The Dempsey Wardwell Wedding

I had a wonderful time capturing the special moments of Shavonne and Ben's wedding day, and wish them the best of luck and love for many years to come!

Steeplechase Old English Toffee

Last week I was honored to be one of the few that have been invited to catch a glimpse of the inner workings of Steeplechase Olde English Toffee in downtown Waynesville, NC. I spent two days photographing the process of the toffee being crafted, and then photographing the finished deliciousness, all the while cloaked in the heady scent of chocolate, butter, sugar, and other fine ingredients. The thick slabs of toffee stacked on plates on the second day were a spectacular sight to behold, begging to be devoured! If you haven't yet visited Steeplechase Olde English Toffee, run, don't walk. I am told that on mornings when the fog is hanging low and toffee is being made, the scent of this time honored family recipe fills the air in the valley and it becomes an involuntary action of passersby to stop in their tracks and file in. Who could resist? The shop is located at 235 Pigeon Street, and you may find them on facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SteeplechaseToffeecom/153525426515.

Click to see more photographs from my time at Steeplechase Old English Toffee:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/externalfocus/sets/72157629735065003/

What's Cooking?

Here are some of the things that have been going on in my kitchen lately!

Next week I'll be photographing all things toffee with Steeplechase Toffee in downtown Waynesville, NC, and am very much looking forward to it! Barb and Michelle have graciously allowed me the opportunity to not only photograph their wonderful products, but to get some behind the scenes in the kitchen, as well! Fair warning, though: you won't be getting any insider recipe secrets from me - you'll have to go straight to the source and taste for yourself!

Double Cherry Walnut Brownie

Yum. I mean, seriously: yum. I made these brownies last week, deciding to spruce up a box mix I had laying around. I really enjoy taking food that anyone can get their hands on at a fair price, and making it into something really special. I added in chopped walnuts, dehydrated cherries, and then topped it off with cherry pie filling, which sent it so over the top that my teeth hurt just look at it. Ohboy was it good. I think a lot of people see food as some sort of chore that they have to "get through," or worse, opting to pick up something from a burger joint [if those things even really qualify as burgers] because they don't want to make the time to cook, and it doesn't have to be that way! Your food is only as special as you make it, and you should have confidence in yourself that you can do a good job. Hey, sometimes it doesn't go well; I recall attempting to make a peanut chicken that came out so horribly that I made jokes about it for weeks. It was not edible, and we ended up ordering pizza or something. It happens! But don't give up.

I started getting involved with food at a really young age; I remember baking cookies from scratch when I was maybe 7 or 8 and home alone, and my mom coming home and absolutely freaking out that I could have burnt the house down or wounded myself. For about 5 minutes I don't think she believed I'd actually made perfect Russian Tea Cakes right out of the gate, but I showed her the recipe and the utensils I'd used, and of course the smell of fresh baked cookies was pretty undeniable. It was a simple recipe, and as easy as following the directions. Anyway, the point is, I have always approached food in a very fearless spirit of experimenting and adapting recipes to suit my own tastes and according to what I happen to have on hand. I am never going to be a chef, and that's okay too; you don't have to be one to enjoy cooking and playing in the kitchen. I think a lot of people don't see it in that way, and therefore it becomes the mundane same-menu-every-week kind of affair that would bore anyone.

This year I have also decided that I am going to be trying a lot of foods that I don't have experience with. I began with conquering a childhood aversion to brussels sprouts which have become my new favorite vegetable, I steamed and attempted to eat my first artichoke even though it didn't go very well at all, I have some fennel in the fridge which is going to make a lovely fennel and blood orange salad, and then I am going to try mint in a non-dessert food. After that, who knows? I have raised my children in this same spirit and they are wonderfully open to trying whatever is put in front of them. My 9 year old daughter's favorite tv station is Food Network, so perhaps she will become the chef of our family!

Play with your food!

Leftovers!

One of my very favorite things about cooking a big meal is ... leftovers! It's probably not coincidental that some food just tastes better the second day, because not only do the flavors really get to meld together, but there's very little work involved! I decided on Reubens for our leftovers, and throw my own little twists into it. I like mine with smoked gouda, a leaf of red cabbage, a layer of sauerkraut, the ever necessary corned beef, and a bit of Dijon or course brown mustard. Throw it all together on some rye and pumpernickel and either grill it on a panini press, or have it cold. I had mine as a late lunch and decided to have the leftover brussels sprouts, baked potato salad, and par-boiled carrots, celery, and onion. I'm all set for lunch *and* dinner, and ready to go hang out with a glass of wine and a good movie!

lemon sugar cookies

Well I can't seem to stop playing with the color yellow, and lemons in particular, this month! I made these ridiculously delicious cookies yesterday; I'm usually more of an oatmeal + chocolate chip kind of gal, but I think I have underestimated the versatility of the simple sugar cookie. They were a hit with the family, and I am looking forward to creating other flavors with them in the kitchen!

Also, over the last weekend I switched over my photography facebook page from my old site to the new. The url still says External Focus Photography, but I just thought it made more sense to change the page rather than make an entirely new one and expect everyone to make the change with me. The url is a little strange, so I may end up making a new page eventually; I haven't decided yet. For now, you can find the page on the sidebar on the right, or by clicking this link:

http://www.facebook.com/ExternalFocusPhotography

Stadium

I did this conceptual food piece today; signing up my youngest son for soccer put me in the sports frame of mind, and then my husband happened to want some bratwurst and sauerkraut for dinner, so it was a perfect opportunity.

Baseball. The green background represents the grass in the outfield; the white plate represents the infield diamond; the food represents the bases, and then the white cloth off to the side would be the stadium seating and audience. Is it too far fetched? I don't know. Sometimes my brain goes on these little jaunts and I'm just along for the ride, however unwilling I may or may not be!

Pizza: The Hawaiian Sink

There are relatively few meals that I can think of that you can add almost anything into the ingredients list and it will still taste like a slice of perfection. Pizza is one such bearer of deliciousness. I call this pizza The Hawaiian Sink because you put on some pineapple, and then throw everything else at it, including the kitchen sink! The ingredients could be anything, really; I had intended to fry up some spicy crumbled sausage and put on some shredded ham, as well, but dinner was relatively late in happening last night and this photo was on the elaborate end of the scale. Turns out that the pepperoncini stood in just fine for the spice and salt factor. Of course, any pizza could be made entirely vegetarian, too, and still satisfy this meat lover! What are some of your favorite pizza ingredients?

Mellow Yellow

I think I've been a little in love with the color yellow this past week! The weather has been miserable here, starting with gorgeous 70 degree sunshiny warmth, a day of tornado warnings, and now snow. Yellow has kept me happy, though; it's sunshine and daffodils and egg yolks and lemons and the ubiquitous color of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" smiley faces across all languages. I love that we naturally make these kinds of associations with colors or smells or objects and can be instantly transported to another point in time.

Ghosts

“So do we pass the ghosts that haunt us later in our lives; they sit undramatically by the roadside like poor beggars, and we see them only from the corners of our eyes, if we see them at all. The idea that they have been waiting there for us rarely crosses our minds. Yet they do wait, and when we have passed, they gather up their bundles of memory and fall in behind, treading in our footsteps and catching up, little by little.”

- Stephen King, DARK TOWER

I learned a valuable lesson today. Don't straighten your dry hair and then cut it; you will then need to locate the nearest paper bag to breathe into as you stave off hysterics after you have washed your hair and it inevitably goes into riotous curly revolt, and is thus, much shorter than anticipated. Better yet, probably better to not cut your own hair to begin with. Maybe. Certainly, if you haven't been trained at all. [I have, actually, and it's still a colossally stupid idea.]

Ooops!

Baked Fuji Apple

I think Fuji apples are the prettiest! Striped, mottled, crispy, sweet perfection; this morning as the sun finally crested the mountains, I stood with camera in hand, photographing as golden light streamed onto golden skin. Once again I paired the fresh against a background of well-used [clean!] kitchenware; I really haven't figured out entirely why this combination trips my happy trigger -- I think it appeals to a deeper symbolism. Fuji apples have such great character that it's difficult to make an uninteresting photo of them, but I think you have to keep it simple or else be visually overwhelmed. This morning everything came together in a way that reminded me of standing in a grandmother's kitchen as a youngster, watching as the apples were being prepared for baking; the perspective felt right, and I went with it.

Recipes for happiness.

Someone asked me the other day: "I notice that you commonly take the shot from directly above the food. Do you think this is the secret to creating the abstract, graphic quality of your images?" I thought it was a great question because not only did it parrot back to me what my intentions were and that I was hitting the mark, but really solidified my vision for me. There definitely are certain things that I want in my photos, an interesting angle is just one of the facets. Color, shape, and texture are integral to my style, as is my choice of lighting. I want bold, in your face images that make you want to go out immediately and pick up the product I've just shown you! I make images that elevate the ordinary into the decadent; that tell the story of food, whether it's your bowl of tomato soup and crackers, or your afternoon cup of tea.



Here again, color, shape, texture, even with a little different lighting and different angle. Can you smell the jasmine as you patiently wait for the green tea to turn the water ever darker? I love the shape of this little glass, even with it's scratches, and I think putting it in this gorgeous light while surrounded with some sort of grubby looking textures makes this photo exactly what I expect of all of my photos: simple, graphic, decadent. I take my inspiration from many, many different sources - other photographers, music, drawings, movies, and plenty of abstract ideas, as well. Most of all, I just listen for that little whisper that instinct has to offer; what story do you want to tell today?

Harvest

Some days are just born bad, and there's not much you can do but muddle through and try to keep sane. Staying occupied with something halfway pleasant tends to help, if you have the option. Today was one of those, and I plugged in my mp3 player with some of my favorite music and went out to attack the garden. Barefoot, still pajama clad, wielding a pair of scissors, I set upon the sage. Thankfully there are no neighbors close by.



After cutting the sage down to size, I took thyme to task as the crisp, peppery smell of the leaves met my nose. The chives were mown down within an inch of their lives. Basil leaves and oregano leaves, just starting to show their pretty little flowers, were snipped off at random and without mercy. I ran my hands through the sticky, piney scent of rosemary and inhaled deeply before chopping off limbs that dared stray past the confines of the container. Mint met its match, or so I will let myself believe. Just for today. I gathered the blueberries and blackberries that the babes and the bugs left for me, as the sun hid and the clouds began to weep.



Some days are just born bad. But not for me; not today. Nope, today has been tasty. :)