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Taste of Sacramento is a big fundraising event for Easter Seals. In the past I haven't gone because I think they charged more. This year it was only $25 and included about 40 wineries/breweries and about 50 food vendors, so it seemed a good food to dollar value.
We arrived for the opening of the doors at 5:30. You have to be there right at the opening for these food events because food does run out and huge lines form. We were able to do one quick circuit around the hall before the lines started to really form. By the time we left at 7:45, the lines were huge and some vendors had already run out.
Unfortunately my camera battery ran out before I could get too many pictures.
I, of course, skip all of the alcohol tables and just focus on food. One of my favorite things about events like these is seeing small companies trying to make it with some food product that they were famous for. Like the woman I met who had the House of Chantilly table. Gena came from New Orleans with a family recipe for chantilly cream. She was famous for bringing it to potlucks or food events that she finally decided it was time to turn it into a business. Chantilly cream is a pretty generic term for a sweetened cream. Gena has come up with some combination of flavors or sweeteners to create a unique version. She sells the mix in liquid pouches and you mix them with sour cream. She was serving it with a variety of items. I had my taste with strawberry and biscuit. Chris tried his with chocolate and blue cheese. This sounded gross to me (hate blue cheese) but he loved it and thought it gave it a cheesecake flavor.
Here were the ladies from Kelli's Cookies.
And another small business, The Chocolate Architect, with a selection of her fudges.
Some of the food vendors were better than others. I liked the presentation here for the Classique Catering company. It was braised short ribs that were super tender on top of small onion tartlets. The only fault was that it was served cold. Another favorite was the raw ahi tuna and watermelon salad from Mason's. It was so light and refreshing. I also enjoyed a pot roast and mashed potatoes from, I believe, Hawks.
I will mention one winery because it is my chiropractor's, or, rather, his family's. I led Chris and Christina to try it and they really enjoyed the Pedroncelli wines they tasted, especially since they had just had one across the room that they hated.
We ended by going over to look at the items up for the silent auction. They were primarily sports and entertainment memorabilia. Things like picture/autograph/souvenirs framed together. There were a few jewelry items and other things, but mostly those big framed sets. The sad thing was that hardly any of the items had bids on them. Whether it was because people were waiting to the last minute or it was a statement of the poor economy or the poor selection/variety of items, who's to say? But I hope that they did get some money in the end.
