IFBC and a Noosa Yoghurt Giveaway!

Tags

Giveaways, IFBC, Noosa Finest Yoghurt, Pumpkin, Seattle

This weekend I will be surrounded by hundreds of other people who love talking about food just as much as I do – I am so excited to attend the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) again this year, being held right here in my lovely hometown of Seattle!

While I prepare myself to answer the one question I always get when I tell people the name of my blog – “So, you write about potpies?” – I am at the same time scouring the IFBC website and planning how to get the most out of the conference.

Last year was my first time at a blogger conference and I have to say that I was a bit overwhelmed just taking it all in. The speakers, the sessions, the food, the networking! Not to mention the SWAG!

But this year, with last year’s experience under my belt, it is much easier to make a plan and set some goals. One of which is to get out there and make more connections – connections with more bloggers I don’t know, and connections with the companies sponsoring the event.

IFBC has some pretty impressive sponsors. As an event planner myself I am acutely aware of just how important sponsors are to an event and I want to make sure that they know how appreciated they are by us bloggers.

In a strange course of the stars being aligned, I was recently contacted by a food company that wanted to do a giveaway on my blog. They had no idea that I was a registered attendee for an upcoming conference they are sponsoring…

And I did a double-take while perusing the IFBC website and realized (after I had already happily agreed to do the giveaway!) that Noosa Yoghurt is a sponsor for this weekend’s IFBC. What a happy coincidence!

I enjoy yoghurt as part of my breakfast almost every morning (and frequently for a dessert in the evening!), so I was thrilled when Noosa sent me some samples to try out the new tropical flavors (pineapple and coconut) of their Aussie style yoghurt.

With a recipe that originates from Noosa, Australia and produced in Colorado, this rich and creamy yoghurt, similar to Greek yogurt, is made in small batches and infused with honey to give it a delicious sweet-tart tang, and smooth, velvety texture that sets it apart.

They add just the right amount of fruit purees, made from the best the seasonal market has to offer, and pack it in clear tubs so you can see for yourself the lusciousness of what you’re about to enjoy.

Noosa Finest Yoghurt is free of artificial ingredients of any kind and made using Morning Fresh milk which is free of artificial growth hormones (rBGH) and artificial preservatives.

Family-owned and operated since 1894, Morning Fresh is renowned for the sweet, rich, all natural milk their happy cows produce. Why are their cows so happy? All of them graze on open pasture at least 90 days per year, and the rest of the time, dine on home-grown grain, silage and alfalfa to ensure the highest quality feed without the use of harmful pesticides.

Noosa is the host for our Saturday morning breakfast. Koel Thomae, Noosa’s founder, will share with us bloggers about her start in the U.S. and how she makes her fantastic tasting yoghurt  – including the new pumpkin flavor debuting just in time for fall and being officially rolled out at this weekend’s conference.

Since I can’t take you with me to the conference (and I am all about sharing!) I am partnering with Noosa to give away a Noosa Finest Yoghurt 10 pack (ten – 8 oz containers) to one lucky reader so you can try it out for yourself!

To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment here on the blog telling me your favorite yoghurt flavor (or the Noosa flavor you are just dying to try!)

For extra entries (you must leave a comment here on the blog for each of these you do):

• Like KristinPotPie on Facebook
• Follow KristinPotPie on Twitter
• Follow KristinPotPie on Instagram
• Like Noosa Yoghurt on Facebook
• Follow Noosa Yoghurt on Twitter
• Follow Noosa Yoghurt on Instagram

This giveaway will end Midnight Pacific Time, Wednesday, September 24. I will choose one winner from the comments on my blog Thursday morning and will email the winner. Winner will have 24 hours to respond before I choose an alternate winner.

Good luck!

Photos used with permission of, and provided by, Noosa Finest Yoghurt.

 

 

My Foodportunity

Tags

Connecting, Event, Food lovers, Food memories, Foodportunity, Kitchenbug, Seattle, Tom Douglas

One of my favorite Seattle food events will be here again soon!

The Seattle food community’s repeatedly sold out premier networking event, with tastes from Tom Douglas Restaurants and many more restaurants and companies, Foodportunity, created by Seattle event planner and food blogger Keren Brown, is open to food journalists, bloggers, public relations professionals, restaurateurs, farmers, companies and all food-passionate people.

I have written here before about my foodportunity, and how this blog was born. But the why is something that means even more to me.

This blog, and my foodportunity, is about being able to learn and share. To be able to connect. Over food.

Food connects us to our history and to others. For me, food is something that seems to have a recurring appearance in my own personal narrative.

Sometimes when I eat a really sweet, cold grape, it takes me back to one particularly enjoyable hot day at the park when my kids were younger. One of those carefree summer days with sun, friends and a thrown together picnic. How many times have you tasted something where the sensation of the flavor hitting your tongue takes you back to a memory of a time spent with people dear to you?

The mere mention of pickles can at times, for a second, make me feel that I am in my grandmother’s apartment again for one of our weekly lunches (when I worked close by) listening to a lifetime of stories over bread & butter pickles and liverwurst sandwiches – before she got sick with Alzheimer’s and didn’t remember that I was even coming for lunch.

It’s also in the reading of the recipes in the old tattered church cookbook that were written by another generation of ladies and imagining my great-grandmother in her kitchen making the cookies contributed by her and appearing on page 23.

And it was when a recent family member passed. I mused on the times we visited her beach-side home and the meals we shared – how she loved her crab cakes and was always on the lookout for the best crab-to-breading ratio.

Food just tastes better when it is shared. And shared food makes memories. The lovely thing about my foodportunity is the opportunity to make many more of them.

The Foodportunity event will take place on Monday, July 28 from 6-9 p.m. with tantalizing bites from many of Seattle’s top restaurants. Northwest restaurateur and entrepreneur Tom Douglas will provide his Palace Ballroom facilities to host the event and serve tastes from his newest venture, Hot Stove Society (a cooking school offering the ultimate connection between food lovers and the best food instructors). The lineup also includes tastes from Loulay Kitchen and Bar, Luc, Lark, Old Sage, Von Trapp’s, Poquitos, Six Seven and many more.

This year’s networking event has a splash of tech added to it. It is being sponsored by Kitchenbug.com, an online recipe box, that offers nutritional and calorie information for any recipe on the web, in real time and allows you to share your collection of recipes with others in the Kitchenbug community.

This year is also filled with a star-studded line-up of food entrepreneurs and leaders, who will present their new innovations to the Seattle scene. Representatives from Kitchenbug.com, Beechers’ Handmade Cheese, Farmstr and more will be available to answer questions, talk about their journey and offer food related business tips from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Advanced pricing is $25 per person and will change to $32 per person at a future date. Tickets can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/680259. Get your tickets today as space is extremely limited!

I’m curious, what’s your Foodportunity?

Maybe it’s the dream job you have that involves food, perhaps it’s an old family recipe that connects you to your ancestors each time you make it, or it’s the lengths you will go to make sure that your family sits at the dinner table each night together?

I want to hear. Tell me in the comments below – I’d love to connect!

Seattle Weekly’s Voracious Tasting

Tags

Beef Counts, Event, Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Seattle Lifeline, Seattle Restaurants, Seattle Theatre Group, Seattle Weekly, Seattle Weekly's Voracious Tasting and Food Awards, Voracious, Washington Beef Commission

The word “Voracious” is defined as: “wanting or devouring great quantities of food.” Such a perfect name for Seattle Weekly’s  column highlighting Seattle’s “food, booze and restaurant news”.

And, an event called “Voracious Tasting”! What a fitting event for a food lover like me. I cannot wait to devour all the deliciousness that will ensue next Thursday night.

Guests will enjoy unlimited samples from local restaurants, food trucks, master mixologists and specialty foods and desserts. Here are some of the participating food and drink vendors that will be represented at the event:

Bar Code, Barrio, Bathtub Gin, Blind Pig Bistro, Cafe Munir, Cafe Yumm, Cafe Umbria, Collections Cafe, Contigo, Crush, DRY Soda, Flywheel, Harvest Vine, Hendrick’s Gin, Hoegaarden, Hot Cakes, Green Leaf, Il Corvo, Island Soul, Jemil’s Big Easy, KEXP, Kind, Kukaruza, La Bête, La Bodega, Le Petit Cochon, Liberty, Los Chilangos, LUCID, Marx Foods, Matt’s in the Market, Mighty-O Donuts, Milagro Tequila, Miller’s Guild, Miyabi 45th, PCC, Pie, Pintxo, Plaka Estiatorio, Ponti Seafood Grill, Poquitos, Prima Bistro, Quinn’s Pub, Radiator Whiskey, Reyka Vodka, Rob Roy, Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Rum, Serafina/Cicchetti, Shanik, Skillet, Sky City at the Needle, Snoqualmie Ice Cream, Snout & Co, Stella Artois, Stella Cidre, Tanaka San, The Gerald, The New Mexicans, The Old Sage, Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, Veraci Washington State Beef Commission, Westward

I hope to see you there – but buy your tickets soon! This event sells out each year!

Voracious Tasting & Food Awards 2014 presented by the Washington State Beef Commission

Event Details:

Thursday, April 24

6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

The Paramount Theatre (911 Pine Street Seattle, WA 98101)

VIP* (admits at 6 pm) –  $90/General Admission (admits at 7:30 pm) – $50

Purchase tickets here.

Presented by Washington State Beef Commission

60+ Seattle area restaurants, bars and specialty foods

*VIP ticket holders get exclusive early 6pm access to the Paramount Theatre, private bar in the VIP Lounge and a VIP Swag bag.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Beef Counts at Food Lifeline and Seattle Theatre Group.

Must be 21 or older and provide valid identification at the doors for entry.

Pork Carnitas, Sweet & Spicy Salmon, Allrecipes and Mazola!

Tags

Allrecipes Allstars, Allrecipes.com, Carnitas, Grapefruit, Heart Healthy, Mazola, Mazola Corn Oil, pork, recipes, salmon, Tomitillos

I have some big news to share on the blog today! I am so excited and honored to have been chosen as one of this year’s Allrecipes Allstars!

Over the past several years here on KristinPotPie I have talked about my love for Allrecipes – sharing recipes, my first visit to Allrecipes headquarters (which is located in Seattle – lucky me!), writing a guest post about “stick food” for the Allrecipes Fresh Bites blog for their #RecipeForHappiness campaign celebrating their 15th Anniversary, and my most recent visit (and chance to meet Chef John!) to the headquarters during last year’s International Food Bloggers Conference. Becoming an Allstar is like the icing on the cake for me!

Allrecipes has one of the largest communities of actively engaged home cooks in the world and is one of the most heavily trafficked food and lifestyle sites on the internet – it receives 750 million annual visits from family focused women who connect and inspire one another through shared photos, reviews, videos and blog posts.

In June 2011, Allrecipes.com launched the Allrecipes Allstars—a voluntary brand ambassador program with more than 100 home cooks across the nation. An Allstar is an Allrecipes’ super-fan who is always cooking, rating, and reviewing recipes, posting photos, and telling everyone about it.

As an Allstar I will receive benefits such as sneak peeks of Allrecipes’ newest features, promotions, and products, the opportunity to provide feedback to Allrecipes and to be part of the team while I engage with other Allstars around the country who love to talk about their passion for the Allrecipes community as much as I do.

It also means promotional items! As Allstars we get to connect with Allrecipes sponsoring brands and share with our readers information and recipes from these supporting companies.

The first brand that I have the pleasure of partnering with as an Allstar is Mazola®. Recently I received a bottle of Mazola Corn Oil in the mail. I was asked to prepare a couple of their sponsored recipes on the Allrecipes website and talk about the importance of Heart-Healthy eating.

Heart problems run in the women in my family on both sides so I try to stay healthy by exercising (I do need to be better about this!) and by being aware of what I put on my dinner table.

Mazola Corn Oil is cholesterol free and 100% pure with no additives, so the natural flavor of your favorite food comes through. Additionally, new research, sponsored in part by ACH Food Companies, Inc., shows Mazola Corn Oil lowers cholesterol more than extra virgin olive oil. Corn oil lowered LDL cholesterol by 10.9 percent compared to extra virgin olive oil’s 3.5 percent reduction, making corn oil more effective.

You can read more about the study and about the healthy benefits of cooking with Mazola® here.

Now let’s get cooking!

I used the Mazola Corn Oil to prepare this lovely Sweet and Spicy Salmon with Grapefruit Salsa. It was delicious! Salmon is one of our go-to dishes here in this house – the boys can polish off a two-pound fillet in one evening! – so it is nice to have a new way to prepare it.

I don’t usually go for fruit with my protein (I know, I’m weird that way) but this dish was amazing! The strong flavors of the grapefruit is offset by the sweet hint of brown sugar in the fish rub and the spice level is just right.

But my new favorite recipe is this Pork Carnitas dish sponsored by Mazola®. I just loved the tomatillos in the sauce and it was so easy to make.

The pork is really tender when slow cooked in this way and it really is a versatile dish – just cook up a batch of the meat, choose your tortilla (I generally prefer flour) and use whatever toppings you like. Check out this delicious and healthy recipe here.

I hope you will give these recipes a try and let me know what you and your family think and I cannot wait to share more Allrecipes love with you in the coming months! Stay tuned!

Disclosure: I am an Allrecipes Allstar brand ambassador (a voluntary position) and I’m not compensated for my work with Allrecipes.com. Products received from Mazola® were only used for experienced-based reviews on KristinPotPie. The reviews, content and opinions expressed in this blog are based purely on my own opinions. To learn more about the Allrecipes Allstars program visit, Allrecipes Allstars.

IFBC – Inspirational Moments

Tags

Allrecipes, Andrew Scrivani, Dorie Greenspan, IFBC 2013, Inspiration, Kim O'Donnell, Pastry Smart, photography, Seattle, Writing

Like so many others who are searching for life balance in our fast-paced world, I have been trying to fit the word “no” into my vocabulary more often.

But last month, I am so glad that I didn’t say “no” to the International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC) that I attended here in Seattle.

I almost didn’t go.

You see, as much as I had been looking forward to IFBC for almost a year, I was suffering from a horrible migraine that threatened to keep me away. The side effects (nausea, exhaustion, etc.) came and went the entire weekend, but I made the choice to suck it up and not stay home in bed. Instead, experiencing the most impactful three days of my blogging journey.

I was just so inspired.

Inspired, of course, by the incredible amounts of stunning, delicious, innovative food.

More on the food to come – I could write a multitude of posts on the food alone!

I was inspired each day by the surroundings of this wonderful city.

Watching the Pike Place Market wake-up and come to life as I walked from my parking spot to the host hotel on Saturday morning reminded me just how lucky I am to be able to call Seattle my hometown.

Inspired by the amazing bloggers that I met (plus the ones I already knew!) and spent time with.

What fun it was to hang out with my good friend and conference buddy, a relatively new blogger – Cynthia of Soil and Cellar. Seeing the world of blogging through her fresh eyes were quite possibly some of the most insightful moments of the weekend for me.

Inspired by companies. Like Pastry Smart (the hosts of our Saturday morning breakfast), who are doing great things to bring humane, sustainable, organic food to the mainstream.

And the Seattle-based Allrecipes, whose mission it is to inspire, teach and encourage us all to learn from each other!

Inspired by the sessions I attended.

I learned much about food photography and the creative process.

A  series of sessions by Andrew Scrivani, food photographer for the New York Times, taught me about composition, styling, lighting, shooting, and even tips for managing my photographs.

“Don’t be afraid to be fearless to get that shot you want.” Andrew told us. “Get in there – up close, and capture the smoke and flames and drips and pours.”

He also said something that really struck me, “Your time management is essential to your creative process.”

Imagine that! The better one manages their time, the more freedom they have to be creative.

A writing session with Kim O’Donnell reminded me how food is the muse that is available to us all.

“Food is the lens that is accessible to all of us. It connects our senses.” she said, “We all have to eat, and we all have memories.”

Kim’s session showed me how writing about food can take many different forms, from creative writing, demonstrated through a timed writing exercise with the prompt, “I remember…”, to the challenges of the very technical writing of a recipe.

She exhibited the later by having us write our recipe for the seemingly basic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was interesting to see how even very simple instructions could be misinterpreted by the reader.

We all bring our own filters to what we read and to what we write. Though we may need to be mindful of this, it is a very human thing and is that which makes it true and connecting for us.

But perhaps the most inspiring moment of them all was the keynote speech (as it should be, I suppose), by renowned Dorie Greenspan.

“What we do counts. As bloggers, we have the chance to speak from our hearts.” She said. “It is not about the advertising or the number of hits on our sites. It is about the people who visit us each month and how they relate to us and to each other.”

Sometimes in struggling to balance a full time job, a family and this blog, I wonder – am I making a difference? Do I really have something of value to say? And that is when I  feel the most overwhelmed and want to say, “no” to things. But Dorie encouraged us to not think about the critics – those inside of us and those that surround us – and just…

“Concentrate on the work of being a writer. Do it for yourself. And say yes. Always say yes.”

Maybe I have been going about things all wrong. Maybe instead of no, I should be striving to say yes more. Because it is in these “yes” moments that, perhaps, I will experience something new, or feel something, or learn something. Or even, on a really good day, teach something.

IFBC – More Questions than Answers

Tags

2013, food bloggers, IFBC, International Food Bloggers Conference, Seattle, Writing

Oh my goodness – it’s finally here! Conference week!

I have been so excited about the International Food Blogger Conference, being held here in Seattle, ever since I signed up for it (waaaaay back in October!) The organizers offered a special rate to bloggers of $95. All I would have to do to get this special deal is write three posts about the conference (disclaimer – this is the first one.) :-) And with it being held in my very own backyard (no travel required) how could I pass that up?

So now it is here, and my excitement is met with another emotion that I never expected. I am SO nervous.

It feels very much to me like the first day of school and I have butterflies in my stomach about all of the unknowns.

Though I do attend a lot of events and network quite a bit, I have been blogging for three and half years and have never attended a food blogger conference (or a blogger conference…or a writing conference…) So many questions swirling around in my head as a newbie. I know I tend to over-analyze things, and this conference is no different.

Here’s what I think I know:

• I will learn a lot. That’s really the point, right? Aside from networking, of course.
  

• There will be tons of people to meet. 320 bloggers to be exact – I understand though, that by conference standards, this is an intimate crowd.

• I will bring home a whole bunch of goodies. The good ol’ swag bag! I hear that the IFBC swag is something else!

• I will have fun.

Here’s what I don’t know.

• Which sessions to attend. There are so many good ones, taught by professionals in the food industry that I admire and respect, and at times they conflict with each other. What if I choose the wrong ones?

• What to wear. They advise bloggers to be comfy, but I want to make a good impression. Hmmmm…how to look good and be comfortable? An art I have yet to master in my life.

• Will my business cards arrive in time? I realized a couple of weeks ago that I was going to need gobs of business cards – to hand out to other bloggers, to vendors and for entering drawings. I immediately went online and ordered 500 – maybe overkill. They are set to be delivered tomorrow…fingers crossed  that they come today!

• Which equipment to bring Camera, laptop, Iphone, chargers, back-up batteries? I am not sure how much or how little to saddle myself with. At least I got my laptop working again last night (just in case) – had a bit of a scare there when the screen went black and I had to spend hours re-setting the system! Phew! That was a close one!

• Will I like the food? I know it is is silly being a food blogger, but there are some things I am not fond of. I do realize how fortunate I am though that I don’t have to deal with dietary restrictions like others who are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo…

• How will I get to the conference and where will I park?  I wish I were staying in the host hotel right about now. At least the fortune that I am now going to spend on parking would be worth it, as I would get to fully immerse myself in the whole experience – late night pajama parties and all.
  

• Will the other bloggers like me? Will they like my blog? Will I make friends? I know I am excited to meet everybody – but will they be excited to meet me?

• Am I ready? There is so much I wanted to do to my blog to make it ready. My “about me” page needs a serious update and I have not yet moved my blog over to the self-hosted site (that I have been working on for the last year and a half!) Plus, I am sorely behind in posting to my Pinterest and Instagram.

I am sure that most of these worries will melt away as I enter the conference hall for the first time, but for now I am on pins and needles. So if you are a conference veteran (or even a like-minded newbie!) give a girl some love – I am sure I am not the only one who could use a guiding hand and a calming word or two – we bloggers are good with our words, right?

 

I’m Writing for Groupon!

Tags

Dining with a view, Groupon, mag, Seattle, Seattle Restaurants, Writing

I am so thrilled that I can finally make this exciting announcement! My first post on Groupon just went live today!

I will be contributing posts a few times each month, bringing you all the best places to find wonderful food in our fair city.

What a beautiful day it is here in Seattle! A great day to see all the magnificent views that we are so proud of here in the great Northwest. Dine out tonight and see for yourself! For a few of my favorites, check out my first Groupon post, “Quite a Sight – Seattle Restaurants with a View”.

Hope you enjoy!

Grandma’s No-Bake Snowball Cookies

Tags

chocolate, coconut, cookie swap, Cookies, Cookies For Kids Cancer, holidays, marshmallows, OXO, The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

Who doesn’t love a cookie swap at Christmas time?

This year I participated in a very special swap with food bloggers all over the world!

The Food Blogger Cookie Swap is hosted annually by Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a non-profit which raises funds for pediatric cancer research.

It’s very simple how it works. Each blogger participating makes a small donation to the fund (which is matched, dollar for dollar, by OXO®!) and then receives names and addresses of three food bloggers across the country.

They bake and mail three dozen of the cookie of their choice (one dozen cookies to each recipient) and in turn, also receive one dozen cookies from three other bloggers.

Then, today, we blog about it – thereby raising awareness for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer! What better way to raise money and awareness for kids with cancer?

Food bloggers, Lindsay from Love & Olive Oil and Julie from The Little Kitchen coordinated this year’s event with over 500 food bloggers participating, and raising over $4400! Fabulous job you guys!

I received some very wonderful cookies over the last couple of weeks – Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Oatmeal Scotchies (what a mouthful – in more ways than one! Yum!),  from Cayla at Cayla’s Cookie Jar in Indiana, Clove Crisps (Loved these!) from Melissa at The Baked Equation in AZ, and finally this week my last box arrived and it contained Maple Bacon (Bacon! In a cookie? Yep! Oh my!) Sugar Cookies from Carrie at Bakeaholic Mama in NH!

Such a variety of sugary goodness!

After much contemplation, I decided on the perfect cookies.

The rules stated we had to make “cookies that are new to you”, meaning you have never blogged about them. These cookies I had never blogged about, but boy I’ve sure had a lot of practice eating them over the years!

Though it might be considered more of a candy by some, my grandmother’s no-bake cookies are a staple at our holidays. It is just not Christmas without them! I baked up a batch and sent them off to New York, Maine and California.

I hope my bloggers liked their cookies!

Here is the recipe for the very simple no bake cookies my grandmother makes every year with some of my own modifications:

Grandma’s No-Bake Snowball Cookies

• 2 TB Butter (she uses margarine)
• 1 – 6 oz package of semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels (good quality chocolate would be very tasty here but I wanted them to taste like grandma’s)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows (she uses two cups)
• 1/2 – 14oz bag of  coconut (her recipe only calls for a half cup but that just isn’t enough!)
  

Melt butter and chocolate in a large saucepan on the stove over low heat.

Remove from heat and add egg. Stir in.

Add marshmallows and powdered sugar stir gently until all ingredients are incorporated.

Pour coconut into a shallow bowl. Spoon balls into hand with a tablespoon and lay in coconut. Place cookie ball into coconut and roll gently.

Place each ball on a baking sheet. Let rest for 2 hours or overnight. Can store in fridge up to 3 weeks.

I doubled the recipe to make 4 dozen. So, yes, I did have some left over! And, no, I didn’t share! :-)

If you are a food blogger and would like to participate next year, go here to sign up for the email list and they will send you information when signups occur. If you would like to support Cookies for Kids, your donation would surely be appreciated – go here for more information.

What is your favorite Christmas time cookie to give or receive?

I’m Enjoying My Morning Coffee This Week!

Tags

blogging, coffee, Foodportunity, Parties

Coffee seems to be a joyous theme for me lately!

Twice in the past week I have sat here in front of my laptop, enjoying my morning coffee, and received notices that my little blog is on the radar of others that I so respect and admire.

First, it was on Sunday morning that I saw a link back to KristinPotPie from ThriftyNWMom.

What was this, I wondered?

I clicked over and saw that, ironically, it was a post (about coffee!) that featured a latte cup giveaway (sorry you missed the giveaway – I meant to post this yesterday, while you still had time to enter, but the day just got away from me!)

Sia from Thrifty NW Mom shared what blogs she likes to read with her morning coffee – I was so surprised and honored to see my blog listed there with such greats, and some of my favorites like the Pioneer Woman (read about my meeting her here) and the fantastic craft blog (which also happens to run by a Seattle blogger!), Make and Takes.

Then, yesterday, I saw an update on Facebook that my blog had been chosen in the top three for the Foodportunity Blog Contest – read my entry here where I tell all about my very own Foodportunity. This really blew my mind!

Local judges, three popular Seattle bloggers, Linda Miller Nicholson from Salty Seattle, Amy Pennington of Go Go Green Garden and Ronald Holden of Cornichon.org picked my blog for third place!

Honestly, (though I think I will be receiving a fantastic cookbook) I don’t really care about the prize as much as just being named at the top by these amazing and talented individuals. It is really such an honor!

And I couldn’t be happier for my friend and fellow blogger Leslie Seaton of Fresh Picked Seattle who got the top spot! I have been following her success for several years now and am ecstatic that she will have the opportunity to present to the Foodportunity community.

You should buy your tickets today for next Monday night’s event and come out to see her in action!

All this is happening amidst my preparations for a sweet little party I am preparing for this Saturday morning – a House Party Brunch. You see a few weeks backs I was chosen as a host for a Keurig House Party. I have thrown a few other House Parties – see my Mad Men party and my most recent House Party, for the game, Telestrations.

I have been working at planning a menu (and will have a fun new recipe for you) for my coffee party and gathering my supplies – some of my latest finds in thrifting will make an appearance at Saturday’s party.

What to do with old coffee pots and filters when you have make the change over to a Keurig? I think those coffee pots are going to make lovely flower vases and the coffee filters…well I am getting crafty with those! Wait till you see!

What have you been enjoying lately with your morning coffee? :-)

Finally! A Pot Pie Recipe

Tags

Chicken potpie, events, Foodportunity, Keren Brown, party food, Seattle

About three years ago something magical happened for me in a room full of food lovers.

I was attending my first Foodportunity, “a networking event for all food passionate people” hosted by Keren Brown of Frantic Foodie.

As an events planner, with the belief that food is the key ingredient in connecting us during life’s special moments, I had recently taken to Twitter in search of some fresh, new food vendors for the events that I produce. It was there that I read about this event and decided to step out of my comfort zone. (As an introvert, I was much more comfortable behind the scenes than in a room full of people passing around business cards.)

Terrified, and yet excited, to actually meet in person all the like-minded (food-focused) people I had come to “know” virtually on Twitter, I walked into the room and was immediately pounced on by two very animated women.

It went something like this:

“Oh my god! It’s KristinPotPie! KRISTINPOTPIE! We LOVE you!”

“Hi.” I answered tentatively, looking around, thinking maybe they had me mixed up with someone else.

“We just love your food updates on Twitter!”

“Um. Thank you?” They were looking directly at me..maybe they were speaking to me after all…

“Yeah, why don’t you have a blog?”

I muttered something incoherent and muffled like, “Me? Oh, I don’t know…” and quickly changed the topic of discussion, “I think I’m going to get a drink, anyone else?”

That was the moment I seized my first true Foodportunity. That was the day this blog was born.

What I didn’t want to say to them was that I was a writer who wasn’t writing. Why didn’t I have a blog? In my head I had an arsenal of excuses:

What would I write about that would interest people? When would I find the time to blog? Why would anyone listen to what I have to say when there are so many more knowledgeable people out there?

But here before me were these women, strangers to me, who believed in me more than I did in myself. That was my foodportunity – a living, breathing, supportive community.

And now, several Foodportunity events and countless other food and networking events later, I continue to seize every foodportunity. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all champagne and roses. It’s hard work and I have my days when I wonder if it’s all worth it, or the words aren’t coming to me, and I’m tempted to pack it in…but then I get an encouraging email or a message from someone I have met through this community and I start typing again.

Throughout my life, when speaking with others about food, I have found myself reveling in the delight that comes with sharing a recipe or a tip on how to make a special celebration more memorable with food – even if what you are celebrating is the everyday. That is what KristinPotPie is all about. It’s a recipe for the most delicious celebrations.

But there is something missing here – do you know what it is?

The most frequently asked question I get when I tell people the name of my blog – “Do you share recipes for potpies?” Well, no actually. I have not once posted a potpie recipe. I guess that’s been an untapped natural opportunity for me…so here it goes.

Kris”tin”Potpies

These mini potpies are made in muffin tins and are the perfect size for a hand-held party snack.

• Your favorite pie crust – I use this one (a recipe for a 9″ pie – top and bottom is just perfect)
• 1 lb raw diced chicken
• 1-1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 12 oz. Mixed veggies frozen – corn, green beans, peas and carrots
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 TB flour
• 1 TB butter
• 1 ts fresh chopped rosemary
• 1 ts fresh thyme leaves
• 1-1/2 ts fresh chopped oregano
• 1 TB olive oil

Heat pan over med-high heat. Pour in olive oil then add chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cool until no longer pink, stirring frequently.

Add vegetables to the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes over medium heat until vegetables thaw. Place butter in the pan and sprinkle the mixture with flour. Cook for about 3 minutes until butter is melted and flour is incorporated, then add herbs and chicken stock. Stir and cook until thickened  – about 7 or 8 minutes. Add cream and allow to thicken over low heat to desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease 2-6 serving muffin tins. Roll out pie dough to desired thickness – 1/8″ thick. Cut 2 circles from the dough for each potpie – use a small bowl or large drinking glass, making sure that the circle fits into the muffin tin hole and overlaps at the top (a 6″ circle is what I used.) Place the pie bottom into each cup and fill with chicken mixture. Top each pie with 2nd circle and crimp the top and bottom edges together. Brush the top of each pie with beaten egg white. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Allow to cool for about five minutes before carefully removing them from the muffin tin. Place pies in individual cupcake holders and serve.

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