Styling Pasta: Round 2

Whole grain pasta with asparagus, zucchini, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes.

Ever since I saw a cover this summer from Real Simple magazine featuring spaghetti on a red background, I've been on a semi-mission to learn how to style spaghetti. I say semi-mission because I only try my hand at styling spaghetti when I make it for dinner. And, pasta's not the easiest thing to style as far as I'm concerned, so I actually didn't attempt it until last month. Needless to say, my first attempt was...well, not so good. The above photo is my second attempt. I've got a ways to go before I figure out how to wrestle spaghetti, but the good news is that at least it looked a lot better than my first try. And, it tasted a heck of a lot better than the other spaghetti dish I made. ;)

Lone Tree

Beautimus.

Yesterday the weather wasn't just rainy, it was rainy, blustery and awful. Just miserable weather. The kind of weather you don't want to go out in.

But today. Well today was a new day. Surprisingly bright with sunlight--still cold--but sunny and wonderful. The kind of sunshine where everything looks good and happy, even this gnarled old tree.

The Ramer House

Ramer House, October 20, 2008, Walla Walla, WA

I've mentioned in the past that I'm a big fan of Joel Meyerowitz's work. His images are timeless and take me back to peaceful and idyllic times. It was 2004 when I had my first "Meyerowitz Experience" at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, TX. I was there for my photo professor's grand Artist's Talk regarding his exhibit Brent Phelps: Photographing the Lewis and Clark Trail. Unfortunately, I drove around too long trying to find a parking space and they ran out of seats and wouldn't allow any extra people in. So, alas, I never did get to hear him talk about his experiences photographing along the trail. What a stinker. But--the flip side is that while I was milling around the museum waiting for Brent to finish his talk, I happened upon a beautiful color photograph hanging among several other pieces on one of the smaller walls. The photograph was Hartwig House by a certain Joel Meyerowitz. I made a mental note to look him up when I got home. Hartwig House is a photo of a home interior looking down a hallway full of doors which ends with a screened door filled with shrubs beyond. It's hard to describe adequately, but this I do know: As I stood there with that photograph an inch from my nose, just a youth in my early twenties, absorbing the creamy colors of the print, I stepped into another time: calm, peaceful. I became part of that photograph, walking down that hallway, floating through that print. I know that sounds artsy and fanciful, but the experience was so incredible. Meyerowitz's Hartwig House changed the way I looked at photography. His books A Summer's Day and Cape Light changed the way I viewed the world and shaped the way I shot for the next couple of years.

Meyerowitz's work is way beyond the photo above, but as I stood in the Ramer home that day, I couldn't help but remember and be inspired all over again when I saw that hallway and those doors.

Judy's Place

I do believe I've found myself a new prop stylist: Judy Thompson. She has such a great sense of color and balance. Her home is deliciously Crate & Barrel-esque complete with closets full of linens, a fully stocked kitchen, a garden...and on and on and on. I was giddy with all her "props". They were so fun and scrumptious in detail, variety, texture...Oh! I loved it! Can't wait to work with her again. Thanks Judy!

Above: The cookies are from a new recipe I've been trying. Rosemary Shortbread Cookies. Sounds kinda weird but they're completely great. They taste best before they start to brown--but...pale cookies aren't always so good for photos. 'Course, I shouldn't have put them on a white plate... Ah well. Live and learn.

Applesauce

Jon made the best applesauce I've ever tasted. Like....ever. While I was out of town on my portfolio trip (of which I still need to post photos...arrgh), he decided to use up the rest of the apples we picked a few weeks back. I'm so proud of his fabulous applesauce-making skills: Boiling the apples and putting them through the, uh....an apple grinder thingy.

I hear it took a really long time, was quite cumbersome, and was the first and last time he'll ever make applesauce.

Well.
In that case, I will have to savor this last bowl and then lick it out when I'm finished.

Festive

I don't know about you, but I looove the Christmas season. It's not about gifts for me, that's for sure. I just love the colors, smells, lights, sparkles... all the desserts, all the ribbons! Oo la la! I freakin' LOVE ribbons. I'm a ribbon fanatic. Well, okay, maybe not a fanatic, but I can definitely spend at least an hour in the ribbon aisle. If you gave me an empty box wrapped with tons of fancy ribbon for Christmas, I'd be really stoked and excited. Ribbons are just so pretty. I recognize that they're totally unnecessary and entirely lavish...but if I could justify it, I'd have an entire closet full of ribbon.

Above: My friend Rachelle sent me these chewy and moist gingerbread cookies and I must say they are wickedly good!

Update: Apparently, these are "molasses sugar cookies" and not gingerbread cookies as I previously thought. That makes sense, actually, because they do have a different consistency than gingerbread cookies. ;)