Takk for Maten Gladmat! My Gladmat 2012 Summary

Photo courtesy of Liv Ragnhild Lassen at Mat og Urter

Big thanks to the Gladmat festival organization and Den Gode Smak food club for including myself and two other bloggers, Anders Totland and Liv Ragnhild Lassen in the Gladmat 2012 Jury. Thank you for the opportunity to eat, drink, be merry and share my passion for food & food culture with you all during Gladmat this year!

Feeling thankful for the food at this year's Gladmat? Share it with your tweeps on Twitter by clicking:Takk for maten @Gladmat! #Gladmat2012 via @Thanksforthemat

If you missed the final nominees or 2012 winner’s list from this year’s festival, have a look at the official final nominations page from Gladmat, Liv Ragnhild’s blog post about her favourites from the final Festival selections or Ander’s blog posts about Gladmat 2012.

If you missed my photo wrap up posts during the festival itself, check out my photo journal blog posts for day 1, day 2, day 3 and day 4 from Gladmat 2012. You can also check out all of my other blog posts about Gladmat by clicking here.

Or for more information about Gladmat, check out my Gladmat 2012 pin board on Pinterest or the Gladmat Festival web site at www.gladmat.no/.
WARNING: This blog post is going to get a little “woo woo” so if you aren’t feeling the emotionally connected and/or gratitude vibe today and simply want the photos-I will not be offended if you skip the next 565 or so words and head straight down below. You’ll miss out on some of the best 565 words I’ve ever written on this blog, but I won’t be offended at all. Not, one little bit. Just sayin’.

I’ve been plotting and planning what I was going to write about related Gladmat 2012 for about a week now and in fact, I’m still not sure what to write about. How does one write about the single most exciting experience they’ve ever had as a food blogger and local Stavangerite? How does one summarize four days of wandering around Stavanger harbour nibbling & drinking frothy, creamy, crunchy, sweet, savoury, tart, sparkling, fresh, lemony and smoked treats as well as some not so tasty food? How does one summarize all of that plus four days spent in total creative heaven in a single blog post without making it a 20,000 word essay (as well as relinquishing the need to use “academic” English in the process)?

There are just too many things to think about, things to consider, things to process. In all honesty, my introverted brain has simply not finished processing it all. No, not yet. I don’t know if it ever will, in fact, process it all. But but but…I’m beginning to get comfortable with that fact. I may not ever process all of the experience that was Gladmat 2012. Maybe for now, and perhaps for always, I’ll just let the photos I took as well as the people I met serve as the memories from Gladmat 2012 and leave my need to over-analyse it all at the door, so to speak.

While the food at Gladmat and the experience of judging the stands at Gladmat were in and of themselves REMARKABLE occurrences; what really put me over the moon was all of the people I met along the way. That and all of the passion filled stories I heard during the four day festival. How utterly inspiring, right!?!?!? I know. So not only did I get the honour and privilege of tasting so much of what was on offer at Gladmat this year, I had the added bonus of spending four days getting inspired by all of the passion and hard work that goes into not only producing the event but also all of the food products showcased at Gladmat. How utterly inspiring, right?!?!?!? I know. Now you see what I’m talking about. What makes Gladmat a festival of “happy food”? The people, the stories, the fervour for all things local and yes, of course, the food.

This past Monday, the rest of my life fumbled back into focus with it being business as usual at my full-time 9-to-5, all the while juggling my MBA dissertation at the same time (whoo hoo-on the home stretch now!). Reports, deadlines and follow-ups at work plus a draft of my dissertation research proposal all claimed my attention Monday until yesterday, while thoughts of Gladmat seemed to drift further and further away. Last night I vowed to myself to stop trying to write the “perfect” Gladmat summary blog post and to just write what I felt about the entire experience as a whole (and in less than 700 words!). I also promised myself that no matter what, before daily life pushes the memories of Gladmat 2012 to the side even more, that I’d leave you with the crest of my experience-the people and faces of Gladmat 2012.

Perhaps this way, you’ll take away from the 4-day event the same as I have, or perhaps you’ll savour your memories of the people and faces of your experience at Gladmat this year just a bit more.

In any case, again, "takk for maten" to Gladmat, Den Gode Smak, Liv Ragnhild Lassen and Anders Totland.

Feeling thankful for the food at this year's Gladmat? Share it with your tweeps on Twitter by clicking:

Takk for maten @Gladmat! #Gladmat2012 via @Thanks for the food

**Those of you who skipped the "woo woo" blog text above can start reading again beginning here. But believe me, you might regret not reading the last 565 or so words. Just maybe... ;-)

Enjoy the photos.

*** Noted photos are courtesy of Liv Ragnhild Lassen at Mat go Urter or Gard Karlsen from Eating Out in Stavanger. The others are copywrited by Whitney Love at Thanks For The Food. Make sure you use cite the appropriate photographer if you share these images (or I will tie a raw stake to your leg and sic my baby pitbull on you. Just sayin’.)