The end of August is rolling around. Even though schools have started and I’ve been thinking a lot about pumpkins, there is still that one big celebration that closes us out of summer and sends us into the next season.
For all of those Labor Day cookouts and picnics coming up, I decided to go through some of the recipes here on Fake Food Free and pull out a few that are perfect to take or make for your next cookout. Some are from way back when and others debuted just this summer.
These fig and lavender cookies have a sweet slice of tiger fig tucked inside!
On our road trip in May we stopped by a lavender farm and I brought back a few things to use in the kitchen. Those things included lavender sugar and some culinary lavender.
It only took me a day or so to realize I could have just made my own lavender sugar with the culinary lavender, but that’s okay. I can be a little slow on seeing the obvious.
So a little while back when I had all those figs that the CA Fig Board sent to me, I decided to test out some cookies. Just before I started to make the recipe, I remembered the lavender sugar.
This post is the first of a new series on the blog called, Tips and Topics: Working in Food. I often find myself in conversations with fellow bloggers and colleagues that span from pitching articles to props for photography. After telling each other countless times – you should write about this! – I’ve finally decided to do just that. So every few weeks there will be a new post on the blog that I hope you will find helpful whether food is a hobby or a new profession. In this post, I thought I would share my favorite, affordable napkins for food photography.
I call them all linens, whether they are made of actual linen or not. They are the napkins, pieces of material, cloth, scarves and just about anything else that looks good next to a bowl and used in my food photography. I have an overflowing stack in my studio and I’m happy to report that none broke the bank.
First I should say that I love handcrafted, one-of-a-kind pieces and I believe that they are worth every penny. I have a few. But in reality, I am always, and I mean ALWAYS, looking for a deal. It would be impossible for me to build my prop room without working in many affordable pieces.
By affordable I mean my palms start sweating a bit when something costs $10. Who am I kidding, I will spend a half hour weighing the pros and cons of a piece at a vintage store that costs more than $3.
I know. I’m tight, cheap, frugal – whatever term you want to use. But now that I see the prop section in my studio, I know why. Deal searching is worth it.
That goes for linens, too. When I look at my growing stack I often wonder, if I could only keep a couple, which would they be?
I buy jicama once in a blue moon. I have no idea why. Every time I get it into my kitchen, I marvel at the crunchy texture and its snackability. (Technically not a word, but it should be, don’t you think?)
So in honor of not completely going all fall on you with recipes, I picked one up last week to show that I still have a little light and refreshing summer left in me. I thought I’d show you what I do with it. It’s also known as the simplest salad ever.
It only took a stop in one coffee shop for me to wonder why I’d not made Sacramento a higher priority on my California travel list. Things appear to be changing rapidly in this city and that means it is ticking all the boxes of a top food and drink destination.
There are coffee shops that make you want to pull out the laptop and sit a few hours, craft beer lists that represent the state’s growing number of breweries and beyond, happy hours with bites that combine comforting favorites with trendy twists, and vegetarian food that I could easily pick over a meat treat any day of the week.
I was in Sacramento for 4 days at the end of July to attend the International Food Bloggers Conference. It was a fun few days catching up with old friends and making new ones. The conference did an excellent job of tying in so many of the wonderful foods and food companies that Sac has to offer.
I’m preparing myself for the long road ahead. The long, hot road ahead.
I could say that I just started thinking about fall, but that would be a lie. Thoughts of fall began for me way back in June. The truth is, I think of fall pretty much every season of the year.
I keep reminding myself – Self, you live in the Central Valley now. In a few weeks, images of pumpkins, sweaters and warm drinks will enter all of your social media feeds. You’ll flip through them while standing in front of the air conditioner vent. It’s okay. Fall will get here. It just takes its sweet time.
I have a bit of a special edition of my four favorites for the month of July. I guess you can consider it the South Central Valley edition.
Last week, I attended the Fresno Food Expo. It was my first big food experience and introduction to the products and food folks in the valley since our move here last September. To be honest, I had no expectations for what the event might be like. I’ve been to my fair share of food expos in the past.
Pleasantly surprised, as I walked away last Thursday, I felt that this had been among the best of them.
My goodness they were monsters!
I’m not sure if I’ve been growing and buying Japanese-style eggplants for too long, or if things have changed, but the American variety of eggplants at the supermarket last week were absolutely huge.
They were eye-catching, though. So much so that I took one look and decided it was high time I made baba ganoush again.
This creamy, homemade peanut butter oatmeal is naturally sweetened with banana and dates and topped with crunchy chopped peanuts.
I have a problem with oatmeal. It’s not oatmeal’s fault at all. No, this is an — it’s not you, it’s me situation.
Oatmeal is part of my normal breakfast cycle. Meaning, we have an on-again, off-again type of relationship. I crave it and eat it almost everyday for weeks. Then I get tired of it and need a break.
Well, we are on-again. So that problem I have has reared its ugly head.
If you’ve been reading my blog a long while this combination won’t surprise you. I starting eating one form or another of cantaloupe tomato salad back in 2011. For those of you who might be new readers, hear me out.
I know it sounds like a strange combination, but I promise it is so good! There is something about the sweetness of both the melon and the tomatoes that is delicious when combined and then drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with black pepper. It’s a refreshing twist to most of the summer salads you’ve had so far this year.
