And Of Course, Food

My favorite holiday cookie, pfeffernusse (homemade, of course), a traditional German cookie, and a cup of tea in Elwood, my new unicorn mug

What series of blog updates would be complete without a photographic summary of good food eaten? While I am known to be a somewhat picky eater with a few dietary restrictions, I honestly do love a good plate of food and good drink to wash it down. Having a full time job in food service means that I also spend a lot of time surrounded by food so who could help but take a few (or a lot) of pictures. 

I have a lot of food images to share in this post so I've kept the image size smaller to keep the post from being overwhelmingly long. 

 Just a few of the gelato choices at Holy Gelato

I love making drinks! Lemonade is a great standby, excellent on it's own, mixed with tea, or as a mixer in cocktails. This one was made with Meyer lemons and honey simple syrup. 

Gingerbread from scratch with vanilla rum whipped cream.

A delicious chocolate beer pudding from Magnolia Pub. 

Fried treats and Two Rivers cider from 21st Amendment Brewery .

Two of the most amazing things I've eaten recently: cookie ice cream sandwiches from Batter Bakery.  

An autumn veggie lasagna from Park Chow that just about made me lick my plate. (Yes, the images are in reverse order).

Pretty floral cocktails and a cute table set up in the upper dining area at Park Chow.

 

I love hitting up Homeroom for tasty (and photogenic) mac & cheese and cider.

Fig tart in the bakery case at Whole Foods. Just oh so pretty. 

More treats on display at Whole Foods. 

The pizza at any location is great but the Little Star on Divisadero also has champagne cocktails. This one here is the Rock Star.

Foam on one of many chai lattes consumed at La Boulange du Dome. 

Sometimes we get a chance to experiment with food in the kitchen at work. Here are some deep fried Oreos topped with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce that a co-worker made.

Passion fruit tart from a La Boulange.

Pickled veggies and herb marinated olives from Magnolia Pub.

 Working in food service and teaching, it can be rare to have a Saturday off. When I do, I try to head to the farmer's market to score some veggies like tomatoes and zucchini (which I love frying up with marinara sauce and mozzarella).

Veggie taco salad made for me by a co-worker.

A quick breakfast of a chai latte and blueberry muffin from Starbucks before a day of letterpress printing.

Curried quinoa with a mint-cucumber yogurt sauce made by yours truly.

Giant bowl of homemade hummus by a colleague at the San Francisco Center for the Book.

Dying Flowers

Shortly before the winter holidays and the end of the year officially hit, I was wrapping up a few projects in the studio and happened upon some flowers left over from a holiday event. They had been left uncared for over a weekend and were clearly destined for the compost bin but there was still something about them that caught my eye. I had my camera with me and couldn't resist spending nearly an hour photographing them. 

I love the Dutch tradition of vanitas and, despite the lack of bugs and complete rot, these past-their-prime flowers reminded me of that tradition. I would be lying if I said I had thought of the overtly poetic end-of-the-year-death-evergreen-new-life concept as I photographed; that didn't happen until I was typing up this post. Vanitas, symbolism, nice photos, interpret them however you like, I am simply sharing this quick end of 2014 photo project with you.

Things Behind Glass

I, like countless others, love going to museums. I can't really explain it, but I love seeing all sorts of things from living, breathing creatures, to bones, dioramas, and specimens. I love the learning and observing that you get to do in these spaces. I am {very slowly} developing a project based on the fascination that humans have with gathering items into special locations, be it a garden, zoo, or museum, for observation. I still have yet to figure out exactly what this project seeks to achieve, or what form it'll take but currently it is photo based; as a trained photographer, so many things for me begin with photographs. 

Here is a suite of images from the vast collections at the California Academy of Sciences, an excellent place to find all sorts of displays, dioramas, and other things to look at.