The first annual BlogHer Food event wrapped up last Saturday in San Francisco and we all had so much fun! 

This weekend at BlogHer Food I met some amazing bloggers. At lunch I gossiped with Sassymonkey and her friend the marine scientist who was carrying around a crocheted lobster, whose name and blog I wish I knew! At lunch, Mrs. L from Pages, Pucks, and Pantry and Karen from Cook4Seasons were sitting next to me. Mrs. L writes about scrapbooking, hockey, and food, a great combination!

What is stopping you from using your food blog—or, really, any blog you write—to save the world? What is your barrier to entry into that place where your blog goes beyond telling a story and actually serves as a platform for the causes about which you’re most passionate?That was the question asked by Lydia Walshin of A Perfect Pantry and Drop In & Decorate® cookies for donation at the end of How Food Blogs Can Save The World, our panel at BlogHerFood ’09, and a worthy question which which to grapple. The participants in the panel--who also included Pim Techamuanvivit, who has raised more than $250,000 through her Menu For Hope event on Chez Pim, and Valerie Harrison of More Than Burnt Toast, who will release a fundraising cookbook in November as part of the efforts of BloggerAid: Changing the Face of Famine--were in various stages of their efforts, and they wanted to share their expertise with conference attendees.

By the time you read this post, the BlogHer Food Blogging Conference will have ended after lots of sharing of blogging knowledge and rhapsodizing over interesting things people have blogged about. I'm writing this in advance so I can't discuss what the conference was like, but I have no doubt, there'll be plenty of talk about interesting things people have eaten.

Hello from BlogHer Food '09 in San Francisco, where today I will moderate a session about best practices in blogging, especially food blogging but with general application for blogs on other topics (What? People blog about more than food? How cute is that?) Our topic is in the Vocation Track, "How Blogging Best Practices Apply, No Matter Your Blogging Niche". We've got a panel of diverse speakers, each a successful blogger in her own right, each representing a particular niche or community within the larger food blog world. Let me introduce them!

Hello friends,

This morning, nearly 34 million people in the United States faced more than the usual Monday challenge: Their week includes figuring out how to feed themselves on a food stamp budget. Thanks to economic stimulus money, that budget is higher this year than last: $28 per week, per person, rather than $21. That extra $7 makes a tremendous difference, although doing a week’s worth of shopping is tough to do even at the higher level. Last year, Gayle Keck of the San Francisco Food Bank dreamed up The Hunger Challenge. This event gave bloggers the opportunity to try living on a food stamp budget--just $21 for the week in 2008. Six of us participated, and shared our struggles on our blogs. It was a stressful, difficult week, and left me more committed than ever to do whatever I can to help feed the hungry and to increase access to fresh, affordable food for those who live in underserved areas.

If you’re traveling to San Francisco for BlogHer Food 2009, you might want to leave a little extra room in your suitcase. Not only is this a city of great eating and drinking, this is a terrific city for culinary shopping and tourism.

Welcome sweet Friday, we've been waiting for you all week!  As usual, we here at BlogHer have had a busy week, here's a snapshot of what's happening in our world...

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned since I’ve moved to the Bay Area, it’s this: San Francisco is a city of unbelievable cocktails. This is not the land of your average gin and tonic, folks. This is the place to seek out drinks designed to make you think differently about what goes in a cocktail glass. Here are six places that ought to leave you highly satisfied. Most of them are within walking distance of the St. Regis, but I’ve included two of my very favorites that will require a little more of a trek. And here’s a bit of a bonus: Four of the six also serve up incredible food, so bring your appetite along with your thirst.

Ahhh, Friday and woo hoo!  Monday is a holiday too :-)Another great week here at BlogHer and here are some items that are of particular interest:

I’ve described my move to the Bay Area many times as making an extended pilgrimage to foodie Mecca, and even now that I’ve lived in Oakland for more than a year, I am still wide-eyed at the amazing eating experiences I’m having, week by week. If you’re coming here for BlogHer Food ’09, I encourage you to eat your way across town. But with so many possibilities, how do you pick where to eat? After all, even in San Francisco, you can find yourself savoring just an average meal, and with limited time and room in your stomach, that would be an epicurean tragedy. This is just part one of a series of posts that will run over the next few weeks. Next on the docket? Notable cocktails (and, in some cases, those cocktail purveyors will also provide a spirited eating experience). Finally, I’ll give you a wrap-up of some interesting places to do some foodie shopping while you’re in town. But first, you must eat. I’ve compiled a list of five places I think worthy of your attention.