As we head toward the autumn Equinox, the farm shares we get seem to become more and more colorful--too beautiful not to photograph! And the Romanesco is simply otherwordly!
Almost Pagan
You'd think that a lady who prides herself on stalking the most elusive wildlife (well, almost) would consider food photography less than exciting.
Not so!
In fact, it is particularly enjoyable when it involves foraging, Slavic-style, and a sore back to remind of the said activity for days to come. (Okay, the latter is more along the lines of "memorable" rather than "enjoyable," but you get the idea!)
Pascha
I am surrounded by those who are somewhat obsessed with the so-called paleolithic diet. This means that they think that just about everything "carby" is bad. So, I don't get to bake that often. Easter—Pascha, which falls on the same day as that of Catholics and Protestants this year—is a good reason to do so.
These are my "unorthodox" Orthodox Pascha kulichi (cakes). I ran out of moulds, so only one is traditionally elongated. "XB" stands for "Christ has risen" in Russian.
Foodography
On Old New Year's Eve, according to the original Julian calendar, I've made some standard Russian bliny. (These are similar to crepes, you ignorant fools! Just kidding—about the "fools" part.)
With a twist.
You see, I am practically surrounded by people who take the so-called paleolithic, low-carb diet (way too) seriously, so I've experimented by using gluten-free almond flour instead. The taste was practically identical, though, of course, this really was an excuse for me to engage in some food photography.
Foodology
I'm not a food connoisseur (or a "foodie," in layman's language). Thus, I was a little surprised to discover--in the past year--that I really enjoy photographing all kinds of edible things.
Something as basic as food is one of those things that I both love and hate about social networking. On the one hand--and I dislike revealing my (limited!) domesticity--your friends far away post images and recipes on Facebook, giving you excellent ideas for which you're too busy to look yourself. On the other hand, these very friends happen to be in a time zone far-far away, say, Russia or Japan, and their lunch is your "foodless" late night on the previous day. That is, it was "foodless," until they made you salivate with their Instagrammed lunches!
Ever so sadistically.
So what I'm trying to say in a womanly, long-winded way is that if you happen to be in another time zone while looking at this blog, I apologize. The images below were shot under guerrilla conditions rather than a pristine kitchen in which I could arrange every little berry (yum!).
Really sorry! ;)
Beets!
Here is a selection of smaller-sized seasonal organic food that we get from a local farm here in the Rockies.
Of course, in many places around the world, and as I recall growing up in Russia, it is simply known as "food"! ;)
Last year's Stanford study found surprisingly few noticeable health benefits between organic and conventional fruits and vegetables. Of course, the issue is not solely about how much damage our bodies can handle, but rather the loss of soil nutrients from massive corporate-style farming, the limits of technological invention to produce more and more food exponentially, and the loss of traditional farming knowledge--as a result of displacing local farmers by the former---should such technologies fail in a crisis, among others.
Simply put, it's that impossibility of infinite progress again, upon which contemporary West--Europe and especially North America--is based.
On a lighter note, why beets?
Beets are the quintessential Slavic vegetable!
They proudly stand alongside the potato in their purple uniforms so that we, Russian women, could make a gazillion billion traditional dishes out of them. (I can only do about half a dozen.)