Sausage-Making with Birmingham Mag and Five Fab Recipes at Food52

I am having so much fun. Thinking of how I eat day-to-day, I love combining ingredients to achieve a delight for the mouth. In the circles I travel, I've been contemplating how to share that with as great an audience as possible, which led me to my new contribution over at Food52.  I think this is the beginning of a rich relationship… ;)

Here are the photographs from the story to whet your appetites - click here for the story with recipe how-to's! All creations by yours truly, and fully taste-tested for deliciousness.

Pasta Puttanesca

Radicchio Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts and Crumbled Egg

Olive Oil-Dressed Potato Salad with Smoked Paprika and Capers

Salmon-Avocado Toasts with Fried Capers

Cannellini and Farro with Lemon Zest, Herbs, and Fresh Asiago

Get to it and make one - or all - of these. Please come back and let me know which you love most!

In news of the delicious South, I had the great pleasure to photograph Andouille sausage-making with Chef Chris at Homewood Gourmet, and he knows his craft well. In his family for years the recipe is simple, the process specific, and as you can see, produces awesome results. Here is the spread, along with some of my favorites….

Meat, casings, and spices for Andouille

Whether you are laboring over some feast-to-come, or want simple satisfaction for lunch, make tasty food using ingredients that spark your senses.

What else is there if we cannot enjoy the aromas, delight in the shapes and colors, and then relish the crunchy, juicy give of delicious foods we made ourselves? Here's to more good eating, everyday. 

Where I Stand and the Road Ahead

I've been thinking about how to devote more time to writing here, sharing my challenges, adventures, and progress along my path. Of course, it has been nice to be so busy with many wonderful freelance projects. I need that. Gotta bring home the bacon somehow, and batting my eyelashes at a farmer friend isn't going to do it.

Here are some of my favorites from my newest feature over at Anthology. It's a French custard, called a flognarde (and really simple to make)...

 

Since I've been freelance again in an entirely new land, my husband and I have done some fancy footwork to establish stability. I am so grateful for the connections made with - and through - new friends here, and wonder how long this grace will bolster us. I am also grateful for cultivating solid relationships with my clients, and as time has worn on, their belief in me. It has made all the difference.

I know I don't share as many recipes here as I once did. I carry a certain amount of guilt about that, as if I am not taking care of y'all, but I wonder if I'm projecting and if it even bothers you at all. My hope is that you relish the bounty in the step-by-step stories I have been creating in my column over at Anthology - for over 6 months now! - and that their beauty and information (and the link to the recipe, too!) is consolation enough. Check them all out if you haven't seen them already: numbers one, two, three, four, five, six, and now, seven.

What I really am saying is, what do you love that I provide? Are you missing out on things you feel I used to share? Is there anything you want to see more of? I always have a nagging feeling I need to write more. I hide behind my pictures and often hope that's good enough. They speak so well. I am self-conscious of my writing and so, when there's lots of new photography I've produced - like the wonderful recent trip to be with some beloved farmer friends - I plaster it all over and then whisk off to the next project.

Cooking and styling, in addition to my steady shooting - I love this whole picture. I want to share so many moments in food process. There's something about that which is deeply important to me. As a result, sometimes there's less of a volume of work produced, but with a farther exploration into each. I have fun with these stories. I hope you do, too.

So, here's to sharing in all of the "nexts"….

There's housekeeping to be done and writing to do, and a long-term project simmering. Thank you for accompanying me this far, and your support and delight in anticipation for what's to come!

Provencal Fish Stew, Ribollita, Ginger-Daikon Chicken Stew, and Pork with Porcinis and Cream: New Features at The New York Times

As you may guess from the title, I am eating as well as ever. I was tasked with cooking, styling, and photographing these soothing winter recipes, and I love each.

Really, please take the time (which isn't much at all, as it turns out) to make these recipes. The first story, by one of my heroes, Mark Bittman, is a totally no-nonsense bit and each is deceptively easy to prepare. Do it. The pork with porcinis isn't any more difficult. The rewards will show themselves immediately.

Some great photos which didn't make the final cut....

One which did make the cut - and one of my favorites. Glowing gorgeous chicken stew, you...

And the pork - lentil - porcini - slab bacon - celery - cream recipe.... need I say more?

I enjoyed these recipes immensely and it didn't hurt that two rounds of snow hit Alabama - aka the snowpocolypse - while working on them. Oh, the good eating.

If you prepare any please let me know what you think, or, if you have any favorites. I've had a difficult time deciding.

We all want spring to hurry up and make its way on the scene, but if we have to suffer in the cold, there's no better food than stuff like this! 

Bourbon-soaked densely chocolate cake with mocha buttercream: Happy Valentines Day!

Hey! Y'all are the apple of my eye. :)

I hope this story makes you swoon and that this feat of a layer cake brings tremble and desire. And that you are rewarded with the most savory-sweet of indulgences. This recipe offers all that and more... :)

See the full column and recipe - the latest in my monthlies -  over at Anthology. Sharing love and good taste on this Valentine's Day! xxxooo

Chinese Chili at The New York Times, Leading Ladies at Birmingham Magazine

I am producing some exciting new stories with the New York Times, one of which debuts today.

Somehow the writers managed to marry the Chinese New Year with the afterglow of the Superbowl in a story about warming Syrah. I prepared, styled, and photographed this recipe which ties them nicely together. And it is quite warming; great for the northeast which is still being hammered by snowfall, as well as my hometown, where my parents report record-breaking snows... It would have been quite at home too with the Snowpocolypse the South experienced a week ago.

Here are a couple of my favorite outtakes, and the link to the full story.

Here in Birmingham the February issue of Birmingham Magazine is out and it looks really good. My photography is of three prominent women who laid the groundwork towards the recovery of this fair city. It looks gorgeous, if I do say so myself. Here they are:

May the contributions along my journey resemble - even a teeny bit - the accomplishments of these women.

Right now I am working on a wonderful recipe for my next Anthology feature. Here's a peek...

Look forward to it soon... :)