Food Trek: A (Wine) Barrel of Fun at the Auction of Washington Wines Picnic

I'd like to say it's no picnic being a food blogger, but that's a total lie -- it's totally a picnic. With incredible food and wine. I attended my first (but not last) Picnic and Barrel Auction, the kickoff event for the 3-day Annual Auction of Washington Wines. It's a big meet-and-greet with local winemakers, sips and bites of all kinds, and it's a fundraiser for Seattle Children's Hospital and the viticulture and enology research departments at Washington State University.

Cheers to Washington Wines! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

FoodTrek: Releasing the Food and Wine Kraken at Taste Washington

Is it possible to taste and imbibe all of Washington State in one weekend? It's a lofty goal, but I give Taste Washington, the largest single-region wine and food event in the US of A, kudos for laying down the gauntlet for the brave souls wanting to fit all the flavors of the Pacific Northwest in-mah-belleh, over a single weekend. Or in my case, I challenged the threshold of food/wine consumption in a single day and tried to document as much of it on the ol' soul-capturing-DSLR-devilmachine. So sit back and be prepared to be overwhelmed with an epic day of drinking and sampling through Taste Washington, 2013. Bring on the antacid!

Kraken - or smoked octopus from W Hotel's TRACE - unleashed at Taste WA - Photo by Wasabi Prime