Sarah Henry, our Edible Excursions guide for the day.

Lively colors at Juhu Beach Club, a new venture by former Top Chef contestant and Chef Preeti Mistry.

The city of Oakland has been, for a while now, my preferred destination for a ‘night out’ with friends. Perhaps it’s got to do with the fact that some of my favorite people live (or have lived) there, but I know that the smaller crowds, ease of parking and competitively-priced restaurants (compared with a night out in San Francisco) more than compensate for its distance from where we live in Silicon Valley. I’ve pretty much spent the past two years making frequent, 50-minute drives up to “the East Bay”, and though tedious, each trip has always proven worthwhile, both for the people and for the culinary delights that await. While San Francisco is a stalwart in the mainstream food world, Oakland’s been hard at work birthing its own food culture, one that’s as varied, independent and exciting as anything you can find in its more famous neighbor. And it’s starting to show, with the city’s culinary scene making the New York Times’ list of the Top 45 Places To Go in 2012.

Despite the accolades, Oakland’s still a pretty big city to navigate, and can prove daunting if you’re not familiar with it. This is when walking tours come in handy, and Edible Excursions, which currently offers a host of food walks around different neighborhoods in San Francisco and Berkeley, launched their first Oakland tour this past Sunday in the city’s Temescal’s neighborhood. I got a chance to preview the new itinerary a few weeks ago at a media event, and you can bet that I’ll be recommending this to out-of-town guests the next time they visit. Here’s why.

Starter Bakery’s Brian Wood and his famous Kouign Amanns.

1. Starter Bakery’s Kouign Amann

The tour begins at the Temescal Farmers’ Market where you’ll stop at the Starter Bakery stand for a taste of the Pastry That Launched A Business and Food Craze: the Kouign Amann. If you’ve noticed increased mentions of this unpronounceable pastry in the past year or so and were wondering why, here’s your answer. This is the man (and the pastry) that launched it all, in the form of a flaky, salted butter-sugar bomb of satiety. Although delicious, it’s a pity that this stand comes so early on in the tour because it takes you on such a ride of flavor that everything else just pales in comparison. I highly recommend practicing some self-control here and saving the Kouign Amann for a post-tour dessert.

Vanessa Chavez, owner, Cholita Linda.

2. Cholita Linda’s Fish Tacos

The other market stop is for piping hot, crispy and addictive Baja-style fish tacos at the Cholita Linda stand run by entrepreneur Vanessa Chavez. After building up her business for the past four years at different markets in the area, 2013 will see Cholita Linda establish a permanent presence  right in the heart of Temescal, on Telegraph Avenue, across the street from neighborhood stalwarts like Bakesale Betty and Pizzaiolo.

3. Juhu Beach Club

The newest addition to Temescal (they opened March 1), run by former Top Chef contestant Preeti Mistry, this vividly furnished nook at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and 51st street offers a modest menu of Indian street food served with a side of bright pink walls, pastel-hued wallpaper and savory lassi. The Vada Pavs (pictured) were generous potato puff sliders topped with pickled red onions and ghost pepper chutney which were delicious, if a little bulky. I can’t wait to return for their “Bizarre Love Triangle Samosas” (served with Tamarind-date and Cilantro chutneys), Garam Masala Chickpea curry and Masala fries with Tamarind ketchup.

Right: Doughnut Dolly’s Hannah Hoffman filling up a fresh batch of doughnuts with cream.

4. Doughnut Dolly and Sightglass Coffee

At 49th Street, just a few feet away from the bustle of Telegraph Avenue are two small alleys featuring renovated horsestables now home to an assortment of local businesses, from a barber shop to a bespoke jewelry store. Take the first left onto Alley 49 for Doughnut Dolly, a pop-up turned Kickstarter success turned food destination which sells out by 3pm everyday. The doughnuts are made in a commercial kitchen offsite and customers can choose from a selection of fillings like raspberry jam and salted Mexican chocolate upon purchase. When done with your doughnut, head to Temescal Alley next door to wash it down with a refreshing glass of iced Sightglass coffee at CRO cafe (another tour stop). How about that for an afternoon pick me up?

5. Banchan at Sura Korean Cuisine

Asian restaurants often get a bad rep for loading up on the preservatives and the dyes to impress the palate so as to keep hungry teenagers and all-night programmers coming back for more at a really cheap price. Not here. The heady assortment of Banchan dishes (kimchee, glass noodles, lightly pickled cucumbers and more) are all prepared from scratch using natural ingredients and dyes, providing the perfect side to comforting bowls of their tofu hot pot.

Left: CRO Cafe’s Luigi Oldani giving us a short intro to Sightglass Coffee and his brewing philosophy.

Since our preview tour Scream Sorbet (one of the original stops) has confirmed its closure, while the organizers have added a stop at Abesha, an Ethiopian restaurant popular with local Ethiopian and Eritrean residents. At Abesha you can expect to get a taste of injera (Ethiopian bread) and five to seven different kinds of vegetarian stew featuring lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, cabbage, and collard greens. This, along with Sura, represent some of the key elements of the area’s food culture, which are vastly different in atmosphere and cuisine to anything else on the tour.

The Lowdown:

What: Edible Excursions‘ newest walking tour in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood for groups of up to 14 participants. A three-hour sampler of different food businesses all located within a 5-minute walk of each other. Taste, savor, walk, repeat. For availability and bookings, check their calendar.

When: Sundays from 11 am to 2pm.

Cost: $75 per person.

Good for: Entertaining out-of-town guests, small-group reunions, birthday/anniversary gifts, food-lovers.

Prepare: Ample street parking available along Claremont Avenue, close to the Farmers’ Market. Eat a light breakfast (if at all) and wear comfortable shoes.

This post is going to be a little different from the others. I’m taking you to another part of my life, one where food isn’t always a priority.

Around this time last year I decided to make a trip to a small town on the outskirts of Mysore in South India to practice yoga at this school. It was a personal journey, borne out of my curiosity and passion for the type of yoga that I currently do. After about 10 years of an off-and-on yoga hobby I stumbled into this genre in 2009, and it quickly sparked off a fierce, dormant interest in all things yoga. There was something about the simplicity of instruction that intrigued me. A typical Ashtanga class is a self-practice class, which means that you follow the sequence of postures as prescribed right up to the last posture you’re given, and you do it at your own pace, with help and advice from your teacher where needed. There’s not a lot of talking and no music, it’s just you and your breath, going through the same postures at the same time, everyday.

Compared with the typical yoga classes I was used to, I wasn’t comfortable with this paucity of verbal instruction. I was looking for stimulation, for answers and pats on the back. I started to feel more comfortable in my body, more energetic and alert, and this prompted a host of questions around the whats and whys of this “system” I was subjecting myself to. I wanted to get to the bottom of things.

So last November I packed up my bags and yoga mat, said goodbye to M and spent six weeks in Mysore. I thought, naïvely, that this gave me ample time to settle in and get into the ‘groove’ of things, and that by the end of it I’d be so ready to go home. India quickly showed me that she occupies a slightly different spot on the time-space continuum compared to the rest of the world. It is not a myth that time moves differently in that country, much to the indignation of the newly-arrived Singaporean-Californian used to a life of efficiency, lightning-fast wifi and ‘instant’ everything. It takes time to adjust to the heat, the noise, the sights and smells, the food, the people, the stares, the head wobble, the traffic, the street animals, the trash and to the harmonious chaos of all of these combined.

It takes time, and it takes a lot longer than you’d expect. For the first two weeks, it felt like I’d been thrown into a washing machine with the rest of humanity with the dial permanently set on “spin”.

Unlike Elizabeth Gilbert, I wasn’t staying in an ashram, a residential compound where you’d follow a strict schedule, diet and code of dress. The focus of the trip was to spend 1.5 to 2 hours at the crack of dawn every morning contorting myself in a hot and humid room along with 300 or so practitioners who had flown in from all over the world to do just the same thing.

Before I left I had these grand ideas for photo projects: Markets! Children! Food! Yoga! Asia! Life! But reality turned out rather differently. Energy conservation rather than expenditure was the name of the game. In other words, learning when and how to let go of a first-timer’s impulse to want to do everything. Every practice was an intense physical and mental experience, and as a result, my days were structured around getting enough rest and nutrition so that I could fully give 100 percent (or something like it) each morning without burning myself out. I didn’t tote my (heavy, attention-grabbing) camera around as much as I thought I would, and honestly, I was so busy soaking it all in I had no interest (or energy) in starting any new projects while I was there. Just being there was a project in itself.

And what a project it was. For the first time in, possibly, ever, food wasn’t the first thing on my mind. I know it sounds a little ironic considering the delights of Indian cuisine, but that’s not where my interest lay for those six weeks. As such, my relationship to food moved from one of pleasure and entertainment, to one that was purely functional. Because I adopted a predominantly vegetarian diet during my time there, my focus was on ensuring I got enough nutrients to replenish and sustain my body’s needs, instead of experimenting with textures and flavors in the kitchen.

This shift showed me how much I was really eating back home – way too much. My lifestyle is typically sedentary: computer work, walks to/from the car, driving everywhere. In this context, having even a daily dose of animal protein is still way more than what my body needs. Add to that the ridiculous food portions in this country and you’ve got a simple recipe for weight gain. Since returning home, it’s taken me about a month or so to get back into the groove of home cooking and start experimenting with recipes again. Only this time, I’m trying to strike a balance between adequate, good-quality nutrition and variety across meals.

It took a couple of weeks but once I realized that I wasn’t going to figure out Indian logic on this trip, life got a lot easier. Any non-practice energy went to getting my fill of Masala Dosas, coconut chutney, chai and the freshest coconuts, and just absorbing the experience of being in a place steeped in such a wealth of history, ritual and culture. It broadened my perspective of what yoga really means, and how it’s really just a tool to help us function better in our relationships.

In many ways, I guess you could say the real yoga lessons I learnt came from outside the school, through the kindness of strangers and the greed of merchants, in the bright-eyed enthusiasm of rescued child workers about to start their own food business. I became more comfortable with letting go of any expectations and going with the flow, and in the process, developing the courage to have faith that everything will work itself out in the end.

And you know what? It always does. ALWAYS.

How many of you have a plan for an entire bunch of herbs once you’re done with snipping the five percent of the bunch needed for your recipe? Apart from lush thick leaves of basil that become pesto, I never know what to do with all that parsley and cilantro and am always struck with a pang of guilt when I learn that their deep green leaves have turned a pale yellow in the crisper yet. again.

Fortunately for social media, I’ve found a new vehicle for forgotten herbs, and turned a hypothetical recipe into a successful riff on the classic Green Goddess dressing, if I should say so myself.

Designed to fit all your wilting summer herbs into one airtight container, I took liberties here, omitting the vinegar and using a ripe avocado in place of mayonnaise, to really boost the ‘green’ factor. Purists may disagree with my choice of ingredients, and while I certainly don’t plan on causing anyone a hissy fit with this recipe, I urge you to try it out for yourself, play with it, and see what works. And don’t just limit this to salads either – I’ve been enjoying it as a simple sauce with pasta and fresh peas, as a spread on a roasted tomato sandwich, and as a light sauce dolloped over pan-seared fish fillets. What will you do with yours?

Green Goddess Dressing

Inspired by one of Dash and Bella‘s Instagram photos of a jar of green goddess dressing // Makes about 10 ounces

Any combination of leafy green herbs would work in this recipe, though I’d go easy on herbs such as rosemary and dill because of their strong flavors. I know that not everyone is a fan of cilantro, but it’s a lovely addition here, with its delicate notes balancing out the parsley and green onion. I’ve included a couple tablespoons of créme fraîche to enhance the creaminess just a little, but you could leave it out as well if you want to make a vegan version.

Ingredients

• 1 ripe medium avocado, (about 6 ounces/160 grams), halved, pitted and skinned
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained and finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 ounces/ 100 grams of herbs, such as parsley, cilantro, basil, chives and green onions, leaves and stems roughly chopped
• Half cup olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons créme fraîche (optional)

Directions

1. Put the avocado halves, capers, garlic, half of the chopped herbs, a quarter of the olive oil and all the lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor and whizz everything together until you get a rough green paste. Add the rest of the herbs and olive oil and blend until smooth.
2. Turn the mixture out into a bowl then stir in the créme fraîche (if using) and add salt to taste. If the dressing is too thick for your liking, thin it to your desired consistency with more olive oil or lemon juice.
3. Once made, this keeps in an airtight container for about two weeks in the fridge.

In an interesting turn of events, my professional photography career has led me beyond the field of pretty pictures of food and down the path of events and conferences. I’m not complaining. It may be hard work, but it represents, to me, a chance to apply my photography skills to another field and to capture the dynamism of life in a conference setting.

On the surface, conference photography has a rather mundane and unglamorous quality about it. And, to a large extent, it is. There is a “shot list”, a formula of what kinds of shots the client would like, capturing the sponsors, the speakers, the venue, the food, and such. Yet I’ve found that, if I tune in to what’s going on around me, there are endless possibilities to exercise my creativity and make beautiful pictures. Pictures that tell a story.

I volunteer that events photography is boring only if one chooses to see it that way. It’s the same with architecture photography. Or advertising/product photography. Or any kind of photography done for money, really. If you view the job as purely transactional, it’s easy to burn out that way. But if you view each event as an opportunity for magic to happen, then the work stops becoming a drag and starts to become something else altogether. An adventure through the viewfinder.

After shooting four conferences for the ladies who know how to really throw a party, I thought I’d share some insights into how I approach the work, and what it’s taught me about anticipating and observing human behavior.

(1) Get there early

To both the venue and the city in which the event will be held (if it’s not in your hometown). I like to get there at least a day in advance to give myself sufficient time to adjust to the timezone (if it’s in the Midwest or the East Coast), and get a good night of sleep. This pre-conference time is also when I’ll do a walkthrough of the event space with the client, to assess the lighting conditions in various spaces and start formulating ideas for possible vantage points.

(2) Bring every single piece of gear you have, even if you don’t think you’ll need it

Speedlight, lenses for every focal length (I shoot with three lenses: 24-70mm, 70-200mm and 16mm fisheye), tripod (if you have the space for it), memory cards, card readers, multiple hard drives, power cords, batteries, and the details of a local photo equipment rental company in your location, for any last minute emergencies.

On the event floor, you don’t want to be running around with a big bag of gear, so what I do is carry my essentials with me in a comfy, sturdy shoulder bag with zip openings. There’s nothing more annoying than the constant sound of velcro ripping while you’re in a crowded conference room trying to learn about marketing your blog, so I’m all about discretion as much as possible. I’m particularly fond of the leather bags from Paris-based designers, Nat & Nin. Not only are they well-made, each bag is roomy enough for two lenses and my essentials, and they come in a wide choice of fun colors.

(3) Stash the flash

Hotel meeting rooms are notorious for bad lighting, and, while there’s not much you can do about it, you can prepare for it by using fast lenses and a good camera that ramps up its ISO without compromising quality. The ISO to noise-level ratio is a priority for me because I hardly ever shoot with a flash, unless I’m in the most adverse of lighting conditions. And even then, I think twice before propping the speedlight atop of the camera. A flash draws too much attention to the subject at the expense of the details of the scene. Take the two images above, for example, and imagine how differently they’d look if I had used a flash. I’m interested in capturing the moment, with all its flaws and details, and the perfection of the flash is too big a price to pay.

(4) Pay Attention

Look for the story. Look for the details that will help tell your story. At every conference, I like to think about what the goal is for the event, what the organizers are trying to achieve, and to tell that story in pictures. This is a little abstract, I know – sorry – but there is no set formula I can share with you other than just paying attention to your surroundings. Look at the people attending the conference, what are they like? What are their common expressions? What is the demographic of the attendees? Who has the most interesting outfits? What sort of conversations are they having? What sort of networking is going on?

I’ll be honest that it usually takes me an hour or so on the first day before I feel comfortable walking through the crowd and photographing the people around me. This is partly from my self-conscious-I-don’t-want-to-intrude-and-be-rude personality, but it’s also because the participants are getting used to me as well. I need them to forget that I’m there, so that I can do my work by capturing them at their most genuine moments.

(5) Be Patient

People don’t look good with their eyes in a half-blink while giving a speech. So when photographing speakers, I like to frame the shot and spend a while observing their patterns of speech and gestures before clicking the shutter. You’ll be surprised at how much you can learn about someone from just observing them through a viewfinder. The best kinds of shots are those when they’re laughing really hard, gesturing (fist pumps and high-fives) or reacting to the audience. WAIT for those moments to present themselves, then click.

(6) The real photograph happens after (or before) the “money shot”

My modus operandi is to capture people at their most candid, but for those occasions when a group shot is called for, I like to photograph multiple frames: Before, During and After. I especially like the “After” phase, when members of the group think the shot is done and relax, or start joking with someone else off-camera – now THAT is the money shot.

(7) Get enough rest

You will be moving around alot, to get images from different perspectives, as well as walking from one event location to the next. You need to be in tip-top shape, mentally and physically, so the preparation for the event begins even before you get there. Get enough sleep in the days leading up to the event, and during the event itself, make self-care a priority (as much as possible), by taking baths, having massages, naps, etc. You can’t pay attention to your surroundings if you’re not 100 percent present, so the quality of work totally depends on how much you take care of yourself. Happy photographer, happy client. Simple as that.

(8) Get Fit

Run, walk, swim, do pilates, yoga, taichi, lift weights – whatever it takes to build stamina and strength because it’s tough to carry around a heavy camera body (or two) and set of lenses for about 12 hours a day. The fitter you are to start with, the easier it will be.

(9) Wear Good Shoes

Flat, thick soles in black. You want sensible shoes so that your feet stay happy. Leave the three-inch heels at home.

(10) Have Fun

All events have an element of surprise, so a degree of openness is required. It’s hard to think of having fun when it’s the end of two long days and you still have 2,218 images to process in Lightroom by the next morning, but it’s imperative that you take time out to breathe, observe and smile. Because that will influence what you see, and what you capture, and what images you produce. So, work hard, but don’t take it too seriously, and have fun. Let the magic happen.

Hello hello – welcome, September, with your dusky evenings and chilly mornings. Our summer was awash with work, culminating in a quick, much-needed trip to France at the end of August. Word to the wise: one week is never long enough for a trip to Europe. Not from the West Coast anyway. It takes two days to travel (back and forth), three days to try to get over jet-lag, and then, it’s time to come home. C’est la vie.

So, yes. Things have been busy around here, but it’s a new month, the start of a new season, and I feel charged with excitement about what the rest of the year will bring. Partly because I’m headed off to India for six weeks starting in November, but also because this time of the year always fills me with a sense of renewal and anticipation. I am excited about peppering this blog with more stories, photographs and recipes in the weeks to come. I realize (and apologize) that part of the silence in the past few months comes from a perfectionist streak that I needed to publish the “perfect” post every single time. Perfectly written, perfect photographs, perfect recipes, perfect stories – clearly, too much perfection can cripple you. That will change, and with your help too, if you like! If there’s a story or a recipe or a photography-related question that you have which you’d like to see on this blog, let me know in the comments or drop me a note using the contact form. I’d love to hear from you!

And now – updates and photos!

The Thomas, Napa

I got a sneak peak at Napa’s newest restaurant, The Thomas when I photographed Executive Chef Brad Farmerie‘s creations for their menu. You may know him from his other establishments in New York City, like the Michelin-starred Public and Saxon + Parole. The newest addition to the AvroKo Hospitality Group‘s stable of restaurants, The Thomas is a revival of a Napa landmark, the Fagiani’s Liquor Store and Bar. Closed since 1974 after its owner’s murder, the restored space pays tribute to its historical significance with an understated New York sensibility. I highly recommend a negroni (or two) at their bar – which is not a bad excuse to savor the decor – and, if you get a reservation, a dinner on their rooftop terrace.

BlogHer 2012, New York City

I’ve been photographing BlogHer’s conferences for the past year and out of all of them, this one, the Annual, is their most overwhelming, intense and rewarding event, by far. While their Food conference is all about…..food (duh), and their Entrepreneurs conference is all about new ventures, their Annual conference, held every summer, is about heart. I suppose that’s what you get when you bring (mostly) 5,000 women together to share their life experiences covering everything from motherhood to grief to self-actualization. It’s been a month since the event and I’m filled with reflections and insights which will make its way here in the coming days.

Elsewhere…

I got my first taste of Jewish culture by photographing the Bar Mitzvah for a friend’s son, which featured the largest loaf of Challah ever, and the excitement of photographing the Hora while trying to stay out of everyone’s way. Fun times.

Towards the end of August, I spent a morning tasting delicious Chinese and Taiwanese teas in San Francisco (a very worthwhile way to spend one’s time), learning, in the process, the importance of appreciating – and consuming – quality tea. I also chatted with folks at The Sustainable Food Lab to learn about their efforts to work with the multinational food industry to bring about change. Both stories found on the Etsy blog.

If you’ve read this far, congratulations, here’s a treat for you. The folks at Etsy TV  just produced a short clip about Joe Threat, a smoke master in Kansas City, MO who’s not only on a quest to create the ultimate barbecue rub, but also to keep his family’s traditions and expertise of meat-smoking alive. The home-made smoker in his backyard is worth the watch alone. Labor Day may be over, but it doesn’t mean grilling season should end just yet. Watch, and enjoy.

This is what happens when a noodle junkie needs a fix. She starts looking at recipes in a whole new way, vigilant for opportunities to incorporate slippery, chewy strands of noodles for a quick, one-bowl meal.

Since I started experimenting with whole grains, I’ve come to realize how easy it really is to switch out the carbs in most dishes to feature quinoa, farro or even lentils, in place of refined wheat. I’ve committed this principle of substitution to heart in my cooking that I’m expanding it into noodle territory, particularly soba – Japanese buckwheat noodles.

While I’m firm friends with egg noodles (of the Chinese and Italian varieties) and flat rice noodles, soba noodles and I are still getting to know each other. It’s deceived me so far with its unassuming presentation at Japanese restaurants, arriving as a mound of buckwheat strands accompanied by its dipping sauce. Instead of viewing its simplicity as a statement of quality, I deemed it too boring for consumption. It wasn’t until I read Sarka’s post and got myself a copy of Plenty that I began to see soba in a whole new light, mixed with other ingredients and dressings for a very different type of dish. A little unconventional, yes, but inspiring nonetheless.

The edamame here comes by way of Cheryl‘s and Paulette‘s newly-released cookbook, Ripe. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s essentially a celebration of produce in all its technicolor glory. Organized by colors (red for cranberries, rhubarb and strawberries; yellow for corn and kumquats), each ingredient gets the royal treatment from Cheryl’s wit, a couple of suggested uses, followed by a recipe. There are many excellent ones to try (Blueberry Nutmeg Cake!!), but it was the Edamame Salad with Toasted Nori that really seduced me at the book launch party back in April. Yes, April. Somewhere between then and now, the substitution principle worked its magic, and voila, here’s a tasty noodle salad perfect for summer picnics. Don’t forget to slurp.

Edamame Soba Salad With Garlic And Toasted Seaweed

Adapted from Ripe and Plenty // Serves 4

A Japanese grocery store would be your best resource for most (if not all) of the ingredients. In her original recipe, Cheryl calls for toasting the seaweed sheets before shredding them. She later discovered that Trader Joe’s now sells packs of roasted seaweed sheets that are perfect for this dish, so get thee to a Trader Joe’s, stat. If you enjoy your meals with a bit of heat, feel free to increase the amount of chili and garlic. While everything can be prepared a day ahead and tossed together just before serving, I’d recommend cooking the garlic at the very last minute so that it maintains its crispiness.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 ounces/ 60 grams granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium serrano chili, thinly sliced
• 3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 14 ounces/ 400 grams dried buckwheat noodles
• 1 pound/ 454 grams frozen and shelled edamame
•  5-6 medium cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• About 6 sheets of Trader Joe’s roasted seaweed (each sheet measures about 2×3 inches).

Directions

1. Combine the rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar and salt dissolve.
2. Add the 3 teaspoons of sesame oil and the chili – veins and seeds intact – and set aside to cool.
3. Bring two quarts of heavily salted water to boil then add the noodles and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. When they’re done, drain and rinse in cold water and leave to dry on a tea towel while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
4. Cook the edamame according to package directions then drain and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
5. Combine the garlic and 4 tablespoons of sesame oil in a skillet over low to medium heat and cook until the garlic starts to crisp and turn golden. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes then remove the skillet from the heat.
6. To serve, toss the noodles with the dressing and edamame in a large bowl, then stir in the garlic-sesame oil mixture. Shred the seaweed over everything and allow your guests to help themselves.

I know I promised you a recipe “soon”, but between the previous post and now, life has gotten in the way, in the form of photography (where I taught) and yoga (where I was student) workshops that left me with just enough time and energy to meet deadlines and clients’ needs. I am happy though, to introduce you to the work of my friend, Pauline Stevens, based in Austin, TX. I met Pauline at Photomuse last November and became a big fan of her work. She has an eye for capturing the essence of a person or place that gives you pause and entices you to linger. Given our shared interest in photographing farms, people and all things food-related, I thought you’d enjoy her work too, so we’ve done a blog swap of sorts for our latest farm profiles. You can check out my story about Tomales’ Stemple Creek Ranch on her site, The Kitchen Press. Enjoy!

Bought in an auction for $30.00 dollars, this old trailer found a good use as Dayana’s happy chicken home. Snake and spider proof,  the old trailer  is not only functional (almost self suficient) but pretty cute as well.

With its own recycled water system, the tank is  filled with rain water so Dayana  hardly ever needs to fill it up. The large tank in the back can hold a week worth of food changing from a daily ordeal to a week’s ordeal.   The door is cranked closed at night so the chickens are safe and Pedro can sleep with no worries of predators getting to them.

The best of all is that it is also portable! If you are a farmer, as Pedro and Dayana are, the mobility of the trailer translates to well fed chickens which lead to rich yellow egg yolks and well fertilized soil.

“We spent so much time building  this chicken coop, that the only thing missing is WIFI and a shower” Pedro said.

The Schambons are still thinking of ways to improve Dayana’s  happy chicken home. “What about adding  a solar panel to automatically crank the door open in the morning,”  Pedro said.

“It is not too bad opening it myself, but it would make my job a lot easier! ”

Sounds like a clever idea to me!

I was in Seattle to photograph BlogHer Food a few weeks ago, and decided to arrive a few days before the conference to catch up with dear friends and the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. It was exactly what I needed. The weather was as grey and rainy as you’d expect for the region, but perhaps it’s because I get more than my fair share of sunshine in California that I found the landscape of pine and fir trees a refreshing sight from golden, sun-drenched fields. The other part I loved was being able to walk everywhere. To the coffeeshop. To the bus stop. To lunch. Oh, the simple joys of walking in the city, an activity I used to hate to my core, now viewed as a luxury and a delight. How ironic! It also helped that I was based in Greenwood, one of the city’s cutest neighborhoods, where everyone’s front yards are a testament to their green thumbs. Or they just have really talented gardeners.

As if the graciousness of the people and the city weren’t attractive enough, there is also the question of the food. Oh the food. Proudly local, sustainable and, of course, delicious, but without the self-consciousness and attitude you might find in a big city food scene (naming no names here). Delancey‘s pizza crust is certainly something special, as is Sitka and Spruce‘s homemade yogurt, their sourdough bread and their butter. I realize that it is a little ridiculous to wax lyrical over bread and butter, so I will spare you the horror – just get there already and discover it for yourself.

Then there were the home-cooked treats: Sam‘s red cabbage coleslaw that got better with each day; a dinner with Indonesian friends featuring the tastes and spices of home; and an evening of desserts featuring Ashley‘s essence-of-summer strawberry tart, along with other treats she whipped up in an afternoon. I was so spoilt by the hospitality it was just as well I only had four days for socializing. There were attempts to exert the work muscle as Marge Granola‘s packing elf, but we got distracted by the lure of happy hour cocktails on a chilly Monday evening. By the end of it all, I was well and truly ripe for some hard work!

And work I did, throwing myself into two and a half days of observing and documenting the essence of a conference. Capturing expressions, gestures, hugs, smiles, exclamations, details….there was always something to photograph everywhere I looked. And, being a blogger, someone to catch up with too. I really couldn’t have asked for a better job or a better team to have done it with, and the best part is, I get to do it all again in August, this time in New York! Here are some slideshows of Food 2012 while the Flickr page gets populated. Enjoy the images and I will be back soon with a recipe – it has, indeed, been way too long.

Late last year, Kasey at Turntable Kitchen approached me to create a couple of images to accompany a personal essay reflecting on music, food and dinner parties in the Turntable Kitchen household. It took me two seconds to say yes, and so it was that we found ourselves at their cozy apartment on a February evening breaking bread over a platter of cold cuts and cheese, before tucking into a fabulous Moroccan-inspired chickpea stew. All set against a backdrop of chilled out tunes curated by TTK’s resident DJ (hi Matt!). It was certainly one of the best ways to spend a stormy San Francisco evening. Here are my favorite images from the event and an excerpt of her piece a couple of photos down the page. Head over to their site for more words and Kasey’s full recipe – a delicious keeper for grey, chilly nights.

“There is no party or gathering in our home without a soundtrack. Carefully curated, and artfully executed. Early guests gravitate towards the red-lacquered turntable which plays the evening’s early tracks. A mood is created. An ambiance, of sorts.  As voices elevate and windows open to let in extra air into our second floor apartment, the music changes, too. We switch to digital and more bass. Music is never far from Matt’s mind, even when he is circling the room, I’ll see him pause and evaluate the status of his setup. He lights up when someone asks him what’s playing, or makes a request.

The convivial nature of our home, and what makes it a place where we create, share, feed and entertain our friends and family, is inherently tied to our two loves: food and music. And, to my surprise, cooking alone – without music – reiterates just how closely connected the two are for me, and how intertwined music is with cooking, and sharing, and creating a space where people want to connect and reflect.”

A few months ago, Spenser magazine approached me to photograph a story about the craft behind the tofu at Hodo Soy Beanery. Knowing nothing about the whole process, and always game for a new challenge, I jumped at the opportunity. Julie Wolfson and I spent a morning at the beanery before hopping across the bay to sample an array of tofu dishes at The Slanted Door. You can read the full story in the latest issue of the magazine (which also features work from fellow bloggers Rick and Asha) and, if you really really like it, purchase a printed copy for posterity!

After that visit, Minh invited me back for a stage at the beanery where I could really dig in and get a hands-on experience for the tofu and yuba (tofu skin)-making process. Despite being fully kitted out with state-of-the-art tofu-making equipment flown in from Taiwan, it is the human touch that does most of the work to create a slab of Hodo tofu. Machines steam the organic, non-GMO soybeans specially trucked in from the Midwest, crush it into a slurry to produce deliciously rich soymilk, some of which is bottled for consumption, and some reserved for yuba-making. The rest is transferred to another machine that adds filtered water and calcium sulfate (the coagulant), stirs it altogether and lets the mixture sit for a bit before piping it out into sturdy metal molds lined with cheesecloth. Now this is where it gets fun.

In order to get the right degree of firmness, you’ll need to drain the curds of most of its excess water before shaping it and sending it off to be pressed. Sounds easy enough, but for a novice like me, it was hard work (as it should be!). I got a good workout just an hour on the line lifting and draining those cheesecloths and prepping the molds to be set. I also discovered the true meaning of ‘artisan’, in that not every slab of tofu is going to be perfectly the same. My instructions for draining the curd, and for knowing when I was done, were all based on sight and touch, an expertise developed after many hours on the line, to know at a glance when a mold is ready to be pressed and when it still needs more hefting and draining.

Once ready, the molds are then pressed in the machine, which sets the tofu. The longer the press, the firmer the tofu will be, hence the importance of draining out as much liquid as possible before sending the curds to be pressed – excessively firm tofu is hardly any joy to eat, and while I’d also argue that firm tofu isn’t much of a joy either, I’ll save that story for another time.

The other highlight of the day was spending time in the zen corner of the beanery where fresh tofu skin is made. It’s a surreal landscape of soy protein, with laundry lines of supple, wrinkled soymilk skins hung out to dry in a field of steam. And it smells so good. I grew up with this aroma, where a glass of freshly made soymilk was a morning’s reward for accompanying my grandmother on her grocery trips to the market. It is an unforgettable fragrance, soft and mild yet silky rich, a tease for the senses heralding the pure bliss of having one whole mug of fresh soybean milk all for yourself. Gosh, I’ve just made myself homesick right there.

The yuba corner is another example of the artisan principle at work. Soymilk is kept warm at a constant temperature of about 145F (63C) and left to develop a ‘skin’ on its surface, ready to be harvested when it turns just the right shade of yellow and just the right distribution of wrinkles. Then, you work quickly and carefully with a paring knife to dislodge the skin from the edges, pinch a spot on either side of its longest edges and hang it over the rack to dry. Speed, balanced with skill is imperative here so that you harvest the skin in one piece and avoid burning your fingers in hot milk.

Minh sells these skins both fresh and prepared which you can toss into salads or stir-fries. Because it’s difficult to find fresh yuba skins (they’re very perishable), I love using them to recreate some favorites from home or from the dim sum table. They’re also good added to broths or pan-fried to a crisp for a healthy garnish.

At our first visit, Minh passionately shared his – and Hodo’s – mission in the world of tofu. “I want to educate the public about what good, really good, delicious tofu, tastes like. Tofu is more than just a health food. I want to show that it tastes good and that it’s versatile and you don’t need to be a vegetarian or a vegan to enjoy it.”

Spoken like a wise Tofu Master. And as a fan of tofu and its associated products, I couldn’t agree more. Tofu is more than just plant-based chunks of protein that you substitute for meat.

So. Are you itching to make your own tofu now?