good food & wine show 2007

I was half-hoping that the weather would've kept most people at home but no luck, the Good Food & Wine Show was packed this year (and probably more people than ever!) People were crowded around every store, queues to the toilets, to the bottleshop, for book signings, for the shows and for whatever else. I spent around 6 hours walking around the show and I attribute half that time to lining up in queues. Fortunately, I was joined by mum, Justin, Mandy, Kaho as well as my cousins who made the waiting time rather enjoyable, and time really seemed to fly by. Last year I would've spent a max. of 3 hours in there.

To mark 6 hours of show visiting, mum and I ended up buying one of those shopping trolleys to carry our loot. (Next year, we'll be better prepared and bring that shopping trolley back). In between us, we bought the Donna Hay show bag, Yeo's show bag, subscribed to Delicious magazine (and received an extremely worthwhile showbag, two coffees, a cupcake and a bottle of wine!), the Adora Chocolates showbag, dips and crisps, which altogether weighed about a tonne. Plus a few more freebies, we just managed to fit everything into the trolley. I owe my non-broken shoulder to that trolley, not only did it remove the weight off my shoulders, it kept all our things dry as we made the trek back to the car after the show in the pelting rain.

Mum and I with our free Vittoria coffees

So you might be wondering what on earth I did for 6 hours. Really, it wasn't that much; a combination of eating, crowding, lining up, that sort of thing. Here were the highlights:

Number 1: Donna Hay

For a good half an hour or more, I was plonked at the Donna Hay stand. First of all, I tried to convince Mandy to buy one of Donna's cookbooks and as a result, I was joined by this guy called 'Ed Potter' (who I believe works with Donna - name rings a bell but I have no idea who he is) and he echoed 'exactly' my sentiments. Together, we gave the same 'yays' and 'nays' to Mandy and after that was done, I discussed my dilemna with this guy about not having anything for Donna to sign. All the books that were on sale were already on my bookshelf and the only thing I wanted to buy, which was the apron, wasn't on sale. Anyway, I think Ed started feeling sorry for me and gave me the low-down on upcoming Donna Hay books. Two are due for October and from memory, one of them should be salads. There'll be a citrus one and unfortunately, I've already forgotten the other two. So given Donna was about 2m away from me, Ed suggested I just join the queue and get her to sign my magazine that was in the showbag. Sounded like a good idea and I even got a photo taken with her! Thanks Ed!

My signed June issue of Donna Hay. "For Jenny. Happy Cooking. Donna Hay"

Number 2: Curtis Stone

I'd originally wanted to see Donna Hay's show again this year but by the time I went to Ticketmaster to buy tickets, the show was already booked out. After coordinating everyone that was going, I settled for everyone to go to the 12.30 Curtis Stone show. I didn't think much of it at the time but boy, I was in for the best surprise. Curtis Stone was awesome! Not only is he funny, he's cute and he can cook!

I officially have the biggest crush on Curtis Stone. Apparently he's 30 and single :P

So to sum the day up, it was awesome and I fell in love :P Justin doesn't seem too happy. Anyway, it was good to get home after the trek in the rain. Somehow all our purchased items managed to stay dry while the rest of us got soaking wet. We were all weary in our own ways; having essentially skipped lunch for the day. I'm just one of those people where little bits of food just don't count as food. I was definitely hungry by the time I got home and stuffed myself with dinner.

Our loot. I should add, 3 blocks of Lindt chocolate was selling for $5! Bargain!

I can't wait till next year's show!