Category Archives: food

Paleo Food Photography: Bacon Wrapped Dates & Goat Cheese

These little buddies are magical. Just make them paleo food eater or not. They are the perfect combination of sweet, salty, tangy and bacon. Make them for yourself at home (they taste delicious even cold), or prepare them for a party. Although I don’t know how to share something this delicious. It’s difficult, but some of you are more generous than I. You could also make this dairy free by stuffing the dates with an almond or something else, but I recommend the goat cheese if you would prefer to reach nirvana.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees WITH THE BROILER PAN IN IT. That way, when you put the bacon on the hot pan, it’s less likely to stick and pull your precious bacon away with it.

Count your dates.

Cut your bacon in half. (I had ginormous dates, so I did full pieces of bacon for the pictures.) Now, you either have more pieces of dates or bacon. Whichever one you have less of, that’s how many you can make. I am assuming here that you have about eighteen pieces of bacon after cutting them in half. One of the small goat cheeses should do you, but you should always buy the larger one because GOAT CHEESE.

Soak eighteen plus extra toothpicks in a little bowl of water (a couple extra in case any of your toothpicks are janky and break)

Prep those dates-they may have pits if you didn’t pay attention and buy the de-pitted kind. Take the pits out, remove any stems, and use a knife to slice them open from top to bottom.

Then, shove some goat cheese inside with a butter knife. Put in as much as you want. It’s okay if it shows out the side. Stuff them all before wrapping them in bacon. (Trust me, it’s easier and reduces the risk of cross contamination.

(At this point, you could eat these or bring these to a vegetarian party. Or serve up extra dates and goat cheese while waiting for the bacon ones.)

Then, wrap each one with bacon and secure with a toothpick. Do them all, and by this time, the oven and pan should be ready!

Place them all onto the broiler pan (they should sizzle! Be careful!) Give them a little room-no touching! Put them into the oven and turn them once after about 10-15 minutes. They should be done after 20-25 minutes, BUT IT DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF YOURS! And also your bacon crispy preference. The dates and goat cheese do not need to cook, so the only thing you have to worry about is the bacon.

Enjoy!

paleo food photography: The Perfect Paleo Pancake

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I read a lot of blogs about paleo/primal/caveman/whatever-you-want-to-call-it eating. THERE ARE SO MANY. One of my very favorites is The Paleo Mom. She’s someone who came to paleo eating because of a lot of health issues. Her writing comes with a scientific perspective; she has a PhD in Medical Biophysics. You can read more about her journey here and here and here. (That last link has some super inspirational before and after photos!)

She shares some great recipes and this is by far my favorite: Perfect Paleo Pancakes

They are super simple, only six ingredients: green plantains, eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. You could always add extra spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. I topped mine with kerrygold butter and maple syrup. They really hit the spot when you are craving something special. I especially love how easy they are to make and flip. The texture is perfect and they keep well in the fridge for second breakfast.

Get out all your ingredients. Heat your pan with some coconut oil. Then peel and rough chop two green plantains. Throw them in the food pro with four eggs, two teaspoons of vanilla, three tablespoons of coconut oil (I’ve also used coconut butter here), a half teaspoon of baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Wazz it up until the plantains are all chopped up.

Then spoon it into the pan! The pancakes bubble a little and crisp up around the edges perfectly. Flip it! Cook the other side! Then slather them up with whatever paleo or mostly paleo ingredients you believe in! My vote is butter and maple syrup for the classic angle, but you could serve and eat with fruit or nut butters if you are into that sort of thing. I’d imagine that these pancakes (without the added vanilla) would be great as a bread substitute as well, although The Paleo Mom has some recipes for that too.

Portland Food Photography: The Sapphire Hotel

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Last week, David and I decided we needed to celebrate so we searched for happy hours on Yelp and we choose The Sapphire Hotel based on the reviews and the menu. Their website claims long roots into the history of Alberta Street:

The Sapphire Hotel was originally a turn of the century seedy hotel in Portland, Oregon inhabited by sailors, travelers and ladies of the night. They rented rooms by the week, night or by the hour and spent long days and evenings in the lobby drinking, laughing, eating, talking and kissing.

Aside from entertaining one another you could count on the presence of a mystic, traveling musician or a handful of gypsies to lend some fun and adventure to your night. As the years went by, the area around the hotel grew more affluent and the ladies of the night took jobs as shop girls along the avenue. The artists began to sell their work at the galleries that cropped up along the Avenue and the rooms became upscale apartments leased to the people in the local community.

There’s a long list of signature cocktails, wine and beer followed by a shorter list of tasty food.

I ordered the hour hour special marionberry margarita and (I think) David got the Common-Law Girlfriend.

I couldn’t resist ordering a couple happy hour appetizers in addition to the food. We chose pickled veggies and nuts & olives.

Dinner was a seared tuna nicoise salad and a meze platter. Two thumbs up! Give them a try for some ambience and delicious drinks and food!

Portland Food Photography: Portland Juice Press

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Okay seriously. This place is so good! I heard about it through someone on Instagram (can’t remember who), and I rode my bike up Milwaukee to visit it. It’s right by Bushwacker’s Cider.

They juice hundred’s of pounds of vegetables, fruit, and nuts every day. They specialize is juice fasts-you can actually have them deliver to your house or work. I just happen to like fresh juice and had a craving for a thick nut milk. So I picked out The Ohm. It was perfect. Exactly what I wanted: hazelnuts, dates, cinnamon, and filtered water.

If you are undecided, they have no problem opening up bottles for you to sample the flavors. Next time, I am getting the lemon, ginger, honey one.

They even have these vintage inspired postcards -FOR FREE! I took one or six.

ugly mug

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There’s so many great things about our new neighborhood. I’ve mentioned the many coffee shops, and here is a cappuccino from one called The Ugly Mug. They brew Stumptown coffee which is a local roaster.

This shop has a high shelf filled with a lot of mugs. (ha!) They serve a handful of pastries, coffee and espresso, and even beer and wine. They’ve got games and books and the rumour is that you can bring your dog inside although I haven’t witnessed that yet.

I’ve come in today to start working on some photos that need to be edited. It’s been a whirlwind of unpacking, planting, meeting new people, job hunting, and going for walks. David and I are both so amazed by all the lush greenery and the budding blooms of spring. It’s incredible. You can find more photos of our journey on our instagram feeds here or here.

interview series! jessa!

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I first met Jessa through my work at Liberty Market. I run the twitter and facebook, so there are a lot of people that I interact with pretty regularly even if they don’t know it’s me right away. Jessa and her husband Dan were coming to almost every single community dinner that Liberty Market ran each month. (I think maybe they missed one?) So, I would chat with them there while I was taking pictures, and eventually we’d get to chatting when we would run into each other during the week as well. Jessa is someone who runs hot! She’s always got several pokers in the fire-she’s making things happen!

(more photos from the May 2012 community dinner found here.)

Jamie: Tell us a little about yourself.
Jessa: A favorite quote of mine is “Give me dirt & I’m happy.”
I’m a country girl living in the city and in my very limited amount of free time, I find myself wheeling & camping with my Toyota FJ to find dirt. Nature is my rock, my home, my everything. When life becomes too much, I find myself in the middle of nowhere soaking it all in and even getting married in it! I am in love with photography so anyone that follows me on Instagram can see who I am and what I like in a nutshell. I’m simple…but complex at the same time since my mind goes a mile a minute.
I’m not one to talk about myself… But I could go on and on and on.

Jamie: I can relate. I feel so much more connected to myself when I am out in my yard or my community garden. There’s something about the smell and things growing that really centers me. Are you actually from the country or do you just gravitate towards it? I was born in the middle of downtown Phoenix, but sometimes I think that my family’s roots as dairy farmers in upstate New York runs deep. Where did you get married?

Jessa: I was born in Tempe and grew up in Gilbert backing cotton fields and even the well-known Morrison Silos. As a kid I remember the bus ride passing all of the fields and stopping at the small farm houses to pick up the farming kids. I always wanted to be them. My family is originally from Danville, Illinois, and I’ve heard that my great grandparents had a large farm. Must be in my blood….

Dan and I are seriously in love with nature, and we couldn’t see getting married anywhere else. In July every year the Toyota FJ Summit happens in Ouray, Colorado, and it just so happened all of our friends were going so we decided to plan a small wedding at the base of Bridal Veil Falls. To get to Bridal Veil Falls, there was an easy option and a hard, scary option-of course we chose the hard scary option of doing Black Bear Pass BEFORE the wedding! Life is Short, live it each and every day! After doing this trail and being two hours late to the “set time” to meet everyone else at the location we were happy to be on flat, stable dirt! We had one of our best friends become a Dudeist Priest online, many friends wore Fuzzy Duds, and we did our own vows around wheeling and nature. It’s a day we will never forget!

(photo provided by Jessa)

Jamie: So pretty much everyone who knows you, knows that you are the driving force behind The Gilbert Farmer’s Market, but how did that happen? What was the journey leading to it?

Jessa: This is a fun story of how the GFM was born... Yes it’s Dan and my baby!

Many people know about me because I’m the one behind the social media but my husband, Dan, is the other half to the market that many people don’t know about. We have worked with each other for years so there was no question about this partnership.

Let’s go back to the summer of 2010. Dan was in real estate working for the banks and I was working with my dad at our family’s popcorn factory. The one and only Bubba’s Popcorn where we create magical Flavors of popcorn like our number top seller’s Dill Pickle, Fruit Stand and of course Windy City.

My life is always changing, it’s something I’ve accepted since it’s been happening since my childhood. I woke up on Friday morning at 4 a.m. after a dream about a farmers market, and that it was ours! I remember this like it was yesterday, I snuck out of bed and our two rescues followed, I grabbed my laptop and sat on the floor so the dogs wouldn’t wake up Dan. By the time the sun was coming up, I had researched WHERE all of the markets in Arizona were and was ready to go learn as much as I could as fast as I could. One thing I was very strict about from this day was to not solicit at any market and instead grab their contact information and contact them later. I wanted to respect all of the other coordinators, and I still do this today.

Long story short, we did the necessary research, put together a packet, met with the town of Gilbert, and opened on October 23rd, 2010!

(picture of early morning at GFM location, taken from the GFM FB page)

Jamie: Wow. That’s really amazing. Most people say they have a dream, but they didn’t really HAVE a dream! So what are the roles that you both play? Was it hard to leave the popcorn factory? (Also, I am imagining it’s exactly like Willy Wonka’s except with popcorn.)

Jessa: The popcorn factory is a smaller version of the Willy Wonka chocolate factory, just with popcorn! We are currently rebranding ourselves and will have many more products and Flavors coming before the end of the year! Fun stuff is happening and it’s so good to see it finally growing!

I never really left the factory while I was researching for the market we adjusted a few things and hired people to cover my shift in the factory. I have become more of a behind the scenes owner for the factory.

It’s been a wild ride with the market and I’m just lucky to have done something about the dream I had, what if I hadn’t? Something I always think about now! NEVER talk yourself out of a good idea!
For the market, Dan and I cover everything together from website building and maintenance, to building a farmers’ market app for iPhones, to social media and paperwork. We have a system where we cross-check each other’s work on a regular basis so everything is very organized. We’re OCD and everything has its place from paperwork to market set up on Saturdays. It’s not an easy job by any means but we enjoy it!

Jamie: Would you like to share an internet link or two?
Jessa: I’d love to!
My Favorite AZ Rescue, who I used to volunteer at: Friends for Life Animal Rescue

This is one of our favorite towns we have ever visited and believe that everyone should see the beauty! This just happens to be where we got married as well! Ouray, Colorado

One More Link:
Fuzzy Duds: The non-official clothing of our wedding!

My newest favorite site:
We always hope to get a chance to travel to a new place and what better way than to stay with a “local” at their home! SO FUN!

Thanks Jessa for spending the time answering all my questions! Please feel free to ask her your questions in the comments below!

matt’s big breakfast and giant coffee

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Chanelle and I went on a little adventure yesterday to Matt’s Big Breakfast and Giant Coffee. They both belong to Matt and Erenia Pool (and also The Roosevelt Tavern which we didn’t visit.)

Matt’s Big Breakfast is delicious! They focus on simply prepared local ingredients. You may have heard of the incredibly long wait, but they’ve recently relocated just a block north into a larger building! With bathrooms! Yay! I ordered a cherry bourbon sausage and a fried egg. So.freaking.good.

After that, we drove over to Giant Coffee-Chanelle ordered a macchiato and I got an espresso con panna. They serve Four Barrel Coffee which is from San Francisco. Very third wave style.

I added the whole set of photos to my flickr sets here and here.

so you want to plant some seeds…

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A lot of people have asked me lately, “Is it time to plant?” and “What should I plant right now?”

Here in Arizona, we are coming out of the dregs of summer. If you were dedicated, you may still have some plants in your garden that are thriving: peppers, chiles, eggplant, okra, and melons or squash. The rest of you have a bunch of dried up sticks. But never fear! It’s time to bust out the shovels and rakes once again! It’s time to plant all the things!

What do I plant?:

-leafy greens: including lettuce, kale, spinach, swiss chard, celery, mustard, bok choy, arugula, parsley, cilantro (all of these grow GREAT in pots too, so if you are one of those people with no actual “garden” then plant these (seeds are fine) and stick them in full sun.) You don’t need to cut the head either, you just pull the leaves off the plant and it keeps making more! Neverending salad! Also, swiss chard is an amazing one to have because not only is it a good looking plant, but you can eat the leaves in a salad or saute them with butter and garlic. I find the leaves to have a nice umami flavor-it’s a bit salty.

-broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower: And if you usually don’t like these, it’s probably because you’ve never had it fresh. These particular vegetables get really bitter when old. So give it a go.

-root vegetables: carrots (rainbow variety is fun!), parsnips, radishes, turnips, BEETS!!!!

-snowpeas and peas

-onions, leeks, garlic

How do I plant them?:

You need to ask yourself some questions:

-Where do I have FULL SUN? This means sun all of the day? None of this shady area of the yard nonsense or morning sun stuff-winter vegetables need ALL OF THE SUN.

-In this sunny area, will a garden bed fit or am I going with pots?

-How much money do I have? Starting from seeds is the cheapest way to go. But, you get the most production from plants starts. (Also, in order to get Brussel sprout production, you need to start with starter plants. Trust me, the season just isn’t long enough in Phoenix for the plant to develop sprouts. Garden beds can be as expensive and elaborate or as basic and cheap as you want. You will need to and compost and soil amendments to your soil. And a can of earthworms doesn’t hurt either. You can get your soil tested to be super scientific if you are into that, but I’m really lazy, so I would just dig up that part of the yard and add in as many bags of compost that you can afford.

-Drip system or hose watering?

Once you figure out what and where, it’s how:

Next, is the actual shoving seeds into the ground part. This sounds easy, but it actually takes a long time. It’s super fidgety. Go get yourself some wooden shims or stakes and a sharpie too so you can label all the things.

-Open your packets with scissors. (organic seeds are way awesomer, so buy them from a nursery or the internets) Tearing the packets open gets seeds caught in them.

-You pretty much follow the planting instructions on the packet. (But the general rule is the tinier the seed, the closest to the top of the soil it goes.) Almost every seed will sprout, but not always. You plant and bunch of seeds, you wait and wait until you think nothing is ever going to happen, then they all start coming up and you have to “thin” them. This means, you have to rip out a whole bunch of sprouts so as they grow into plants, they don’t crowd each other out. Expect this especially with carrots. Those stupid seeds are so tiny, and if you don’t accidentally spill half of them, you’ll lose your mind at another point and simply start sprinkling them down anyway.

-Water water water. Seeds in the ground=watering three to four times a day. You have to keep the soil moist until the seeds sprout and the roots develop. Once that happens (they look like little plants, then you can back off on the watering.

From here, it’s a matter of thinning and weeding. Any questions?