Father’s Day Gift, Food Lovers’ Guide to Seattle and a Giveaway!

Father’s day is just around the corner and I have a special something for the man in your family. Does your husband like eating out? Does he like exploring new restaurants? Is he the type who likes to barbecue and find the most interesting sauces and spreads or is he just a happy hour chaser who likes to know where to go for the best oysters?

My book the Food Lovers’ Guide to Seattle is a perfect gift for any food lovers. For father’s day, I am having a special offer. Buy the book for a special dad and send me some kind of confirmation (a photo, a receipt or just tell me) by email: kerenlovestocookatgmail.com and I will write a personalized restaurant list for your dad, handwritten and mailed the old- fashioned way. Email me details about him; what he likes, his style or the favorite food items that he likes to shop for. Is he a beer lover? Is he a steak and potatoes kind of guy? I will write him a letter and include a customized plan. This offer is valid any time until Father’s day.

The giveaway

I received a pot and a pan for review from West Elm’s Green Pan collection and I have to say that I am in love. Now I am writing this a few months after I got them because frankly I have been a little busy. I use them for everything and I kind of keep them out on the stove because they look pretty. The small pot that I have has become my baby food pot. It just feels the purest for my babies first foods. The heat distributes really well and I don’t need to add any fat because it is non-stick. The frying pan has become our go-to frying pan for the same reasons but mostly because it just cleans so easily and the food just cooks evenly. Just a really good pan. It is also eco-friendly and safe and doesn’t release chemicals if it gets a little too hot.

So I have two items to giveaway to two lucky readers. One 8 inch frying pan and one 5.5 inch saucepan. You have two chances to win one of them. Leave a comment or tweet and facebook (details below). The winner will be chosen on Tuesday, June 12. Update: The winners have been contacted. If I don’t hear from them, I will choose new winners. Thanks for playing.

To enter:
1) Leave a comment for one entry
2) Tweet @franticfoodie for one entry
3) Share on Facebook for 4 entries
4) Follow Foodportunity on Pinterest (and leave a comment letting me know) for 2 entries

In case you missed it, Foodportunity tickets are on sale, get them before they are gone.

BlogHer Food Seattle and Free Restaurant Advice

This year BlogHer Food is in Seattle. You know what that means.

It means that you can learn about food blogging, meet new people, connect with people you want to meet, learn how to shoot video, learn how to incorporate humor into your blog, learn how to build a career in food and much more.

I will be speaking this year too. I am on a panel with Hank Shaw. Yes, Hank is the hunter of all hunters. Really. He hunts for his own food, he shares the stories, he motivates, he is marketing genius and he is just a really awesome guy that has a lot to share. Our panel is all about: BootStrapping a Book Tour: Modern- Day Marketing in today’s publishing environment.

We will be spilling the beans on how to promote yourself, your book, your tour. How to make it interactive, fun and how to fill your schedule with events that will work for you and engage your audience. I will be sharing my ideas about my book promotions for the “Food Lovers Guide to Seattle” and Hank will be telling us about his multi-city book tour for his <a href="“>book and blog “Hunter Angler Gardener Cook“. And even if you don’t have a book, come and learn about ways to promote your brand.

If you are going, comment here. I would love to meet and talk.

Free Restaurant Advice If you need suggestions on what to eat and where, email me. I will be happy to respond. Please make sure to send me a little about yourself so I can cater the suggestions to your style. My email is kerenlovestocookatgmail.com I also have signed copies of my book if you want to buy from me (at a discount).

And if you are a local food blogger and you are not on my Seattle Food Blogger List, please email me. I throw events all the time that bring the local bloggers together.

Now before you go, I suggest you check out the International Food Blogger Conference that is happening in August. I love this conference and will be speaking there too. I will be posting more soon but here is a little preview,

Food Lovers’ Guide Book Launch Party and Fundraiser for Farestart

One of the things that people always ask me is why I chose to have a fundraiser for a book launch party. When I was a kid, I had a friend Izzy, she had such a big heart and we did everything together. What I loved about Izzy is that she would go up to the homeless people on the street and buy them lunch, then sit with them and listen to their stories. I always admired her for that, I was too scared to start up conversations with people I didn’t know but I would live vicariously through her conversations. Over 4 years ago, when I started blogging, I had this brilliant idea, it was called “brunch a bunch” or something along those lines. I was going to choose a day and make sure on that day that everyone I knew would buy someone homeless lunch. The only problem was that I didn’t know many people so it ended up being just a few of my friends who actually did it. Fast forward four years later and I know more people and have a book coming out, so Farestart was exactly the non-profit that I wanted to work with. They take disadvantaged individuals and teach them culinary skills. I wanted to make this a fundraiser that nobody had to think twice about. So $5 was a way that everyone could give a bit and together we raised
$1,241.
Now that is a great way to make a difference. The event was sponsored by Fonte. They made it possible to do this and gave out coffee, prizes and more. All the photos are by the fabulous Jackie Donnely Baisa of Baisaphoto.com. The location is the beautiful Shilshole Bay Beach Club in Ballard. Thank you to everyone who participated, all the restaurants, all the companies and thanks to everyone for supporting my book. Thank you to Tiffany Ran for her editing skills. Thanks to Micaela Surdi, Yale Gadin, Meg Landies and Felice Lam for helping me so much on this journey. Special thanks to Fonte Coffee and Shilshole Bay Beach Club.

Did you see this write up in the Puget Sound Business Journal or this one in the Seattle Times?

Everyone was buzzing around the wheel of Fonte. Wouldn’t you want to win a year’s worth of coffee?

And a giant twister game. What kind of party is it without games?

Did you miss this? Come meet me at some of the other signings.

Art Institute of Seattle, Book Signing

One of the questions that I get asked a lot is “Why did you choose to do what you do?” And though I would like to say that it is what I always wanted to do, this is not true. What I do now has evolved from many different experiences, I dipped my toes in many waters before I got to a place that I love.

I know that every experience has had some kind of impact on my career and every thing that I tried was a stepping stone just leading me to where I am now. In some cases, things came back full circle and when it comes to the Art Institute of Seattle, this place has been an important place in my heart and career.

For one, if you intend to write about food it really helps to learn how to cook and taking cooking classes at this school was such an important learning tool for me. They used to have these intensive beginner classes that you could take. If they still offered them, I would take the whole series again.

Another important experience at the Art Institute was when I got to sneak into a reading by author Michael Rulhman when his book, The Elements of Cooking came out. This was back in 2007 when I was trying to figure out what I really wanted to do. I left there motivated and ready to write or cook but wasn’t sure what I wanted next. Here is the post.. Now, I get to come to the Art Institute for my own book signing. This culinary school has been a significant part of my journey and I am thrilled that I get to come back for this reason.
The Art Institute is a hidden gem where you can get three course dinners for $23 dollars. (see listing in the book) or just come to my book signing.

Here is the information.

“Food Lovers’ Guide to Seattle” Book Signing (and Dinner) at Portfolio Restaurant.

Portfolio Restaurant at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Seattle invites the public to a book signing and dinner. Enjoy the breathtaking view of Elliott Bay from the fifth-floor restaurant. Choose from several three-course Northwest prix fixe dinners prepared by upper-level culinary students. Perhaps order a bottle of Washington wine from Restaurant Manager/Sommelier Dieter Schafer. And mingle with food lovers.

Note: You may come for the book signing only, and not stay for dinner.

Thursday, August 18, 2011.
Book signing 4:30-7:00 pm.
Seatings for dinner at 5:30, 6:00 and 6:30 pm.
The Art Institute’s Portfolio Restaurant.
2600 Alaskan Way, Seattle WA 98121.
Book $15, cash only.
Dinner $23, cash or credit card.
Reservations for dinner required by phone 206-239-2363.
Info WineDieter@cs.com or http://www.ais.edu .