Thursday 7 April 2011

Happy 1st Birthday to Chicken in a Cherry Sauce!

Pooof! A year has magically gone by in a flash and the day of my blog's first birthday has arrived!

This time last year, I wrote my very first post during my Easter holidays on some chai cupcakes that I had made for a cupcake party. I was impressed with the photos that I had taken of the cupcakes, and I had also seen a few food blogs before. So, with the encouragement of my friend Harriet (a Fashion Journalist student who also has a blog, Sugar Lips) I decided to start my food blog.

Over the year, I have been completely overwhelmed with each new blog that I have discovered. I think that the food blogging world is extraodinarily inspirational and I feel very priviledged to be part of it. Thank you to every blogger that has inspired me.

Please forgive my "cheesiness", but I would like to thank everyone who has read my blog. To be honest, I am not entirely sure who actually reads it! But thank you, oh so much, to those that do. Also, I would like to give a special thank you to those who communicate with me about my blog via comments. I have felt truly touched by some extremely kind and generous comments that you have left me. It has been such an absolute pleasure to hear that people enjoy reading my blog. I remember how excited I was to receive my first comment from a friend, and then to receive my first comment from a fellow food blogger. What a wonderful experience this past year has been. I never knew such happiness could stem from blogging!

Sometimes I have felt sorry for Chicken in a Cherry Sauce, as, at times, I have been so busy that I have neglected the blog a little. I hope that I will manage to continue and develop this blog in the future. I also hope that you, my lovely readers, will be patient and continue the great support that you have given me through my blog thus far.

I like to think of all of you, who communicate with me through my blog, as my friends.

I look forward to the next year and hope to keep up as life gets busier!

Monday 4 April 2011

California's Artisan Cheese Festival

California's Artisan Cheese Festival wine glass

After a rather lively and exceedingly enjoyable week in beautiful Mexico (and after a night of 3 hours sleep!), I went to my second event with Culture Magazine - California's Artisan Cheese Festival in Petaluma, North California.

As we were setting up our stand, we spoke with the girls next to us from Clover Stornetta Farms, Petaluma. They had a collection of different butters with them. We were given a personal demonstration of hand-butter churning before our eyes. Within a few minutes of shaking this pot of cream, it had transformed into beautiful crystals of butter and buttermilk.

The girls from Clover Stornetta Farms churning their butter

The girls with their butter

Butter crystals and buttermilk

Cinnamon sugar butter and thyme butter from Clover Stornetta Farms

Not only was the event filled with countless samples of cheese including towering cliffs of delicious blue from Point Reyes and lavender and espresso dusted Beehive Cheese... I discovered many new and exciting products of the food world.

Espresso and lavender dusted Beehive Cheese

Towering cliffs of delicious blue from Point Reyes

Goat milk fudge

Goat milk fudge stand

Some of these splendiferous discoveries included goat milk fudge, wine infused cookies, olive oil chocolate, peanut butter sandwich cookies, mini lemon meringue pies, exclusive olive oils, bacon bread, a rather interesting new product named “glop” (made from a selection of oils and cheeses), and I was thrilled about bumping into a familiar item that I fell in love with at Cochon 555 – my beloved toffee bacon lollipop! What a delight! I bagged myself three of these beauties.

Toffee bacon lollipop!

Samples of "glop" on crackers

Mini lemon meringue pies from Viola

Peanut butter sandwich cookies from Viola

Croque monsieur from Viola

Wine-infused cookies

Wine-infused cookie samples

Olive oil samples

And, of course, you can see that there was so much more to offer. How fabulous!

Piccante samples

Grape sodas

Le Merle from North Coast Brewing Company

Cheese samples to go with beer from North Coast Brewing Company

Endive dipped into blue with toasted pecans

Cheese and bacon corn bread

Needless to say, my eyes and palate were completely overwhelmed by the sheer variety and quality of the samples on offer. The numerous glasses of delectable wines and intriguing beers certainly helped all this food go down!

P.S. Please excuse the lateness of this post, this past week I've barely found time to sleep!