If you are a food blogger in Austin, I hope you will consider joining the group, and if you have any questions, I’d be happy to help answer them! Without further ado, here’s the post!

AFBA IN 2011: A YEAR IN REVIEW

Monday, January 2, 2012

It’s hard to believe it, but the Austin Food Blogger Alliance is over one year old since it was first conceived. A group of local Austin food bloggers had gotten to know one another during 2009 and 2010 — mostly thanks to our use of Twitter, and to the restaurants and PR firms that invited us to events where we got to know one another. We felt that it was important to start a group that would support each other, and our community, in a somewhat organized way.

In mid-November, 2010, Natanya Anderson, Jodi Bart, Addie Broyles, Michelle Cheng, Adam Holzband, Mando Rayo, Kristi Willis, and Marshall Wright first met in a semi-formal way to discuss the idea.

In January and February 2011, a larger group met to cement the many details involved in starting this group including the name, logo, website, bylaws, membership guidelines, roles, etc. Natanya Anderson, Jodi Bart, Addie Broyles, Jennie Chen, Michelle Cheng, Adam Holzband, Rachelle King, Mike Krell, Rebecca Otis, Mariam Parker, Mando Rayo, Kristi Willis, Kristina Wolter, and Marshall Wright attended at least one of these meetings.

Our goal was to launch in March before SXSW, where a group of us had begun the tradition of writing a group of blog posts that became the “Austin City Guide” to offer restaurant recommendations to SXSW-goers.

On March 8, the Austin Food Blogger Alliance launched with a website, a press release, and a Twitter account.

On March 27, the Austin Food Blogger Alliance Facebook page launched.

On March 29, we hosted an informational happy hour to recruit members at Takoba. Close to 100 people attended, including the founding AFBA board members: Natanya Anderson, Jodi Bart, Addie Broyles, Jennie Chen, Michelle Cheng, Rachelle King, Mike Krell, Rebecca Otis, Mariam Parker, Kristi Willis, and Kristina Wolter .

On March 30, we posted the code of ethics, application form, and a FAQ. At this point, we had our board members, made up of volunteers, and our advisory board, made up of people we respected in the food community.

On April 7, AFBA had accepted a total of 80 members from our first pool of applicants. Everyone who qualified for membership was accepted, of course.

April 20 was the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas event kicking off the SNAP recipe blogging project. A total of 19 members participated by providing recipes and publicizing the program on their blogs.

May 15 was a Farmer’s Market Potluck Lunch social event.

By June 7, AFBA had 101 members.

On June 8, we held an education event an Copyright Laws and Blogging at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center. That day, we also created a Twitter list of our members.

On June 9, we launched our blog (note: any member can submit an idea for a post).

On July 30, we held a Pie-luck contest and pie social. Each pie was judged by a panel of experts, and Michael Chu’s pecan pie was the winner.

On August 21, AFBA teamed up with the Alamo Drafthouse to show the movie Waitress, and hold a pie sale benefitting SafePlace, that helped raise over $2,000 for the non-profit.

On Sept. 21, we created a members-only AFBA membership group on Facebook as a place for non-public, non-promotional discussions between members.

On Oct. 9, AFBA held a hands-on food photography workshop.

On Nov. 1, the Austin to Boston Food Swap was announced. Almost 30 AFBA members participated. Check out the blog posts about the swap.

On Nov. 11, the AFBA membership list was posted on our website.

On Dec. 2, bios on our current board of directors was posted to the web. This includes Natanya Anderson (President), Kathryn Hutchison (Vice President), Rachelle King (Treasurer), Michelle Cheng (Secretary), Jodi Bart (Communications), Addie Broyles (Advisory Council), Jennie Chen (Education), Michelle Fandrich (Philanthropy), Mike Krell (Technology), Megan Myers (Membership), and Rebecca Otis (Social).

On Dec. 11, we held our Winter Social and White Elephant Kitchen Gadget Swap.

On Dec. 21, we began collecting a list of AFBA members who would like to be part of our official Volunteer Corps.

As of this writing on Jan. 1, there are 123 members according to our online blog roll.

We have many plans for AFBA in 2012, including a volunteer event at the Capital Area Food Bank on Feb. 9, 2012. We’re so grateful to every board member, member, and volunteer in this special group. If you would like to get involved, please get in touch with one or more of our board members. Our programming and content is really only as good as our volunteers.

Related:

• Add the Austin Food Blogger Alliance blog to your Google Reader
• AFBA and Austin to Boston Food Swap
• Austin Bakes for Japan and an Update

Brooke and Dave

Chapel Dulcinea

Vanilla Wedding Cake

The cake above was from the cake reception that Dave and Brooke planned. Chapel Dulcinea can take care of that for you as well, and it was beautiful!

I WISH that we were planning such an intimate affair! Sadly, Chapel Dulcinea would explode if our 200+ wedding guests showed up there for an event.

We ate our way through Bruges, and almost everywhere we stopped, Adam stuck a candle in whatever we were sampling and lit it. I got to make lots of wishes that day! Here we are at da Vinci Gelateria.

Da Vinci Ice Cream

Next stop was for frites at the Belfry (or Belfort). Both Adam and I were underwhelmed by the fried potatoes in Belgium, which was a bit disappointing. The dipping sauces, however, were amazing.

Belgian Frites under Bruges Belfort

We had a lot of wonderful chocolate while we were in Europe, but the best chocolate experience for me by far was the hot chocolate at De Proeverie tearoom in Bruges. It was even better than the famous Angelina, where we went just after we got engaged, in Paris.

Best Hot Chocolate at De Proeverie

When they found out it was my birthday, a kind employee at The Chocolate Line gave me and Adam two chocolate pralines (with caramel) to take with us.

Pralines at the Chocolate Line

That night, we went with our tour group to Cambrinus, a slightly touristy restaurant with a beer menu that was longer and heavier than my college yearbook. All of the beers I ordered there were lovely. However, the food left something to be desired so overall, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Orval Beer at Cambrinus

There are hundreds of chocolate shops in Bruges, and the next day we stopped off at Dumon for some samples.

Chocolatier Dumon

To work off some of the calories, we took a guided bike tour to a nearby town – Damme. There, we stopped at Damse Poort for some amazing waffles and beer.

Waffles at Damse Poort in Damme

The lovely local beer. For those with low tolerance, beware the Belgium beers. They are a meal in themselves though!

Maerlant beer from Damme

To reward ourselves for biking to Damme and back, we celebrated with half glasses of De Garre’s house beer and cheese. It’s an extremely old bar, one of the oldest in Bruges — meaning its been open and serving for centuries on end.

de Garre

We couldn’t leave Belgium without ordering mussels, and while these are attractive, they were small and grainy and not very flavorful. What can I say? Eating in new/touristy towns can be hit or miss.

Sub-par mussels (but cool shot, Adam!)

For more photos of our two days in Belgium, click here and here.

Related:

• Austin Post: Jodi Bart Wins the Whole Foods Foodie Fantasy Contest
• Le Fantasme Foodie Commence!
• A Paris Engagement
• M. Chapoutier Vineyard Tour and Tasting
• Insider’s Tour of French Cheese Culture
• European Trip: Things we wanted to Google

Dearest friends and family,

I’m writing with exciting news from the land of love and raw milk cheese. Adam asked me to marry him on Sunday Sept. 25 in Paris and I said yes!

@adamholz begins the social media "rollout" five days later

The story:
We went to the specialty shops on the Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris’ Latin Quarter where we ordered “deux cafe” at the neighborhood bar/restaurant. We then picked up a wedge of Brie de Meaux from Fromagerie Laurent Dubois, and a bunch of muscat grapes and two huge figs from the fruterie on the same block.

Specialty Stores on Saint-Germain

Brie de Meaux, muscat grapes, and figs

We then wandered around the Jardin Tuileries where we took silly pictures with sculptures — as is a Bart vacation custom.

We found two chairs in the shade and began to set up our breakfast picnic. Adam told me he had brought something in his backpack for dessert. Before we started eating, I shot this less than 30 second video of Adam:

After we had finished eating, he took out a box and opened it.

There was a gorgeous diamond necklace inside. He told me he wanted me to be with me forever, and that he wanted me to have it because his Zadie had given it to his Bubbe for an anniversary gift, his grandparents then gave it to his mom, their future daughter-in-law, to welcome her to the family when she married Adam’s dad. For both of us, anything connected to our family’s history is precious.

At the same time we were talking and holding the necklace, a single feather drifted down and landed where our hands were clasped  together. We kept the tiny feather as a reminder of the day, and took this picture as a memento of a magical moment.

fallen chestnuts, the feather, and my beautiful necklace

I told him I loved it and being the sometimes slow-on-the-uptake chick that I am, asked him, “is this an engagement? Are you proposing to me?” Part of my confusion was because it was a necklace and also because he wasn’t down on one knee. He confirmed that he was indeed asking me to marry him. He then got down on one knee and we made it official with the traditional question and answer.

Our first picture as an engaged couple!

I was amazed to hear he had spoken to my parents almost two weeks before, and about all the research he had done to find the most romantic places in Paris. And he chose the perfect moment.

Perfect weather, a lovely view, my best friend and a delicious picnic - what could be better?

After, we walked to Cafe Angelina nearby and celebrated over their famous hot chocolate, some macarons, and an eclair (in honor of his Zadie, who loved them).

We then walked around Paris and ended up at the Pont des Arts, where we bought a lock from a street vendor, wrote our names and the date, and joined the thousands of others who have sealed their commitment here.

One of thousands of locks on the Pont des Arts

I am so happy to get to share the rest of my life with Adam — my partner, supporter, best friend, and love. After two weeks of dating almost three years ago, my mom came to visit. I introduced Adam to her as “the guy I’m supposed to be with forever.” I blurted this out having never said it to him, nor told him I loved him, but it ended up being true.

Roussillon in Provence

We want to thank Whole Foods Market for giving us the opportunity to win a trip to Europe — allowing us to make memories that we will cherish forever. Y’all were part of our little mini engagement photo shoot!

During our engagement, the Whole Foods bag was there

We are so grateful to our families and friends for your love and support through the years and in the future as we embark on this exciting adventure together.

Thank you also to all of you, for reading the blog, enjoying the well-crafted design (created by Adam), the pictures (many of which were taken by Adam), and for supporting us and encouraging us to continue sharing our lives with you.

Being an OCD over-planner, I picked up a couple books from the library and a friend. I’ll admit that I didn’t crack the spine on some of these, but I think setting them next to my bed while I slept may have allowed some of the information to enter my brain through the miracle of osmosis.

Preparing for the trip through osmosis

We couldn’t have planned such an amazing itinerary without the help of friends like David (The Soup Peddler), Danika (Petite Peche & Co.), Sarah (Texpats Abroad), Kelly (Yelp Austin’s community manager), Lauren (Edible Europe), Cathy, Lindsay, and Elizabeth (Whole Foods Market), Ned (Foreign & Domestic), Kari (The Hoffman Agency), my cousin Hannah, and last but certainly not least, my dad.

David and Adam Map it Out

I’d also like to extend a special thanks to Sanneke, Elodie, and Svenja, the Yelp community managers from Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin, for their insightful recommendations. Finally, three blogs stood out for their fantastic information that really helped us plan — Dutch Grub, David Lebovitz, and Paris by Mouth. We’ll be on the Whole Foods Foodie Fantasy trip through next Friday (Berlin to Paris Intrepid Travel package), and then are added another day or so in Paris, before continuing on to Provence (Avignon, St-Remy, Roussillon, Aix, Cassis, etc. for another week. This will be quite an adventure!

Related:

• Congrats! You’re a Foodie Fantasy Finalist!
• Voting Love: Austin Business Journal and Austinist
• Thanks, KEYE-TV, for Getting Out the Vote!
• The Republic of Austin Has Decreed: Vote for Jodi!
• We Can Do It!
• Thank You All! We Did It!
• Austin Post: Jodi Bart Wins the Whole Foods Foodie Fantasy Contest
• Get Excited: Surprise Ice Cream Social!
• Thank You For Voting Ice Cream Social!
• Ice Cream Social and Foodie Fantasy Buzz
• Cool Ice Cream, Hot People at the Ice Cream Social!