The IFBC opened on Friday evening and ran through Sunday afternoon. On Saturday evening, we had a ‘Taste of Seattle’ fair  – a showcase of some of the best local gourmet products and food from some of the best restaurants in town. There was a lot going on. There was vegetarian and regular sushi, tuna poke, root beer floats, spiced and candied nuts, and sous vide steaks to name just a few nibbles on offer. All this was accompanied by wine from local wine merchants and even an eclectic fashion designer who fashioned costumes out of mussel shells and the backbones of deer. If  you’re curious at all, the complete list of vendors who were there, can be found on the Foodista website.

After a day spent taking in all the nuggets of information from the experts, the food fair was the perfect time to unwind and sample some good food and wine. Now that we’d spent the whole morning and afternoon together, there was more of a communal feeling and interactions with each other seemed to be more relaxed. it was great getting to know a varied group of people all with a deep interest in not just cooking food but also where it came from.

If anyone out there is wondering whether or not to attend a blogger conference, I’d highly recommend it. In spite of my initial fears, I was freely interacting with other bloggers by the end of the weekend and even made at least two good friends – Sara at Know More Veggies – I love her perspective on how to incorporate more veggies and healthy food in our daily meals and Frances at Namaste Nutritionist – a wise soul who cares a lot about what’s going on around her. Also, make sure you have business card sized cards printed out with details of your blog on it. It may sound old fashioned but it’s the best way to exchange info. I quickly realized that I was one of the few who did not have cards to exchange with other bloggers. So it’s on my to do list now.

After the hectic line up of activities, I was quietly relieved when it all came to an end at mid day on Sunday. The first thing we did was go grab a place at  Serious Pie – a Tom Douglas eatery that’s popular for it’s pizzas and with good reason. I can safely say that their pizza is the best I’ve ever eaten. I polished off an entire pecorino cheese/clam pizza not leaving even the crusts behind.

Bellies full, we were ready to pack our bags and come back home. We were informed earlier that day that IFBC 2015 will happen once again in Seattle. So maybe that’ll give me an excuse to go back to this lovely city.