The glow of the first Eat Write Retreat weekend still lingers. Sitting in a kind of nasty Hilton Hotel room in Silver Spring, Maryland two days later (to be clear, not the conference hotel, which was the incredibly beautiful and awesome Madison Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C.), surrounded by bags and boxes of insane (in a good way) swag, is a rather stark counterpoint to a brilliant weekend. No, I’m not home yet, nor will I be for another couple of weeks (I have a house-sitter, for anyone out there who might be getting some big ideas – be warned!), so I get to travel around the South with all of these reminders of some very good times.

What you see here doesn’t add up to even half of the goodies we all went home with. Nope. Not even close. And I have twice as much, because Mike decided that he wanted to experience a Food Bloggers Conference. More about that, later. I will say up front, that he received the first shock of an “outworlder”, when we took the swag bags up to the room, and emptied them. “Holy shit! There’s a whole frying pan in here!”, he said upon removing the Calphalon Unison 12″ Griddle Pan, like Arthur pulling the sword from the stone.

And while we did not score one of the coveted Calphalon toasters, panini grills, or 7 quart slow cookers, we did manage to make off with an OXO 14 piece professional knife block set, a couple of their bamboo cutting boards, and one of their new, safer chef’s mandoline slicers (not to mention tongs, measuring cups, vegetable peelers, spice grinders, excellent travel mugs, and on and on). Yes, Calphalon and OXO were very very good to us.

Even Freakin’ Flamingo made a modest appearance in the EWR swag bags, right alongside the big boys like Lindsay Olives, Peanut Butter & Co., Goo Goo Clusters (I just ate one of those while writing this, and oh. my. goodness. oh. We have to get these in Miami. Seriously.), My Spice Sage, and more.

By now, you’re thinking to yourself that Eat Write Retreat was all about the swag. Okay, I’ll admit that the swag is nice. Who’s kidding whom, right? But it was more than that. The organizers (Casey Benedict and Robyn Webb) insisted that the sponsors spend the weekend and attend the conference with the rest of us. We had the unheard of opportunity to spend quality time with the representatives from each of the conference sponsors and panelists, to listen to and learn from each other on a professional level. It was also the opportunity to meet and relate to new friends, and greet Twitter and blog buddies in real life. All of this, not in a hurried couple of minutes while being jostled by a crowd, but in real conversations.

And if all that weren’t enough, there were hands-on learning sessions at CulinAerie, sessions on descriptive writing, food styling and photography, an out of bounds culinary walking – and eating – tour with DC Metro Food Tours, and panel discussions on professional development. We even had the opportunity to sit, one-on-one, with publishers, editors, PR pros, and the sponsors themselves, to pitch ideas and get real, individual, professional advice. Ah-mazing!

I could write for days about everything we learned and everything we did at Eat Write Retreat 2011, but I think you’d get just a little bit jealous. But let me share at least part of our workshop at CulinAerie. We were given valuable instruction in knife skills and other techniques that, frankly, I’ve never seen except on television, and prepared several dishes using that “Queen of Vegetables”, endive, provided by another conference sponsor (and one of our personal faves) California Endive. So, courtesy of Chef/Instructor Susan Holt, here’s the one I prepared with Mike (I’m pretty sure that, since she gave it out to like 80 food bloggers, Chef Susan didn’t mean to keep it a secret):

Salad of Endive, Avocado, Tarragon & Grapefruit
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

8 bulbs of red endive
1 large or 2 small grapefruit (Florida, of course)
1 medium or 2 small avocados, cut in half, pit removed, & scooped from their shell(s)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 Tbs. chopped tarragon leaves
Finishing salt (like course sea salt, or one of the many smoked or flavored salts) & pepper

Preparation:

Cut the endive on the bias in 1″ pieces, discarding the core. Supreme the grapefruit by removing rind with a sharp knife and reserving the segments (she means separating the segments from between the membranes); juice remaining membrane into a bowl with the segments and set aside.

Slice each avocado in half into two pieces, lengthwise. Leaving the root end uncut, slice lengthwise into thin slices, and fan each half on a plate. Sprinkle the endive pieces and grapefruit segments over the avocado.

Combine the oil with the remaining grapefruit juice, add tarragon, and spoon over the other ingredients. Garnish with finishing salt and pepper, and serve.

Here are Mike and I, butchering grapefruit. Him, more so than I. I only mangled the avocados.

Look, ma! I made an emulsion! So cool!

Isn’t it pretty? Pretty darned delicious, too! Even at 10:00 a.m.

And what was Mike’s verdict after a weekend with a bunch of food bloggers? Two thumbs-up! “You’re always telling me what an incredible community the world of food bloggers is, and I have to say that I’ve never met so many genuinely nice people in one place, before. This has been an eye-opening experience for me, on so many levels. I really didn’t think I, as an outsider, was going to have such a great time.” I guess this means that I’ll never get to go to another food bloggers weekend without him, now. Casey and Robyn, I think maybe you did too good a job. LOL!

*Many thanks for the additional photographs to Olga Berman of MangoTomato and Allie Mak of Live, Laugh, Eat, who were the “expedition photographers” of the weekend. Thanks, ladies, you were completely awesome!

Lest you think that the International Food Bloggers Conference was a full-on bummer for me (see previous post), let me assure you that it was anything but. Oh, sure, there was drama, but I think a certain amount of drama is natural in any situation where you’ve got 250 people together in one place for the better part of 3 days. No? So, let me tell you about the really good stuff:

The evening of Day One began the more promising parts of IFBC. I finally met up with a bunch of bloggers I’ve gotten to know and love through Twitter and their gorgeous sites; and James Oseland of Saveur Magazine gave our pre-dinner speech. It’s reassuring to know that not all print publishers consider food bloggers to be dilettantes. I suspect many came away with different interpretations of some things he addressed, but he was most inspiring.

Dinner was a vast improvement over lunch:

Beef Cheeks – Need I say more?

Day Two brought us sessions on Modernist Cuisine (will anyone forget the time-lapse video of the popcorn kernel popping?), pitching to editors and publishers (the only thing I really got out of that one was that bribery frequently works – use chocolate), and the most inspiring presentation of all – Digital Photography with Saveur contributor & incredibly talented photographer, Penny De Los Santos (don’t take pictures – make pictures! and she doesn’t own a macro lens, y’all, so save the $200!).

Lunch brought us the “Gourmet Food Trucks of the Northwest”, and this was a stroke of brilliance on the part of the organizers, if you ask me! Check it:

Falafel

Pizza from a traveling wood-fired oven!

Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Lemon Sugar Crepes

And let’s not forget the people, the connections, the friends we made and bonds forged in an atmosphere of (mostly) like-minded people. I came away from IFBC ’10 with new and strengthened friendships, and most of all, a renewed desire and commitment to keep doing what I’m doing – taking my blog and my life in directions as yet unexplored. Thanks, Foodista!

I’m turning the page and starting a new chapter, people. I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

I am an absolute fiend for Chipotle. Chipotle anything. As one of my birthday gifts, last year, MJ went online to one of our favorite exotic spice purveyors and, among other things (like Szechuan peppercorns and turmeric fingers!), got me some dried chipotle peppers and chipotle chili powder. Mmmmm!

Saturday was rainy and stormy, and when I woke up from my nap, I had a yen to create something chipotle. I love meatloaf – it’s one of the perfect comfort foods – but the real star here is the sauce. You can use your own favorite meatloaf recipe – just add 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder, or you can use mine. But the sauce is what makes this, and as a bonus, it’s fat-free and vegan. So you can use it on anything you want to pep up with a little smoky chipotle zip!

Chipotle Sauced Meatloaf

For the Sauce:

1 26.5 oz. Pkg. Pomi Chopped Tomatoes or 2 cans of any chopped tomatoes
2 – 3 dried Chipotle peppers (depending on your heat preference)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1 Tbs. dried chopped onion
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup black coffee (prepared) – because, well, I like coffee.
4 Tbs. honey

In a small dish, soak the peppers in the boiling water for about 15 minutes. Saving the water, remove the peppers and chop finely.

Put all ingredients, including the pepper soaking water, into a medium saucepan (preferably non-stick) over medium heat. Stir occasionally until it begins to boil, reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer slowly while making your meatloaf, about 1-1/2 hours.

For the Meatloaf:

2 pounds ground beef
3/4 cup oatmeal
2 eggs or 1/2 cup liquid egg substitute
4 Tbs. Ketchup
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 – 2 tsp. Chipotle chili powder (to taste)
2 tsp. Garlic powder
2 Tbs. dried chopped onion

Preheat oven to 375°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. If using a higher fat-content ground beef, place a rack on top.

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients (come on, use your hands!) completely. Shape into a loaf and place it on the prepared baking pan. Bake for one hour, or until it reaches 165° internal temperature. Let rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

You can make the sauce ahead of time – just let it cool, pour it into an airtight container and refrigerate. You can reheat it on top of the stove or in the microwave, or serve it at room temperature, too.

And don’t forget to save any leftover sauce, ’cause it would also be awesome on grilled or baked chicken, grilled tofu, or even as a dipping sauce. Use your imaginations!

There’s been some buzz around the blogosphere over the last few days about something called “The Food Blog Code of Ethics“. Click the link and read about it. I was just over at Elle’s, who I think speaks pretty eloquently to the subject, and this was the comment I left, with some embellishment:

I’m not a “food blogger”, though I love food and sometimes write about it. I might share a recipe I’ve tweaked (I think for the better), or a restaurant I’ve eaten at recently, or talk about a cookbook (you might call it a review) I’ve run across (I own over 200 and my passions run amok). In fact, I’m going to write about another one, soon. I’m not even going to mention the recipe contest. Okay, okay! I’m sorry! See, I didn’t even link to it. Sheesh!

I also blog about bad driving, politics, gardening, Project Runway, and whatever else I damn well please at any given moment in time. I don’t have your following or traffic, and I’m no pro. Sometimes I even blog for money. Does that make me a hack?

I blog as an outlet, a means of reaching out to my friends, both old and new, and to whoever Googles a topic I’ve written about. But mostly for myself. It’s my opinion, dammit. As long as I don’t slander or harass anyone, then I’ll write what I please, thank you. If Congress won’t regulate me, then why should I let some other strangers in the blogosphere codify me? Nor do I think any of you “real” food bloggers should, either.

I’ll read what I please, I’ll write what I please, and I’ll take to heart what I please. Badge? I don’t need no stinkin’ badge to tell me who to trust. And as for whether or not you trust me and my opinion, well, that’s entirely up to you. But then, I’m not a food blogger. I guess. Technically.