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Magnolia Bakery's banana pudding

Magnolia Bakery may be best-known for launching the cupcake craze, but you’d be remiss to pass up the banana pudding. This is no ordinary pudding, folks: it’s a vanilla pudding full of Nilla wafers and chunks of real banana, so it’s almost like a deconstructed banana creme pie. It literally makes me say, “Mmmmm!” every time I eat it. And it’s not too sweet, just the way I like my desserts (this basically means I can eat way too much in one sitting). It’s not exactly cheap — 12 oz. cost $4.50 — but it’s well worth it.

Note: I purchased the container pictured above using a gift card I won on Twitter from Magnolia Bakery.

What kind of food and wine event makes you say, “Camels, zebras and buffalo, oh my!” upon pulling up to its venue? Los Angeles magazine’s The Food Event, that’s what kind. No, these animals weren’t on the menu but were residents on Saddlerock Ranch, home to Malibu Family Wines, where the eating and drinking festival was held.

This was my first time at The Food Event, which I thought was ambitiously named but pretty much lived up to it. The venue — nestled in the Malibu hills among vineyards — was beautiful, even on that gray and rainy day, and the food and drink were excellent. It wasn’t too crowded, either, which made the experience much more enjoyable (the weather may have had something to do with it).

Here were my favorite tastes and moments from that day.

Sweetsalt Food Shop‘s duck confit slider with lavender butter. Yes, yes and yes.

Sweetsalt Food Shop's duck confit with lavender butter

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