Food Wine Conference Recap

How do three days fly by so very quickly? I arrived at Rosen Shingle Creek for Food Wine Conference and before I knew it, I was heading back home.

I am proud to be a Brand Ambassador for CK Mondavi and Family and they were the brand to which I was assigned for the conference. I had the pleasure of attending a luncheon hosted by Janice Mondavi where I was treated to a wine tasting of all of the CK Mondavi and Family wines. I learned so much and can’t wait to share the information with all of you in an upcoming blog post. Suffice to say, this company’s commitment to producing quality wines at affordable prices is taken very seriously.

The official conference kicked off with more CK Mondavi and Family wine followed by Taste of Rosen where the talented chefs highlighted why Rosen Shingle Creek is a hotel where you want to eat. I’m not sure why but there seemed to be a shortage of chocolates….at least for everyone else. My plate was ALWAYS full. Then again, I learned a long time ago to start with dessert!

Saturday’s sessions were inspirational. Food Wine Conference’s first speaker was Ina Pinkney. We watched a documentary of the last 30 days of her famous Chicago restaurant and learned from the Breakfast Queen herself what determination, strength and resiliency is all about. Truly, a role model.

Amanda Rettke from I Am Baker had us laughing while we learned tips about growning our social media numbers. Nothing helps reinforce ones commitment to supporting American companies more than the speakers at the ‘Do it with passion or not at all’ session’. Janice Mondavi, Debbie Lyons-Blythe, Kara Sanders and Lance Ham discussed the dedication of our vintners, beef cattle farmers, dairy cattle farmers and Florida strawberry growers. It’s important to buy local/American when possible.

The Certified Angus Beef dinner and Florida Strawberry Growers Association 50’s sock hop put all of us in a very festive mood and I had a blast bopping around the dance floor and hulu hooping. I didn’t win the contests but I sure had fun!

Florida Milk treated us to a refreshing breakfast of yogurt bowls with lots of toppings. I went with granola, chocolate covered pomegranate and fresh fruit. I’m thinking you may actually see one of these on Desserts Required soon.

Lastly, I was honored to be a speaker on Sunday discussing Starting a Startup where I shared tips I have learned on my journey with Happylicious by Betsy. It made me so happy to introduce people to Happylicious by Betsy and it’s always fun to ask people to TASTE MY BALLS of edible cookie dough, brownie batter and boozy balls. I do LOVE what I do!

So, the weekend really did fly by in a blink of an eye. Fortunately, I have so many wonderful memories to keep me smiling until Food Wine Conference 2018!