Did you miss recap 1?
Long before I knew that I’d partake in SXSW festivities, I knew that I’d be going to the TECHmunch food blogger conference! It was my first food blogger conference. I was ready to soak up the info…and food!
Prior to the conference, we were invited to a wine tasting event presented by TECHmunch, Forkly, and Whole Foods. It was called Tango con Vinos Argentinos….wines from Argentina. I tried 2 Malbecs that I enjoyed and really liked chatting with Babette, the founder of Bakespace & TechMunch.
Churrasco style meats–get in my belly! Yum for the garlic pepper sausage.
My first swag bag!
TECHmunch Austin was held on Spring Forward Sunday. It was bright and early…too early! The first thing on my mind was COFFEE!!
Thank goodness for Chameleon Cold Brew Coffee!! This guy was SO nice and he got a lot of love from the food bloggers during the conference. We were in need of some caffeine! He said that he doesn’t add any creamer to his coffee since due to their brewing methods, it’s less acidic already. I usually drink my coffee black already, so I followed his suggestion. He was right on, very good!!
After I had a morning jolt, I got to know the folks that I was sitting by. Who was I sitting by? Two reps from Peanut Butter & Co! What luck!!! Why yes, I would like to become friendly with super nice & funny people that also work for a peanut butter company that I heart!
A mid-morning break to enjoy strawberry & mixed berry smoothies from Driscoll’s.
An afternoon cupcake break courtesy of KitchenAid.
There were many good speakers during TECHmunch.
Some of the highlights for me:
Natanya’s presentation on Finding Your Focus
My takeaways from her: work on your point of view. When you find your unique voice, your audience size may grow. What emotions do you want to convey in your blog? For me: laughter! Snarky, but fun!!
Serena’s presentation on Setting up an Editorial Calendar
I’d never considered an editorial calendar, but it would be a great planning, organizing tool for my blog. She suggests it to plan out posts. For example, for holidays, post about that holiday recipe about 2-3 weeks prior to the holiday. Then maybe a reminder post/link on the day of the holiday.
Stephanie’s presentation on SEO & Getting the Most Out of Your Content.
SEO still overwhelms me!! As a very part-time, sporadic blogger, I’m not ready to invest in learning SEO strategy, but still great info. She did suggest going to Google trends to get ideas for content as well. Since nowadays I enjoy blogging about pop culture more than recipes, this idea may be a great one for me! All of the Google trends now are March Madness related and I included a blurb about it in yesterday’s post.
Meghan’s presentation over Food Styling
Meghan’s presentation was my favorite! It was so fun learning insider tricks. As a food stylist, Meghan has many tools: Q-tips, makeup wedges to clean up spills…a water bottle to mist food…denture glue to hold food together! She wears white gloves to not get smudges on plates and uses tweezers to delicately reposition food.
She suggests keeping boxes of instant mashed potatoes on hand too! There may not be a whole lot of soup in that beautiful picture of soup you love! It may be filled with instant mashed potatoes on the bottom to add height and then carefully deconstructed soup added in to the bowl.
OH! And the best part of the day!!!! Guess what I won?!?!?
This beauty!!
I’ve recovered from my first SXSW in Austin! If you’re not familiar with SXSW, it’s a 10 day interactive, film, and music festival that invades Austin every year. It’s overwhelming, but awesome! I’m going to share a few posts with you about my experiences. I didn’t buy a badge for SXSW, but there are plenty and I mean PLENTY of free events to get into!
One of my first ventures out was for the Food Crawl organized by Jane.
It was a drizzly day, but that wasn’t going to stop people looking for cheap eats! After helping hand out wristbands at the Long Center, Mary Helen, Meredith & I (and our new friends) headed over to Kenichi for sushi.
I had the Maguro “Yakiniku”-Zuke (Korean style BBQ marinated tuna, avocado, crispy garlic, asian pear) and the Pork Belly Kushiyaki (sesame mizuna, teriyaki).
Soon after, it was time to move the party of to Hickory Street for Hormel’s Bacon Takedown!
I’d heard about this event from other bloggers. Christy & Elizabeth are two of my blogging friends who were also judges! There were 15 entries with creative & tasty uses of bacon. The contestants had to make ample amounts for the crowd to try too! I mean, I wasn’t there just to look & smell bacon….I need to EAT some bacon!!
Slaw P Bacon entry
An array of bacon samples that I devoured….including bacon gumbo & cabbage bacon rolls.
Drunken Crusty Pigdough….what??! Cookie dough & bacon….the judges were a fan of this entry.
Bacon Scotch Eggs…loved the look of this one and the flavor of the mustard.
My overall favorite was the Bleu Bacodilla entry. You can find pictures and recipes here.
After the Bacon Takedown, I convinced Mary Helen & Meredith to come with me to the Intercontinental Hotel bar for a drink. It’s right next to the Paramount Theatre where Paul Rudd was screening his new movie. I thought that maybe we’d eye spy a celeb in the hotel bar. No such luck…but it gave me a chance to charge up my cell phone.
SXSW tip: you MUST bring your cell phone charger with you! SXSW is tech overload and you will be on Twitter constantly checking for updates on free events, etc. So, you’ll want that charger on hand!
While on the hotel balcony, the girls saw the Jeni’s ice cream truck and flipped out! I mean, seriously, they were excited! And thanks to Twitter, we learned that they were going to the Royal Blue Grocery store that was less than a block from us.
I opted for the salty caramel!
We finally decided to make our way back to our cars. But along the way, we learned that there was free food and an open bar at the Bing lounge. Hey, might as well stop by….:) It was PACKED in there. People love free food & alcohol. We made our way up to the 3rd floor, fought through the crowd…and got a free Coolhaus ice cream sandwich! Yay for more ice cream! It was my first Coolhaus experience and it was worth making my way through drunk people! But it wasn’t worth trying to capture a photo in a crowd like that!
We devoured our ice cream sandwiches and were outta there!! So it was a solid first day of SXSW’ing—-bacon & ice cream!
More to come with my other adventures!!
Happy first day of Spring!!!! In the spirit of Spring & spring cleaning, maybe you need to clear out your spice cabinet. How long has that bottle of ground cumin been in your pantry?? Did that nutmeg expire 2 years ago?!
How would you like to win spices valued at $100 from Cooking Planit?
What’s included in the spice set?
Top 26 Spices Every Kitchen Should:
Ground Cumin
Basil
Saigon Cinnamon
Bay Leaves
Smoked Paprika
Thyme
Garlic Powder
Mediterranean Oregano
Onion Powder
Rosemary
Nutmeg Powder
Red Pepper Flakes
Coriander Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Ground Cloves
Chinese Five Spice
Turmeric
Curry Powder
Yellow Mustard
Pennsylvania Pepper
Cardamon Powder
Cajun Seasoning
Allspice Powder
Hill Country Chili Powder
Ginger Root Powder
Manzanillo Mexico Seasoning
To enter: leave a comment letting me know which spice is your favorite to cook/bake with.
For additional entries:
Follow Sugarfoot Eats and Cooking Planit on Twitter. Leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve done so.
Follow Sugarfoot Eats and Cooking Planit on Pinterest. Leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve done so.
So, you’ve got 3 possible entries to help you win! Contest ends Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at 11:59 pm. Winner to be drawn on Wednesday, March 27, 2013.
And check out the other great bloggers participating too! Mucho chances to win!
Giveaway open to US entries only. This giveaway is sponsored by Cooking Planit, but all opinions are my own. Images courtesy of Emily Wilson and Cooking Planit.
How would you like a chance to win an awesome Cooking Planit spice set that includes 26 of the most commonly used spices that has a retail value of over $100? Now, what if I told you that you will have 50 chances to win?!?
The spice giveaway is an great promotion sponsored by Cooking Planit. They’re giving 50 spice sets to bloggers
to give away to their readers. Two sets will be given away each day for 25 days with the first contests having already started.
Cooking Planit is an easy to use application for your iPhone, iPad, or you can utilize their website. I’m partial to the iPhone app as it NEVER fails that I leave my grocery list at home. The app can be a time saver, so that you’re not making multiple trips to the groceries store.
My favorite part of Cooking Planit is the picture layout. For a novice cook, it’s so helpful to see the planning/prep portion. Not only does it separate the ingredients by category, but it always tells you what cooking equipment you need. So easy to clearly see that I’ll need 1 bowl, 1 pot, and 1 saute pan vs. reading in the recipe too late and scrambling to find my illusive whisk or whatnot.
What’s included in the spice set?
Top 26 Spices Every Kitchen Should:
Ground Cumin
Basil
Saigon Cinnamon
Bay Leaves
Smoked Paprika
Thyme
Garlic Powder
Mediterranean Oregano
Onion Powder
Rosemary
Nutmeg Powder
Red Pepper Flakes
Coriander Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Ground Cloves
Chinese Five Spice
Turmeric
Curry Powder
Yellow Mustard
Pennsylvania Pepper
Cardamon Powder
Cajun Seasoning
Allspice Powder
Hill Country Chili Powder
Ginger Root Powder
Manzanillo Mexico Seasoning
My contest will begin on March 20, so check back then for details! In the meantime, be sure to check out these other blogs for details during their contest period and 49 other chances to win.
And check out Cooking Planit!
Blog: http://blog.cookingplanit.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cookingplanit
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cookingplanit
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/cookingplanit
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/cookingplanit
Instagram: http://instagram.com/cookingplanit
This giveaway is sponsored by Cooking Planit. Images courtesy of Emily Wilson and Cooking Planit.
I had the pleasure of attending several cookbook signings and author talks over the few months at BookPeople.
First up, I went to see Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen.
Deb was so adorable. It was packed at BookPeople too. People love their Smitten Kitchen! Deb was under the weather during the book signing, but she soldiered through and was so gracious and personable.
Next, I went to see Tyler Florence. I’m a big fan of The Great Food Truck Race, so was very excited to see Tyler.
Tyler was so dynamic during his book discussion. He was very engaging. You can certainly tell that he’s comfortable in a crowd. My Tyler Florence crush intensified after meeting him!
And finally, it was time for Rachael Ray!
Rachael did a Q&A at BookPeople with her husband, John Cusimano, joining as well. They have a great vibe together. They are a couple that you’d love to get together with and grab a beer.
Now for the giveaway! I’m giving away one cookbook to one lucky winner. Winner’s choice of whether they’d like to receive The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, Fresh, or My Year in Meals.
To enter: leave a comment letting me know which cookbook you’d like to win.
For additional entries:
Follow Sugarfoot Eats on Twitter. Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done so.
Follow Sugarfoot Eats on Pinterest. Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done so.
Follow Sugarfoot Eats on Instagram. Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done so.
Like Sugarfoot Eats on Facebook. Leave a comment letting me know you’ve done so.
So, you’ve got 5 possible entries to help you win! Contest ends Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 11:59 pm. Winner to be drawn on Friday, March 8, 2013.
***edited: Contest has ended. Congrats to the winner: Heather!
I was minding my own business recently. I’d just enjoyed a Chai Latte at Austin Java and was walking around downtown Austin. I suddenly stopped. “Buy one, get one 50% off accessories.” I was an immediate goner as soon as I walked into Francesca’s. I loved all of the pretty spring colors.
My loot that I got:
Seagreen/blue clutch with gold zipper detail
Light Seafoam oval bracelet
Turquoise ring
Earrings
Pastel scarf — I like it when the store has already tied the scarf since I’m so bad at that. I need to watch some YouTube tutorials on scarf tying.
After my jewelry binge, I headed over to Ulta & Sephora.
I was looking for a new pastel nail polish to go with my other purchases. When I saw that this light purple shade was called “Julie“, it was a no-brainer.
I also got some Tarte Maracuja-C Brightener eye cream. I used to get enough eye creams in my Birchboxes that I was set, but I cancelled my subscription in December.
Also featured, Tarte blush in Frisky and my go-to mascara. Although, I may have a new go-to mascara after getting a sample of Benefit’s They’re Real! mascara. Loving it!!
Have you made any fun purchases recently??
1. It may not look like much, but enjoying simple dinners of stir-fried veggies and chicken lately.
2. I still keep drooling over this cologne ad with Alexander Skarsgard. So hot!! True Blood needs to come back soon!
3. I’m quite sure that my new t-shirt helped to free Bates recently.
4. I recently checked out the Texas Natural Science Center on the UT campus. It’s not terribly big, but pretty solid for a museum on a college campus.
5. How did I not know that Kate Mara & Rooney Mara were sisters? And why do I care?! **I’m celeb obsessed.
I really enjoyed the Golden Globes this year. Tina Fey & Amy Pohler KILLED it!! Their opening was so great, loved it! I knew that they rocked it especially when my Dad called me last night to tell me that they were funny. He’s a tough cookie.
The Globes are my favorite awards show of the year. I love TV and movies, so it’s an action packed two hours for me.
I’m in no way a fashion expert at all! I wear a variation of the same thing (shirt, cardigan, jeans, flats) every day. But I still like to look at gorgeous dresses! Two of my top picks were also in my top five last year too.
And the award goes to…….
Julie’s Top 5 Best Dressed Actresses at the Golden Globes
5. Jessica Alba
4. Lea Michele
3. Claire Danes (Yay for the 2nd time Homeland & Claire winning!!)
2. Helen Mirren
1. Jennifer Westfeldt
I just love the color of this dress so much!
Which star do you think was the best dressed??
1. I saw Mike Birbiglia on Friday night at the Paramount. So funny!!!! He may be my new favorite comedian.
2. I’m attempting to find my New Year’s Resolution mojo. Much like a million other people, I desperately need to start eating better and working out more. So far, I’m eating better…still working on the latter.
Instead of working out yesterday, I got an hour massage. Ha! That’s still treating my body good though, right?! 
3.
I did buy some new sneakers though! I promise that I’ll break them in this week.
4.
I also went to Whole Foods this week and dropped a pretty penny on groceries. My theory is that if I load up on fruits & veggies, etc AND spent more on them than usual….I will actually eat them.
5.
And instead of having popcorn & a bottle of red wine (a la Olivia from Scandal), I had sugar free hot chocolate instead. Popcorn & hot chocolate is a yummy snack!
6.
I’ve been searching for eons for new bedding. I finally found this quilt on Overstock.com and love it!! It’s an oversized queen, so it’s long enough to fully cover the sides of my beds. No more of the mess under my bed peaking through! Of course, my new quilt doesn’t match my curtains or artwork on the wall…so that just means a bedroom makeover in 2013!
I’m off to watch the Golden Globes now!!
New books to read!
Chili supper with family last night
Loving this seasonal ale!
Weekend poker game…I came in 2nd! (Yes, those are Smirnoff Ice playing cards…random!)
I recently started watching Sherlock via Netflix. I’m on season 2 and am in loooooooove with Dr. Watson.
Last night, I was reading Entertainment Weekly and there was a blurb about The Hobbit. I stared at the picture for a solid 30 seconds. Wait what?! Dr. Watson is The Hobbit!? The Hobbit is Dr. Watson?! Worlds colliding…p.s. I’m weird.
So, then I had to, of course, IMDB Martin Freeman. The porn star stand-in guy from Love Actually?!
I’m not sure if my observation skills were severely lacking or if it’s a sign that Freeman is a good actor. I’m going with the latter.
