People Like Me!

A few months ago, I discovered a group on Facebook (Kentucky Food Bloggers) of local food bloggers like myself.  I guess I'm only loosely a "food" blogger but I thought I'd qualify even at 50 percent.  I was excited to see that there were several others blogging about their food passions.  Who knew?!

We enjoyed our first group outing about a month ago as we dined together at a local restaurant and then mingled the next day at our annual Incredible Food Show.  Let's back up to the dinner.  We met at the lovely Jonathan's Restaurant in the historic Gratz Park Inn in Lexington.  A local company, Alltech, sponsored our dinner and also sent a few representatives to dine with us.

It was so fun to get to meet some of the faces behind the blogs I had been reading for a while.  I like to put a face with a name so this was a fun treat.  Since we all had a common denominator, the awkward silence when you first meet someone didn't occur.  We talked about typical bloggy things that I'm sure a non-blogger would equate to nerd talk.  There were discussions about photography, how to stage pictures, blogging tenure, and the like.  My only complaint was that we were spaced out so much we didn't get a chance to talk to everyone.  That just gives us a good excuse to meet again.

The food was amazing.  I think the highlight of the meal for me were the creamed collards served atop an Alltech ribeye.  The collards were out of this world delicious, rich and creamy with a hint of spiciness from the horseradish.  For the chocolate lovers, the dessert was sinfully delicious and rich with chocolate cake, filling, and ganache!  You would think a food blogger like myself would surely take some pictures to share but alas, it was dark and I wasn't pleased with the quality of my photos.  However, if you're a visual person, you can find some images here, here, and here. 

Before we parted ways, we were all given fabulous swag bags featuring lots of local goodies that vendors generously doled out.  There were also several giveaways, one of witch yours truly won - Americandy.  (There's a complete list of the Kentucky products at the end of this post.)

The next day we were all given complimentary passes to our local Incredible Food Show, featuring the Voltaggio brothers from Top Chef.  There were food vendors a plenty and if you like beer cheese, you would have loved all of the samples!  I didn't get to stay to watch the Voltaggio brothers but I understand their cooking demonstration was, wait for it, incredible!  I did get to sneak a peek of them as they were signing books, so at least I can say I've seen them in person.

What started as a little group has quickly evolved into a group of about 60 bloggers.  It's exciting and reassuring to know that there are so many like-minded people in my little community that are creating home cooked meals on a regular basis.  In a time where the home cook seems to be non-existent and a lost art, it's nice to know I'm not the only one trying to bring the family back to the dinner table!

A local magazine recently featured our not-so-little group in the article, Digital and Delicious - far more clever title than "People Like Me!"  It's a great article about how the Internet continues to play such an integral part of our daily lives.  If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the article, you'll even see my little old blog featured in the list of Regional Bloggers!!

Thank you to these generous contributors:
Jonathan's at Gratz Park
Incredible Food Show
Alltech
Bourbon Barrel Foods
Bauer's Candies
Herb'N Renewal
Weisenberger Mill
Whole Foods Lexington
Howard's Creek Authentic Beer Cheese
Elmwood Inn
Holly Hill Inn
Whole Foods Lexington
Lexington Chocolate Company
Americandy
Marksbury Farm
Lori Rice
Kentucky Cutting Boards
Bleugrass Chevre



Disclosure:  The food and products reviewed in this post were given to me free of charge.  I was under no obligation to post about them and received no compensation for doing so.