Yesterday, I left New York City,  if only for a day.  I have friends who recently left for faraway places like Hawaii and France, but I went all the WAY up the Hudson to Hyde Park.  Hyde Park is home to the Culinary Institute of America and this past weekend it hosted the Bocuse D’ Or. The Bocuse D’Or USA is a food competition, but nothing like the Bacon Takedown or the Casserole Crazy cookoff.  It is where the top American chefs cook and compete in front a live audience. The winner of the Bocuse d’Or goes on to compete next year in Lyon, France with chefs from all over the world.

Let me set the scene.  I walk into the recreation center with five fellow food bloggers and we are led upstairs to the VIP section where there are delicious croissants from Bridor, coffee from Nespresso and a crepe station manned by CIA student volunteers. BTW, today is Croissant Day! Below us, the bleachers were filled with a boisterous audience as if they were attending a March Madness basketball game.  There were four kitchen stations where the chef were cooking. The music blaring was the best European club music. The event was MC’ed by a very energetic Angela May who kept the crowd cheering for the more than five hours of the competition.  It was amazing to see the work of professional chefs cooking with precision and moving in their tiny kitchens with speed and grace.  I learned something new. I had heard of sous chefs but yesterday I learned what a commis is.  It is a junior chef. The commis who worked the chefs were very skillful and not considered junior by most people other than chefs.

The winner was  Richard Rosendale who is the executive chef of The Greenbrier, which is a luxury resort in West Virginia.  His competitors were Jeffrey Lizotte, Danny Cerqueda and William Bradley.

In the VIP section, we ate well all day including this beef tenderloin that was sou vide with spices including cinnamon and star anise. It was like a mole sauce but it also had Asian flavor. It melted in your mouth!

Thanks to KitchenAid for inviting me to Bocuse d’Or and to Jackie Gordon for facilitating our group of food bloggers. It was fun!

Last night, there was a preview party to for the IACP conference which will be in New York this March 29-April 2nd.  This year’s theme is the Fashion Of Food. It was great to see fellow food bloggers as well as cookbook authors as food makers. Sponsors include Driscolls, Bulldog Gin, Brooklyn Brewery, Jarlsberg Cheese, Jimmy’s No. 43, Voss Water.

Last Saturday was the second annual TECHmunch NYC. It was so amazing with the space, the food sponsors and the panels and presentations. Everyone who attended left with the full belly and full of ideas of how to make their blog bigger and better. Thanks to Babette of Bakespace.

Here are some of the blog posts recapping the event:

Danielle Gould from Food And Tech Connect,  Jackie Gordon of The Diva That Ate New York, Shoshi of Modern Courtesan, Constance Koral of  Two Grape Nuts,  Chelsea Grant of  The Food Buff,  Tricia Okin of PapercutNY and Chobani.

Thanks to all the sponsors at TECHmunch NYC 2011.

• Chobani Yogurt (also smoothies and dips) – @chobani
• KitchenAid – @kitchenaidusa
• The Harvard Common Press – @hcpdishes
• Driscoll’s – @driscollsberry
• Four Roses Bourbon – @4rosesbourbon
• Wichcraft -  @wichcraft
• Brooklyn Brewery  – @brooklynbrewery
• Brooklyn Gin – @brooklyngin
• Robicellis – @robicellis
• Jacques Torres Chocolates – @jacquestorres
• Tasty Morsels Bakery – @tasty_morsels
• Danny Macaroons – @dannymacaroons

Also thanks to Brian Quinn for bartending and to all the volunteers for helping out during to make it a success. See you next year!

Yesterday, I attended Edible Manhattan’s Edible Institute at the New School. It was a very informative afternoon of panel discussions about food and drink here in New York City. This week is Eat Drink Local Week and this event was a part of the celebration.

Did you know that there’s a Food Studies Program at the New School? The program is a part of the Continuing Education college. BTW, there is a class on how to write a food business plan at the New School on October 23rd. The class is $170.

Here are some of the choice quotes by panelists:

“Make cooking into a more of a social activity” -Cathy Erway
“Know your food in a intimate way.”-Cathy Erway

“Brooklyn Kitchen is a kind of a clubhouse for the DIY food movement”-Tom Mylan

“To me it is taste.” -Ariane Daguin explaining the rise of the Brooklyn DIY food movement.

“When you’re frustrated, you make the political personal.”-Tom Mylan

“Food is a medium for creativity.”-Cathy Erway

“I don’t sell anything cheap. I sell things that are reasonable.”-Lou DiPalo

“There is most delicious per square inch in New York than ever before”.-Ed Levine

“We are more obsessed with food than before” Robert Siestama

“Artisan does not always mean that it is delicious”-Ed Levine

“Being in wine business means being in a distribution business.-Trent Preszler

Last weekend, I flew down to Atlanta to celebrate both my mom’s birthday and my sister’s birthday. We went to Birmingham on Saturday and had a big family fish fry. Fried tilapia, catfish, shrimp, hush puppies, french fries, baked beans, cole slaw and homemade lemonade. Yum!  I forgot to take any pictures because I was too busy eating and talking to my cousins.  Next day, we had a luncheon for my mom and uncle who are twins to celebrate their 60th birthday. Above is a picture of my parents. It was a great weekend.

Saturday was a very hot day, so it was good time to venture over to Carroll Gardens to Brooklyn Farmacy, a new soda fountain that makes egg creams, milkshakes, ice cream sodas and more. I ordered a Black and White Soda and it was delicious. Brooklyn Farmacy also sells local food like Early Bird Granola. If my waistline could afford it, I would go there everyday.

Yesterday, I attended Cooks for The Cure event at the Roger Smith Hotel. Sponsored by KitchenAid, it was a great way to end the weekend with leisurely lobster and mussel eating. Thanks to Jessica Randazza for organizing!

It’s hot. I’m melting. Eating ice cream helps. I will be attending these events below.

July 13: Blogging While Brown Meetup I am organizing this event, and it will be at Houndstooth Pub in Midtown.

July 31: The Great Hot Dog Cookoff

August 4: Media Bistro Career Circus

August 6-7: BlogHer

I love french toast, waffles and pancakes, but I also crave a salty side like bacon or ham to compliment the sweet. Instead of frying up some bacon, I dabbed a little bacon marmalade on my french toast and it was delicious! Problem solved.

BTW, I will be attending UnFancy Food on Sunday at the Bell House and Fancy Food Show on Monday at Javits. Monday, I will also be hosting “Video Builds The Cooking Star” at Shooting Kitchen. This event is a video clinic for anyone-not just food bloggers- who always wanted to have a professional video of them doing a cooking demo. The event is sponsored by the Sears Chef Challenge.

Spent Memorial Day weekend mostly in Northern Virginia with an afternoon in our nation’s capital. My boyfriend’s mom and aunt went on a shopping spree at a farmer’s market in Occoquan, Virginia. Swiss chard, green beans, strawberries, carrots, radishes, lettuce and potatoes was just some of the stuff they got.  They also bought blackberry pie and lemon cheese pie from Mom’s Apple Pie. Both pies were delicious.

Sunday, we went to the Woodrow Wilson House which is the only presidential museum in DC. The house is pretty big and filled with historical artifacts. Then we had pizza at Pizzeria Paradiso. Monday, I ate breakfast at Vienna Inn which is famous for its chili dogs. I didn’t have chili dogs because it was 9:30AM.

This picture is the delicious Meat Hook sloppy joe that Tom Mylan bought to Liza de Guia’s spring potluck on Monday. It was yummy!

Bacon Marmalade and More: The Brooklyn Lyceum is having a Spring Food and Craft Fair on May 1st and 2nd.

Bulls on Parade: Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market is having a food truck parade on Sunday May 2nd.

Faggity Haggity: The Miss Fag Hag contest is May 2nd at Comix. I will be there not competing, but wearing something fabulous.

The Original Foxy Brown: Pam Grier will be reading her new memoir Foxy, My Life in Three Acts on Tuesday at Barnes and Noble Tribeca on Tuesday, May 4. I am reading the book now and l love it.

Saturday night, I had the pleasure of attending a wonderful salon in a tenement building in the Lower East Side. It was hosted by Les Salonnaires. Dinner was provided by Kara Masi of Ted and Amy Supper Club. There was a ramp soup, an asparagus salad, and pasta cabonara and a delicious lemon semifreddo for dessert.

There was amazing delicious bread made by Amatullah Jabriel, of Sweet Spice and Honey.

After dinner, there was a performance by Harpist Pamela Martinez who is also the lead singer of Teletextile. There was a trio of “naked cherubs” in the background while she played.