literally was epic hence the huge yacht and the aston martin parked outside. I’m thinking about trading my Honda in for an Aston. I don’t know. We’ll see. I heard the gas mileage isn’t a good so I need to think about it…

Saturday evening was the closing party which was hosted by Ree of The Pioneer Woman, Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, and Elise of Simply Recipes.

Stephie, me, Julia

Julia, Sheila, me

 me, Ree, Stephie, Julia

There were cocktails, dancers, prizes, food, and pictures with Ree Drummond! Freakin’ out, man.

I have been reading many blogs over the years, waaaay before I started my own, and needless to say, Ree Drummond is a huge, a HUGE, inspiration to me. Plus my favorite thing to do is wake up on Saturday morning, brew a cup of coffee, go back upstairs, lay in bed, and watch her Food Network show. She truly is as sweet and funny as she is on TV. Totally geekin’ out here.

There you have it – my first food blog experience. My favorite part was meeting other bloggers and my biggest regret, not meeting and talking to more of them. Perhaps I will have more opportunities to meet all the wonderful women and men in the food blogging community some day. Until then, my goal is to continue creating new recipes, taking beautiful photos, and writing for my readers – YOU! Thank you for your support and love of Stuck on Sweet. You truly mean the world to me!