Filed under: Snacking | Tags: black grapes, buffalo cheddar, carambola, cheese, fruit, goat cheese, grapes, greenmarket, manchego, pears, photography, potomac pear, starfruit, water crackers
![[66/365] cheese habit](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4312997674_d6fa27c4ca.jpg)
I’ve been eating a lot of fruit and cheese lately. Primarily star fruit and manchego, or pears and anything. Coming home from work and making a giant fruit/cheese/crackers plate means I’m not making dinner as often as I should. I did, after all, recently buy a tiny slow cooker, so the fruit & cheese dinner habit is making me feel a little guilty. This much cheese can’t be good for a person.
![[056/365] party for one](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4285014059_f16915f119.jpg)
![[69/365] potomac](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4317302940_de60938f96.jpg)
In actual news, I took a food photography workshop a couple of weekends ago, with photographer Lou Manna. It was an all day affair involving lighting setups, fake food tips, and all manner of other information. Particularly interesting to me was a slideshow involving shots he’d taken for various clients and the “behind the scenes” shots that showed the complex combinations of actual lighting equipment, fabric sheets, boards, and mirrors used to reflect and filter the light. I need to invest in at least one strobe, a magic arm, and a bunch of mirrors.
“Food photography” is a huge subject to tackle in one day, so we only had a couple of minutes each to shoot at the end of the day; the photo at the top of this post is the only one I got that was decently white balanced before my turn was over. So shiny! His enormous octobox strobe was pretty amazing.
I’m looking forward to applying what I learned in my own kitchen and photos. I really ought to set aside some time for that.
Filed under: Bento Diary, Homemade | Tags: bagel, bento, Bento Diary, blue corn chips, elbow noodles, greek yogurt, guacamole, hummus, obento, pasta salad, peppers, pesto, resolutions, snack bento, sour cherry
January 4th (clockwise from top left): cinnamon raisin bagel (squashed into the bowl); assorted sweet pepper slices and sugar snap peas, herbes de provence hummus (w/garlic, lemon, green olive, etc.); greek yogurt, sour cherry preserves.
I’m not big on resolutions, but I’m making a concerted effort to bring my lunch to work more in 2010. The food is generally better for me, and Manhattan lunches ain’t cheap. Especially when you’re someone who is easily caught in sushi bar tractor beams.
January 4th (travel bento for a friend): same ingredients as above, minus the yogurt/preserves, plus a couple of strawberries.
January 8th: As I spent most of my time making a 6 avocado guacamole to share with the office, my bento consisted only of pesto-y pasta salad and a few carrots. Of course, I had a lot of guac and blue corn chips, too.
Filed under: Implements | Tags: damascus, German steel, gyuto, Henckel, japanese, knives, samurai sword
Favorite
I finally hung my second magnetic knife block the other night.
I really love knives. I love the way they slice and chop, I love the way they look, and I love the way they feel to hold. Looking at all (well, many) of my knives lined up in two rows, however, reminds me that my collection is borne more of a compulsion to acquire than careful selection.
Most of my knives suck. I mean, they’re better than the knives that many people have, and I’ve got more than I need (except more knives means prettier to look at!)… but nearly every one is soft German steel rather than the harder Japanese. These knives have their place on my wall and in my kitchen, just not such a place of prominence. My single hard steel knife is lonely.
I’m going to make a conscious effort to stop my <$200 acquisition habit and only buy a new knife if it's hand forged or of very high quality. No more Henckels (which make up the bulk of my collection). Going forward, I want kitchen knives created by descendants of samurai sword makers, lovingly crafted in the family tradition. I want a sword maker’s fruit knife. And a Japanese cake knife. And I’ll prepare eel if it means I can have that beautiful shape that the eel knives come in.
I have a problem.
The decorative one (the sheath poking into the picture on the top left) was made by a member of the family who served as silversmiths to the Royal Family of Laos (before they were forced into exile). The one at bottom right is a Boy Scout knife that I’m not sure how I acquired.
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Speaking of sword makers, this isn't food related and it's old news, but I found it pretty interesting that a Japanese company that still makes swords is the only plant in the world that can make nuclear reactor core containment vessels: Samurai-Sword Maker’s Reactor Monopoly May Cool Nuclear Revival.
Filed under: Salad Diary | Tags: beets, bench, boots, broccoli, cold day, delicious, falafel, manhattan, maoz, maoz vegetarian, roasted broccoli, salad, union square, winter sunshine
…and a bag blowing by.
Happy New Year to anyone who happens to still stop by! I’ve let my huge lapse hang over my head, so I’m restarting slowly here just to get something up. Here are a few photos from my lunch hour today.
Filed under: Eating Out, Homemade | Tags: japanese, macrobiotic, manhattan, new york, Souen
When I was interviewing for my new job, a girlfriend of mine mentioned that she used to frequent a restaurant nearby. I tried it out yesterday, and had a yummy lunch of inari sushi with eel, ginger salmon, and tempura vegetables. I read Yelp reviews about the food being bland, but I think the reviewers must not have been familiar with simple food made with good ingredients. I could have used a little bit more of a ginger kick on the salmon, but I was able to appreciate the fish itself, and it was all really satisfying. I’ll definitely try it out again, as I was curious about some of the interesting food combining going on on the menu. At $22, though, I won’t be making a habit of it.
Anyone know where to get a bento lunch for less than ten bucks in the Washington Sq/Union Sq area? I really need to get back on the bento train myself, lest I spend all my money on lunches, or live at Murray’s Bagels…
My apologies for the dead silence on here of late. As far as cooking and dining implements go, I have exactly one spoon, one bowl, one fork, one pair of chopsticks, a butter knife, and a bunch of sharp knives unpacked. I haven’t even ventured into pots & pans. Tonight was the first night in almost three weeks that I “made” myself dinner, and it was just a bagel with hummus, sliced grape tomatoes, and baby arugula. It tasted so good to me that I ate it all standing over the counter. It strikes me as funny to have been so starved for what is typically a speed meal for me. I can’t wait to unpack everything else.
I’m home from New Mexico, now. I was finishing up my last few days of work (yay! done!), and taking photos for an ayurvedic post-partum cookbook that my mom is working on. I’m sure some of those will surface before long, but I know I’ll get distracted if I download those to my laptop, so I’m not going to look at them until I’m in NY.
Packing packing packing. The movers come on Sunday!
Filed under: Homemade | Tags: cauliflower, colorful, CSA, Garden, heirloom carrots, heirloom purple carrot, kabocha, moving, purple cauliflower, roasted vegetables
to be roasted
I’ve got about half of the kitchen packed… but I left some key items out to use. Wish I was using them. I haven’t been cooking lately, which is pretty depressing. I’ve been too busy finishing up last minute projects at work, so I’ve basically been living on coffee and quick lunches, with the occasional roasted vegetables and rice for dinner. pictured are some veggies destined for roasting.
I can’t wait to unpack my kitchen at the new place!
Filed under: Drink, Implements | Tags: espresso, espresso cups, illy, illy collection, padraig timoney, pen tests
Pardon the long gap between posts. I don’t think I mentioned this before, but I’m moving. To New York. In a few weeks.
Lots has to happen before 11/23, and between finishing up projects at my current job, packing, trying to see all my friends before I leave, and squeezing in a week at my mom’s in NM, I’m really not going to have a lot of free time prior to the move.
In the interim, behold the espresso cups I just bought, that I have been wanting since they came out in 2004. I spent more than I care to admit on them, but they conjure memories of going to an art supply store with my Pop as a kid, and I’ve been in love since the moment I saw them.
Are there any dishes or implements that you had to have because they remind you of someone? I’d be interested to hear about said items.
Filed under: Bento Diary, Homemade | Tags: 2009 CSA, apple crisp, bento, Bento Diary, chicken truffle sausages, CSA, herbs, kabocha squash, ms. bento, obento, onion, potato, purple cauliflower, watermelon
A very old friend (we went to kindergarten together!) came to town over the weekend (more…)
Filed under: Bento Diary | Tags: archives, bento, Bento Diary, lacto-ovo vegetarian, lunch box, mughlai masala, obento, vault, vegetarian
I think we got frost last night, which means that I missed my chance (more…)
