FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

 

Not Pretty.

 

My food photography needs some work. It's unflattering. It's shadowy. The lighting is all wrong.

 

I'm one who believes that very little in this world can't be figured out by some reading, a good to-do list, and practical application. So, let's try to remedy this, shall we?

 

A list of tips:

 

How to Photograph Food. Girl's Gone Child

 

Best Food Photography Tips. Saveur.

 

Our Approach to Food Photos. Smitten Kitchen.

 

Food Photography Tips for Food Bloggers. Cookie + Kate.

 

Books:

Plate to Pixel by Helene Dujardin

Food Photography by Nicole Young

 

 

Pretty Inspiration:

Photo Credit: Joy Wilson, Joy the Baker

 

Photo Credit: Helen Dujardin

 

Photo Credit: Martha Stewart Living

 



CELEBRATING...FANTASTIC MR. FOX

 

We just finished reading Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox to our son, and decided to have a little celebration because we loved the book so much*. And what does one serve at a party for Fantastic Mr. Fox? Chicken and vegetable pie fit for a Feast**, bien sur.

Chicken, of course. And carrots for the rabbits.**

 

I had these Woodland Animal Cookie Cutters, which just happens to have a fox. So we used that to cut the vents in the top of the pie.

 

 

And of course, apple cider. Though not hard, as it is in the book. We wouldn't want any disgruntled rats showing up, now would we?**

 

 

 

Good book, good food. What else do you need for a cause to celebrate?

*It was also a great way to convince my son to eat chicken and vegetable pie, which is not a favorite of his.
**If these Feast/animal references sound crazy, please read Fantastic Mr. Fox for clarity. :)


Chicken and Vegetable Pie
adapted from Real Simple

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 large carrots, diced
3 heaping tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups milk
1 10oz bag frozen peas
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (optional)
salt and pepper
1 9inch store bought pie crust, thawed if frozen

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Heat the oil and butter is a large, heavy bottomed pan ( I use my cast iron skillet) over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots, cook, stirring, until they begin to soften, but not brown (about 5 minutes). Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute.
Add the chicken stock and cook until incorporated into the flour/vegetable mix, about 5-7 minutes. Using a whisk, add the milk and simmer until the sauce has thicken, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken and peas, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a shallow 1 1/2-2 quart baking dish (I use a pie dish).
Lay the crust on top, pressing to seal. Cut several vents in the crust. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake until bubbling and the crust is golden, about 45 minutes.

 

Poor Mr Fox. His tail was the first to go.



LAKE TAHOE W/ KIDS

Snow. And lots of it.

Last weekend, we went to Tahoe for an overnight stay.  Let me start by saying winter is my least favorite season and the end of January is a. Complete. Drag. (ED: yes, I know I said previously that I love January. It's more like the idea of January and new beginnings, not the actual time of year.) I do not like being cold. I don't particularly like snow. I like looking at the snow. Preferably in a cozy cabin, with a warm fireplace roaring, unhealthy snacks, and a good book. I do not however, particularly love being out in it. It's cold and wet and I am not a fan of winter sports.  I can't imagine living somewhere where it snows for 4 months out the year. But I do love getting up to Tahoe in the winter. I know. This isn't making any sense. It's the-end-of-January-madness, bear with me, please.

So without further ado, my dos and don'ts for visiting Tahoe in the winter with children. Also, lots of photos.

THE DOS:

 Adventure Mountain. $20 per car to park, free use of the hills. Various cost to rent sledding equipment (we brought our own disk).


Adventure Mountain was my son's favorite activity, hands down. It's a snow park at Echo Summit, with several acres of groomed hills for sledding and tubing. They have tons of sledding hills, and it's pretty much a free for all. There were a ton of people there, but the lines move pretty fast. There's also a "lodge" to take a break in. Which is where my daughter and I hung out for the majority of the time:

Not impressed with the snow.

This is an improvement. Sorta.

But mama kisses and a binky inside are where it's at. That's Mama's girl.

 

The "lodge" was a little shabby (and not in a chic way) but warm and clean as it could be after a long day of people coming in there in wet, winter clothes. There was plenty of seating and a fireplace (but no fire). There was also some sort of concession stand (we didn't buy anything) and some sort of gift shop (which we didn't go in). All in all a good experience and a ton of fun for my oldest. Twenty dollars well spent.

 

 Red Hut Cafe

We went to the Red Hut Cafe for dinner. Simple, good diner food. They also had a fun soda fountain next door. Where my children ordered cupcakes instead of sundaes. What the what.

 

Cabela's (because we can't be that close to a Cabelas' store without stopping. And when I say we, I mean, my husband, the outdoors man).

 

 

                                            

 

Places like Cabela's always amuse me because I get to laugh about people who not only shoot a skunk but then have it stuffed for a trophy. My husband hunts and fishes, but I just don't get something like a skunk "trophy."

We don't need this.

 

Truckee

 

One of my favorite little towns. They have a great downtown with fun shops and good places to eat. Two of our favorites for the kiddos are:

 

The Truckee Variety Company Full of fun toys and gifts. It's often super crowded though, and pushing a stroller through there is tight. But it's the place my son always asks to visit in Truckee.

 

The Treehouse A child's clothing and toy store. Super cute clothes and nice toys (lots of Melissa and Doug, that type of thing).

 

 

 

 THE DON'TS:

 

Heavenly Village. Look. There is nothing wrong with Heavenly Village, a bunch of shops that are an extension of Heavenly Ski Resort. It's just not our thing. It's crowded and loud and expensive. We'd rather be in the snow. Some of us, at least. We originally went here for lunch, because it was fairly close to our hotel. But the restaurant we ate at, while the food was good, was entirely too loud and expensive (like everything in Tahoe). Also, we had wanted to use the ice skating rink, but it was super small and cost $20 per person! Pass.

Altitude Sickness.
Avoid this if you can, as it makes you feel like dying. Trust me, I KNOW.

And finally....

TIPS AND TRICKS:

-Renting a cabin is much better then a hotel, especially if you are staying more than one night. Being able to make your lunch, and have the room to lounge about make a huge difference. We have done both ways, and a cabin is highly preferable. And by the time you add up the costs of all your meals, the cost is about the same.

-The North Shore of Tahoe is much more family friendly.

-Snow clothes on kids under two: good luck to you. If you plan to play in the snow, take your gear with you, in a big bin or bag. That way, you can peel it all off and store it right there, instead of trying to strap wet, bundle up kids into car seats.



I promise, something with actual content soon. January is almost over, real thoughts will return. I hope. Thank you for bearing with me.

ED: I changed "bare with me" to "bear with me." Because I don't actually want to get naked with all of you. Sorry. Curse you spell check. You too, January.

-M.

PINS OF THE WEEK

I've been trying to organize my Pinterest boards this week, namely my food and recipes board. I can never find any recipes that I know I pinned and know I want to try because it's all jammed up together: lemonade cake next to homemade spaghetti sauce next to slow cooker pulled pork. So new boards it is. It is tedious work. And it makes me hungry.  And because they're taking over my life on my mind, some food pins, just for you:

Feta and Chive Sour Cream Scone, via Joy the Baker

 

Please do yourself a favor and make these, the end.

 

 

Homemade Vanilla Extract via Averie Cooks 

Homemade Cream Soda Syrup via Martha Stewart

 

I need to get some vanilla beans and try my hand at both these things.

 

 

 

Butternut Squash Soup

This is the Wholefoods recipe, but I've been looking at several different ones, trying to decide which one to try. This is dinner tonight. Maybe with the feta and chive sour cream scones.

Happy Pinning and Happy Friday!

INSPIRING ME

 

Celebrate, Pippa Middleton

 

This book is full of simple, pretty party ideas. It's taken some flack for it's content, but I personally don't understand why (perhaps because there isn't one photo or mention of an inflatable bouncy house? Which is part of it's charm, in my opinion...). The easy, uncomplicated ideas are perfect and exactly what I look for in parties.

 

 

 

  

 

 

Moleskin volant extra small notebooks

 

Perfect size to throw in a bag or sit on your bedside table. I got the green set (emerald IS the color of the year, you know).

 

 

 

 

 

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, Deb Perelman

 

I got this for Christmas and all I want to do is make everything in it. Deb Perelman has me trying to learn the metric system, for goodness sakes, something in which my husband has tried to convince me to do for over 10 years. The book has brownie cookies in. Do I need to say anything else?

 

 

 

 

 

This image.

 

 

 

 

These words.

 

 

 

What's inspiring you?

 

CRANBERRY CAKE

I keep seeing all these cute little strawberry desserts on Pinterest. Strawberry cupcakes! Strawberry Santa hats! Tuxedo strawberries! But strawberries in winter kind of taste like red water. Not good. But I understand the appeal of a red fruit dessert. There's something so inviting about naturally red food, isn't there?

May I introduce to you: the cranberry.

Did you just make a face? I understand. Have you only had cranberries at Thanksgiving, in a jellied, cylinder form? Poor you. Let me introduce you to homemade cranberry sauce made into cake. It is both tart and sweet, with a crunch of pecans and a buttery cakey top. It's seasonal! It's American! Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy and patriotic just thinking about it?

First, we start with a homemade cranberry sauce.

Butter up a pan, pour in that sauce and add some chopped pecans.

Make a batter. Pour it over those red berries.

Bake it up.

Enjoy a slice.

Cranberries. Show this red fruit some love.


Cranberry Cake
adapted from the Pioneer Woman

butter, for greasing
2 cups cranberry sauce (recipe follows)
3/4 cups pecans, chopped
1 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 salt
1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350.
Grease a 8 inch cake pan with butter. Add cranberry sauce. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
In a mixing bowl, combined flour, 1 cup of sugar, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Stir to combine.
Pour batter over the cranberries evenly, spread gently if necessary.
Bake for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar and bake another 5 minutes.
Cut into wedges and serve.

Sauce:
2 cups fresh cranberries (1 bag will do)
3/4 cups water
1 tsp allspice
2 tsp cinnamon
zest of 2 clementine oranges
1 cup of sugar (more if you like it extra sweet, less if you like things tart)

Combine the cranberries, water, spices and zest in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat. Cook until cranberries begin to burst, about 10 minutes.
Add the sugar and reduce heat to low. Cook until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Refrigerate over night.


Enjoy!

TWO THOUSAND THIRTEEN

Well, hello! After a brief hiatus, I'm back. I have all sorts of things in store for this new year. The June November store is going to get a whole new look, with new goodies. I've been making plans and making things and I'm feeling pretty excited about it! Look for the launch soon.

I love January. Fresh starts are always appealing to me. Instead of actual resolutions, I usually have a broad goal or sort of theme for a year. Last year it was new beginnings: we had just bought our house, my little girl was turning one, my son started kindergarten. So my goal was making all of that work in our day to day life and leaning from it.  This year my goal is organization. Not just our house (although our closets are sad places indeed), but our overall life. Each month, we have goals for organizing our home, our finances, and our family. I've written out a rough draft of goals and we try to meet them monthly, also allowing for amendments as the year goes on, of course. For example, in January we want to organize those sad closets. Next month, I'm focusing on going through all the children's toys. By breaking it down by month, I don't feel as overwhelmed to get everything done in one weekend and I also know that soon those toys will be taken care of.

We're trying to live a "less is more" life and I feel that organization is a key to that. I'm excited to get started. I hope all your resolutions and goals are attainable this two thousand and thirteen year!