Food, Spain, Travel

Best Hotel Near Elkano Restaurant- Hotela Saiaz Getaria, Spain

Spain, Travel

Lost In Translation- On the Road To Vitoria- Gasteiz

Running of the Bulls Pamplona 2014 San Fermin

Spain, Travel

Bloody Photos- Running Of The Bulls -Pamplona 2014

Spain, Travel, Video

Running With The Bulls Pamplona 2014- Video Post

Travel

Best airline to Fly to Europe? Air France

Product Reviews, Travel

Where To Stay In Portland, Oregon?

Tech Stuff, Tech Talk, Video

Wearable Tech Expo- Video Interview- # 1-Pebble Watch and Myriam Joire

Image July 29, 2014 Vicki Winters Leave a comment

Wearable Tech Expo NYC 2014

Tom Hatton and I spent some time interviewing some VERY interesting people, about the latest and greatest WEARABLE tech products at Wearable Tech Expo NYC, 2014.

We were so happy to gain some knowledge, plus a few podcasting tips, from Myriam Joire, @TNKGRL, Product Evangelist, at Pebble Watch.

As you know, the Pebble Watch is in the top 3 Wearable Tech items on my list of must haves!

I also had the privilege of moderating two informative and fun panels. Yes, that’s my tiny head, peering out from the podium.

As Moderator of the panel called “Looks Are Everything”, I made the decision to open with a hard hitting question.

“If looks are everything, does size matter?”

Indeed I uncovered that in order to keep wearables light and small, sometimes a company will have to forego functionality.

Stay tuned for more from Wearable Tech Expo NYC 2014, including interviews with Chris Cox, of Pivothead.

Tom Hatton, Actor, Athlete, Spokesperson

Clients

Tom Hatton- Actor, Model, Podcaster, Spokesperson

Image July 2, 2014 Vicki Winters Leave a comment

Who Is Tom Hatton?

“Welcome To The Vicki Winters Show, Tom Hatton. So great to have you as co-host on the show. You’re funny and handsome…and you paid me to say that…”

I’m happy to have Tom Hatton- Actor, Model, Podcaster, Spokesperson join me on “The Vicki Winters Show”.

He’s Getting Us All Wet!

Born in the UK, Tom Hatton, is a very funny, handsome and talented Actor, Athlete, Model, Spokesperson. He is also a Soccer Coach, who is making a big splash on both sides of the pond. He Shoots, He Scores! Two British newspapers have picked up on Tom’s recent successful ad campaigns.

It seems that Tom Hatton has scored his own “Hat Trick.” In English (the Queen’s version), this”Hat Trick” refers to the fact that he has 3 adverts running simultaneously, that all revolve around the World Cup Soccer games.

And for those of us who have no clue: A hat-trick or hat trick in sports is the achievement of a positive feat three times or more during a game, or other achievements based on threes.

He’s HUGE!

Budweiser’s Global ad campaign,”Rise As One” has gigantic banners of Tom’s screaming face, flying high. This one was spotted at the Manchester, England station by one of Tom’s friends, and another friend spotted the same ad in Tokyo! The British press has caught on to Tom’s recent acting and modeling gigs. Two outlets have written stories about his work.

The first article “Actor scores hat trick in World Cup stardom”, appeared in the Mid- Sussex Times last week, and another story, written by Julie Lawrence, claims, “Wokingham actor enjoys longer run at World Cup 2014 than England team.” It’s Big And It Doesn’t Disappoint

Tom Hatton is not, just another pretty face. He competes in Japanese Taiko drumming contests, and in his spare time, Tom coaches soccer to 3-5 year olds all around NYC with Little Kickers. His soccer kids love him! The Ladies Love Him Too! Listen Carefully!

Tom Hatton’s charming British accent, can be heard in this Just For Men Hair Color commercial. Tom and I are teaming up on a bi-weekly podcast, where we will discuss the “Do’s and Dont’s” of making it as an Actor in NYC.

Follow Tom Hatton on Twitter, @thetomhatton

LIKE him on his Facebook page too! Is This Really Acting? Tough to say. Brooklyn Based Actor Tom Hatton Featured In 2014 FIFA World Cup™ New York City, NY, June 12, 2014 —

Actor Tom Hatton is becoming a well known name in New York. He will be featured in major international brand advertisements during the 2014 FIFA World Cup for Budweiser, Head and Shoulders, as well as Febreze. Hatton, who also played for England in the New York version of the World Cup, is being featured, in three different commercials!

Hatton will be the face of Budweiser, the voice of Head and Shoulders (featuring Lionel Messi) and appear in a funny, slightly revealing, undercover locker room reality ad for Febreze. “Every four years, the World Cup is the best thing in life – this time its even more special!” says Hatton.

About Tom Hatton: Tom Hatton, from Greenpoint, Brooklyn is an actor and TV personality who first gained global recognition hosting In The Qube for Sony, airing in 60 countries and viewed by 60 million people globally. He is known throughout the US for numerous commercials including Microsoft, Budweiser, Dentyne, Barclays and IBM. Hatton has worked internationally as a producer and host for Sky TV and also hosted the Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter YouTube channel. He also recently appeared in the award winning film ‘Red Tulips’.

GET IN TOUCH Please let me know if you are interested in booking Tom for work. I’ll pass it on to the proper agents. He has a few!

me@vickiwinters.com

Cronut Of The Month, Food, Fun Foodie Events

Cronut Flavor Of The Month- June 2014 New York Ranger Edition

Image June 11, 2014 Vicki Winters

Cronut Flavor Of The Month-

One day every month, I wake up early to ride my bike uptown to Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho, for my monthly cronut fix.

Never Missed A Flavor YET!

Each month, when the new cronut flavor of the month is announced, the plotting begins.

Which days will be the least crowded? Should I go on a rainy day? Weekends? If it’s snowing, is there a better chance?

My husband and I, have all but mastered the line, at Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho, so we don’t have to wake up at 5:00 AM to snag one of the coveted 200 cronuts baked daily. If you want to know our secrets, just ask.

The Cronut Craze!

Because of our strategy and stamina, we have not missed out on sampling any cronut flavors, of any month, since Chef Dominique Ansel created the cronut craze, over one year ago.

Die Hard Fans Need It Bad!

Rain, Train, freezing temps, snow, travel to Austin. If it means I’ll get my fix, I’ll do it. Chef, You’ve created an addict.

New Favorite Flavor

June 2014, Chef Dominique introduced the world’s taste buds, to the Strawberry Mascarpone Cronut, which is now my top favorite flavor, surpassing February’s Raspberry Lychee, by just a hair.

June 7, 2014 -RANGER CRONUT DAY!

This particular morning, Chef Dominique was paying homage, or should I say homàge, to his new found home team hockey team.

Stanley Cup Playoff Team, The New York Rangers, got their own “CRONUT For A Day”.

A special version of The cronut, the trademarked and quintessential pastry of New York City. cross between a croissant and a donut, of the June cronut flavor of the month.

I decided to be both a hybrid Ranger and Cronut fan, on this day.

Dressed up in my REDS WHITES AND BLUES, I pedaled as fast as my short little legs would allow. I was a hybrid myself. Half Cronut Fan, Half Ranger Fan. It was raining hard and I just wanted to get there early enough to snag my fix for June.

The broken teeth. The fighting. Not. My. Thing.

Hockey was never my favorite sport to watch, so why on earth, would I brave a deluge of rain from 7:00AM until 9:00….to have a special RANGER cronut?

I’m not exactly sure.

Some times it’s about the journey…..

Line waiting has its benefits, this time no different. Me and my two newest besties, Nicole and Kaily, chatted the hours aways. It poured. We got to know each other. The weather turned monsoonal. No joke.

The time flew by.

Bad News On The Cronut Line

At precisely 8:36, the gal who hands out the baguette (more about that later) said to the people standing in front of me, “There probably will not be any more cronuts left , by the time you get in there.” WHAT?!

There weren’t even 80 people here. Only one group of 30, had even entered the store. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?

Wait, What? Are you freaking kidding me? No CRONUTS LEFT ALREADY?

The rain kept coming. I went inside to assess the action.

Ron Duguay, Glenn Anderson, and Adam Graves, former Ranger players, were signing autographs, and eating cronuts.

I sat down to say hello. Raincoat, bike helmet and all.

We laughed and chatted a bit. I couldn’t help but notice that Ron’s cronut, had barely been touched. It only had 2 little bites, eaten out of it.

I discovered that Ron Duguay, is not a die hard sugar fan, but he is sweet, like sugar, and sexy too. It’s no wonder that he dated Cher, and is married to super model Kim Alexis. Uh huh.

Keep The Dream Alive

I went outside into the monsoon, back to my place in line with Nicole and Kaily, while we patiently kept hope alive, on the cronut line.

30 minutes later, the baguette gal returned, with some REALLY BAD NEWS.

“There are only 3 cronuts left”, she said to the 2 people in front of us.

I quickly did the math. If each of them buys one, I still wouldn’t get to buy a cronut today, but Kaily and Nicole would.

Having been shut out of cronuts, on at least 3 attempts, I was getting a little bummed. My new friends and I did some negotiating. We decided we would share a cronut and some other items, and make the best of it. It pays to be nice. But, that’s not news, people!

For some reason, by the time we got to the front of the line, there MAGICALLY were 2 cronuts left, so the three of us, joined forces to enjoy them together.

We also shared a Magic Soufflé and a Blackberry something or other, but the CRONUT was the best….as usual.

EAT ME, Vicki

Somehow, in the melee, my coffee went missing, so and I went back where the Rangers were sitting to look for it.

Ron’s beautiful Ranger cronut, which he clearly was not going to finish, was staring me straight in the eye…”EAT ME, Vicki!” I could hear the screams from this cronut, whose fate might just be the trash can, and I couldn’t bear the thought of this happening.

Never the shy one, I asked, Ron about his cronut. “Are you going to just leave it there? Can I have it?”, I asked nicely.

Ron replied, “Take it, it’s yours.”

She asks, SHE SCORES!!

Thank you Ron Duguay, for being a guest on “The Vicki Winters Show” and sharing your cronut with me!

Thank you Dominique Ansel, for always being gracious, and of course, for creating the CRONUT!!!Some things are just worth the wait.

Not even 2 inches of rain could spoil this beautiful day for me, and my new friends. I even got to take 3/4 of the third cronut home for Dan.

Life is sweet.

Quick And Dirty Blog Posts, Travel

Best Place To Rent A Bike In Portland, Oregon

Image June 8, 2014 Vicki Winters

To Bike Or Not To Bike-There Really Is No Question

Portland, Oregon is a gorgeous city, filled with sights to see, bridges to cross, and of course restaurants, in which to eat. In order to see as much as possible, renting a bike in Portland is a MUST, for so many reasons.

Where NOT To Rent A Bike In Portland, Oregon?

At Cycle Portland Tours Bike Store, they will charge you $30 dollars for a day’s rental, whether you pick it up at 9AM or 3PM. It is still the same price, and it needs to be returned by 6PM. Since it didnt seem fair to charge the same for 3.5 hours or 10 hours, I asked the guy to cut us a deal and for my money, $30 dollars is a LOT of money for such a short time. He flat out said no way, no how. The mean man wouldn’t budge. He didn’t know who he was talking to.

I told him where he could put his bike saddle, and we walked a few short blocks to Pedal Bike Tours, where they are so much nicer.

SO MUCH NICER.

They were happy to cut us a break, and now I am more than happy to show them massive amounts of love on my blog, Tripadvisor, Twitter, Facebook and more. See how that works?

BEST Place To Rent A Bike In Portland, Oregon!

At Pedal Bike Tours we paid $40 dollars each, to use the bikes from 2:30PM Saturday, until 9:30AM on Monday. The MEAN man, at THAT OTHER PLACE wanted 40 dollars for 24 hours…which is why I’m showing my bike rental LOVE to Pedal Bike Tours. You should too.

Pedal is located, super conveniently I might add, at 133 SW 2nd Avenue in Downtown Portland.

As a matter of fact, we rode our bikes from the hotel with our luggage strapped to the racks, dropped off the bikes, and walked 3 blocks to the Tri Met to catch the train to the airport….

Additional bonus points for being located, only 2 blocks from Voodoo Doughnuts, where Dan was able to pick up his breakfast for the plane ride home.

Open daily 9am – 6pm
Tel: 503-243-2453
info@pedalbiketours.com

Did I mention that Pedal Bike Tours, has an amazing assortment of bike clothing, and all sorts of cool high-tech bike gear? There, I’ve just said it.

Travel

How To Travel The World On A Budget

Image June 4, 2014 Vicki Winters

Best. Travel. Planner. Ever.

During the 12 years that Danny and I have been together, we have ventured to so many places that I can’t even remember them all. We travel so much, that everyone thinks we are loaded with money. Not so much. It’s just that I have figured out how to travel the world, on a budget.

High Brow- Low Brow Travel

If I must say so, and I must, “I’m an excellent travel planner”. My specialty is mixing and matching, styles and prices, so a 4 night trip, might include 2 nights in a quirky hotel, with a shared bathroom, and 2 nights, in one of the Leading Hotels of the World.

Our amazing adventures will have us dining on street food one night, and eating in a 2 starred Michelin restaurant the next. “Viva la difference,” I say. I also say I’m an expert in “How To Travel The World On a Budget”.

Short But Sweet

A typical vacation in Europe will last 3-5 nights. The longest trip we have ever taken was for 10 nights. If we go anywhere that takes more than 10 hours by plane, we will generally stay for a whole week.

We’ve seen entire countries, in less than 5 hours. We move quickly, to say the least.

Back in 2002, our very first trip together was a quickie. 3 nights in Moscow, Russia. A day trip, flying back and forth to St. Petersburg, was included on one of those 3 days.

Dan and I have visited entire cities for less than 8 hours, (St. Petersburg, Estonia, Antwerp, Hamburg). Less is more sometimes.

It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

You can choose to scrimp and save and start travelling when you retire, but unfortunately, if you wait too long, your health may deteriorate, and you may never get to see the world.

Do It Now!

My strength is in utilizing Starwood mileage awards, making the most of earned freebies through American Express. I have a few more tricky tactics up my sleeve, but more about that later.

We always use public transportation, or rent bikes when we can. New York City’s JFK Air Train is our friend. We travel light, so we can easily pack up, and switch it up, in the middle of a trip. With this method of madness, we can stay in a 5 star hotel for a few nights (or one night only, as we did in Dubai).

On The Cheap In Alphabetical Order

So far, our adventures have taken us, in alphabetical order; to Alaska, Amsterdam (5 times), Aspen, Athens, Austin, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Burning Man (8 times), Cambodia, Casablanca, China, Costa Rica (5 times), Dubai, Estonia, Hamburg, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Madrid, Miami, Macau, Morocco, Moscow, Portland, Santorini, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Thailand, Tokyo, and a few other places that I can’t think of, right this second.

Stay tuned for more, on how to travel the world on a budget.

Miss Vicki's Improvisational Kitchen, My Meals, Product Reviews, Sous Vide Cooking

Nomiku Sous Vide Chicken Pot Pie –

Image May 29, 2014 Vicki Winters

Kate McDermott, You’ve Created A Monster!

Ever since you helped me master “The Art Of The Pie Crust”, I have gone “PIE CRUST CRAZY.” The baking tricks and tips that you taught me, will be embedded in my mind forever.

Kerrygold Butter Is Key!

Kate had suggested that I use Kerrygold Butter, and thankfully I am part of the Kerrygold Blogger’s Network. Thanks to them, for supplying me with plenty of delicious Irish butter with which I carefully perfected, four pie crusts.

Now What?

Now that I had made four pie crusts, I would have to put something edible, inside these buttery masterpieces.

In typical “Miss Vicki’s Improvisational Kitchen” style, I looked in the fridge, and spied some chicken breasts and assorted veggies.

How Do You Handle A Hungry Man?

My husband Dan, loves Chicken Pot Pie, so that’s what I would make. I would cook my chicken with my Nomiku Sous Vide machine, and my meal would be a success, or so I thought.

Since I had no clue about how to make it, I searched the internet. One of the first things that popped up, was a recipe from The Pioneer Woman, whose quirky writing, was appealing to me.

Since I don’t watch the Food Network NEARLY enough, I had no clue that The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, was a super famous blogger, with her own TV show. Go figure.

I couldn’t replicate her recipe exactly, because I didn’t have the same ingredients, but would wing it (no pun), as best as possible. Her breezy and easy style, made it look easy…..

Chicken SOUS VIDE by Nomiku

My newly gifted Nomiku Sous Vide Water Circulator machine, was going to come in, SUPER handy now!

I love cooking SOUS VIDE, because everything tastes so delicious. A Sous Vide machine, is basically a water circulator which allows for whatever food you make, to cook from the inside out, as opposed to grilling or baking, which cooks from the outside in.

The circulator is easily clipped on to any pot. Foods placed in a vacuum sealed plastic bag, and cooked in their own juices.

Water is circulated by the machine, and kept at a constant temperature. I’m no scientist, so please check out the Nomiku site for more detailed information.

2 chicken breasts, a tablespoon of Kerrygold Butter, and some thyme go into the bag. I seal it up and cook the meat, at 147.3 degrees for 60 minutes.

Since I had some extra pie dough, I used the cookie cutters that I got from the Cake Boss, and made some decorations for the top of the pie. I’m so creative.
I sliced and diced some broccoli, leeks, and carrots.

As per PW’s recipe, I cooked up the veggies, and added some flour.
I tore apart my super moist sous vide chicken, and threw it in the pot. I stirred it around, and threw in some flour.

Then I added some Better Than Bouillon that I got from Perry Perkins…thanks, Perry!

I put my cute flowers on top and baked it a bit…it was so good, that I’ve made it twice already! Thanks, Pioneer Woman!

If you’ve come to my site for RECIPES, you’ve come to the wrong place. If you want to learn how to cook, again…not here. If you want to see someone who tries really hard…WELCOME To “The Vicki Winters Show”!

I hope you’ll stay tuned for more.

Product Reviews, Tech Stuff, Tech Talk, Wearables

What Is The MOST Wanted Wearable Technology

Image May 21, 2014 Vicki Winters

What Are You Wearing?

When Robert Prime of Telematics.com, asked if I wanted to be included in a round up, of 44 WEARABLES EXPERTS, I jumped at the chance to offer my opinion. No surprise there.

Question: If you could own 3 pieces of WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY, which ones would they be?

I wear and love my Misfit Shine, but didn’t include that as one of my choices, because I already have one.

All 44 Wearables Experts’ opinions are here, at Wearable.co, and I’ve cut and pasted my section below. Please check out what Robert Prime, Hilary Topper, and other WEARABLES EXPERTS have to say too!

What we discover through our GOOGLE GLASS, in this round up, that ONE SIZE DOESN’T FIT ALL, when it comes to wearables.

There are so many SUPER COOL products mentioned in the article that I haven’t seen yet, but will be looking out for all of them.

The challenge in choosing MY MOST WANTED WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY, is that the WEARABLE TECH industry is so fluid and innovative that my top 3 choices today, could be totally different tomorrow!

**************************************************************************

For now, here are my selections:

Samsung Watch- I tried the older model for 48 hours and was really loving the large, yet not too large display. It integrates well with the Samsung phone and I just may decide to leave my Apple products in the dust when I see what they have up their literal sleeve.
Ring by Logbar. Saw this at SXSW and think it would be great to be able to point and text. They are slated to integrate with the Pebble watch notifications, and I’d love to be able to reply without having to look at my phone all the time.
Pebble Watch- Although I will eventually only wear one wearable watch at a time, I would love to have the new Pebble Steel. I love that it gives notifications when the phone is ringing, or when my pesky husband is texting me for some emergency.

I’m looking forward to seeing what else the industry has to offer, at this summer’s Wearable Tech EXPO NYC.

Click the banner for a 10% discount to attend, and I hope to see you there.

What will you be WEARING?

Food, Miss Vicki's Improvisational Kitchen, My Meals, Quick And Dirty Blog Posts

How To Catch A Knife In Your Teeth- Sharpening My Knife Skills

May 21, 2014 Vicki Winters

Sharpening My Knife Skills-

Tech Stuff, Tech Talk, Wearables

Wearable Tech Expo NYC- July 23-24, 2014 Does One Size Fit All?

Image May 20, 2014 Vicki Winters

What Are Wearables? Does One Size Fit All? Where Can I Learn More About Wearable Technology?

At this summer’s Wearable Tech Expo NYC, you’ll have the chance to learn all about the latest and greatest tech products known as WEARABLES.

Are you standing up straight enough? Need a notification to let you know your kids are calling? Need to know how many steps you’ve taken? Is your heart rate too high?

Today’s technology marketplace is jam packed with new gizmos, that all the cool kids are wearing. There are gizmos that track your fitness goals, cameras that double as pocketbooks, and watches that aren’t just watches any more. They are SMART watches.

These are just a few examples of the new breed of products, that everyone (especially me) will be wearing soon.

Experts will be discussing all of these products, and many more, at the Wearable Tech Expo NYC, a 2 day conference being held at NYC’s Jacob Javits Center, this coming July.

WEARABLE Tech, actually covers anything one can WEAR, that has anything to do with technology. A t-shirt that lights up, a band to wear on your wrist, an earplug that isn’t just to supply sound, google glass, or a pocketbook with a camera inside, are all examples of the new wearables.

I use my Misfit Shine to track my fitness, and just having it on reminds me that I may need to “STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER” and get a little more excercise. The Misfit Shine can be worn inside a little pocket in the sleeve on this t-shirt, or on a band on your wrist. It can also be magnetically attached with its own magnetic device to almost anything!

One thing I’m really in love with are the new SMART WATCHES.

Personally, I used to love wearing a watch, but got bored when all it could do was tell time. This year, I can wear something that does EVERYTHING. Almost everything.

Samsung and Pebble, are two of the new breed of watches that are tugging at my wallet. I’m definitely going to buy a SMART WATCH, but like many other APPLE consumers, I’m holding out to see what they’ve come up with, before I commit.

The WEARABLES Tech Expo will be held in NYC at the Javits Center, July 23-24, 2014.

For a 10% discount click the banner:

Wearable Tech Expo NYC 2014 — Click on this banner for a discount to the conference.

Food, Product Reviews, Restaurants, Travel

Best Donuts In Portland? Voodoo Doughnuts or Blue Star Donuts?

Image May 18, 2014 Vicki Winters

Where To Eat The Best Donuts/Doughnuts In Portland?

Voodoo Doughnuts Or Blue Star Donuts?

Although I have thought nothing, about waiting in line for a hybrid donut/croissant AKA cronut for over two hours, at Dominique Ansel Bakery, I really don’t love regular donuts enough to wait in a line, for one.

Since my husband LOVES donuts, and I like to think that I am a good wife, I caved. Thus began our quest to find the BEST DONUTS IN PORTLAND.

In downtown Portland, the line that spilled out the door, and around the block outside Voodoo Doughnuts, got me thinking. What are all those people doing? Could donuts be that good? Should I stay, or should I go?

I started to think that maybe these brightly colored pastries, could be worth waiting for, but did I want to waste 30 minutes of my life, that I would never get back? For a doughnut? Not really. But, a wife’s work is never done, now is it? Dan agreed, that our time wasn’t worth wasting since we only had 2.5 days to explore this amazing city’s food scene. We chose not to wait on this line, but figured we would check in at one of the other three Voodoo locations in Portland.

Lucky Break!

On our ride through Parkway Sundays in EAST Portland later the next day Dan and I were both VERY pleasantly surprised to see the bright pink Voodoo Doughnut truck, parked on the street, without any line to wait on at all. We didn’t even know they had a truck!Dan jumped at the chance, to try to the VOODOO DOLL doughnut. A large donut filled with jelly and decorated like a voodoo doll.

Truth be told, it was VERY fresh, and somewhat tasty (in that way that all sugar, flour and butter treats, always make me smile).

You Say DOUGHNUT, I Say DONUT.

Dan on the other hand was ready to eat his way through Portland’s Donut scene.

The competition in our donut taste test, Blue Star Donuts, doesn’t have the word DOUGH in their DO-NUTS, and sure enough, there was a line here too. It didn’t spill around the corner, but it was constant. For several reasons, the Blue Star Donuts that we tried, were far more robust than Voodoo Doughnuts. The flavors at Blue Star were actual flavors, made from real foods, as opposed to the colorful candies, cookies, and cereals thrown on top of the Voodoo cakes.

A quote from Blue Star Donut’s website-

“Our donuts are made from a classic brioche recipe that originated in the south of France. The dough is made from scratch every day; we start with a certified sustainable bread flour from Shepherds Grain, add Cage Free eggs from Stiebrs Farms, mix in whole milk from Sunshine Dairy, and then fold in a European-style butter from Larsen’s Creamery. All the fruits that go into our fillings and glazes are organic, and we only cook our donuts in rice oil. Our donuts are made fresh throughout the day and are always glazed to order. Selections change daily and sell out quickly”.

We tried the lemon curd/key lime donuts and one with maple bacon. A woman who drove four hours from Whidbey Island, to pick up a dozen for her family, had pre-ordered a creme brûlée donut that came with a vile of Cointreau stuck inside.

Early Sunday afternoon, we tried to go back to Blue Star to try a few more flavors, but indeed, they had sold out, and were already closed for business.

How Do You Handle A Hungry Man?

And go figure, on Monday morning, as we were headed to the airport, there was no line at all at Voodoo downtown. Who’s husband, do you think, picked up three more, for the plane ride home? Yes, mine.

The end of a perfect weekend in Portland, that included a great breakfast for Dan, on the plane.

Food, Fun Foodie Events, Miss Vicki's Improvisational Kitchen, My Meals, Product Reviews

Why I Love Being A Food Blogger- Pie Party At GE Monogram Showroom

Image May 13, 2014 Vicki Winters

Pie Party Pot Luck- Jackie and Ken’s Pie Party Pot Luck is one of the most anticipated Food Blogger events of the year, and one of the best.

Only 60 Lucky Food Bloggers get to attend this hot ticket, intimate and decadent affair.

Everyone is required to bring a sweet or savory pie, in order to get in the door, where 60 delicious and innovative pies are shared, savored, tweeted and instagramed.

Foodie friendships are formed, and solidified. Jackie and Ken’s Pie Party, is but one of the reasons, why I love being a Food Blogger.

Little Miss Local , Justine Ma (bottom, left) thought she was going to win the OXO prize with her cute tattoo, but my neck @tattly was the winner. See below.

Most. Awesome. Hosts. Ever. Ken and Jackie, (upper and lower right).

Food Bloggers Love Generous Sponsors And The Sponsors Love The Food Bloggers -

Generous sponsors Kerrygold, Jarlsberg, and OXO, provided the lucky guests, with ample amounts of butter, cheeses, and baking tools ahead of time, so we could make the best pies possible. Massive amounts of additional love, was shown from Dub Pies, Snapware, Anolon, Wüstoff, and GE Monogram showroom, came in the form of great gifts that were provided in our swag bags, and contest prizes for giving good tweets!

If At First You Don’t Succeed…Phone A Friendly Food Blogger

After my major fail at the last Pie Party Pot Luck, I was determined to have a better showing at this year’s event, but I wasn’t off to a good start.

My first pie crust attempt, was a mushy, moussey mixture. It was way over mixed, and I used 4 times more water, than necessary.

I reached out on Facebook for some Food Blogger advice. Jackie offered, “Go buy a crust.”

“Oh Yee, of Little Faith. I AM BAKING A CRUST,” I wrote back.

I tried the recipe again, butthere was something wrong again. This one was rubbery and gross.

If at first you don’t succeed, definitely, phone a friend. The lightbulb went off in my head.

Who would know better than Kate McDermott, Pie Maker, Teacher, Practitioner of Kindness?

Kate, (Pie Camp) McDermott, my savior, totally saved me from Pie Party Embarrassment, with her kindness. I will forever be indebted to her.

During our conversation, I jotted down more than a dozen Post-It notes, while Kate assured me that I could pull it off this time.

I put my faith in her explicit directions and hands.

As instructed by Kate, EVERYTHING went into the freezer to keep it all as cold as possible. Bowls, blades, flour, butter.

“Keep your hands as cold as possible. Dip them into ice water, if they get too warm.”

“The kitchen must stay cool, at an ideal temperature of 52-55 degrees”. I threw open the windows, and put on a hoodie.

“Don’t try to make a crust when the oven is on either, as it will make the kitchen too hot!” “Grate the frozen butter,” she told me. “Mix the dough by hand. Roll it out with flour. Don’t let it get warm. Don’t be afraid.”

I used a little too much flour while rolling, but it still worked out all right.

I’m going to spare you the details of my sautéing and stirring, and cut right to:

The Finished Product- May I be perfectly blunt and say, “My Pie Was Awesome”. Ok, I just did.

We Bake. We Eat. We Photograph. We Blog. Therefore, We Are.

This Anolon pan is so shiny, I can see myself, AND my Foodie Blogger Pals, Michael Munoz, The Kitchen Gaily, whose Bacon, Mac and Cheese Pie is pictured above) and Lora Wiley (Diary of a Mad Hausfrau). I may not be the best baker in the world, but I do give really good Instagram, which is what earned me, this divine prize, of some radically fantastic kitchen tools from OXO.

I know my mother, who didn’t cook or bake, was very proud of me for all of my hard work. She was also psyched, that I won all of these amazing kitchen tools from OXO.

I’m also quite certain, that as she was looking down on me from heaven, Alana, was only wondering what the hell, any of those kitchen tools would be used for.

And lastly, since I have now mastered The Art Of The Pie (thanks, Kate), I went ahead and made a Sous Vide Chicken Pot Pie, which I will share with you soon….

Who wants to go to Pie Camp with me?

Tech Stuff, Tech Talk, Travel

The Finger Puppet Stays In The Picture- SXSW Fun #LoveMySelfie

Gallery May 1, 2014 Vicki Winters

#LoveMySelfie-

When Dan and I were visiting the Unesco Heritage site of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, he spied a woman who was taking a #selfie of herself with a Finger Puppet.

Since Dan gets so tired of me asking to my picture every five minutes, he decided to make me two, of my very own, Finger Puppets.

She, I mean me, goes by the name, Tiny Food Lover, or Tiny Techie (still open for suggestions), and I’d like to share some of the events she attended, and the and cool people with whom she was seen, during SXSW 2014.