Food & Wine, The Local Butcher Shop & Playdates

Goodness has it really been more than a month since my last post? Sorry about that, time really does fly when your schedule is packed with assignments, playdates and the joys (read: soul-sucking) tasks that come with running a business. Book-keeping anyone? I’m happy to pay you in cookies, donuts, or if you prefer, some Nutella?

That’s not to say that I haven’t been writing or photographing at all. On the contrary, many projects have been underway, lots of ideas are being shared, tested and executed, and I wanted to share some images from recent projects.

Food & Wine

Towards the end of last year, Food & Wine approached me (and a few other bloggers, as you will see), with a project to style and shoot a host of recipes for their site. It was a tremendous amount of fun, especially as this all had to be done before we left for our holidays. With a whole lot of food in store and only the two of us to finish them all, it was the perfect opportunity (and season!) to host a series of dinner parties with our friends to spread the love. In addition to the dishes listed above, we had some seriously delicious Turkey Burgers, comforting Roasted Vegetables with Fresh Herbs and light, sweet endings with Strawberry, Lemon and Vanilla Parfaits. The recipes were easy to make, 110 percent accurate and, most importantly, really really tasty.

Etsy

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but I’m a regular contributor to the Etsy blog now, profiling local artisan and farmer stories for them twice a month. One of the more enjoyable profiles I did recently involved spending a morning at Berkeley’s The Local Butcher Shop where I had the immense privilege to chat with butcher Bill McCann. Unassuming, with an endless supply of “five minutes” to stop and chat, he’s been in the industry long enough to see it come full circle with the renaissance of butcher shops around the country. His biography is lengthier than most, peppered with his observations about the social and economic changes America underwent in the 60s and 70s, but absolutely worth a read.

This – along with a bunch of travel in late-2011 – partly explains the shortage of farmer stories you’re reading here; between Etsy and the hustle of freelance work, there isn’t much time left for scouting and blogging about lesser-known farmer stories, unfortunately. Still, this is something I plan to remedy in the coming months, particularly when blogging stories overlap with paid work.

Playdates

Ok, so this is hardly food-related, but who can resist including images of adorable little tykes?? A couple of friends organized a playdate between two sisters – LR (2.5 years old) and ZB (six months) – and A, a one-year-old visiting from Colorado, so I brought my camera along to see what I could capture of the afternoon. Apart from showing me how old I really am, I left with a renewed respect for those photographers who make a living out of family/child portraits. These kids have boundless energy, you’ve got to keep up and stay two steps ahead!

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Be back soon with a Spring recipe – in the meantime, if you’re struggling with the switch to Daylight Saving (like I am), please share your tips and tricks for overcoming the nasty jolt to your circadian rhythms. It’s been three days and I still feel jet-lagged!