Friday, April 27, 2012

Best Post of the Week: Week 150


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Monday, April 23, 2012

May Alabama Blogger Meetup

Come join us for our next Alabama Blogger Meet-Up!

We will be meeting Friday, May 4 11:30 am at Dodiyos in Homewood, enjoying fabulous Greek Cuisine including salads, seafood, gyros, hummus, and several not-too-greek Chicken and Steak dishes for those of you not as daring!

Whether you blog often or hardly ever, we always have fun at our lunch discussing all things social media and not-so social media.  Just RSVP if you'd like to join us!

If you need to come late, feel free to (we're usually around for a while!), but be sure to let me know so I can try and save you a seat.

Please feel free to help us get the word out on Twitter - the hashtag is #AlaBlogMeet.

Hope to see you there!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Atlanta Food and Wine Festival - and Giveaway!

Atl FW

Oftentimes, the South gets a bad rap from other parts of the nation. And, although we do like getting the respect that we deserve, sometimes we don’t mind living in a well-kept secret of beautiful forests, striking mountains (Yes! We have mountains!), the best beaches in the world, and the most friendly, welcoming people you’ll ever encounter.

However, one secret that we haven’t kept so well is our food. Because something that amazing just can’t be hidden.

Barbeque, grits, southern seafood, fried okra, chicken and dumplings, cobbler, banana pudding… the list is endless, and should be making you hungry about now. Southern food is comforting, friendly, and absolutely deserving to be celebrated.

And in less than a month, celebrations will occur!

The second annual Atlanta Food & Wine Festival will be a four-day extravaganza of southern food immersion.

Although “Atlanta” is in the name, it’s only the location: the founders, Elizabeth Feichter and Dominique Love, are committed to ensuring that every part of the south is equally represented and celebrated. They have an all-star Advisory Council of 70 highly celebrated chefs (all of which have been recognized with major national culinary honors) that hail from fifteen states.

The Advisory Council is deeply involved in every aspect of planning the event, so they have combined their expertise with everything they learned at last year’s event to create an even more unforgettable southern culinary experience.

The three focus areas of the festival will be Old Traditions (soul food, barbecue, Cajun and Creole, etc.), New Traditions (the fusing of Southern food with Asian, Greek, French, Latin, etc.), and Imports and Inspirations (“Other Southern” – food from other southern regions around the world, including Southern Europe, South Africa, South America, etc.).

The event has many different aspects for all levels of foodies and enthusiasts, including:

Tasting Tents - There will be fifteen different food trails, which highlight all of the different flavors of a particular food. Some of these trails include fried chicken, barbeque, seafood, southern snacks, and southern sweets.

Seminars, Demonstrations, and Panel Discussions - During each time slot, they have many different options for the foodie who wants to learn. Some of these sessions include Cast Iron Cooking, Techniques for Biscuits, Grits, and Cornbread, Southern Cakes and Pies, World Class Coffee at Home, and Southern Chemistry.

Dinners - During the evening hours, local chefs will host out-of-town chefs for a series of special dinners, parties and southern-style soirees. One such event will be a “Pig-Out, Southern-Style”, where the 70 chefs of the Advisory Council will be hosting and not cooking, which means that they will be interacting with the guests and helping to create the epitome of a foodie atmosphere. There are dozens of these amazing dinners that can be bought in a weekend package or à la carte.

They have a wide range of participation options, including day passes, three-day passes, tasting tent passes, dinners and events, and the ultimate VIP Connoisseur experience.

And if you would like to experience this for yourself, I have a pair of Day Passes for Sunday, May 13 to give away to a lucky winner!

This prize is a $360 value!!

If you would love to attend Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, go to this post on my other blog and enter!

But hurry! This giveaway is only open until Midnight, Monday, April 23.

I hope to see you there!

Best Post of the Week: Week 149


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Friday, April 13, 2012

Best Post of the Week: Week 148


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Best Post of the Week: Week 147


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Giveaway - Paint The Town Red!


The annual digital art celebration and street party is just nine days away!

Paint The Town Red is a charitable event taking place on Saturday, April 14 supporting the Jefferson-Shelby Chapter of the Red Cross. It's location is 2nd Avenue North and the shows will run from 5pm to midnight, featuring 17 bands and 23 artists sharing their stunning arts.

The event is filled with visual spectacles and audio experiences, including a 44 foot tall geodesic dome that houses a dance floor, a DJ, and a fabulous digital art show.



Street entertainers will include a drum line, break dancers, skate boarding demonstrations, belly dancers and moving theater performances, all adding to the electrical atmosphere.

"We are so excited about the entries for this year's event, including work by students, amateur and professional artists from across Alabama, Florida, Pittsburgh and Italy. Works include still images, digitally manipulated videos and animations projected on existing architecture of 2nd Avenue North," shares Celeste Laborde, the Arts Chairman of the event.

Tickets are $10 advance sale and $15 at the gate. For more information and advance sale tickets, visit PaintTheTownRedBham.com.

Paint The Town Red has been kind enough to give us a pair of tickets to give away to one of you!! But hurry and enter - the giveaway ends this Monday!

To enter, simply comment on this post!

Please either leave your email address in your comment or make sure that your email address is visible from your profile, otherwise you will not be eligible to win.

You can earn up to two additional entries by:
  • Liking Paint The Town Red on Facebook.
  • Tweeting, blogging, or Facebook statusing about this giveaway.
(be sure to leave separate comments for your extra entries.)

The winner will be notified by email on Tuesday, April 10th. Good luck, and I hope to see you at Paint The Town Red!
If you haven't linked up and introduced yourself yet, be sure to go here to do so!