Hello from New Orleans and the 2011 IFBC

Just a quick hello to let you know I'll be in New Orleans this weekend for the 2011 International Food Bloggers Conference. For some background on this event, you should check out my recap of last year's conference (which, by the way, I wrote high on cold medicine). Seen here is Barnaby Dorfman, CEO of Foodista, kicking off the festivities. These guys literally invented the food blogger conference, for which I'll be forever grateful.

The food down here is ridiculously awesome; so don't be surprised if you see some new Cajun and Creole inspired video recipes in the near future. I've already had some amazing fried chicken on bourbon-spiked sweet potatoes, and also tempted fate by eating raw oysters in August. My new friend, David Aman, from DocNO Productions, took me out for some oysters and beer at Pascal's Manale, and you can see the visual proof of my culinary courage below.

Apparently, it's fine to eat oysters in the summer, and that old safety warning is leftover from the days before refrigeration, when there was a real danger. I've done no independent scientific research, but they tasted fine to me, and I feel great.

I'll be back in San Francisco on Monday. In the meantime, enjoy!