Coffee & Treats for Fall

As I am writing this, it is raining, there is thunder, I have candles lit. I am excited for fall, and the winding down of summer.  I love summer, but it is so busy. I am looking forward to fall, and its coziness, pumpkin patches, soups, pies, Halloween (!!), rain boots, sweaters, etc.

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of working with the talented Rachel Grunig, a food and prop stylist based in Seattle.  Both of us had decided we wanted to go with a more moody setting, since fall is on its way, with coffee and pastries the central theme.  Since most of my photography is light and airy I really wanted and opportunity to do something a little more dark, and of course, it's not even that dark...ha ha.

It was unbelievably nice to work with a stylist.  After so many shoots of coordinating the food, and props, and shot list, I was so happy when Rachel showed up with the pastries, flowers, coffee and a plan.  It was amazing!  I couldn't believe all the shots we got in a little under 4 hours. It was a pleasure to work with her, and I hope to be able to work with her again.  Her styling and choices of props really helped create the perfect mood.   Here is a link to her website www.rachelgrunig.com

The cookies & macarons were purchased at Bakery Nouveau  and the bundt cake recipe was from Smitten Kitchen.  Except Rachel used mini bundt pans, and added ginger and cinnamon to the cake.

As far as what has been going on with me lately, well I am very much looking forward to going to visit my brother, sister in-law and niece this week in Phoenix.  One last summer trip, and I can't wait to spend some time with them.  I also just finished with a few magazine shoots, which will come out the next few months.  I will be sure to post them as they are published.  And it was my birthday just a few weeks ago. I didn't feel like doing anything elaborate this year, so I celebrated in a kind of quiet way, having a few dinners with close friends, but we did go a on a small canoeing trip around the arboretum... which was really fun and funny, since my friends are hysterical.  I was happy to be able to do one last group summer activity with some very old friends.

Enjoy the photos!

Basil Mojitos & Lamb with Salmoriglio

I had been wanting to do a shoot and use my sister's grill for a while, because I felt like I was missing some more savory dishes, and meat as well, in my portfolio, so we set up a date (much like the dinner party shoot) and I got to work.  Originally I wanted to shoot a grilled beet salad too but I was loosing steam.  I also feel like I had a bit of a mojito image failure... Lately I have been wanting to keep shooting, and keep up the momentum of shooting that we had in school, but at the same time, it's been such a beautiful summer here in Seattle, that all I have been wanting to go outside, and stay there as much as possible. It has been the nicest summer here in years, with few rainy days.

I had a trip to beautiful Whidbey Island today to visit friends, and next weekend I will be going to be traveling to visit my family near Harstine Island, and see my little niece and brother and sister in-law for my dad's birthday.  I couldn't be more excited! And the following weekend I will be going to Portland for a day or two.  Nothing seems nicer when the weather is nice around here than to get outside or go on a little day trip.  The only things left (for the last month of summer) for me to do are go camping and catch an outdoor movie, and maybe some canoeing or kayaking...

I have been doing yoga in the park, hosted by Samarya Center on the weekends, running, swimming, seeing concerts at the amphitheater, hiking, cooking, visiting.  Oh, and shooting and working or shooting as work (My second magazine shoot will be out this week!, with a 3rd to come out in October). Woohoo!! Friends who have moved away have been in town, and I have gotten time to visit with near and dear old friends.  It just really seems has seemed like a time to reconnect with people and get back into the normal flow of it all.  Which I have really needed to do after school finished.  I think I can say after 2 months, I finally feel normal again. :)

Anyway, back to the post...

Here are the recipes and photos!  I have to say the lamb and salmorirlio sauce tasted great, and what could be more refreshing than a basil mojito during summer? For non-alcoholic, like I had, simply omit the rum.

Enjoy! 

Basil Mojitos from Sunset Magazine

Grilled Lamb with Salmoriglio

 

Garden Dinner Party

I have been wanting to do a photo shoot that would help me incorporate more of the human element into food photography, people, hands, etc.  A few classmates of mine had done dinner party shoots while they were at Port Townsend, which looked beautiful, so I thought I would try my hand at it as well.  This was also coupled with some suggestions by people in the industry wanting to see more lifestyle type of shoots from me as well.  So a few months ago I arranged a date with my sister so we could shoot it at her and her husband's beautiful home. Rob, my brother in-law, is an architect and designed this house, including the lovely backyard patio.

I invited several of my friends and planned a menu of 5 courses, to include a tomato tart, salmon (originally trout), peach, pistachio, and arugula salad, corn, and  a peach cake, preceded by a cheese and bread platter.  At about 2pm that day, after getting all my props together and shopped for earlier that morning, I really wanted to call it quits!  And the thoughts that ran through my head were why on earth I wanted to shoot this, and how could I get out of it, maybe I could just call and cancel the whole thing.  Ha ha, realizing that 1 assistant may not have been enough to coordinate the whole thing (who was also my lovely sister who had agreed to help with the cooking).  Typically if you were to do a photo shoot like this, you would have about 5 people on set helping to make everything look great. I would totally do it again, but next time get a one or two more assistants! Pretty typical of me to think I could do the whole thing nearly by myself. :)

I did not call it quits though, deciding to power through, and it turned out really pretty and the food was great! My friends Mel, Kate, Allison, Liz, along with my sister Nicole, and brother in-law Rob, who were gracious enough to open their home for the shoot, were fantastic participants and helping out where needed, setting things up. And I hope they had a great time. Thank you Liz too for agreeing to come last minute!

Here are links to the recipes:

Tomato Tart - What Katie Ate

Peach & Arugula Salad

BBQ Corn

Apple Cake-Nicole Franzen
(I substituted peaches for apples, since I don't like apples ;)) This was so good!! Thank you Allison for suggesting it, as an easy cake even a non baker can do.

I totally winged the Salmon, because that was a last minute decision, rather than going with my originally planned trout.  So I just seasoned it, and placed in a cast iron skillet on the grill, with fresh marjoram, and thyme.  Then Kate had the brilliant idea of tossing the remaining roasted tomatoes from the tart over the top.


Enjoy!

 

 

 

Orecchiette with Roast Tomatoes

I have been planning on doing a blog shoot with my friend Allison for a while now, since months before school ended.  She has a background in baking, and a love of food, and food blogs as well, so it was bound to be really fun. I really wanted to do something that was a bit more savory, or was more of a finished dish, so after a few weeks of looking we decided to do a pasta or lasagna.  I also been wanting to do a few more things out of the What Katie Ate cookbook, so we made the Orecchiette with roasted tomatoes, English peas, pancetta and a pecorino cream sauce.

I loaded up all my (5 bags) of props and brought them over to her place where, unlike my apartment, she has a great kitchen to cook in.  It was great to have an extra hand, and someone maybe a little more experienced with cooking processes, than myself. :)  I love to cook but by no means have any professional training in the area.

I just want to say, not only was it easy as a recipe, and beautiful looking, with a vegetarian option (we served the pancetta just on mine), but it was also amazing tasting.  Both Allison and I started saying, "Well it looks really pretty, I wonder how it tastes..."  Both our eyes lit up as we tasted the first bite.  Seriously, make this to impress your friends.  Looking forward to another cooking adventure with Allison, next time I hope to do a dessert. 

In other news, I'm happy to report I recently shot the cover of Sip northwest, which comes out I'm Friday! It was really fun, it featured a beer mug made from glass, and we shot it at the pool at the Four Seasons downtown Seattle.  I am very excited about this, and other projects coming up in the works.

Enjoy! 

 

Recipe

Serves 6-8
250g small vine-ripened tomatoes
Olive oil, for cooking
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Handful basil leaves, half roughly torn
Handful oregano leaves, roughly chopped
240g frozen baby peas
600g orecchiette pasta
350g speck or pancetta, cut into small chunks
750ml cream
200g pecorino, grated
100g pine nuts, roasted (optional)
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Crusty bread, to serve 


Directions
Preheat your oven to 400.

In a shallow baking pan, toss the tomatoes, some olive oil, salt, pepper and a handful of torn basil and oregano leaves. Roast for about 15 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the peas for 3-4 minutes. Drain.

In a pot of boiling water, cook your pasta until al dente. Drain and then return to the pan and add in some olive oil and cover to keep warm.

While your pasta is cooking, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook the pancetta until crispy.  Pour in the cream and stir to coat. Add the Pecorino Cheese, a little bit of salt and a bunch of freshly ground black pepper. (Be careful to not over salt) Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 10-12 minutes until the sauce is reduced a bit. Now add the Orrechiette and Peas to the sauce.

Transfer the pasta to your serving dish. Add your roasted tomatoes on top, and some more of the torn basil and oregano and a little more Pecorino grated, feel free to top off with some toasted pine nuts if you choose. Serve with some  crusty bread. 

LALA

Well, I graduated!!!  So this is the first post graduate post I have done since I have been officially done with school.  It was crazy busy right up until the very last day of graduation.  For my graduation present to myself I took a trip to LA, Disneyland, Venice Beach & Santa Monica with my sister.  It was amazing!  I am finally feeling a bit well rested and recharged.  I have to apologize though I have no pictures from LA proper because I had such an early flight, that I couldn't sleep at all the night before.  At all.  I was pretty out of it that day... :)

We did however get to go visit some old friends of ours, have lunch in LA, and drive around West Hollywood, Silver Lake, Downtown, Griffith Park, Beverly Hills and Bell Air.  It was amazing! I think my favorite part was driving through Bel Air and see the jaw dropping houses, the sizes of Seattle City blocks.  It reminded me of the North Shore in Chicago, the only other place where I have seen houses like that before. 

The next few days we spent at Disneyland, which my sister Nicole likes to call our "power Disneyland" trip.  We spent 16 hours a day, for the next few days venturing between California Adventure and Disneyland.  Some of my oldest and best friends happened to be there those two days too.  It really was fun. We totally had it down, and never waited in line for more than 30 minutes... I think we did every ride we wanted to do at least 2 or 3 times.  I would highly recommend Tower of Terror, (my favorite!) and highly NOT recommend Soarin' over California, which is a simulated hang glider ride.  The very last thing I want to do is be suspended in the air for 5 minutes, with my feet dangling, in front of an IMAX screen, as it turns out.

After Disneyland, we got to really relax. We spent time at the pool, and then drove to Santa Monica and Venice, where we stayed at the Cadillac hotel. It was very cute, and reasonably priced for right on the beach. Our brother works a few times a month in Santa Monica, so he was able to fly out from Phoenix to meet us that day.  It was fun! We were able to have lunch right on the Santa Monica Pier, and keep our ride momentum going by riding the roller coaster that they have there. We also got to see some soccer freestylers in the middle of 3rd Street Promenade. So cool!  It was like soccer break dance. I definitely want to go back, and stay probably longer in Venice, and spend a bit more time in LA too!

I kept having this song stuck in my head the whole time... haha (no offense to California Girls)

The day after I got back, I was able to do my first magazine shoot too, which I am very excited about.   Details to come! :) 

California Girls - The Magnetic Fields

Enjoy!

 

    

 

 

 

 

Port Townsend Part 2

I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since the trip out to Port Townsend.  My apartment is finally back together, thank you long weekend, and I am currently uploading files right now to the nice folks who let me photograph at their locations.  I was able to photograph at 2 farms and 2 restaurants while I was up there, besides shooting at the cabins I was staying at.  Below are photographs from Finn River Farm & Cidery, Colinwood Farms, Fins Coastal, and Ajax Cafe.  Everyone was so hospitable I can't wait to go back on a vacation! Actually I can't wait for a vacation in general. :)

There are only 3 weeks left of school before the portfolio show on June 12th & 13th and I only have a few things left I'm working on, as far as individual projects, printing up images for my portfolio book and attempting to letterpress my business cards for the 2nd time (oops).  I didn't quite do it right the first time... You would think that setting it up straight would have been intuitive, but my lack of sleep last week prevented me from realizing that.  We also have several more portfolio reviews, class trips, award announcements, and then the portfolio show itself.

Then after the portfolio show, I am going on a California vacation with my sister.  I can't wait.  A few days at the beaches and a few days at Disneyland, it can't be more aptly timed.  Also there are some LA restaurants I'm dying to try out. I can't wait to just eat a lot, and hang out on the beach, phew! Not sure what could be nicer after two full years of hard work. :)

 For more information about the SCCA Portfolio show, please visit here. http://www.sccaportfolioshow.com

Enjoy!