Food Project #2

Documenting every dinner is implausible I've decided.  Furthermore, some of our dinners are repetitive and boring.  Like Amelia's chili.  I eat it all the time.  I think we had chili 3-4 nights out of every week between June and October.  (Yes, it took me 4-1/2 months to get over a meal.)  But, every time I cook something new I've been documenting it.  I'm really enjoying the experimentation and the photos that result.  Enjoy!

Cedric's morning noms. Keep it simple with babies and you'll find that they'll eat just about anything.Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon. Click on the photo to be taken to Amazon to buy it. This book is subversive to the currently established food system. I could not recommend it more.Sally Fallon has the recipe for these fantastic Buckwheat crepes in her book. For the most part, grains are evil, but I did not feel nearly the effects from the Buckwheat that I do other grains.Elk backstrap with a honey/thyme/ginger glaze. I added chili pepper flakes for color in the honey. They were pretty tasty too.I hate grains. Hate them. But I saw this idea in a Jamie Oliver book and begrudgingly gave it a shot as a way to mask the flavor and texture of the elk liver (elk liver is pungent, and has the strangest texture I've encountered.) With the Arugula and Amelia's handmade mayo it did a successful job. Amelia hated it. I loved it. I'm currently feeling the effects of the wheat throughout my system though :-(The only happy bite of this meal Amelia consumed. She ate it all like a big girl, because elk liver is so very good for you, but like I said above, she hated it.

This Week in Dinner: Part 1

I've kind of always wanted to photograph food.  I'm not a food photographer.  I'm also not really a cook.  Not at all.  But as long as the wedding season is over and we're still a couple months off of our next assignment involving people I figure it's good to have a project.  So I'm going to photograph dinner and post them each week...maybe.  I spend a lot of time on the road so the chances that I won't take any photos of my dinner on the road is likely.

You'll notice a serious trend towards what people would call "crunchy" food.  I.e. We're hippies in the way we eat.  Sort of.  Most of the "crunchers" eat soy, low-fat, and lots of grains, which we don't do.  We have found that our bodies are the least exhausted, the most ready to go, the least prone to illness, and we get fewer migraines and stomach-aches when we keep our food as close to the source as possible and only eat stuff you can pick up off the ground or capture and slaughter in the wild.  We're almost what would be called "paleo."  It's a pretty sweet diet.  You can check it out here. This doesn't always happen since we live in an urban center, but with the foods we consume the most we like to keep 'em close.

We're not completely consistent though.  I eat a lot of chocolate and potatoes and drink a ton of coffee and Amelia likes ice cream and croissants.  Tsk, tsk.

Anyway, enjoy! 

P.S.  Don't ask for recipes.  We wing just about everything. 

Simple, simple on the oven baked chicken. Consistent with the Paleo mentality we eat everything on the animal that we can (left.) I'm sort of addicted to Amelia's starchy fries (right) which aren't Paleo so much, but still tasty.Amelia makes TONS of stock. This week it was elk broth from a recent harvest I had.I always feel like the best kind of Oregano and Thyme is the kind I pick in my back yard :-)Raw milk Kefir on the left, raw milk in the middle, Teff for Endura, eggs, hummus, etc. Oh, and pickles. The vinegar and dill evens us out systemically and the dill is purported to be a stress reliever. Granted, you can't pick Teff and pickles up off the ground.I don't think starch is good on a diet, but I just can't get over how good these fries are, so we eat them a lot.I felt like the heart deserved a nice presentation so I got some herbs out of our garden and made this ginger apple sauce. I used ginger, apples, elk broth base, onions, honey, and carrots. Tasty sauce for a tasty meat.Amelia makes the best chili I've ever eaten. EVER. Beef, chilies, red wine, and a whole bunch of cheese and salt. Win.Essentials!Sprouted lentils. Note: not maggots. Sprouts.This was the moment when I realized how good this was going to taste.Finished backstrap. Honey ginger thyme glaze.

Ben and Rachel | Vernon Hills, IL

Have you ever had a slew of experiences with a person for years in a row and looked back at some milestone or another and realized, "I could never have imagined any of this happening when I first met this person."  Ben's wedding was such an occasion for me.  I met Ben a few years ago in college when he lived in a dorm room and owned four things: a microwave, a turntable, a macbook, and a box of clothing.  He was just another guy at Emmaus when I met him and I could never have imagined that I would be shooting his wedding with him as one of my best friends and having a chill time doing it just a few years later.  Ben and I became fast friends by making life virtually impossible for our Greek teacher and by drinking lots of tea and listening to lots of hipster music.  I was thrilled when he and Rachel decided to get married and even more thrilled when he asked me to shoot their wedding.  Rachel is a class act and one of the most compassionate and straightforward girls I have ever met.  Together they are wonderful to be around and, as you'll be able to tell from even a tertiary glance at these photos, they are ecstatic about being married.  Nothing but smiles and tons of fun.  Enjoy!

Baby Emery | Momence, IL

Last month while we were on a trip in Illinois, Amelia took her sister's beautiful little baby out for a shoot.  Emery makes my gut hurt she's so cute :-)  Enjoy!

Rick and Amber | Denver, CO

"Getting completely soaked is a viable option if you have an outfit for it."  This is NOT what you want to be texting clients on the way to a shoot.  It was raining.  A LOT.  The day started out beautiful and sunny; then the clouds and wonderful soft light came; then the deluge and cold fall temps came.  That was how things were looking as I headed for the foothills.  Not good.  Well, by the time I hit Red Rocks the bright sun was out and it was hot.  Then came the rain; then the cold; then the hail; then the wonderful soft light;  then sunset!  Oh, Colorado in the fall, how I love you.  Rick and Amber were awesome to work with, we had a total blast together, and we managed to only be shooting in beautiful light.  What a great day!

"And then it hailed."Amber showed us how it was ALL done in heels when she crossed this creek. Whoa.