SAFBC PART 2

Contrary to what Douglas (a cheeky reader on my Kitchen Diary blog) thinks I am not resting or relaxing :o) No, no, I've actually been very busy in fact - cleaning up after the conference. People to see, people to thank (sponsors and guests), I have almost 1,300 emails to wade through......places to go! My grandson had his fungym show at school on Tuesday evening, on Wednesday I had to babysit (twice - 2 hours in the afternoon and then again in the evening for parent teacher meetings) Thursday it was Taste of Cape Town seeing as we had received 2 entry tickets each in each goodie bag - WOW! Amazing....that will be a post on its own! Suffice to say it was a wonderful experience and I really enjoyed it. Ran into a lot of new friends made at the food bloggers conference so had quite a social scene going as well.

 Friday night it was cocktails in Mouille Point with Jeanne from Cooksister and a few other bloggers, Nina from My Easy Cooking, Rosemary from Homemade Heaven, Nicola from Wotsforlunch, Doula Mel from Bosom Buddies & myself. We had the added excitement of watching the Queen Mary 2 sail out of Table Bay Harbour and into the sunset.

The social life has to end soon.But not quite yet. Tomorrow evening I am donning my apron and heading off to Silwood Kitchen to cook with Le Creuset - those wonderful casserole people who also sponsored the conference. What a privilege, I am hugely thrilled by it.

 I was also invited to participate in a day with Simonsberg Cheese tomorrow out at a wine farm in Durbanville Hills but unfortunately it is Easter holidays so it means that this week I am the grandmother of two little rascals who are needing taking care of while Mommy is at work!! Aaaarrrgh. I hope everyone entered the competition they are running over on 24.com as those Simonsberg events are just fabulous. I went to one last year and it was fantastic. We were treated to a delicious luncheon with chef and author Marlene van der Westhuizen at her cooking school in Green Point. We had a fab cheese tasting with the cheesemaker from Simonsberg and it was interesting.  Their cheeses are absolutely wonderful!! And they sponsored the Food Bloggers Conference too so it would've been grand to get there and thank the right people in person.

I have finally completed editing the photographs from the first SA Food Bloggers Conference and have put them onto my personal facebook profile if anyone would like to take a look. If you are not on facebook (or not a friend) let me know and I can try and send you a link so that you can see them. But a lesson learned at the SAFBC was that you should link your blog to facebook and twitter if you want to get readership :o)

Registration and getting to meet the faces behind the bloggers

Jeanne (Cooksister) the keynote speaker, sporting a funky new short cut for Spring in the UK

A happy group of bloggers

Giggling Gourmet Jenny Morris with the Kara's Original Greek Spice Gift

I will, over the next little while, be blogging a bit about the conference and give little tips of what was learned that day so look out for those and for some more photos. If there was anyone who attended who does NOT want their photos to appear on blogs please kindly let me know as soon as possible. I am putting up a list of bloggers who attended simply because so many have asked me for links to everyone's blogs so here they all are....no wait, let me go and get a cup of chai tea and something to nibble on because the linking process is going to take the rest of the night HAHA!!

Jeanne - Cooksister


Nina - My Easy Cooking

browniegirl (oops that be me hehe) - Kitchen Diary

Jenny Morris - Giggling Gourmet

Just Griet - Griet's World

Ikey200306 - Pretty Little Thing Waiting for the King Down in the Jungle

Brightside - A Spoonful of Sugar

inspiration - Lavender & Lime

Wotsforlunch - Wots For Lunch

Janice - Janice Tripepi

Juno - Scrumptious SA

Marisa - The Creative Pot

Sigrid - Cooking And Eating With Polkadotcupcake

Sam Wilson - Editor-in-Chief food24.com Parent24.com & Women24.com

Cath - Cheque Please

Florentine - Treehouse Diary & DIY Gourmet (DIY launching mid April)

baglady - Touch of Gold

Sophia Lindop - Sophia Lindop

Michael Olivier - Michael Olivier

Sam Linsell - Drizzle & Dip

Andy - Jamie Who Blog

Pia - Mother City Living

Rose & Thorn - Homemade Heaven

Robyn Gartrell - Chocswirl

Potjie - What's Cooking

Carey - Bits of Carey

Just Me - Just Me

Kit - Food & Family

Lana - Whipping It Up

Lana - Lanalou Style

Jan Braai - Braai 4 Heritage

Chris - Whale Cottage Portfolio

Roy - Ardy53

Irma - Kapruka Oils

Cheryl - Beadz2Pleaz



Some of our fabulous sponsors attending were:

Nadia & Malu from Eat Out Magazine

Laura Swanepoel from Taste Magazine Online

Gill Macgregor from Le Creuset

Neil & Adrienne Verlaque Napper from Verlaque Fine Foods

Datje from Soulicious Chocolate

Cathy Archer from The Nut Vendor Cell: 0827880306 -
oh my word those WASABI NUTS!!! Divinely delicious!! Thank you so much for the sponsorship Cathy!

Shane Dryden - Yuppiechef

If anyone else has a website that I have omitted to put on the list please let me know the url and I will do so immediately as it will be great for everyone there to keep in touch in some way.

The rest of the guests were partners/spouses and private citizens interested in blogging or social networking. If you met anyone there that you would like to remain in contact with please let me know and I will set up email contact for you - with the other persons permission of course :o)



I told you the linking would take me a long time. I have been doing this blog post now since 9pm and look at the time now - 1.15am and way past pumpkin time.

Have a blessed and wonderful Easter everyone. Keep safe on the roads please if you are travelling this long weekend.

Hugs,
Colleen

SA FOOD BLOGGERS CONFERENCE PART 1

Well, the sun rose and set on Sunday and the first ever SA Food Bloggers Conference has received the proverbial nod and been claimed as a resounding success by those in the know (aka those who were there!). PHEW!!! What a relief! A lot of hours of work went into the co-ordinating and I have a great new respect for those who do this on a regular basis! After neglecting my family, my blog and myself I have come out the other side and am so thrilled with the outcome. It was a new challenge to me and I was determined that it would be successful. Those who know me well know that I am very much a behind the scenes kind of girl. I will work very hard in the back ground, I like taking the photos and not posing for them. I will listen to others speak but I prefer not to speak (publically I mean!). The anonymity of blogging has been very appealing to me in the past so this was a massive step out of my comfort zone. But that is what being on the right side of 50 and the right side of 60 does for one I guess!! I really have been enjoying the newfound confidence since I turned 50 way back when. I said then that it was my very best year but I think it will be surpassed by 2010....What an amazing experience! I am thrilled at how it all turned out and I think everyone there thoroughly enjoyed their day. I personally have come away from the first SA Food Bloggers Conference with a lot more knowledge and savvy on blogging and social networking and I will be sharing some of what we learned with you all.

Today I am just giving you two small bites from our grand day........
The beginning [setting up at the Giggling Gourmet Cooks Playground]

and the finale [a surprise appearance of a fantasy macaron & nougat croquembouche

designed and made by The Roundhouse Restaurant]

And of course up on the big screen was all our fabulous sponsors

A latecomer among the sponsors and a wonderful addition to the already groaning goodie bags was

Thank you so much Kapruka for the fantastic sponsorship of a bottle of Organic Virgin Coconut Oil for each delegate. I can't wait to try out all my goodies.....
A very very big thank you to every one of the fabulous sponsors for believing in me and for making my dream a wonderful reality
To the speakers Jeanne [Cooksister], Nina [My Easy Cooking], Jane-Anne [Scrumptious SA] & Sam [editor food24.com] I thank each and every one of your for your effort, for your time, for your dedication to this project. You each added so much to the day.

To the inimitable Jenny Morris - thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! The venue & the FOOD were fantastic!
And to all of those who attended - Thank you for joining us, I am so grateful for each one of you. It was wonderful to meet new friends and become reaquainted with old ones. I wish I had had more time to socialize. I hope you left there refreshed and raring to go with a new confidence and verve, as I did

I will be back with part 2 in the series of SA FOOD BLOGGERS CONFERENCE 2010

Until then,
Colleen xx

HAVE YOU BOOKED FOR THE CTFBC?

Greetings from the Mother City. It is the most amazing day again here. HOT but beautiful. These photographs were taken from Boyes Drive looking across False Bay on Sunday evening during the rising of the full moon. It was such a magnificent evening and the view was breathtaking. It was difficult to choose between the sunset over the Atlantic or the moon rise over the Indian Ocean. How wonderful to have choices like that!! As the sun was setting the moon started appearing and hung over the mountain like a huge orange balloon for a moment or two before gracefully continuing to rise into the pink, purple and orange sky.

Hanging like a huge orange balloon above the Hottentot's Holland Mountains

The colours of nature......

A close up but my tripod was not on steady ground....

Highway to Heaven

Looking towards Fish Hoek & Simonstown with the lights of St James &

Kalk Bay Harbour twinkling in the gathering darkness

Homeward bound after a long day spent in the sun and fresh sea air on the beach

(All photos taken with a Canon Powershot SX20IS)

Better for you than Champagne & Botox ;o)

To all those who have not yet booked for the Cape Town Food Bloggers Conference......nows your chance. Don't miss out on this wonderful experience. And I really mean that it is going to be a wonderful experience.

To all those who have BOOKED but have not yet received an email from me with the banking details please contact me collywolly50@yahoo.co.uk urgently as I need payment in the bank so that I can pay Giggling Gourmet for the venue and food by the end of tomorrow before I leave for a 10 day trip to a wedding in the hinterland!! Thanx so much.

Don't forget to let me know if you didn't get banking details. If you did get it please cough up. If paying via EFT do instruct your bank to notify me via sms that the deposit has been made. If you do the deposit in the bank then email me a copy of the deposit slip. I need to know who has paid so I can tick it on the booking list as paid. There are no tickets issued so this is the only way you can get into the conference.

The details for the conference once again, in case you have not seen it.........or have forgotten!! :o)

Date: Sunday 21 March 2010
Time: 9.30 for 10am - 5pm. Registration will start at 9.30am sharp.
Venue: The Giggling Gourmet Cooks Playground - 32 Napier Street opposite the new Cape Quarter underground parking garage entrance. A buffet style lunch will be served by the Giggling Gourmet team
Keynote Speaker - Jeanne Horak-Druiff from the award winning blog Cooksister
Other speakers - the delightful and talented Nina Timm from My Easy Cooking
Jane-Anne Hobbs, otherwise known as Juno, professional book editor, sub-editor and writer of 20 years experience and author of the fabulous blog Scrumptious SA and
Sam Wilson Editor in Chief of Women24, Food24 and Parent24 over at 24.com .
Cost - R430.00 (including a goodie bag but excluding travel or accommodation expenses)

The agenda for the day is as follows:
09.30 - 10.00: Registration and Champagne/Orange Juice (Orangina whooohoooo!!)

10.00 - 10.15: Welcome & Introduction by that super celebrity chef Jenny Morris aka the Giggling Gourmet(you cannot miss this lady guys hehe)
10.15 - 11.15: WRITING - 'Finding your Blog Voice' by Jeanne Horak-Druiff and 'Effective Recipe Writing & Editorial Techniques' by Jane-Anne Hobbs

11.15 - 11.45: 'Getting to know your camera' by Nina Timm

11.45 - 12.00: Short Coffee Break

12.00 - 12.45: 'How to be a better Blogger' by Jeanne Horak-Druiff

12.45 - 13.30: Lunch Break (YUMYUM some delicious surprises here hmmmmmm)

13.30 - 14.15: 'Social Networking - Getting Connected' by Sam Wilson

14.15 - 15.00: 'Food Styling' by Nina Timm

15.00 - 15.15: Short Tea/Coffee Break

15.15 - 16.00: 'The Legalities & Ethics of Blogging' by Jeanne Horak-Druiff

16.00 - 16.30: 'Monetizing Your Blog - how to make money from blogging' by Nina Timm

16.30 - 17.00: Questions & Answers with all the speakers

And if that is not enough to attract you ..............
* Each delegate will receive a goodie bag stuffed with exciting foodie lovers goodies!!!

* We have some fantastic grand prizes and give-aways to hand out to a lot of lucky bloggers. I will put up some more logos and confirmations tomorrow for you all to see......... :o)

Have a great evening,
Colleen

CTFBC 2010

CAPE TOWN FOOD BLOGGERS CONFERENCE

Time waits for no blogger. There are only 3 1/2 weeks left before the most exciting blogging event to hit the shores of South Africa. I cannot believe that it is so close now...........and I still have soooo much to do!! Stress, nerves, knotted neck and shoulders and rescue remedy are my constant companions....this has to be the biggest challenge in my life since...well, since sliced bread :o)
Here again is a reminder to all food bloggers and those readers and lurkers on the blogs who might be interested in starting up their own blogs


Date: Sunday 21 March 2010
Time: 9.30 for 10am - 5pm
Venue: The Giggling Gourmet Cooks Playground - just opened at 32 Napier Street opposite the new Cape Quarter.

A buffet style lunch will be served by the Giggling Gourmet team

Keynote Speaker - Jeanne Horak-Druiff from the award winning blog Cooksister
Other speakers - the delightful and talented Nina Timm from My Easy Cooking Jane-Anne Hobbs, otherwise known as Juno, professional book editor, sub-editor and writer of 20 years experience and author of the fabulous blog Scrumptious SA and Sam Wilson Editor in Chief of Women24, Food24 and Parent24.

Cost - R430.00 (including a goodie bag but excluding travel or accommodation expenses)

The venue can accommodate 100 delegates so please book urgently if you don't want to miss out on the blogging event of the year :o)
Here is the day's agenda - to whet your appetite if you have not yet decided that this is for you:

09.30 - 10.00: Registration and Champagne/Orange Juice

10.00 - 10.15: Welcome & Introduction by Giggling Gourmet Jenny Morris

10.15 - 11.15: WRITING - 'Finding your Blog Voice' by Jeanne Horak-Druiff and 'Effective Recipe Writing & Editorial Techniques' by Jane-Anne Hobbs

11.15 - 11.45: 'Getting to know your camera' by Nina Timm

11.45 - 12.00: Short Coffee Break

12.00 - 12.45: 'How to be a better Blogger' by Jeanne Horak-Druiff

12.45 - 13.30: Lunch Break

13.30 - 14.15: 'Social Networking - Getting Connected' by Sam Wilson

14.15 - 15.00: 'Food Styling' by Nina Timm

15.00 - 15.15: Short Tea/Coffee Break

15.15 - 16.00: 'The Legalities & Ethics of Blogging' by Jeanne Horak-Druiff

16.00 - 16.30: 'Monetizing Your Blog - how to make money from blogging' by Nina Timm

16.30 - 17.00: Questions & Answers with all the speakers


And if that is not enough to attract you ..............

* Each delegate will receive a goodie bag stuffed with exciting foodie lovers goodies!!!

* We will be having some grand prizes to hand out to some lucky bloggers. I have a few secrets up my sleeve but this one I have already shared with you all.....

A course from the divine chocolatiers for two to attend any of their amazing chocolate workshops at
The Chocolate Studio

So do yourself a favour - email me your personal and contact details here as soon as possible. I need to know who is coming so I can book your seats before I go away from 8th to 15th March to a wedding in the Eastern Cape.

I require real name (for name badges) blog name, email address and cell numbers. In return I will email you the banking details for EFT payments to secure your seat.

If you have already given me the above I will contact you via email soon.

I am still looking for some major companies to come on board with financial sponsorship. This is so that there can be a future for the SA FOOD BLOGGERS CONFERENCE and the chance to take it to other cities. If any of you have any contacts that could help me in this I would so value an email from you giving me details. Thank you so much.
Lastly, if you know of any food or wine bloggers who would be interested to find out about this conference please either let me know or give me their blogs names and I will go and find them and invite them. I have been doing a lot of that but it is very time consuming work trawling the net for bloggers. Most times I just get sooooo waylaid by all the fabulous looking food that I see out there LOL!! There are a lot of beautiful blogs to get lost in.

Looking forward to hearing from you all. The speakers are all excited and working on their presentations and I personally cannot wait to get educated on blogging :o)

Better for you than Champagne & Botox :o)

Colleen xx