And when thankfully, you do not have to decide and you can have it all...
Poached Eggs With Sauteed Spinach & Mushrooms
March 28, 2013
Seared Scallops Salad With Blood Orange Vinaigrette
March 22, 2013
A little update: the workshop that I am teaching with food stylist Tami Hardeman and prop stylist Mindi Shapiro is selling fast and we only have one spot available. If you are interested in more details, please read here. Thank you!
Spring is finally here. On paper for some. All around us here for sure. It's been a couple of weeks that we have been able to enjoy the first blossoms, the first days without a heavy coat and Spring produce appearing on the stores shelves. I enjoy winter, evenings spent with a warm bowl of soup in front of a roaring fire, turtlenecks sweaters and colorful scarves. I am looking forward to zucchini blossoms and fresh peaches. And yet, I hurried to get as much of my favorite winter items in the last month. Blood oranges specifically.
I did cook and bake them in anything and everything I could think of this winter. And had them plain after my morning run with the old pup. Bag after bag after bag. Many a t-shirt and cutting board were splattered and stained by the colorful juice. Pile and pile of blood orange skins were dried to flavor hot brewing tea in the evening. I love this time of year. The end of warm fizzy blanket and the beginning of bare feet in the grass on crisp sunny mornings.
Pan seared and core tender scallops nested on a bed of smooth and super fresh lettuce. All drizzled with a generous amount of tangy blood orange vinaigrette. A super fresh and easy salad when all you want to do is feed yourself right and get outside to enjoy the warmer weather. Pure good mood - good weather food.
Registration for the Food Photography & Styling Workshop in Atlanta is now open!
March 18, 2013
To register, please visit HERE.
We are so excited to be able to bring this one to you and to share our experiences, tips and techniques with you. One photographer, one food stylist and one prop stylist in one studio over two days. Woo!
When: April 20th & 21st 2013
Where: Atlanta Georgia
Workshop limited to 12
Fee is $1250 and includes:
- 2 days full of instructions with three established professionals
- lots of demos and one on one guidance
- lots of demos and one on one guidance
- meet & greet on Friday April 19th from 7pm til 9pm,
- dinner Saturday night in a restaurant in Atlanta (location TBA)
- lunch, snacks and refreshments for both days (travel costs, transportation and lodging not included)
A Two Day - Food Photography & Styling Workshop In Atlanta, April 20th -21st!
March 15, 2013
Have you ever wondered how on earth you would style that big bowl of stew to make it as appetizing as the perfect slice of cake standing next to it?
Have you ever wondered how a prop stylist layers and composes a shot to compliment the food? Where does it all start? The food? The props? The camera angle?
How does it all come out together to create images that make your stomach growl they are so appetizing?
Well...how about a workshop with three instructors, highly skilled in their respective fields to take you through all this? Over two days?!
Yep...
I am so excited about this workshop! For the past few weeks, I have been planning with two women I absolutely love, food stylist Tami Hardeman and prop stylist Mindi Shapiro, an awesome workshop in Atlanta Georgia. (Read more about the instructors here)
We all work in this field as our "real everyday" jobs but the need to come together and teach and create independently from clients fuels us with lots of energy and passion that we want to pass on to you.
The class is targeted to all levels and all three of us will be there to take your photography, food styling and prop styling to the next level. Gently and efficiently, we will give you the tools to let you express your creativity with your styling and photography.
When: April 20th & 21st 2013
Where: Atlanta Georgia
How many students: 12
How much: the workshop fee is $1250 and includes:
- meet & greet on Friday April 19th from 7pm til 9pm,
- 2 days full of instructions with three established professionals,
- dinner Saturday night (location TBA)
- dinner Saturday night (location TBA)
- lunch, snacks and refreshments for both days
(travel costs, transportation and lodging not included)
Restrictions:
Package is all inclusive. No substitutions.
Schedule subject to change.
There will be no refunds for this workshop – please know you can attend before you register.
Registration will open on Monday March 18th at 10:00am EST. Please go here to register.
Ozark Pear Cake & Feeling Home
March 9, 2013
Yesterday, I packed a change of clothes, the 16 year-old pup and we headed down to Charleston for the weekend. I almost said, "home to Charleston" but home has become this "in between" where my heart resides. Charleston will forever be home. This is where I fell in love. With him. With the South. With this incredibly puzzling time of history. With a city living at a sound of a very peculiar beat. Where unbelievable friendships formed and tested time, growth and loss.
Yet, there is not much of what people would consider a home remaining for us in Charleston. Our house there is now empty and Bill moved in with his parents for the time being. But we have a home. We have multiples. They are not made of wood or stone. They have been build with our hearts, our stories, our tears and worries, our joys and laughters. While I could become completely nostalgic and sad of times passed, I just take a moment to appreciate the fact that we have made a home of wherever we are together, regardless of wherever is.
Everytime I make the drive down to Charleston, my heart stops in its track at the first sign of marsh land and tall grass. There is a definite look to that part of the world. It lures you, grabs you and never lets go of you. I do miss sunsets and sunrises over the marsh. At the same time, I have fallen completely in love with the luscious foliage of Birmingham, the drives up and down the hills of the city, the genuine kindness of the people there. I was dragging feet getting out of the house yesterday morning to get down here. I felt home. I was going to the other home.
Home is truly where the heart is and I am incredibly lucky to be able to call both places home.
There is something that will always make me feel anchored to a new place and that is baking. The simple act of putting a cake in the oven and being rewarded with the scents of vanilla, pears and cake batter is enough to make anyone feel good anywhere. I could be in my grandparents' home and making an apple tart with my grandmother or with my mother next door making madeleines. I could be here or there and I would feel the same. Grounded.
If making a simple cake is any reflection of the life I lead, well, I made this cake at home in Alabama and took it home to Charleston to be shared this morning around the breakfast table at my in-laws. I am happy and comfortable in my own skin wherever I am. And right now this wherever is "in between". And I will always make a good simple cake to remind me of that (Recipe after the jump).