Events

May 19: Day Trip to San Antonio

Saturday, May 19, 2012, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

9:00 a.m. – Meet at Progress Coffee (500 E. 4th, Austin, Texas)
9:30 a.m. – Leave Austin (carpooling is encouraged)
11:00 a.m. -12:30p.m. – Walk the Pearl Farmer’s Market and property for a snack/early lunch
12:30 p.m. – Group walks to Culinary Institute of America
1:00 p.m. – Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Tour
1:45 p.m. – Snack, chill, chat
3:00 p.m. – Tapas tasting with savory bites like Papas Bravas, Quesadillas, and their house specialty, plantain tostones at OCHO lounge at Hotel Havana.
5:15-7 p.m. – Drive back to Austin

Register here. Ticket price covers the tasting spread, one drink, fees and gratuities at Hotel Havana. This is a members only event. Each member in good standing is allowed to bring one guest, ticket price is per person.Tickets cost $40 per person and must be purchased by May 14th in advance.

April 3: Recipe Writing 101

Tuesday, April 3, 2012, 7:00 p.m.

Plaza Level at Whole Foods Market global offices, above the store at Sixth Street and Lamar Boulevard. Guests can access the Plaza level via the elevators marked “office” from P1 or P2 parking levels, or via the staircase from the surface parking lot, and through the double glass doors.

The class is free to members and $15 for non-members, who can sign up and pay via EventBrite.

Food writers Karen Morgan (founder of Blackbird-bakery.com and author of “Blackbird Bakery Gluten-Free“), Ann Clark (author of “Quick Cuisine” and “Ann Clark’s Fabulous Fish,” and founder of Austin’s first cooking school), and Michael Chu (of the award-winning blog ,Cooking For Engineers) will walk us through some of the pitfalls that beginning recipe writers often fall into and help navigate some of the more nuanced steps of creating recipes that are clear, concise and easy to follow.

Elizabeth Engelhardt, author of “Republic of Barbecue,” and an American history and women’s studies professor at the University of Texas who specializes in foodways, will kick off the class with brief history of community cookbooks and a reminder of why they still matter today.

February 9: Volunteer Evening at Capital Area Food Bank of Texas

Thursday, February 9, 2012, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, 8201 S. Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78745 Directions
Register here. NOTE: This is for AFBA members aged 18 years and over, in good standing only. Members may bring one guest, aged 18 years and over only.

Join fellow food bloggers in giving back to Austin’s less fortunate. We’ll spend the evening working behind-the-scenes at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, sorting donations and helping to get food into the hands of Austin’s hungry. All participants must arrive on time and stay for the entire shift. Volunteer orientation and training will take place at the beginning of your shift. Please come dressed to work. Volunteers must wear long or short-sleeved shirts – no tank tops – and long pants. Please leave personal items such as cell phones, personal music players, and purses in your car. Cell phone and personal music player use is not allowed in the CAFB warehouse. All volunteers MUST wear closed-toe shoes. Volunteers for this evening shift must be 18 years of age or over.

December 11: AFBA Winter Social/Kitchen Gadget White Elephant

Sunday, December 11, 2011 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Walton’s Fancy & Staple
609 West 6th Street
Register HERE. NOTE: This is for AFBA members in good standing only, members may bring one guest.

Let’s celebrate our accomplished first year as the Austin Food Blogger Alliance and create some winter cheer with sweet treats and sips at Walton’s Fancy & Staple! AFBA members are invited to attend and may bring one guest.
*Limited parking is available on the East side of the building. If the lot is full, we recommend street parking on West 6th St. or just North of 6th. in the residential blocks nearby.

KITCHEN GADGET WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT EXCHANGE: Those who want to participate in this gift exchange should bring one wrapped kitchen gadget/utensil under $10. Get silly! Egg slicers, grapefruit spoons, muddlers, gadgets that are hard to find a use for…pick up a pecuiliar kitchen-related item, wrap it up, and bring it to the social. Gifts will be exchanged ‘white elephant’ style at 3 p.m. (if you’re unfamiliar, we’ll show you the ropes!), and will leave with a new cooking toy! Get ready to swap!

October 9: Photography Workshop at Aviary

Sunday, Oct. 9th, 2011 at Aviary Lounge

1:30 -2:00 pm – Meet and greet other members

2:00 – 2:30 – Panel Discussion with Q&A

2:30-3:45 Hands on work

3:35 – 4:00 Conclusion

$10 for AFBA members, $15 for non-members

Food for photography and for nibbling will be provided. Workshop fees will be used to cover the expenses of the food. Attendees are encouraged to purchase their own drinks.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, but those thousand words aren’t easy to capture. Join us for a hands on photography workshop. The workshop will start off with a brief panel discussing common photography problems, hands on work, and a conclusion showcasing photographs from the workshop. The workshop will include food for photography (and eating) under different lighting conditions. Attendees should be prepared to shoot photos, and they are encouraged to bring their equipment and laptops.

Workshop leaders include:

Don Mason (@AngrySong) – Don Mason is a farmer’s market regular and home chef extraordinaire. When Don isn’t shopping for fresh ingredients for his next meal, he’s shooting photos or participating at the local Flickr meet up.

Matthew Lemke (@SnapMatt) – Matt is a professional commercial and portrait photographer specializing in providing advertising and marketing imagery for small and large businesses alike. Previously from Austin, he started pursuing photography professionally 11 years ago in Orlando, FL, returning to Texas in late 2004.

Marshall Wright (@MarshallWright) – Marshall is a social media strategist, community evangelist, photographer, cook, dad, husband, blogger, technologist. Marshall shoots photos for Edible Austin.

John Knox (@Windaddict / @Hopsafari) – John is a windsurfer, software developer, and mobile app developers. John recently published a photography book titled Crafting Beer with (512), and he is an active member local Flickr meetup group.

Peter Tsai (@SuperTsai) – Peter recently published a book entitled “Austin, Texas: A Photographic Portrait,” a 128 page 8.5″ x 11″ coffee table highlighting landmarks around Austin Texas. You can learn more about the book at AustinPhotoBook.com and you can purchase the book on Amazon.com. Peter’s is a portrait and travel photographer who specializes in capturing motion.

Loren Root (@theleftoverchef) – Loren was the 2009 winner of Chefs Under Fire. Not only does he make a mean piece of meat, Loren is an avid food and travel photographer.

August 21: Pie-Safe Fundraiser for SafePlace

We are excited to announce that tickets are now available for our special screening of Waitress at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar on August 21 at 1 pm. Buy your tickets here before they sell out!

Read more about the movie and why it’s a perfect fit for SafePlace and our pie theme in this Relish Austin blog post. The winning pie from the Austin Food Blogger Alliance’s pie-luck competition — Michael Chu from Cooking For Engineers pecan pie — will be included on the menu. Chu will be working behind the scenes with Drafthouse executive chef John Bullington to make the pies.

Local businesses have provided pies to be sold by donation at the end of the movie. Proceeds from ticket and pie sales will go directly to SafePlace, an amazing local organization that is working to end sexual and domestic violence through safety, healing, prevention and social change.

Businesses that have agreed to donate pie include Blue Bonnet Cafe, Cake & Spoon, Dagar’s, Fleming’s, Pie Fixes Everything, The Pie Society, Royers Round Top Cafe, Silver Whisk, SugaPlump Pastries, Sugar Mamas Bakeshop, Texas Pie Kitchen, Tiny Pies, Upper Crust Bakery, and The Wine & Food Foundation.

You can buy tickets to the movie through the Drafthouse’s website. SafePlace is also collecting back-to-school supplies and list other items based on need on their website.

More from philanthropy chair Kristina Wolter on “A Slice of Compassion.”

July 30th: Pie-luck

Join us for a Pie-Luck, a potluck pie social where members bring 2 homemade pies of the same flavor.

Contest Details: The pies will be shared with the group and each entry judged by a panel of local chefs and food industry professionals, including Alamo Drafthouse Executive Chef John Bullington, Congress Austin Pastry Chef Plinio Sandalio, Wine & Food Foundation of Texas Executive Director T. Marshall Jones, Jesse Bloom, Chef/Owner of Ecstatic Cuisine, and Jocelyn Leffall of SugaPlump Pastries.

The lucky winner’s pie will be featured on the menu at part 2 of this event: a public fundraiser for SafePlace and showing of the movie Waitress on August 21st at Alamo Drafhouse! The Pie-Luck contest* winner will also get to work with Chef Bullington in a commercial kitchen to learn how their pie will be mass-produced for the show!

*Click Pie-Luck Entry Form to download the Pie-Luck entry form and rules to participate. Please bring it completed with your pies.

When: Saturday, July 30th from 2-4 p.m. (contest pies must arrive by 1:45 pm to be considered for judging)
Where: House Wine, 408 Josephine

Who: AFBA members in good standing can attend even if you don’t enter the contest, but please bring pie to share.
Cost: Members ARE responsible for wine purchases.

This is a members-only event.

For questions, email social@austinfoodbloggers.org

*A special thank you to House Wine for hosting us and to our guest judges.

June 8th: Learn about Copyrighting and Blogging

Copyright: How do I protect myself from legal trouble and how do I protect my content?

June 8th, 2011 at the AT&T Executive Education Center

6:30 – 7:00 pm – Meet and greet other members

7:00 – 8:30 – Panel Discussion with Q&A

Free for AFBA members, $10 for non-members

RSVP HERE.

With the popularity of content sharing platforms, posting content that is freely available online seems like a good idea. Posting a popular video or photograph to your site can drive a tremendous amount of traffic. But before clicking send, do you think about copyright law?

Using copyrighted photos, re-posting recipes, and using music are all ways that can land you into legal troubles along with legal fees. Join Anthony Campbell and Rachel Farris on Wednesday, June 8th to discuss copyright issues and blogging. Rachel Farris will share her personal experience of having a photograph stolen. Anthony Campbell will share his legal expertise in how to handle legal action and how to protect your work from theft.

Issues we’ll discuss include:

Someone refuses to remove my content from their site. What should I do?
I received a cease and desist. What do I do now?
What are the different types of licensing for content?
A fellow blogger stole my work. How should I approach a friend?
Do I need to file for copyright on all my blog posts?
Should I trademark my blog name?
I received a letter demanding that I give up my domain name. Is this legal?

Meet Rachel:

Native Texan and Democratic activist Rachel Farris (@MeanRachel) writes MeanRachel.com, a progressive blog that follows politics, the legislature and how they both are affected by social media. She covered the 2008 Democratic National Convention with The Texas Observer team and has spoken about social media and communications at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, Texas State University’s “Mass Communications Week,” and St. Edward’s University. She also writes for The Huffington Post, currently serves on the board of Texas Democratic Women, and has served as the National Communications Director for the Young Democrats of America Women’s Caucus. She is also known for her work at the Austin-based PetRelocation.com, where she oversees operations and directs online communications strategies to create brand awareness and foster relationships with pet owners online.

Meet Trey:

Trey Ratcliff is best known for StuckInCustoms.com, which has become the #1 Travel Photography Blog on the Internet. On average, the photos get 175,000 views per day and over 60 million total. His work first became popular after Trey had the honor of having the first HDR photo ever to hang in the Smithsonian. After that, Trey was represented by Getty, featured on the BBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, and NBC, and has had numerous showings around the world. Trey Racliff was also awarded a 2010 Texas Social Media Award, and currently shares his passion and knowledge for HDR with other photography enthusiasts.

Meet Anthony:

Mr. Campbell is trademark specialist with experience in advertising, marketing and contest law, along with use of image, likeness, name and voice. With a broad background in marketing and commercial practices, Anthony assists with visual, graphic and performance artists, authors, designers and architects on copyright licensing and infringement matters, and assists in negotiating performance, reproduction and publication rights agreements. Mr. Campbell has extensive experience in computer and technology law. As an electrical engineer with work experience in computer architecture that has maintained an e-mail address since 1988, he was at the forefront of Internet legal issues, handling domain name litigation in 1996, website user agreements, privacy policies, software licenses, website development and hosting agreements and general on-line, computer, copyright and intellectual property matters. In his free time, Anthony is an avid cyclist: Mr. Campbell have donated several thousand dollars of proceeds from his work to support his charitable bicycle rides, including rides from Houston to Austin, San Antonio to Austin, and Houston to New Orleans.

May AFBA Social Event

AFBA Farmers Market Potluck Lunch

Join the Austin Food Blogger Alliance for our first official social event!

Official Invitation/RSVP

How it works:

Visit the Downtown Farmer’s Market (or a farmer’s market near you) on Saturday, May 14th to pick up some locally grown/made edible goods. *If you want to run into other AFBA members shopping for the potluck, arrive at the Downtown market between 10 and 11 a.m.
Make a dish/drink with your farmer’s market purchase(s).
Bring your dish/drink to 703 Theresa Avenue on Sunday, May 15th at 1 pm. to share a potluck lunch and mix n’ mingle with other AFBA members.

*AFBA members may RSVP 1 guest.

NOTE: This is an AFBA members only event. Members must be in good standing to attend. To join the AFBA, please fill out the membership applications.

A special thank you to Taylor Perkins for providing the hosting venue for our potluck lunch.

April AFBA Philanthropy Event

2011 Annual CAFB Food Bank Challenge Kick-off

If you are a member and could not make it in person to the 2011 Austin Food Blogger Project on April 20th at the CAFB, you can still participate. For a summary and all of the details, Austin Food Bloggers Project 2011.