Tapas Potluck and Wine Tasting:
I love tapas. The Spanish small plates style of dish is one of my favorite ways to eat. Seriously, give me all the appetizers any day over a full meal. I like the option to try lots of different flavors and dishes without feeling like I need to be rolled out from under the table. So, after a recent wine tasting with some of my foodie friends I had the idea that we NEEDED to have a tapas party with the area food bloggers. (Anytime I can get someone to cook for ME I’m a happy girl.) After a bit of deliberation and collaboration the idea for a Tapas Competition and Spanish Wine tasting was born. Food bloggers brought dishes to the friendly competition, Whole Foods Market hosted a informative (and tasty) wine tasting, and several companies came together to award the winners with prizes! It was a grand time. Enough with the talk… onto the pictures! All the amazing photos are taken by food blogger extraordinaire (and my friend) Bee of The Spicy Bee.
Our evening started out with Justin from Whole Foods Market in Portland pouring and teaching about four Spanish wines. If you were going to recreate this at home you could use the wines listed and read a little information about each, or pick your favorite Spanish wines and try pairing them with cheeses. Wines we tried: Marques de Gelida Brut Reserva Cava 2009 (light and refreshing white wine); R Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Vinos Finos de Roja Vina Gravonia 2003 (I wouldn’t even try pronouncing that one, but it was amazing if you love a rich white wine); Dehesa La Grania 2006 (A tasty Tempranillo); and finally, a Manzanilla La Gitana Sherry.
Free Printable Tapas Potluck Cards
Download your free printable tapas potluck cards for your next party! These cards actually work for a variety of parties, but I loved the color scheme and how it went so well with the Tiny Prints printed suite.
Recipes Galore
You get food bloggers together and have them bring food items that they’ve made and then you suddenly also get a full deck of recipes that you’ve tried yourself. It is amazing and I will be utilizing this tactic in many more events. 😉 If you are drooling from the photos above then check out these recipes (I’ll add more as they are published):
- Greek Crostini from Tossing the Script
- Manchego Cheese Stuffed Spanish Meatballs from Urban Bliss Life
- Aceitunas a la Sevillana and Homemade Bread from Cooking Catastrophe
- Prosciutto Cantaloupe with a Chili Lime Sauce from Pechluck’s Food Adventures
- Summer Skillet Fruit Crisp from The Spicy Bee
- Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jalapenos with Cream Cheese & Pineapple from Margaritas in the Rain
- Follow my Tapas Pinterest Board for more Tapas Recipes as I find them!
A gigantic thank you to…
A huge thank you goes out to all of the companies and people that made this shin-dig possible. Obviously, the Portland Food Bloggers group is awesome and I was so excited to be able to work with them on this project. Whole Foods Market is one of my favorite local companies because they continually make efforts to teach, interact, and just plain get-to-know their customers and local influencers. Tiny Prints provided the beautiful printed signs, thank you cards, and personalized napkins. Ulysses Press provided books for the winners of the Tapas Competition— You’ve got to check out their awesome titles. I’ll be reviewing one of their titles in the near future. Goodness Knows donated snack squares and coupons to the goodie bags and prizes— seriously tasty and handy sized snack squares for kids and adults alike. Black Rock Coffee provided gift cards for the gift bags. Pukka Herbs sent an array of teas for the blogger’s goodie bags— I’ve tried the “Love” blend and thought it was the perfect way to end an evening with my hubby. And, thank you to all the lovely bloggers who attended, brought food, and shared about the event.
Disclaimer: Companies donated products, event space, and services to help make this event happen. I was not financially compensated for working on or posting about this event. All opinions are honest and my own!
