Every bite of food should be a sweet bite
Saturday was a lazy day around these parts. In the morning we set out to the art festival and after sucking up a bit of Florida sunshine we returned home to do what I love doing best.
Partaking in a lazy Saturday.
Yep, I sat on the couch and relished on the fact that I did not have to did not want to do anything at all.
That apple pie I promised Tom? Nah, it could wait.
That cornmeal cake bookmarked? Nah, it could wait.
This past week Gutsy Cooks decided to join the masses and have open choice with our menu options and celebrate the upcoming Super Bowl madness.
The theme was to post our favorite game food.
Originally, we planned to have a couple of friends over for the game and that plan crashed and burned and it ended up being just us on a Sunday night.
Or actually just Tom, since I’m not a big football fan.
But, let me totally get off topic here and give a HUGE SHOUT to Madonna. You ROCKED the halftime show…you still got it, you still made get up and VOUGE!
*cough, cough* Back to our main topic… our dinner.
I knew that we were not going be eating finger food, so the only option for a dinner was the Chili and that was my starting point.
I gutsied up the whole thing, omitted some stuff, added others and totally went rogue and built my chili as a Sheppard’s pie. I wanted to bake some corn bread to go along with the chili and then had a light bulb moment and thought, why not add the corn bread ON TOP of the chili and bake it?
And that is what I did.
A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by Gina Melton of Zest in order to extend an invitation to a Holiday Party sponsored by Bard Valley Natural Delights and taking place in one of the most popular spots in South Tampa right now, Pane Rustica.
I did not have to be asked twice, I accepted so fast, I think I did not give her a chance to say another word.
My first impression of Pane Rustica was that it was cozy and was bigger than I had imagined. They are known for Contemporary American style cuisine and are very popular with the lunch crowd. At night it elevates its casual lunch atmosphere for fine dining and a great wine selection along with a hopping full bar.
The hosted walked me to a private dining room, where I started to mingle with my fellow bloggers who I have met before and some who I was looking forward to meeting for the first time. Isabel from Family Foodie, Cara and Megan from Healthy Tampa Bay Living, Mr. Jeff Houck from TBO’s The Stew (love this guy!), Tracy from My Other City by the Bay, Elizabeth from Food Nation Radio Network, Nina From Panache Vue magazine, Jim from Gastroblog and Jodi from HashtagFoodPorn.
This was a serious crowd and I was delighted to share a Wednesday night in their company.