Dear Foodie Events

I've been to my fair share of foodie events in St. Louis - Taste, Sauce Magazine's Saucy Soiree, and last night's Iron Fork event by RFT. In my excursions, I've learned a few things.... that I feel compelled to share with organizers of said events and ones similar.

1. More trash cans please. Seriously.
2. Bigger signs! Uh, hi. You want your event to be crowded, right? So how the hell do you expect me to see that little sign on their table saying what restaurant it is when there is a crowd of people in front of it? Big signs on the walls/above the booth would be awesome. Or better yet.....
3. Maps of where the restaurants are. Print them out. Hand them out. Then I know which side to hit first, which lines I want to stand, where the drinks are....
4. And let me drink what I want! Little did I know, my 'three complimentary drinks' last night were not for my choosing. I had to have one beer, one glass of wine and one mixed drink. Uh, no. I don't like mixed drinks. I understand it gets people trying stuff from all three vendors. I get that it makes it easier for you to estimate quantities. But this event isn't about you and making your life easier. It's about me. And me getting to have fun and stuff my face and get drunk tipsy a few casual drinks with my friends.
5. Is this a line? This is always a conundrum. Are we walking in a big circle here? Is there a line for each table? Is it just a free-for-all fight to the front?
6. Vendors are a good idea. I'm a sucker and buy stuff. Especially if it is from local print shops... just sayin.
7. Entry fees work if the portions are small and free. And I get free drinks (but please see #4).
8. Encourage/Require the restaurants have info like what they are serving, where they are located, how to connect with them on social media (please see my Atomicdust blog post on what a great job Sauce did for reference). Having full menus on the tables are nice too, so I can look to see if I want to check it out in real life.

I'm not saying I don't have a good time at these events... I do. But I have the same complaints every time. And felt compelled to share.

I'll go have my coffee now and stop being so crabby.

I'm Dying. (NCAA Cuteness Edition)

Missouri is out of the tournament, so I pretty much lost all interest. But I'm always interested in little kids being stupid/funny/adorable.



And now, for my ultimate favorites. Be prepared to LOL. I am warning you:

The Vine

I love South Grand. 

I'm not sure what took me so long to realize it, given that I've lived down the block in Dutchtown for almost two years now. But South Grand is awesome. In the last month, I've fallen in love with Basil Spice, walked around the corner to Bahn Mi So #1 and this past Sunday, had late lunch/early dinner at The Vine.

They had a nice little patio and it was a beautiful day, so I was already happy.... and then I opened my menu and saw they had chicken shawarma!! Just like I had in Agadir! I was psyched.

We ordered falafels for an app... ummmm delicious. I didn't think I liked falafel until now. Fried chickpea goodness. And it came with pickles and freakin' gorgeous pickled turnips (which I think are gross, but were so pretty!)


Then came my entree - chicken shawarma and (a giant plate of) fries. So good! I think what I had in Morocco had more fresh veggies- lettuce and tomato - whereas this one was more pickled veggies, but it was till good. And really big! I probably didn't need the fries or the app!


We also had the carrot juice and mango juice (yum!), and Joe had a delicious little cucumber, tomato and onion salad that I'm so ordering for myself next time!

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Buttercream Icing

What do you do on St. Patrick's day once you've finished your errands, installed a new showerhead and caught up on Desperate Housewives?

Make cupcakes!

I went a little crazy and decided to try making these Guinness Chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's buttercream icing on Saturday night. I mean, seriously, who starts making cupcakes at 9pm? They were actually fairly easy and turned out pretty okay... I'm not crazy about the icing, but I've yet to find an icing recipe that I am crazy about. The cakes are really moist, really rich... it would make a great whole cake or adapted for brownie batter though!






For once, I didn't really stray from a recipe (except adding way more Bailey's than the icing called for). Click here to check it out.

Home Shopping... at West Elm Philadelphia

It's like Pinterest in real life!

I went to Philadelphia for work back in February and took a little detour into the West Elm store.... I didn't buy anything. But saw a bunch of stuff I wanted to. Here's a taste.

Happy St. Pat's!

For your computer, phone or tablet background. Download here. 

St. Louis loves St. Pat's (in fact, I'm pretty sure we love any drinking holiday). Most people I know are convening in Dogtown today for the annual celebration... and while I might make it down there eventually, I'm planning to spend my Saturday running errands, tanning, taking Maverick to the park, drinking coffee, cathing up on my DVR, doing laundry, cleaning and rearranging furniture. Taking productive laziness to a whole new level. Happy St. Pat's!

This Week in Pictures (3.16.12)

{stir fry for Sunday dinner}

{working from couch}

{fro yo}

{Tuesday patio weather}

{good beer, good friends}

{lunch at Bogart's}