Posts from the ‘Fresh From The Oven’ Category
-
Behind the pie
Keen eater of honest food. Love my life in Dubai but happiest in hiking boots & green hills. Wine nerd. Writer. Blogger. Dreamer. Read moreLooking for something?
Popular posts
-
Read the latest
Find it here
Sniff, sip and slurp with me
Instagram
Being at the top of a mountain, looking out at spectacular views while eating cheese might be my idea of heaven. Would I like to work every hour from dawn until dusk, hard physical labour in all winds and weathers for little reward? Probably not. But who defines what a reward is? For Mathilde and Fabrice of Ferme de Pézières it’s working closely with nature, living the life of days gone by, being satisfied with what they have and utter dedication to making the best organic Reblochon possible. . . {invite} Visiting them in August to meet their cows and slip inside the cheese room for a couple of hours taught me a lot about cheesemaking but also how obsessed the French are with fromage. . . There’s more (a lot more!) on my latest blog post. If you read it I’d love to know what you think. Would you ever contemplate this way of life? And what’s your favourite French cheese? . . Thanks to @saycheese.me for hosting me on an exploration of cheese in the Haute-Savoie. See the French 🧀 highlight in my stories for a few more snippets. And swipe to see whether I enjoyed it 😉. . . . . . @reblochondesavoieaop #saycheeseme #cheesesofeurope #cheesesofeuropearabiaSo much delicious food is brown. The best homemade cake, fresh bread, baked potatoes in their skins crackled from the oven, steaming hot chocolate, truffles rooted from the ground, tea and biscuits.... . . But it can be hard to make brown food look good in pictures. So for the @eatcaptureshare brown challenge with @thelittleplantation I used blue in the props and the background. It’s complementary to the brown tones and means you don’t have to go wild with irrelevant garnishes (my bugbear). I find this works well, especially as I like brown food so much 😉 . . This could be my favourite brown food of all.... Marmite. Glossy in its dumpy, round jar, scraped delicately onto hot toast where the butter has just started to melt. . . I’ll confess that I set this shot up and took it quickly. When I’m taking food pics at home I want as little food waste as possible. I made this for my lunch and I was hungry, that’s why I didn’t hang around! . . So Marmite lover or hater? And if you take pictures of food have you got any other tips for tackling brown things or food waste? Let me know. . . . #cblbackdropsThat smug feeling when you’ve chopped, sliced, toasted and snipped lots of healthy things to make a large bowl of something to dip into over the weekend. I don’t usually cook on a Thursday night (last day of the week here) so I’m feeling doubly content. . . Carrots, apple, edamame, spring onions and basil shredded together. Almonds and sesame seeds for crunch and some dates (it’s the season) slipped in quietly so KP doesn’t notice. A dressing where chilli and lime make an appearance. . . I’m going to fling an egg with a lacy edge and runny golden yolk on top and eat from a deep bowl on a tray in front of the last couple of episodes of ‘Unbelievable’ - a powerful Netflix drama series with Toni Collette. Have you seen it? And can salad ever be comfort food? . . Browse #eatcaptureshare to see lots of gorgeous pics of salad for today’s challenge with @thelittleplantation I pulled the background netting from a palm tree in my garden. Is it just me that finds orange food a bit more tricky?This is what disturbs my sleep, makes my heart pound and have anxiety attacks about the future. Water. . . I picked up this glass and drank the cool, refreshing liquid inside. What if something we take for granted was no longer freely available? . . It’s not just the amount of plastic and chemicals we’re pouring into it and the eco-system we’re exterminating. . . We are pumping out more from the earth than there are reserves. Lakes are becoming deserts and seawater is flooding in to fill the vacuum. As the earth gets hotter between 5,000 and 10,000 acres of arable land are lost per day worldwide. . The actions this week for #climatestrike, spearheaded by @gretathunberg , were encouraging. I wish I could have got out and marched. But we have to change the way we live our lives radically and urgently. . . What can we do? Small changes like zero waste at an individual level will help but It needs government and big corporations to take steps which will be unpopular. . . I’ve decided to speak out more and use any ‘influence’ to, at the very least, raise awareness for change. . With the existing climate change scenario, by 2030, water scarcity in some arid and semi-arid places will displace between 24 million and 700 million people. . Has this made you think more about water? Discussing the issues with friends and family and putting pressure on those in power is vital. On an individual everyday level we can use water wisely and try to limit waste. . . PS This is my drink entry for #eatcaptureshare with @thelittleplantationI’ve developed a sugar habit over the summer months. My Mum always has cake in her house and my Mother-in-law feels lonely if we don’t join her for pudding. Do your friends and family show their love by giving you sweet things? . So to wean myself off gradually, I made these ginger biscuits - although they’re a bit more difficult to resist than I thought 😉. . Since the girl’s left, our table is usually set for two. On a Friday (weekend here) KP and I drink a lot of tea, read our books and I might do something creative. This shot of our tea break is for @thelittleplantation #eatcaptureshare As I only got back earlier this week I’ve posted all three today (swipe to see the others). . . I enjoy this challenge as it makes me consider things in a new way and I always learn something. For instance in retrospect, I would have used a less shallow depth of field in the image of golden syrup in a spoon so you could see more of the flour in the bowl. If I had shot tethered this would have been more obvious. . . Story arc theme Image 3 was most challenging as I was trying to get blurred movement plus a shallow depth of field. Hands and arms are so hard to capture without them looking very odd! I used my timer so had to guess what it looked like every time. That’s me creaming the butter into the sugar btw 😂 . . Is there anything you find particularly difficult to photograph?Wandering through the picture postcard streets of Annecy I was stopped in my tracks. This young man was conjuring spheres of rainbow light in all shapes and sizes from his wands. He was raising funds for a travel adventure. Every child was captivated, skipped, hopped and reached for the sky. The beauty of Annecy, its pastel 13th Century houses adorned with flowers, reflected in aquamarine canals was eclipsed for a moment. Escaping in the joy of simple things... . . {Media trip} A myriad of stories still to tell about the cheese and cheesemakers of the Haute-Savoie region. Snippets in the French Cheese highlights in my stories. Also the pleasure of simple things. . . @saycheese.me #saycheeseme #cheesesofeuropeWhy are Beaufort cheeses so big and shaped like wheels? Why are spiders webs a good thing in a cheese cave? What is a cheese affineur and why might they use a small hammer? . . Francois Robin, a master of cheese, was our guide for a week in the Haut-Savoie region of France. From cheese-making monks to the guy in charge of a 20 million euro cooperative who still goes up the mountain at 3am to tend his cows, it gave me a glimpse into how fundamental cheese is to French culture, history and life. This pic is in the wonderful cheese cave basement of @fromagerie_gay . . I’m in rural Monmouthshire right now, feet blistered and knees aching - walking off some of that cheese - with little access to signal. I just can’t wait to share more of these cheeses stories. There are some snippets in ‘French cheese’ stories highlight. . . What’s your favourite French cheese? I’d love to know. . . Media trip with @saycheese.me Guide @francoisrobincheesemongerWe spotted smooth, blubbery seals and swift porpoises along this craggy, dramatic bit of North Devon this week. My ambition is to walk the whole of the South West coastal path one day. As my days as an expat aren’t over soon and the years pass by, I hope my pins stay up to the challenge! So grateful for the incredible job the @nationaltrust do to keep 630 miles open and accessible. . Where’s your happy place outdoors? I find it difficult to choose between the sea, moorland or green fields. But essential for utter contentment is lacing up my hiking boots and striding out whatever the weather. .. . If you could wave a magic wand (or apparate) and transport yourself to any place in the world right now, where would it be?Craggy, translucent discs, studded with herbs, dripping with dressing. Neat halves, dried and crinkled, chewy like caramel. Bottled, soft and sweet with a slick of oil. Garlicky, smooth shots of cool gazpacho.... After a homemade biscuit, a cup of tea and a quick natter, we gathered round eager to learn everything about .... tomatoes. . Lewis Glanvill, the Head Chef at @riverfordfieldkitchen showed us a myriad of ways to prepare them. All simple but really bringing out their flavour - including using tomato leaves (which are not poisonous). . All the produce for the Field Kitchen comes from the farm and the smallholding next door filled with vegetable, fruit and edible flower plants. We were soon clustered in the greenhouse with Penny the gardener brushing up our knowledge of cultivating heritage tomatoes as the rain drummed on the windows. . The clouds parted as we ran back to the restaurant and sank into chairs at a long table that was soon laden with sharing dishes brimming with good things. . KP and I left replete - with food, information and ideas. We can’t wait for tomato growing season. . Keeping close to the people who produce our food is a good thing for many reasons - from traceability and accountability, to freshness and taste. Guy Watson pioneered organic veg boxes by delivering them personally. @riverford is now the biggest supplier of them in the UK. Guy’s principles have stayed fast and his commentary on agriculture, sustainable, global warming and Brexit should listened to (sign up for Wicked Leeks email). In 2018 Riverford became an employee-owned business to protect its values. . I recommend a visit to Riverford if you can, order their veg boxes, or follow them online. . Thanks for reading this far - we need more ethical visionaries like Guy to change our broken food system. . See more about our Riverford visit on my stories highlight.Past posts
Featured in
-
-
- © All text and photos are copyright My Custard Pie.
All rights reserved. Please ask first.
