Foodies and Winos

I am just back from the USPCA's annual conference, held this year in Philadelphia. Aside from the interesting classes that I attended, the best part of the conference had to be the people I met and the friends I made. Over many, many glasses of wine, I got to know chefs from all over the country. The sharing of helpful hints, war stories, and names of reasonably priced packaging suppliers was plentiful as we ate, drank, and laughed our way through the weekend.

During the conference, one of the classes I attended was given by Mark Tafoya of The Gilded Fork. This particular class was titled, "Harnessing the Power of the New Media," and was all about using blogs, podcasts, and other new media as a way to boost our businesses. While I am miles away from any sort of podcast, consider this my first attempt at blogging. If I get really daring, I might attempt to make my own changes on my website http://www.yourplacegourmet.com/

Another memorable class I attended was a Food Styling class, given by the master food stylist, Denise Vivaldo. What a fun gal she is! While I haven't really started experimenting with food styling, the image above is of a dish I made while writing my monthly food column for My Hometown Estrella magazine.
All photography is by Michelle Roles Photography in Avondale, Arizona.
http://michellerolesphotography.com/