Let’s Dish all about Food Wine Conference #FWCon
If you follow me regularly you know that I recently attended the #FWCon Food Wine Conference in Orlando Florida. Well I am back to give you all the dish on the amazing time I had. So grab a glass of wine to truly enjoy this experience, HAHAHA.
I had never been to a blogging conference before and I think I choose a great one to be my first. The Food Wine Conference was so packed full of fun, food, and learning that I am not sure what was my favorite part. Picking one would be harder than picking a favorite child. Let’s start with the venue:
The Rosen Shingle Creek is a beautiful hotel that gave those attending the conference a discount on AMAZING rooms! I stayed on the 14th floor overlooking the skyline to downtown Orlando. The room was huge and the bed was comfortable. Four pools kept my youngest daughter and husband busy all day while I had a tasteful time, haha
No, I honestly ate and drank the entire time. Ok so not literally every minute but it felt like it! Everything I put in my mouth was so scrumptious. A few dishes that stood out to me are: Lump crab meat and Avocado Martini, Loukoumades (Greek donuts soaked in rose water), Potato cake with mint chutney, Salmon Calcutta (I HATE salmon and I gobbled every bite up), Cabot Macaroni and Cheese bar (Yes, top your Mac n cheese with yumminess). The CK Mondavi wine was served throughout the event and was also very enjoyable! I even came home and purchased some more.
One of my favorite events was the Denim and Diamond Banquet. I was able to pay for my husband a plate and he joined me for the evening. Oh my gracious was that a mouthwatering meal. A harvest salad with beets was so yummy. The best part of the meal was the Cowgirl Ribeye Certified Angus Beef Steak. It was so beautiful and tasted even better than it looked. I also loved the creamed wild mushrooms. But that steak was off the charts amazing!
One thing that was an adjustment for me was the cellphone use. In my house we have a no electronic at the table rule. Also not when we are talking. Being around bloggers it’s a different world I wasn’t used to. They is always a phone in your face and Everyone wants the perfect picture of the food! There were so many people standing on chairs it was actually comical. At every meal I felt like I needed to be sent to my room or punished for cellphone use! The banquet ended with drinks and dessert by the pool! Perfect end to the night!
Each morning started bright and early with breakfast around 8am. I enjoyed so many of the speakers and presentations. My favorite part would have to of been the video workshop. I wanted to learn to do the video’s that everyone is sharing on Facebook. I did learn them too and already have one posted, check out my Facebook page to see!
I also enjoyed The art of making a full time living with your digital brand. Lorraine was great to listen to and gave some great advice. I also competed in a #Hashed competition with 7 other foodies. We had 15 minutes to come up with a recipe using the items on the table and only 1 of us could go into the kitchen to cook it! The ingredients: Blueberries (the star of the show, Wish Farms) ground beef (certified Angus brand beef), dried cherries, cheese, cooked potatoes, sweet chili pepper sauce, and wine. There were very few pantry items. Our chef rocked our dish of pinwheel stuffed meatloaf with smashed potatoes. We didn’t win but we had a blast!
The amazing three days ended at Tapa Toro restaurant. There I joined some of my Sunday Supper friends for a LIVE Twitter chat and actual Sunday supper. We ate for almost 4 hours straight! Some danced on chairs, everyone shared from a communal wine called a porron. It was hilarious though at 7pm everyone stopped talking, the room was quiet and the typing began! It’s was strange chatting on Twitter with people across the table from me and yet somehow amazing too!
As you can tell, I had an marvelous time. There is so much that I left out. If you want to know more you will just have to join me next year! I plan to be at the following year as well!