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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Blogger's Banquet

Finally, I have some time to write up the wonderful Blogger's Banquet that Ed over at Tomato had organised. It was held at the Vegout Community Gardens in St Kilda, situated right behind Luna Park. I never even knew such a peaceful serene place existed right there.



Firstly, before I start, apologies if I get anyone's name wrong. I'm hopeless with names so please correct any mistakes. Here goes.

I was one of the earlier arrivers as I came straight from work. I put on my "Yoda Says: Blogging This I Am" t-shirt just for the occasion. Already at the wood fired oven were Ed, Peggy from A Goddess In The Kitchen plus hubby Furry (real name I forget) and Kate from Get Real was also there with partner, whose name also eludes me. I started off by replying to Ed's comment about how he looked like Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear and saying there was a little resemblance. Judge for yourself, below is Ed on the left and Jeremy on the right.



That got everyone started about Top Gear and their favourite episode. I thought I was a fan since I have watched quite a few episodes, but I was no match for everyone else who seems to have watched EVERY episode.

As the night wore on, more and more people started to arrive. Elliot from 1001 Dinners 1001 Nights arrived with his lovely wife Sandra (sorry if this isn't your name, please correct me). I'm not sure about the name, but Sandra (I'll keep using that name for now) and I talked about China, as she was actually born there, despite being Russian. We talked about various Chinese cuisine. Elliot also came prepared and handed out a very very difficult food quiz. I have to admit I wasn't sure of any answers. It turns out, from reading Elliot's blog, that Neil from At My Table won. Neil arrived with the whole family, including daughter, who I only ever knew as P from the blog. And you've guessed it, I've already forgotten her name so it will remain P for me.

We all tucked into the tortillas and prawns that Neil brought whilst more people arrived. Josh, from The Day of The Expanding Man (who should be sued for inaccurate portrayal of himself as he is really thin) arrived and made a grand entrance. Let's just say there was some flying wine involved. We tucked into Josh's delicious dips while we waited for more people.

Vida from Vida fame arrived, with cake in hand I saw. Then a face I finally recognised, Anna from Sharing My Interest arrived. She looked confused when I called her name, until I showed her my "Blogging This I Am" t-shirt.

From there, I sort of lost track of everyone as I was too busy eating. But Jon from Melbourne Foodie, Sarah and friend Hannah (?) from Sarah Cooks, Cindy from Where's The Beef (answer, there is no beef, she's vegetarian), Jackie from Eating With Jack, Claire from Melbourne Gastronome, Stickyfingers Jane with hubby Jon from Deep Dish Dreams (love this blog name, somehow it keeps triggering a link with some sci-fi book) and Ned, from a yet to be made blog all arrived. Phew, hope I didn't miss anyone.

Ok, I didn't miss Duncan, I was going to start him in a new paragraph, seeing as he arrived a bit later than everyone. So while we were all eating away, last to arrive was Duncan from Syrup and Tang, holding a box of the yummiest macaroons ever. Mmmm. I only ate two as I wanted to leave some for others. Actually I know I missed one person. Someone arrived much much later and I didn't even catch his name.

Some group shots. You can try to guess who is who.




Kate and Ed did a fantastic job cooking the pizzas all night. There were a few minor errors at the start where we got some really black frisbees, but after they started to get the hang of it, some wonderful pizza combos were arriving. I like the one where we drizzled Vida's "Secret Special Sauce" (apparently not that secretive as she has posted the recipe on her blog but it was more alluring to call it the secret sauce still) onto the pizza. The sauce had chocolate in it and we drizzled it on pizza, but strangely it worked.


Some close ups, Sarah, Cindy and Vida.


Peggy and I trying not to show our double chins.


Cindy and I. I have really small eyes when I smile, smaller than usual even.


All night, Stickyfinger and I were having a shoot out.....with our cameras.


Again, I got another shot of the elusive creature known as Stickyfingers. You can only ever see her behind a lens. I have to admit defeat, she definitely outshot me. She had much bigger equipment and won through magnificence of photos.


And my one food porn shot of the night, this stunning looking Barramundi and Risotto dish provided and cooked by Stickyfingers. It was delicious, and you all know I don't really like fish.


You can check out more photos from the night at the Flickr Group page.

It was such a fun night and thanks heaps to Ed for organising it and being such a great host. It was so great to finally put faces to blogs that I read all the time. There were many lively discussions about all aspects of food, from legal issues, to recipes, to personal experiences on various topics, and of course restaurants.

I have to say that as much as I enjoyed meeting everyone, the people who I was most pleased to meet was Ed, because I really respect his views on many issues in food. Cindy, just because I've read her blog the longest and feel like I know her the most. A surprise was Vida, who I only recently started to read her blog, but her bubbly personality put a smile on my face all night. Vida, Cindy and I will also be connected due to one brief moment where we all said "I love 'So You Think You Can Dance'" and all cracked up laughing like crazy.

Hopefully we can organise another meetup and catch up with like minded "food blog friends" and meet even more new friends.

17 comments:

  1. Hey darl!!

    What a great night.. and great photos, except for the one of me, which looks like I have no hair!!!

    We'll have to catch up for pho really REALLY soon!!!

    Um... and the names not Peggy, it's pg.. or pee gee.... or Ella!! (and Furry's real name IS Furry. He has another name os which we don't speak.)

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  2. Peegee, you know Do has more than a double chin. He got more chins than Chinatown.

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  3. My chins could give his chins a run for their money!!!

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  4. Peegee,

    Do eats like a duck. He literally doesn't chew his food.

    He tucks in his chins so you can't really see all of it.

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  5. My other daughter is P, so you've kept it in the family at least. M & P were born on the exact same day so perhaps they are interchangeable! I'm completely with you on the name thing, I can never remember either.

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  6. You sweetheart!!! Thanks for calling me surprising AND bubbly... all good I think... next get together we will bring music and we can dance and laugh!!! I made those fabulous muffins but apparently they are not as good as yours... I did not spread the topping properly and I lost points for it.... I will try harder next time... Vida x x x

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  7. Your prize for being so complimentary towards me is a post on my blog (soon) for semifreddo, since you liked it so much I will show you how to make your own and it's very easy, no ice cream machine or anything... Vida x x x

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  8. Lol. Great Summary. It was nice to meet you! Unfortunately Comme was booked out!!! Probably going to try Bar Lourinha in the mean time.

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  9. Thanh, you are one of the people I instantly recognised on the night! I really like that photo of the two of us. I have always read your blog imagining a slightly serious tone, and that photo shows how quick to smile and laugh you are in person. :-D

    Less than two hours to the Dance finale!! WoooooOOOOOooooo!

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  10. Ella, ella, eh eh eh, under my umbrella, ella eh eh. I'm just joking. So sorry for getting your name wrong. I'm just hopeless with names.

    We can definitely catch up for Pho. Just let me know when. We can either go Richmond or Springvale, which is really convenient for me.

    George, at least my chin is up high and proud.

    Anonymous, well you eat like a anteater then. You just vacuum up all the food on the table without tasting it properly :-).

    Neil, I knew there was a reason I kept thinking M in my head. I wrote M originally but then also remembered it was P. I didn't even know you had two daughters, I always thought it was just the one. And congrats on winning the quiz. How many answers did you actually get right?

    Vida, you were bubbly and that's definitely a compliment. I love music too, and uncoordinated dancing. A tip for the muffins, I find that if you use a little more butter than stated for the topping, you get a richer yummier (technical word yummier) result.

    And please please post the semifreddo recipe. I found another one previously and was really excited and going to make it, until I read to the end where it said I had to have an ice cream machine. I wasn't going to go and buy an ice cream machine that I rarely use.

    Josh, if you are going to Bar Lourinha, definitely order the Pomegranite Creme with Pistachi Praline. One thing you must not do though is take photos there, or this might happen to you.

    Cindy, me serious, you must be kidding. I'm the most unserious geek I know, and I know a lot of geeks. I'm an engineer remember, all my work mates and most of my friends are geeks.

    So you think you can.....dance dance dance. Duh duh duh dum...dance. See how much I love the show.

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  11. Thanh, how do I get a little photo to go up with my comment like you have??? Vida@primusonline.com.au, is my email if that is any help, meaning it might be a lot to write in a comment box. P.S. your semifreddo is in the freezer as we speak and I will post it up tonight I hope... Vida x x

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  12. Thanh, your semifreddo is up on my blog... good luck... hope you enjoy it... Vida x

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  13. Thanks for the kind word's Thanh Mr Stickyfingers and I thought that you were a lot of fun. The last blogger to arrive was Jamie - The Breakfast Blogger.

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  14. Vida, I have copied down the recipe already and it definitely looks easy and do-able. I will make it this week and see how I go.

    Stickyfingers, your Barra dish and photos were definitely good. And thanks for letting me know that was Jamie. I've read his blog actually but didn't know that was him.

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  15. Hey Thanh, and apologies for the late post! Was great crossing paths and thanks for the comments!

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  16. Duncan, it's never too late for a comment. I appreciate every comment that people take the time to leave, except for those dodgy spam comments.

    I'm awaiting your macaroon post eagerly.

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  17. Beautiful place having fun and food really nice place.

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