Monday 11 October 2010

Sydney Food Bloggers 'Mad Hatters' Picnic at Centennial Park

Fantastic 'Sydney Food Bloggers Cake' by Anna from Diary of a Lady Bird

I love food. I love taking photos of  food. I AM A FOOD BLOGGER.

Mr FBC and I are getting use to telling people that we're food bloggers. Our close friends know not to start their meals until we've had an opportunity to photograph it. We're also getting use to the unusual looks you get in restaurants when you start taking photos of our food.  But every so often, we just wished we knew more people who just understood our passion for food and our excessive need for taking photos of the food we eat. People who just get it.

Last weekend, we had the wonderful opportunity to meet 40 or so likeminded Sydney based food bloggers who gathered at Centennial Park for the ‘Sydney Food Bloggers ‘Mad Hatters’ Spring Picnic’ (organised by the lovely Billy from A Table for Two  and Karen from Citrus and Candy).
It was so great to meet all the faces behind the food blogs that I’ve been reading for the past year or so. Even though we were mostly all strangers, everyone was so friendly and the conversation was really easy - food focussed obviously. Oddly enough, you just never know who you'll meet at these things. I even bumped into an old high school friend who I hadn't seen for years - a girl from the blogging crew at yayas yum yums.  Small world!

What would a food bloggers picnic be without ‘food’ for people to photograph. There was a beautiful array of delicous looking food to share.
Above is just a snap shot of the spread of food. I think there were two more picnic blankets
worth of food.  And, here are some close up shots....
Cute Tea-ramisu in Chocolate teacups (by Tammi from Insatiable Munchies)

 Lemon ricotta cheesecake  (by Table Nosh)
Smoky Bacon and Chilli Caramel Slice (by Helen from Grab Your Fork
I didn't try as many things as I would have liked. I think I had too much food to gawk at. I was just overwhelmed by it all and oddly lost my appetite. I did try a slice of the Smoky Bacon and Chilli Caramel Slice. The combination sounds so wrong, but it tastes so right. Yum.

The event was sponsored by a range of generous sponsors, including Nuffnang. There were lots of prizes to be won, including prizes for the best mad hat, the best sweet dish, the best savoury dish and the best 'blue' dish. You will notice a bit of the 'blue' theme in the next few photos. Someone even brought in a huge bucket of 'blue' sangria (sorry - don't have a photo of that one).
Cute 'mad hatter' themed cupcakes (from yayas yum yums) 
Cookie Monster Cupcakes by  nommy nom nom
Cutesy Pie Cake Popsicles by Sugarlace
Close up of the Cake Popsicle
Mr FBC and I were racking our brains all week trying to decide what to make. We finally chose two dishes (one sweet and savoury) which were cute and bite size - Mini Burgers and Shortbread Tartlets. Perfect picnic food. We'll post recipes soon - they are super easy to make.  I even managed to make little cardboard signs for us using the new 'alphabet' stamps I recently bought.
Mini Burgers (by Mr FBC)


Shortbread Tartlets (made by Mrs FBC)
It was great to just meet all the food bloggers and share their gorgeous food. However, our day was topped off by winning one of the prizes. Our Shortbread Tartlets won second prize in the Sweet dish category. Yay! It was a total shock as there were sooooo many beautiful and tasty sweet dishes. Our prize was fantastic - it was a $150 voucher to Chophouse at Bligh Street, Sydney. Mr FBC and I have already perused the menu and we're looking forward to our meaty extravaganza.
Lovely to meet you all and hope to see you soon - Mr and Mrs FBC xx
Second Prize - $150 voucher to Chophouse
Food, glorious food

13 comments:

  1. Congrats on the prize guys! The raspberry tartlets were yummy and I loved the cute signage you guys made. And the burgers were awesome! Mr FBC, your efforts were appreciated (cutting up all those buns to fit the cupcake carrier)!

    Sorry didn't get to talk to you guys much, too busy eating... Looking forward to the next event and hopefully would be able to talk more then. Until then, happy eating guys! I'm sure you'll let us all know how fab Chophouse is.

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  2. grats on the prize dudes the mini pickle on the burgers were just too cute! and great to finally meet you both in person!

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  3. Congrats on winning the dessert prize. Thought it was well deserved :)

    Can't wait to see what you'll bring to the next picnic :)

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  4. Congrats on winning!! Those tartlets were amazing! Where did you get your stamps from? The sign was tres jolie!

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  5. Congrats on your prize! I saw a pic of those mini burgers on someone else's blog and went "EEeeeeee SO CUTE"

    Love them!

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  6. Your shortbread tartlets were awesome. Such a gorgeous idea, and delicious to boot! The burgers were a winner too :)

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  7. Thanks so much for coming and for your dishes! As soon as I tasted your tartlets I knew it had to win something hehe. I absolutely love anything with lemon in it but I absolutely adored the sweet biscuitty tart case. :D

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  8. Congrats again on scoring a prize and I'm proud to say I scoffed two of your mini-burgers. I remember hearing Mr FBC comment about having to cut all the buns - just wondering what happened to the offcuts?

    Great to put some faces to the blog name and absolutely loved your mini hat =)

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  9. Can't wait to read about your Chophouse experience! I missed out on the mini hamburgers (they'd all disappeared after I'd taken my photo) but did try the raspberry lemon tarts and they deservedly won a prize, a lovely combination of flavours and the shortbread was absolutely delicious, so well made!

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  10. congrats on the win guys :) so nice to have met fellow bloggers such as yourselves!
    the photos mr fbc took are awesome! cant wait 'til the next picnic :)

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  11. Hi Phoc'n delicious - It was great meeting you too. Your S'mores tarts were yummo. Hopefully chat more at the next foodbloggers event.
    Hi chocolatesuze - Great meeting you in person. Hope you've gotten over your cold!
    Hi Simon - Can't wait for the next picnic and, importantly, all the great food everyone will bring along.
    Hi Tambourine - I got my stamps from a newsagency in Newtown. They are coming in really handy. You're Lady Gaga-esque hat was awesome.
    Hi Celeste - Thanks! The mini burgers were cute and I'm very proud of Mr FBC's efforts :)
    Hi Helen - Thanks :) I'm not a fantastic cook... but the tartlets are so super easy (by my standards). I'm sure I'll be making them again.
    Hi Karen - Thanks for organising the event. Glad you liked the tartlets.
    Hi Mademoiselle delicieuse - I wish I could say we used the offcuts of the buns to make breadcrumbs (or something useful)but unfortunately, we chucked them out.
    Hi Ya Ya - will let you know how the Chophouse experience goes. Sorry that you didn't get to try the mini burgers. Next time!
    Hi Gianna - Great to meet you too. Your hat (or head wear of fruit) was fantastic. Look forward to seeing you at the next foodblogging event.

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  12. Congrats on your prize! It was great to meet you! I think I was a little overwhelemed with all the food there too. Now I only wish that I had tried those prize winning tarts of yours!!

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  13. Hi Betty - Great meet you too :) Yes - totally agree. Too much food.

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