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

MORE SPONSORS FOR CTFBC

I was about to write good evening everyone until I looked at the time in the corner on my screen and realized with a shock that it is already tomorrow and I should actually be saysing Good morning everyone!! I have so much work still to do before I can go away on Monday on holiday for the week that I am sitting here. My mind is soactive and crammed with stuff anyway that I would not be able to sleep so what better way to spend the time than to sit here blogging? Hehe....I could think of one or two right now but will settle for the blogging as it is one of the things on my looooong list that I need to do before I can leave.

I just have to remind those who asked to put their names on the list to please let me have their deposits. I was supposed to pay for the venue and food today but had not received enough money in so I have been given grace until early Monday morning before I leave. So please please people. If you are intending to come to the conference then please do the right thing and pay your fees so that I can confirm and mark you as paid. If you have NOT booked but would like to attend please send me a mail right now to collywolly50@yahoo.co.uk and book your seat. I will then send you an email giving you the banking details and ask that you pay the fees immediately. I do still have seats available. The cost of the conference is R430.00 per person and it covers everything from refreshments to lunch and a fabulous big goodie bag stuffed to capacity with some yummy foodie products and goodies. Please look at the previous post for the agenda and other details. Thanx so much.

Now for some more great sponsorship news.....the following companies have agreed to come on board with me and are sponsoring in different ways

Kara'a Original Greek Herb Dressing due to be launched onto the market at the end of March.

We fortunate bloggers will be getting a foretaste of what is to come....this delightful dressing is described on the website thus "Do you enjoy exciting Greek or Mediterranean food? You will fall in love with Kara's! Healthy, Natural, No Additives, No Preservatives. "a family recipe brought to you by the family."

They are giving us a jar of Original Greek Herb Dressing for each goodie bag

and also a hamper of products to be given out to one lucky blogger during the course of the day.

Thank you so much Costa for coming on board and for being the very first sponsor I got.

I was so thrilled! We wish you all the best and much success with your launch onto the SA market!

The beautiful people over at Yuppiechef

are sponsoring us with a voucher in each goodie bag to the value of R100.

Thank you so much Paul Galatis for your willingness to participate in this exciting event.

Ooooooh, need I say more??? The cookware that sets a foodie's heart aflame....

Le Creuset are sponsoring TWO of their famous casseroles for give-aways

to two very fortunate guests on the day. I can only hope that I might be one of them....

Thank you so much Jamie.....appreciate your generosity and belief in my conference.

Just look at this...I found it under their new products. Isnt it just me???? I am going to save every cent

I get until I can afford one of these......

You want to see some other new colours???

Or maybe I should go for one of these colours.......gosh it's confusing!! I love them all!!!

Arent they gorgeous???? Go take a look at all the fantastic colours that they come in....

And then we have a very familiar name in the food industry, the tannie who adds the gourmet touch

Ina Paarman Products will be sponsoring us with some of their recipe booklets in each goodie bag,.

You know those handy little ones that you see hanging around on her racks at the supermarkets....have you ever looked through one of those? They are full of fabulous recipes. Thank you so much for sponsoring our goodie bags. You might not all know that Ina Paarman's beloved husband of more than 40 years, Ted, died early in January from lung cancer. Ina, our love and condolences go out to you and your family. It must be so incredibly difficult & heartbreaking dealing with the loss of your soulmate, your life partner. Hugs to you!  

Sam & Caro over at food24.com

have sponsored each goodie bag with a beautiful apron!!! An essential piece of kitchen equipment for any serious cook. Thank you very much ladies for that and also for all the assistance that you have given me in obtaining other sponsorships. I have really valued your help and direction.

Well, that is it for tonight. I hear the rest of the family snoring. The leaves are rustling outside the window in the dark so that means a bit of a south easter has picked up. At least it is cooler and I will be able to sleep more comfortably.

I will be away from Monday for the next week so it might be quiet on this site. But I will update as soon as I am back.

Have a good weekend,

Colleen xx