I discovered something about myself this weekend. I really love to talk ( I should know this, my two sassy gals tell me often).
I like talking much more than writing. Sometimes when I’m writing I try to imagine you sitting in my living room chatting over a steamy cup of fresh hot coffee and snacking on slightly sweet and buttery scones. The kind with those little crunchy sugar sprinkles on top. 🙂
I adore meeting new people. Learning about what they do and what they might be passionate about. I love it when I’m deeply touched by their story or intrigued by their special talents. I met many of those people this weekend at the BlogHer Food Conference here in Seattle.
All attending for the collective love of food. But all different in life stories and experiences. Unique and fascinating. I was pleasantly overwhelmed. And somewhat disappointed. All at the same time.
Overwhelmed with the feeling of being blessed with new friendships, acquaintances and delicious memories. Disappointed with how much I thought I knew, but really don’t know. I gained a mountain of insight, information and a good dose of reality.
What delights me most is how many new friends I’ve gained. How many deliciously wonderful professional women (and one man!) I had the pleasure of meeting.
I’d love to share them with you. All lovely, deeply passionate, professional, knowledgeable individuals who have now made my life much richer.
Kelley at www.mountainmamacooks.com
Kayln at www.kaylnskitchen.com
Heidi at www.foodiecrush.com
Irvin at www.eatthelove.com
Veronica and Yvette at www.muybuenocookbook.com
Melanie at www.thecoupongoddess.com
Erina at www.shutupandcook.com
Janelle at www.talkoftomatoes.com
Emmy at www.emmycooks.com
Keren at www.franticfoodie.com
Thank you for being SO PATIENT. It’s been a while since I posted a recipe and certainly an unintentional hiatus. Just know that if you don’t get a new recipe in your inbox on a regular basis, I’m teaching fun and exciting cooking classes, or cooking for my fabulous clients, family and friends. Or maybe I was at a food conference. 🙂
Loads of Love,
Karista
Blueberry Ginger Salsa with Grilled Fresh Halibut
I love this salsa served with grilled white fish. My favorite pairing is with halibut, but black cod, opah and grilled scallops are equally divine. Delicious Wishes!
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 pint fresh blueberries
1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped shallots
½ teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (cilantro would also be a delish substitute!)
Squeeze of Lemon (about a tablespoon)
Dash of Olive oil (a few teaspoons)
Teaspoon or two of honey
Salt and pepper
Directions
Half the blueberries if you can, or lightly chop.
Toss together the blueberries, shallots, ginger, and mint. In a bowl whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and honey.
Toss the lemon oil with the blueberries and season to taste with salt and pepper.
This is definitely one of those recipes you can prepare to taste. A little more ginger, a little less mint or maybe a little more honey. Whatever you decide, it’ll be delicious!
I love this fresh and flavorful salsa over grilled white fish; halibut, black cod, Hawaiian opah and grilled scallops.
What a fun time you had at the conference. I hope to attend one of these bloggy conferences one day too. This is a lovely unique salsa – scrumptious!
🙂 Mandy
Mandy I’ve put off attending past years because I just wasn’t sure a blog food conference was for me. But I’m so glad I did attend. More than anything the new friendships were so worth it! Learning the technical side of blogging and food trends was eye opening. I highly encourage attending one. Wish you could have been at this one in Seattle. Would’ve loved to have met you in person!
This would be great on sword or mahi, too! (Opah…haven’t seen that one around here since I left the business 5 years ago! I miss it…)
Great to hear about your experiences at the conference…I’d love to attend one someday.
You are so right! I thought the same thing as I was enjoying the Opah. Swordfish or Mahi would be fab with this salsa. What business did you leave five years ago? I’m intrigued. And you’d love attending a conference. Wish you could have been here in Seattle. It would be so great to meet you in person!
I spent 20 years in retail seafood, mostly in small, independant grocery stores…I was buyer, merchandiser, sales, clean-up, and everything else. It was fun, and I miss the customer interaction (and getting first dibs on the stuff that came in!), but I actually like growing food better than selling it. 🙂
That looks so delicious and healthy! What a neat idea!
Lauren thanks so much! We have an abundance of blueberries here in Washington and this is one of those recipes that just needed to happen or my blueberries would be wasted. Of course I could have prepared a few cobblers… but I knew what would happen if I did. I’d end up having it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! 🙂 Delicious Wishes!
You don’t give yourself enough credit, Karista. You have more to offer than you know! You are a bright light and as sincere of a person I’ve ever met. You can’t teach that at a conference. 🙂 It was an absolute pleasure to finally meet in person and I’m so glad we get to be real life friends now! I love your recipes and catching a little glimpse into your life through each delicious one you offer up! Can’t wait to meet up again soon!!!
Awww…. thanks so much Kelley! You and Kalyn were two of the first food bloggers I kept going back to time after time. I have admired you and your work from afar and it was so fabulous to finally meet you in person. I agree, so glad we get to be real life friends now. 🙂
i know that feeling!!! … and also the one of realizing that the most important part is that you made some great connections with people you might not have met otherwise. it’s so easy to compare ourselves especially when a group of people with similar goals is gathered together and we are in awe of how much talent “everyone else” has. but your talent is truly your own. you have a spark in you that can’t be matched. your food photo’s are tantalizing, i want a blueberry!!!
Marni I don’t know what I’d do without you friend!! You are too kind! Thank you for the sweet and inspirational words. You know how much I admire you and your work. Your gifts are many and one of my very favorite is your gift of friendship! If I could send you blueberries through the mail I would. 🙂
Such a unique salsa and I imagine it’s spectacular with the halibut.
Thank you! I usually prepare a blueberry lemon sauce for my halibut but really wanted to use the fresh blueberries this time. The ginger and lemon compliment the blueberries and the mint or cilantro spices it up just a bit. All so beautiful with the light and flaky halibut. LOL! Can you tell I love this salsa?! I could eat it with a spoon. 🙂
This is just a must-try for me, and I may have to add some peaches to it, too, since I love them with blueberries. Such a nice idea for a salsa with the blueberries, can’t wait to try!
Betsy you and I must be thinking alike! I said the same thing last night. “Peaches in this would be fabulous!” LOL! Hope you enjoy it and let me know how it turns out with the Peaches. Yum!
I’ve been eating a lot of fish lately, so one of your salsas would be a great way to shake things up a bit. We go blueberry picking in July and then I’m always looking for ways to use them up — so I’m bookmarking this recipe. I bet the ginger goes well with the blueberry.
I love ginger and blueberry together. Especially in a sweet dish but it’s just as heavenly in a savory dish. We go blackberry picking in August… that’s when all my blackberry recipes start posting. 🙂 I always pick way too many as they grow wild here. Enjoy the recipe Barb!
What a gorgeous dish, Karista. I had never thought to make a salsa with blueberries, but why the heck not? We do it with mangos, right?
Ah . . . so I hope when I say, “You are not alone.” that you believe me. Though you are a chef and I a writer, I know exactly how you felt upon leaving the conference. It is a universal feeling that transcends professions. You and I are alike in that we love connecting with people; and what better way to do that than using our gifts and sharing them with others who possess the same strengths. But in that learning, you find that there are things you didn’t know, and feel strongly that you ought to. This can discourage when it should inspire. I would surmise that you can often be your worst critic, and are hard on yourself in areas where you should have grace. I struggle with this, anyway.
This is your journey. You will continue to grow with it, and it will grow you. You are an incredibly gifted and special woman; the lives you will touch with your recipes and the heart behind them all will bless many!
Bless you, Karista.
Xoxo
~ C
Oh Cara this is why I adore you so much! You say exactly what I need to hear. And say it with such poetic and grammatically correct verse.
It was an insightful conference to say the least. I have pages and pages of notes unlike the other savvy gals who thought to bring their computers. LOL! I on the other hand are old school and wrote like crazy on my special just for the conference note pad. I was a great experience and one I wouldn’t trade.
Thank you again for your sweet and kind words friend!! I hope you are doing well and always in my thoughts and prayers. Hugs!
Loved meeting you in Seattle!
Thanks Maria. It was a pleasure meeting you and your husband as well. And little Caleb is absolutely delicious!
Sounds like you had a grand time! Love this recipe 🙂
Thanks Tandy!
What fun! I am going to look forward to getting to know your new friends. I love the idea of this salsa. Such a tasty way to put color on the plate.
It was an interesting weekend and my head was spinning when I left! Lots of information, things I’d never thought about. It’s hard to condense all the info into one blog post but I’d love to pass along what I learned to my fellow wordpress foodies. I might set up a page with all my typed up notes so everyone can take a peak at their leisure. I thought of you Karen while talking to a few organic food companies. They love it when a blogger takes a product, creates a new dish and then blogs about it. Then sends the link to the company. This is how many of the bloggers have landed on the food packaging or highlighted on their website. I know you probably have some fave food companies back east that would love your recipes! Ok, just a little “food for thought”. LOL!
Love you “food for thought”, thank you.
You’re welcome! Have a fabulous weekend. 🙂
It’s lovely to see you back and (those blueberries) are certainly curing my summer berry cravings! Ginger, blueberry & mint is a gorgeous combination.
I would love to learn more down the track regarding your food conference, no doubt you’re mind is brimming with new ideas and changes for your (already wonderful) blog. Thanks for the new list of great reading material, looking forward to perusing over the weekend 🙂
You are so welcome! Now I have to catch up on reading my favorite blogs. 🙂 I gained a mountain of info and I’d be happy to pass along what I’ve learned. I think I might create a page with the information so my fellow wordpress foodies can browse at their leisure. But feel free to ask me questions if you have any! I’m happy to assist 🙂
That’s very generous! I’m sure a lot of your fellow bloggers would love to know what you’ve learnt. Ps, I love the new header image, the sunshine-like lemon icon look fantastic!
Thank you! I felt like I needed a little freshen up on the blog without challenging my less than technical side. 🙂
No apologies necessary, Karista! I’ve been on an unintentional hiatus for weeks. Frankly I hate it, but I have to be honest that blogging has to come last sometimes when my life is full (and work is really demanding). We all have to prioritize sometimes and I think time at a food blogger conference is time well spent! After all, it brought you back to us with new blog recommendations (always a joy for my google reader) and this wicked-good fruit salsa inspiration!
It really is a difficult task staying on top of blogging regularly. I completely empathize! Family and work come first for me, and as you said, sometimes blogging just has to come last. I truly believe in quality versus quantity. I’d rather be a few days tardy with a really great post. You’ve got a fabulous blog Christine and I LOVE reading all your posts!
Lovely combination with the blueberries! We have our annual conference coming up in August which I am looking forward to and nervous at the same time since myself and a fellow blogger are the creators.
I wish I lived closer I’d love to attend! I’m sure it’ll be a fabulous conference. And what a fun and exciting challenge putting together a blogger’s conference. Can’t wait to read about it. 🙂 Have a fabulous week.
Looks so good, I wish I had thought of it myself…I love blueberries and ginger and I am looking forward to making this dish.
Thanks Stan. Hope you enjoy it!
That looks so fresh and delicious! Happy to hear that you had such a good time at BlogHer!
Thank you! I love savory fruit dishes. Sort of a fettish I think. 🙂 BlogHer was inspiring to say the least. Lots to dissect and think about. Have a lovely day!
What an interesting idea! Would love to try that!
Thanks Anastasia! It’s a lovely summer salsa.
This looks like an *amazing recipe*. You are a talented photographer, in addition to being a great writer and chef. I’m so happy I’ve found you! =-)
Awww… Thanks Frances. So happy you found me too. It’s given me a chance to browse your blog, which I love. So intrigued! I just started yoga (shouldve started years ago) and I’m hooked. I will be visiting your blog often. 🙂