the foodie | food & foto

Archive | the foodie RSS feed for this section

{foto friday : for the love of leeks}

i recently had a random and brief discussion with a stranger about leeks. he mentioned that leeks are prominent in french cooking, which i found intriguing. he also said something like, “they have a lot of some magic property that is super good for you…” which made me giggle… and which i later discovered was polyphenol – the super antioxidant we all love so much.

i’ve always been attracted to leeks, though i never really cook with them much. i want to start using leeks more often in the food and foto kitchen.

i plan to add them in a frittata… yum! which actually, i do believe i’ve done before…

Tags: audrey michelle, beauty, cooking, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, leeks, Nature is cool, organic, photography, recipes, vegetables

Comments 2 Comments
Categories blogging, food, photography, the food, the foodie, the foto

{fall is for…}

4 Oct

wearing beanies…

{crazy over-exposure!}

and aspens… !

and buying yourself flowers…

and eating tomatoes…

and squeezing in final trips to the farmers market…

and seeing snowfall above 10K feet…

and enjoying breezy landscapes…

and making {chicken tortilla} soup…

and eating {chicken tortilla} soup!

🙂

hope you all have/had a terrific weekend!

Tags: autumn, blogging, colorado, cool, eating, fall, food, food and foto, fun, iphone photography, iphoneography, life, nature, nature photography, photography, pics, seasons, shake-it app, snapshots, travel, weekends, whatever

Comments 5 Comments
Categories blogging, colorado, food, life, photography, the food, the foodie, the foto, whatever

{fried green tomatoes}

1 Oct

happy october! are you loving the fall colours where you live?! this is my favourite time of year – i just love autumn! it’s also when i was born, so i feel most alive during this season. i’ve also been feeling very lethargic and sleepy… but i suppose that just comes with the change in season and light. i kind of wish i could just hibernate all winter… snuggle with callee more and eat tons of comfort food.

i’ve been wanting to make fried green tomatoes for a while now… what, being born in the south and all, it only seemed fitting. i can’t believe i had never tried to make them before! have you?! when i spotted these perfect tomatoes, i was inspired and excited. so – i practiced the KISS method :

oh.so.simple.

and beautiful.

AND delicious!!!!

i fried my green tomatoes in real sweet cream butter after slicing them about 1/3 inch thick, then dipping them in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs with a little S&P. i finished the ‘maters off with a topping of freshly-grated parmigiano reggiano. super simple, super easy, and super yummy!

Tags: autumn, colorado, comfort food, cooking, easy, eating, fall, farm to table, food, food and foto, food photography, fried green tomatoes, kiss, local food, photography, recipes, simple, vegetarian, whatever, whatever wednesday

Comments Leave a Comment
Categories blogging, colorado, food, photography, recipes, the food, the foodie, the foto, whatever

{i’m lovin’ it…}

27 Sep

…this random hash with onion, garlic, potatoes, bacon, tomatoes, and kale.

…this. *giggle*

…subtle reminders.

…these $5 birks i scored at a thrift store in moab – never been worn!

…fresh halibut – worth the splurge!

…fishin’ somewhere near paonia.

…creating farm-to-table meals with elk meatballs, wild boletus mushrooms, sauteed swiss chard, fresh salad.

…my new job.

…a perfect tomato from a friend’s garden.

…making wishes at the wishing tree.

…a beehive, right by my house!

…the fact that peach season is officially over… i enjoyed one final one for desert after the bronco game.

…my tomatoes are finally taking off.

…tomato bounty!

…glowing sopris… {and the fact that it’s still been nice enough to even wear sandals!}

—

enjoy your weekend!

Tags: audrey michelle, blogging, colorado, eating, food, food and foto, iphone photography, iphoneography, life, love, mountains, photography, photos, pics, shake-it app, snapshots, summer, updates, week in fotos, weekends, whatever

Comments 2 Comments
Categories blogging, colorado, food, life, photography, the food, the foodie, the foto, whatever

{mini caprese stacks}

10 Sep

finger food is my favourite! i believe in touching and playing with your food!! 😉

and i’m kind of obsessed with tomatoes… i eat them with almost every meal, it seems. i love the colourful variety of them. little, big, funky shaped, speckled… deep colours, bright colours…

i especially love to make little snacks with tomatoes – any way i can.

and so, i present to you… the most adorable mini-caprese stacks ever. at least by my standards.

😉 Continue reading →

Tags: audrey michelle, caprese, easy, eating, farm to table, farm-fresh, food, food and foto, food photography, photography, recipes, simple, snacks, tomatoes, vegetarian

Comments Leave a Comment
Categories blogging, colorado, food, life, photography, recipes, the food, the foodie, the foto

{food photography : watermelon radish}

7 Sep

how cute are these?!

i don’t even know what to say about this adorable vegetable. when my new boss {i left the corporate world last week – details to follow!} told me that this looked like a watermelon inside, the first thought in my head was, “well, that would fotograph just perfectly with black lava salt!” 😀

now, i am not the biggest radish fan on this earth, but i do occasionally get cravings for them. i roasted some once, which totally changes their flavour – almost making the “bite” more tolerable. radishes are high in vitamin c and potassium, and they are a very low-calorie food.

these watermelon radishes are so pretty…

and sure enough, are a bright magenta colour inside!

watermelon radish…

so i obviously had to cut them into little watermelon-shaped slices…

sprinkle on some wonderful black lava salt.. for taste, and for effect! 😉

hello, watermelon radish!

nom nom… nom.

Tags: audrey michelle, colorado, colorado produce, eating, fine art, food, food and foto, food is art, food is cool, food photography, local, local produce, photography, pretty, radish, watermelon radish

Comments 20 Comments
Categories art, blogging, colorado, food, life, photography, the food, the foodie, the foto, whatever

{cool as a cucumber}

30 Aug

cool as a cucumber

😉

Tags: art, audrey michelle, cool, cool as a cucumber, cucumbers, eating, farm to table, fine art, food, food and foto, food is art, food is cool, food photography, life, local produce, locally grown, nature does it best, nature photography, photography, produce, weekends, whatever

Comments 8 Comments
Categories art, blogging, colorado, food, life, photography, the food, the foodie, whatever

{artisan salts : black lava}

22 Aug

perhaps you may know by now, that i have a major affinity for salt. himalayan pink salt being my top pick… in fact, i love salt so much that sometimes people buy it for me or bring it back from france as a gift… {how lucky am i!?}

this beautiful salt is called “black lava” and i recently discovered the most interesting thing about it. apparently, it is simply salt from the hawaiian shore that has been “infused” with activated charcoal… typically from coconuts. WHAT! did you know that??!! crazy! therefore, this awesome salt is also very detoxifying and has been used in spas across the country. furthermore, i discovered that it is considered a “finishing salt”… which i must’ve known instinctively {thanks to my intuitive-eating lifestyle}, because i totally just put some on this delicious tomato the other day and devoured it…

it has a slight smokey flavour and i just love the colour!

definitely nab some up if you find it in your specialty department or store. it’s worth the extra expense, and the trace mineral content is also very high in this salt, which just adds to its awesomeness.

Tags: artisan salt, audrey michelle, beauty, black lava salt, colour, colourful, condiments, cooking, eat the rainbow, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, foodie, healthy, minerals, salt, specialty, specialty foods

Comments 7 Comments
Categories blogging, food, life, the food, the foodie, the foto

{divided}

4 Aug

sometimes i feel like these mushrooms… totally divided.

Tags: eating, fine art, food, food and foto, food is art, food is beautiful, food photography, local, mushrooms, organics, photography, produce, whatever

Comments 4 Comments
Categories art, food, photography, the food, the foodie, the foto, whatever

{once upon a time, last week…}

3 Aug

… i took this kickass foto…. that i just love. ❤

{oh – and it rained like, a ton!}

… i was housesitting, and this awesome little chicken was one of eleven that i had the fortune of feeding and watching while the owners were away… they are so cool!

… i had this for breakfast : a sausage & cheese croissant roll, two flax seed chocolate brownie muffins, and my trusty half caff americano {with a little cream}…

… i totally saw this dead snake in the road………. oddly, the first one i’ve seen at all since moving here.

… i made my famous morning smoothie………… a few times 😉

… i looked up at the sky.

… i took a silly selfie on the bus and tried to be all discreet but made myself look even sillier… 😛

… i harvested these absolutely beautiful organic cherry tomatoes and some mixed baby greens from the garden outside of the house i was sitting…

{so grateful!}

… and i added in shredded chicken, olives, cucumbers, sharp cheddar, red onion, and dressed it in a french vinaigrette… YUM!

… i saw like, four billion ants………… i wonder what they were all working on…

… i saw these carrot-tops poking through a cute little community garden…

… i ordered and devoured an entire 12 inch pizza called the “BLT” from my favourite local spot… it’s seriously like eating a blt on a round pizza pie : “crispy bacon, smoked provolone, garlic, onion & house-made sundried tomato pesto topped with shredded leaf lettuce tossed in our famous house-made ranch” it’s one unique and delicious pizza. they serve the lettuce and fixins’ on the side so you can dress it by adding the lettuce topping at the end. it is AHH-MAZING! one of my favourite pizzas, for sure!!!!

———

happy sunday!

and, always be sure to eat a lot of {healthy, colourful} food and take a lot of {awesome} fotos!! 😉 ❤

Tags: audrey michelle, blogging, colorado, food, food and foto, fotos, fun, gardens, iphone photography, iphoneography, life, mountains, photography, shake-it app, updates, weekends, whatever

Comments 5 Comments
Categories blogging, colorado, food, life, photography, the food, the foodie, the foto, whatever

{exploring new produce : temple oranges}

24 Jul

when out at the market, i always browse the organic produce for anything new and exciting to blog about and eat. this brightly coloured citrus caught my eye and so i nabbed them up to try…

i’m a poet and didn’t know it! 😉 Continue reading →

Tags: citrus, eat the rainbow, eating, food, food and foto, food is pretty, food photography, fruit, oranges, organics, photography, produce, specialty produce, try-me, try-me tuesday

Comments 1 Comment
Categories photography, the food, the foodie, the foto

{“i can make that!” – coconut flax granola}

17 Jul

i get on these kicks where i think i have all the free time in the world to constantly be making my own food… particularly, easy snacks. i’m such a label-reader, that i’ll look at the ingredients and be like, “i can make that!” 😛

this time, it was granola.

i had a gigantic container of organic rolled oats sitting around, waiting to be turned into breakfast vitamix cookies, but i kept forgetting to buy jelly! so as i was grocery shopping the other day, it came to me. “dude, audrey – you should totally make your own granola!” what inspired this was my other new favourite obsession right now – yoghurt. i know it’s nothing new to a lot of you, but i never much cared for yoghurt and suddenly – just like sauerkraut, and eggs – i can’t seem to get enough yoghurt. so – i was completely stoked when i saw my favourite brand, noosa had introduced a coconut flavour!!! holy smokes dude. AHH–MAZING! and i love noosa because they use milk from pasture-based cows. LOVE THAT!

anyway, to bring it all full circle, i was like, “self, you should just buy some coconut flakes {super cheap} and use some pantry items to create your own granola to compliment this amazing yoghurt discovery!” {sometimes i do talk to myself like that} and so i did it – i bought some organic coconut flakes for about $2.00 and had the rest of the ingredients at home. as per usual, i didn’t exactly measure – so i don’t have an actual recipe for you, but if i can wing it, you can wing it! 😉

ORGANIC HOMEMADE COCONUT FLAX GRANOLA :

– rolled oats

– maple syrup

– vanilla extract

– coconut oil

– flax seeds

– coconut flakes Continue reading →

Tags: coconut, cooking, DIY, easy, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, foodography, fun, granola, healthy, healthy eating, homemade, photography, recipes, simple, snacks, vegan, vegetarian

Comments 6 Comments
Categories food, recipes, the food, the foodie, the foto

{wanderer.}

28 Jun

selfie.

awesome local gardens.

this.

and this : “each moment of the year has its own beauty.” – ralph waldo emerson

soaking up the sunset.

playful portraiture with callee cat.

sigh.

head in the clouds.

reminder.

Tags: audrey michelle, blogging, food and foto, gypsy, iphone photography, iphoneography, life, photos, pictures, selfies, shake-it app, updates, week in fotos, weekends, weekly recaps, whatever

Comments 4 Comments
Categories blogging, colorado, life, photography, quotes, the foodie, the foto

{farm-fresh, multi-coloured, organic speckled eggs}

26 Jun

i think it’s so amazing and interesting – how our bodies speak to us.

i find it so interesting how our dietary needs can shift and change over the years, also. for example – i never liked eggs much when i was younger… and over the last 3-5 years i’ve just been love love loving them! i can’t seem to get enough eggs. luckily, i’m able to buy farm-fresh locally raised eggs which were fed a non-gmo organic diet – free of soy, too! afterall, you eat what your food eats. so i choose only organic dairy and meat products for this reason.

i’m so thankful i can purchase these {incredible, edible} eggs close to where i live!

——

they are just beautiful… don’t you agree?!

diversity is beautiful…

uniqueness is beautiful…

food is beautiful!!!

Tags: 100 mile diet, colorado, eating, eggs, farm, farm to table, food, food and foto, food photography, fresh, local, mountains, organic, photography, real food, western slope, you eat what your food eats

Comments 11 Comments
Categories colorado, food, life, the food, the foodie, the foto

{“progressive one-pot” make-ahead meals : buffalo sausage w/ zucchini, red peppers, and sauerkraut}

22 Jun

this meal was a total inspiration from a co-worker who i spotted eating this on his lunch break at least twice last week. so – i totally begged him to give me the recipe. i added my own variations, of course… and you can make as much or as little as you want, but the base is simple :

– sausage of choice {i picked buffalo andouille from the buffalo guys – they have great ethics!}

– zucchini {cut into 1-2 inch strips}

– red peppers {also cut into 1-2 inch strips}

– sauerkraut {i chose bubbies brand}

and, i chose to add in a handful of shredded carrots because i had them around… and about a cup of kelp noodles, which i’ve written about here.

Continue reading →

Tags: audrey michelle, batch-cooking, cooking, easy, food, food and foto, food photography, gluten-free, make-ahead meals, one-pot meals, photography, progressive one-pot meals, recipes, simple

Comments 9 Comments
Categories food, photography, recipes, the food, the foodie, the foto

{thirsty thursday – circus boy by magic hat}

19 Jun

this was on sale at my local liquor store recently. circus boy is one of my favourite hefewiezens, and i love that the company calls it an “elixir”!

…the trouble with these light, florally and fruity brews is that they tend to go down pretty easy; like orange juice – so tipping a few back ain’t no thang… until i have a headache the next day…

this is where i go, “please drink responsibly…”

😉 😛

Tags: adult beverages, beer, circus boy, drinks, food photography, magic hat brewery, photography, thirsty thursday

Comments 3 Comments
Categories photography, the food, the foodie, the foto

{toasted bread cheese!}

9 Jun

i know what you must be thinking – “BREAD CHEESE?! that sounds… bizarre?! intriguing?! delicious?!”

…all of the above?!

it’s one of my favourite treats. it is rather expensive and therefore i do not buy it often. however, i had been craving it and so i nabbed an eight dollar chunk from my local market.

i had this ridiculous butter just waiting to be used. i normally serve bread cheese with maple syrup and i swear it tastes like french toast! i’m telling you – this stuff is insanely delicious!! Continue reading →

Tags: artisan cheese, bread cheese, butter, cheese, cooking, easy, eating, food, food and foto, food photography, meatless monday, photography, simple, vegetarian

Comments 5 Comments
Categories food, photography, the food, the foodie, the foto

{meaty monday : farm-to-table mini sliders}

19 May

i am so blessed. i need to keep myself in check whenever i feel that i am anything otherwise.

i live in this amazing place where i have access to amazing locally grown and produced food – including quality, pasture-raised, grass-fed, fresh beef. now – some of you may be shaking your head at that word, reading it here on this ol’ blog – food and foto. you’re probably like, “wait a second -i thought she was like, vegan or something!? doesn’t she usually do meatless mondays?!” well, yes – yes i do. and yes, for about four months once – i was vegan.

but dude, i’m not anything – i’m everything. and right now i’m really enjoying eating lots of grass-fed beef, butter, cheese, and dairy. i can’t seem to get enough of it. i feel very blessed to have regular access to grass-fed beef products. have you ever had the pleasure of enjoying grass-fed beef?! it simply doesn’t compare… it is just amazing!

while at my personal favourite market, i picked up some grass-fed beef produced from a local ranch where i live and was inspired to create these adorable mini-sliders. nothing special about them, really – other than the fact that this meal is basically farm-to-table! i just wanted to share the pictures and rave about how happy and grateful i am that i live in a place that values the ethical treatment of animals and provides availability of these great quality products to an equally-compassionate and educated foodie like myself! 😀 Continue reading →

Tags: 100 mile diet, animal compassion, burgers, colorado, consciousness, farm to table, food and foto, food photography, grass-fed beef, intuitive eating, local, meaty monday, organic, photography, ranching, sliders, western slope, whatever

Comments 4 Comments
Categories colorado, food, photography, the food, the foodie, the foto

{sunday brunch for judi – and a very happy mothers day to EVERY WOMAN out there!}

11 May

i miss my mama. today and all week. i’ve missed her since april 14th of the year 1993. this time of year is hard for me – i won’t sugar coat that. sometimes randomly, i’ll think of something that reminds me of her and it will be hard. it never gets easier. however, i find comfort when i spot a penny on the ground, or when i catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and do a “double take” because i look so much like her… and i find great comfort in knowing that i am now living in her favourite part of the world. she was absolutely in love with these rocky mountains – and it’s an honor to live here… for her and for me.

if my sweet mother judi were alive today – i would make her this simple and amazing brunch… which i’ve been eating every day for like a month now. i buy the ingredients from a local store here in town and it’s all organic, fresh, and farm-grown – you know, like how REAL FOOD SHOULD BE!!!! 😀

sunday brunch for judi :

– farm fresh organic eggs

– asparagus

– cippolini onions

– garlic

– bacon cubes

– colourful cherry tomatoes

– herbed goat cheese

– fresh fingerling potatoes

this dish is perfect for one – what with my cute little ramekins and all… but i do have a second one, and would love NOTHING MORE today than to be cooking for my mama and using the other one.

i lined the bottom of my ramekin with avocado slices, to start… Continue reading →