Pumpkin Pancakes & More

A few weeks back, I was asked by 2nd year designer Christen Toepel from the SCCA graphic design program if I was interested in collaborating together on a photo shoot.  I was definitely interested! Check out her website here www.christentoepel.com.

I get very excited now by any opportunity to just play around and have fun with food photography.  Especially if it means a chance for me to expand, and try something new.  This is a bit less nerve wracking then working with a paying client sometimes...  Christen was going for a fall/wintery theme, so the 3 things that were decided on were pumpkin pancakes with apple compote, mulled wine & cinnamon rolls.  Here are a few favorites from the shoot.

On a sadder note, one of the instructors from the photography program I went to, Robbie Milne, passed away last week.  I will always remember him laughing at (with) me, "Amy it's cheese! It's not supposed to be depressing!!".  When I would try to do something moody and it just wouldn't turn out quite right...He had a great sense of humor and a big heart.  He will be missed so much.


Here is a link for the pumpkin pancake recipe:

Pumpkin Pancakes- Allyson Kramer

Here is the apple compote recipe:

Apple Cinnamon Topping
4 large apples (or 6-8 small apples), peeled and cored
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup (180 ml) apple cider
1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cut the apples into 1/8-inch slices and cut those slices in half. Put the apples in a saucepan and add the lemon juice and apple cider. Stir apples to coat thoroughly with the mixture. Cover the apples and cook over medium heat for 7 minutes.
Add brown sugar. Turn heat down to medium-low and cook uncovered until the juice thickens and the apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in cinnamon.


Mulled Wine- from Bon Appetit

Sadly, the cinnamon rolls are directly from store bought dough, because we kept trying to purchase them at Bakery Nouveau, however it was going to take 2 and a half hours for them to be made.  They were still quite delicious!

 

Roasted Tomato Soup with Goat Cheese Croutons

This past weekend, my lovely friend Allison came over to help make some roasted tomato soup. She has become a regular in my photo adventures, which is great since she has so much baking experience, and is just so fun to hang out with.  Here is her baking blog, which she recently started with another pal, Liz, you can visit it here at Pie Drunk.

We had decided we were going to make something savory, and I wanted to try out this soup from the What Katie Ate cookbook.  If you don't know of Katie Quinn Davies, she's an amazing food photographer,  and you should definitely check out her blog What Katie Ate.

Here is a link to the recipe Colm's Tomato Soup.  This recipe omits using the croutons on top, which are definitely worth it.  (It also omits putting the soup in a food processor or blender once you are finished, so I would suggest that as well) To make the croutons, you need to slice a baguette and briefly toast the slices in the broiler. Once toasted, spread goat cheese over the top of the croutons and put back in the broiler, and once the cheese is melted remove. Top the soup with a crouton, and then several sprigs of thyme. Delicious.  You can also top with a little bit of cream too, if feeling extra decadent. 

As far as what I have been up to, well I shot for a few magazines last week and just trying to (finally) get over being sick.  I am working on some smaller projects the next few months, and had a really fun day of shooting yesterday (blog post on that next week).  I got to hike Rattlesnake Ridge today and I'm feeling really lucky to have spent the day out in nature with friends and get away from the bustle of city life, even if just for the day.

Enjoy!

Amy