Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged Alive Now Magazine, compassion, faith, food, food photography, hospitality, Inspiration, Photography, welcome on April 17, 2014| 4 Comments »
The May/June 2014 issue of Alive Now Magazine focuses on hospitality. I’m grateful to have one of my photos appear in the pages. It is a lovely, thought-provoking issue. Hospitality is something I struggle with. I know I’m not always as welcoming as I could be but I will endeavor to do better until the end of my days I hope. 😉 Learn more about Alive Now and the availability of this issue here.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged abstract, color, food, food photography, fruit, Inspiration, oranges, Photography on April 10, 2014| 3 Comments »
I wasn’t happy with any single image but somehow seeing the whole group worked for me. It is fun being able to play with your food.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged food, food photography, gardening, herbs, indoor gardening, Inspiration, Photography on April 6, 2014| 1 Comment »
Meanwhile, the scallions are a beautiful, unruly mess and the lemon thyme is creating great shadows on the bookcase.
The fennel I nearly watered to death but I think I caught myself just in time. We’ll see. 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged fennel, food, food photography, herbs, indoor gardening, Inspiration, nature, Photography, spring on April 2, 2014| 7 Comments »
My favorite flower shop, Ricky’s, has reopened, providing further evidence that Spring is truly here. He does not yet have his full array of herbs on display but he had enough to make me happy as I walked into the shop. I departed with some standard items, e.g. two different types of thyme, but I also walked out with something new that I’ve never tried to grow before. Fennel.
The resident chef seemed happy with sight of the little pot on the table. We’ll see what he does with the feathery fronds in future dishes. Meanwhile, the other indoor greenery continues to do well, bathed by the light of the new season.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged cucumbers, food, food photography, green onions, humor, peas, Photography, tomatoes, vegetables on March 27, 2014| 3 Comments »
Oh, yes, indeed. I was intentionally playing with my food.
It had been a long day of working with words. So, at the end of that day, the little kid in me just wanted to dabble in color.
I rose from my desk and walked real fast to the corner store, a Korean market where the owner always greets me with a smile.
She’s used to me now, sometimes entering her store, with no purpose, just to wander the aisles in a bit of a daze, trying to let go of a heady day.
But this day, I had a purpose. I knew I wanted vegetables to carry home and chop up and photograph in the light of the setting sun.
I wasn’t really thinking dinner. Luckily, Steve always is and so when he returned home, I simply showed him my colorful palette and he saw cooking ingredients. After a moment of thought, he nodded and said, “I can work with this.” He would add white garlic and red onions to the mix, but no images of these items do I have for this post because by then I had put my camera away.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged aioli, cooking, eggs, food, food photography, Inspiration, mustard greens, patterns, Photography, quail, shells on March 3, 2014| 2 Comments »
An impulse buy at the grocery store for sure. A package of eighteen little eggs with so many different patterns on their shells.
A half dozen can fit into my hand at once. As for preparation …
… something simple. Perhaps boil them, shell them and place on a bed of mixed lettuce greens. Add a few sliced cherry tomatoes. Maybe drizzle the ensemble with a salad dressing made from the aioli Steve made last night. And yes, that aioli is infused with those mustard greens. Some toasted bread rubbed with garlic, and I think that’ll do it. 😉
Posted in Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged cooking, family, food, food photography, Inspiration, leafy greens, mustard greens, Photography, recipes, storytelling on March 2, 2014| 3 Comments »
I mostly remember leafy greens on Sunday. My mother, with a few helping hands on occasion, would pick the leaves, rinse them to remove any grit, and then place them in a big pot with some ham. Much water would be added, along with salt and pepper. The pot would simmer for what seemed like hours. Once steaming green leaves were piled on dinner plates, sometimes chopped white onions would be tossed on top for a bit of crunch (that’s what my dad liked) and sometimes apple cider vinegar, depending on the type of green. Of all the greens, kale was my favorite, especially curly kale. After finishing the pot of any type of greens, nothing was better than to drink the remaining flavor-filled pot liquor. Mustard had a peppery bite, the intensity of which I was reintroduced to this past weekend in several interesting dishes that both stirred up these childhood memories and made me reach for my camera.
Mustard Greens
Steve bought one small bunch of mustard greens and began to experiment immediately. The first dish involved adding a small portion of chopped fresh mustard greens to a vegetable stir fry of broccoli, kale and red peppers. The second mustard-infused dish was a homemade hamburger made of finely chopped steak, hen of the woods mushrooms, parmesan cheese, mustard greens and one egg. The tiny hamburgers were formed, fried and served up on toasted bread with sliced tomatoes and red onions on the side.
Hamburger with Cheese, Mushroom and Mustard Greens
The third dish was inspired by a particular Japanese method of layering thin slices of seared tuna, white rice, wasabi and shiso. A spicy mouthful to say the least. This particular variation on a theme involved cooking white rice and mixing it with fresh chopped green onion and mustard greens. The rice was served with thin slices of tuna on top and wasabi and soy sauce on the side. While the tuna is now gone, there is still rice remaining. I’ve encouraged the chef to turn these leftovers into golden fried cakes. We’ll see what the new week holds.;)
White Rice with Mustard Green and Green Onions
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, colors, food, food photography, fungus, Inspiration, mushrooms, nature, oyster mushrooms, Photography on February 21, 2014| 5 Comments »
At first I saw a coral beneath the sea. Then, peering closer, I thought of ghostly maidens doing a little dance beneath the full moon. In fact, they are mushrooms growing in a “mushroom mini farm.” The first crop looked just like the image of oyster mushrooms on the box cover. This second round … well, I’m not so sure if what’s growing is edible but it sure is interesting visually.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged cooking, Foliate Oak, food, food photography, Inspiration, literary magazine, literary magazines, pasta, Photography on February 17, 2014| 4 Comments »
Foliate Oak is one of a growing number of quality online literary magazines. Great content and visuals. It is an honor to have a series of images, Making Pasta, selected to appear in the current issue. When you have a chance, please take a look. Just click on the image below. Given that the chef who made the pasta told me he intends to make no more, well, that makes me especially glad I captured the moment. And it was tasty too.
Making Pasta Series
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged food, food photography, Inspiration, Photography on February 4, 2014| 3 Comments »
Words + Images 