Delicious Musings

Food Photography: Digital Photography at IFBC

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:46:32 +0000

One of the best hours of the conference belonged to Penny De Los Santos, an award-winning documentary photographer who has spent the past several years documenting food culture around the world. Her session “Point of Departure” on food photography was inspirational. In addition to giving a lesson on camera angles, lighting (she prefers natural light), and editing she asked us to communicate, contribute, and challenge ourselves. She asked us to do the extra work to find the light and show a sense of place, to make a picture that is a gift. She stressed using our instincts and to shoot for ourselves. To match our insatiable appetites for delicous food with a curiosity that drives us to stop taking pictures and start making pictures. To be inspired, lead with our hearts, be open and realize we have the chance to tell a story.

Penny is a senior contributing photographer for Saveur Magazine, following are a couple of the cover images of hers I recognized as favorites of mine:

Photo used with permission by Penny De Los Santos, copyright Penny De Los Santos 2010

Top Pot Doughnuts

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:20:54 +0000

Because they make me so happy….! We have here a Chocolate Old Fashioned, a Feather Boa, and a Maple Bar. It would have been wrong to have not tried (devoured?) all three. This was breakfast at a food blogger conference after all and we would never want doughnuts to go to waste. Yes, fresh fruit was available, but I was being the good samaritan and eating doughnuts so fruit lovers could have their fruit. Oh and how could you just have one - obviously I had to have a chocolate one, the pink one was so pretty…and that name, as for the bar well I’m a sucker for those. Let’s face it I’m obsessed with sweets so there was no way I was going to worry about calories and take a look at all the boxes believe me everyone got their share.

IFBC Coverage

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:53:42 +0000

It feels natural to be return to posting, but also a tad intimidating. I am back in Maine thinking about all those engaging sessions, gifted speakers, and super fun (I know the term “super fun” sounds childish, but it fits believe me) bloggers I met last weekend at the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC). The event was my first foray into the offline blogosphere.

A few of the people I met there are professional writers who have been published, but most of my blogger kinship are individuals like me who found blogging to be a place to voice authentic thoughts online. I am an amateur at writing and photography and this blog is a place where I can share places I love to visit, post recipes others have developed and I’ve tried and enjoyed… this is where I write about my musings. My personal space where you dear readers can visit as much or as little as you like. Of course, I am hoping for the former! This space continues to be a way for me to meet interesting people in other cities such as Los Angeles based Nathan of thechocolate0fmeats.com who graciously shared his knowledge of food trucks with me and Jen of userealbutter.com, who gave up programming for NASA to ski the Colorado Rockies and bake up a storm. *Note to Jen I’ll be baking that Caramel Cake odyssey you posted about some time back.

Before moving on to the photography seminar, food truck lunch, and oh yes goody bag I want to share a couple of uplifting resources I was introduced to at the conference.

Farmers Colin McCrate and Brad Halm, otherwise known as the Seattle Urban Farm Company, could well be your answer to sustainable food sourcing if you live in Seattle. McCrate and Halm will help design and install a ready-to-go organic vegetable garden for your backyard, and plan out a multi-year garden strategy including maintaining healthy soil and irrigation. After an initial garden installation, they will provide weekly maintenance and if you choose even harvest a weekly supply of fresh produce and flowers for you and your family!! Along the way, while tending to your garden, they will share their knowledge of organic growing with you.

Readers to Eaters is a Seattle based bookseller and publisher with a mission to promote food literacy from the ground up, so children and families can become active participants in their local food culture. They retail and publish books about food, and develop programs and events about our food system by partnering with farmers, gardeners, chefs, teachers, librarians, parents, organizations and communities. I am happy to report I supported them by purchasing a few books at their conference booth. Amy Penington’s Urban Pantry: Tips & Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable & Seasonal Kitchen is one I’ll be toting with me next weekend to share with my tomato canning companions.

IFBC Lunch

admin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 00:12:30 +0000

Lunch as provided by the IFBC…what I sampled

Chef John Howie, Seastar Restaurant, John Howie Steak, Sport Restaurant and Bar
Salmon Carpaccio
Suggested Wine Pairing: L’Ecole No. 41 2008 Semillon-Columbia Valley & 2007 Syrah-Columbia Valley

Chef Shannon Galusha, Bastille
Marinated Octopus with Chickpeas and Preserved Lemon (others enjoyed with Chorizo Vinaigrette)
*This was my favorite dish, I had two helpings! Attractive in an artistic way, the octopus was large enough to be a tiny offensive - as in do I want to close my eyes or am I brave enough to take a big bite - I chose the latter and found it deliciously flavorful and perfectly chewy. A tad bit salty, and I mean that in the best way.
Suggested Wine Pairing: Skylite Cellars 2008 Sierra (73% Pinot Gris & 27% Sauvignon Blanc)

Chef Jason Stratton, Spinasse
Zucchini in Capione with Fennel and Apricot
Suggested Wine Pairing: 2009 Carderetta SBS 79% Sauvignon Blanc, 21% Semillon

Middle photo Lemon Basil.

Blogging in Seattle

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 23:55:36 +0000

After making my way through Logan (is it me or has security gotten a lot more efficient) to the “secure area” I landed a prime people watching seat at Lucky’s and ordered up a dirty martini and fries. Next NewsLink for trashy reading. Come on, I’m flying. Though I also carried a copy of New York Magazine (I subscribe) and Dave Eggers Zeitoun should I have opted for something more elevated.

Having been on an uneventful, but loooooong flight I was very happy to get into my room at the Hotel Monaco. Once in, bags down, I found my aquatic buddy for the weekend Albert. He seems a lovely little goldfish, full of energy and with none of the pretentiousness of one of those James Bond-like aquariums I read about last week in the Times.

The first day of the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) was in “culinary high gear’ featuring the likes of Dianne Jacob and Kristine Kidd leading the informative workshop “The Art of Recipe Writing and Kathleen Flinn orchestrating the learning and hilarious seminar “Writing With All Five Senses.”

Every manner of recording device emerged from bags and pocketbooks onto the rows of tables lined up close together in a room of the Theo Chocolate factory. IPADS, IPhones (from what I could observe these were used primarily for Twittering, something I learned today some food bloggers are “aggressive” about), Blackberrys (presumably also for Twittering), laptops, digital cameras, applicable cables, and on occasion (such as with myself) a notebook and pen for taking copious notes.

As a young blogger (less than 18 months) I continue to find I have a lot to learn about how to improve Delicious Musings. My voice, style, how I utilize links, and overall experience one has reading this blog. I will be incorporating some of the practical advice I learned today in posts featuring recipes (look for more cultural or historical information in the headnotes and nutritional data when appropriate) and to dig deeper into the experience of a dish utilizing more verbs to describe its smell, texture, and sound.

West Coast Bound

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:52:29 +0000

Tomorrow I fly to Seattle, where I expect to meet a lot of interesting people (some of whom have blogs I have begun to follow and really enjoy), eat and drink (and write all about it), see friends, and spend a little more time in a city I’ve only had the briefest of relationships with in the past year.

One day I would like to roadtrip to and throughout the Northwest by back road and highway. It is the best way to see the country, conversing with oddball strangers (because those are the most memorable), having deep conversations with my traveling partner(s), eating good and really bad food, and checking out for a few weeks.

Photo by Grant Harder.

Apple Juice and Chocolate

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:34:53 +0000

I did not mean to take the last couple days off from blogging, but it has been some week and tomorrow I fly to Seattle for a blogging conference (or okay to eat and hang out with a few super cool people) and then to Los Angeles. So excited to tell you about a couple of things I will be doing in Los Angeles (involve cameras and water, maybe concrete), but those will have to wait till I am back. See, I promised myself to stay away from the computer as much as possible next week and want a few gems to relive by writing upon my return. Pretty sure that will be my first almost whole week off from blogging. Almost, because I will be blogging about Seattle’s food trucks and the conference seminars Sunday. At least that is what I am supposed to do, but who knows what will happen with so many good excuses surrounding me.

Without further ado, to the topic of this post. I consider myself a researcher and seeing as how I will be touring Theo Chocolate in Seattle took it upon myself to sample some of their chocolate in advance. I mean we would not want me showing up without being knowledgeable about the product right!? We are talking about chocolate! Taking these chocolate things seriously as I do I recruited a taste tester in my friend Eli, a proud new papa who not that long ago established a fermentation center in Portland. We sat down in the Ferm (what we locals call the fermentation center) at a table made from leftover wood. Eli supplied apple juice from freshly picked apples, some of which will go into making apple cider (to be sold at the Ferm). There were large glass jugs of it in the fridge. I took a photo, but it did not do the sight justice. That apple juice might be just about the best apple juice I’ve ever had. Not normally a big apple juice person, it really has to be fresh for me to like it. This was delicious.

Eli pronounced both the 74% Organic Dark Chocolate and 70 % Dark Chocolate tasty. My preference is for the former with its “big” chocolate flavor. I look forward to sampling the Orange, Mint, and Spicy Chile in Seattle. Expect a full chocolate report in a few days.

Happy Birthday Crumb

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:32:13 +0000

Cult artist/illustrator/underground cartoonist Robert Crumb will be 67 next Monday. Since I will be traveling that day it did not seem all that wrong to post this tribute now. Crumb and his work have been described as no less than twisted, disgusting, heroic, transformative, monstrous, sexist, misogynistic, anti-establishment, misanthropic, socially autistic, genius, and visionary. There is no question he is offbeat and his work frank. I am not an art critic or a comic book collector, I was not alive to enjoy the reign of Creem, but ever since a friend introduced me to Crumb’s work I have been drawn to it in a “this is fascinatingly disturbing and brilliant” way. His outrageous characters (whether you love them or hate them they are that) are bold and uncensored. Some seem like they fell off of a drug induced trip that sputtered down a back alley far too long before a disturbing end. He is the visual partner to Bukowski and Kerouac’s mad road trips to hell and not all the way back.

Art Rush

admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:41:06 +0000

Anyone who spends time in Portland, Maine and does not drop by Corduroy Boutique & Gallery is missing out. The unpretentious shop makes you feel like you are in someone’s house (who has a rad collection of tee shirts and surfboards), while also also representing the primary center for the area’s surfing and to a degree skateboarding culture. Sure it has a laid-back vibe, but do not think for a minute the owners are not serious about the art exhibits they sponsor in their upstairs gallery. The one-room space currently features the contemporary sculpture collection”Vessel” by Silas Finch. During September the gallery will feature the print show “Editions of Ten” and in October a sculpture exhibit by Nate Deyesso.

“Time of Arrival” by Silas Finch, photographs provided by Corduroy.

Have a fun weekend

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:35:43 +0000

Photo by Anna Markek.