dill is one of my favourite herbs and it is very easy to grow!
and check out how pretty it looks when harvested in this stage – 😀
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{happy 12th birthday to food and foto dot com!}
22 Marit’s my blog’s birthday today! 😀
WOOHOO!
it’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 years since i started this cute little blog and created my website!
it’s been such a fun journey and i have thoroughly enjoyed this artistic and expressive playground. not only do i relish in taking fotographs and eating delicious food, and rambling about random things, but i very much also delight in writing about said things and sharing it with all of you!
if you are new here – WELCOME! and thank you for stopping by!
here’s a little something i wrote 12 years ago about myself… so funny to look back at that time in my life. i remember exactly where i was sitting when i very first sat down and decided to create this space on the internet. a space to express myself, to share my passion for food and fotography, and to explore my storytelling in a personal way.
i pour a lot of my heart and soul into this space and what i love most about it is that i can be as creative as i want in how and what i share. i also feel like this blog holds me accountable in a way… as in, helps me set aside time to be creative. i don’t have a lot of social media and although i do try to maintain it, this blog and website has been and will continue to be my main focus. it’s personal. it feels different.
in 12 years i have been fortunate to have over 1800 of you wonderful readers subscribe to my blog and take the time to read and engage… and for that i humbly want to express my GRATITUDE. especially to those of you who have been with me the entire time… from the start… encouraging me, supporting me, being my personal cheerleaders! THANK YOU! my hardcore fan, ANT – you know who you are! thank you for your unwavering dedication to supporting me and for your amazing friendship! i wouldn’t be here without you.
this year i am focusing a lot on maintaining food and foto dot com in a more consistent fashion. when i first started, i was blogging up to 5 times a week – whew! and for a little while, i wasn’t blogging at all. now, i believe i have found a healthy balance. my life has taken many twists and turns in 12 years. you’ve seen me living in a tiny house, traveling to new york, cooking yummy things, drinking yummy things, growing yummy things, and writing about all kinds of things like astrology and the moon… and of course, my kitty. sometimes i’ll look through my old posts and i think to myself, “wow, did i really just say all that on the internet?!” haha. but most of the time i laugh at myself and realize that in 12 years, a lot is bound to change… this blog, the world, life, ME…
{then and now} – wow!
and some things haven’t changed… i am a creature of habit and my “look” and “style” and overall marketing within this space is something i have not wavered from… i put a lot of thought and attention-to-detail into my blog, my business cards, the food i cook, my greeting cards, my art, and everything that is food and foto dot com – the aesthetics, the representation, the feel – all of it! this blog is an extension of WHO I AM… much of which is consistent, reliable, and faithful… and some of which is ever-changing, ever-growing, and ever-impermanent. and i celebrate all of that! 😀
so i’ve learned to have patience and grace and appreciation with myself over the years…and mostly – have a little fun!
and i hope you have a little fun while you’re here – click on some things, learn some things, teach me some things, share some things… and remember to keep it seriously simple!
AND! this is still hands down one of my favourite fotos of all time :
also – this one is a classic :
{it’s true!}
❤ ❤ ❤
nom nom click click!
{this one goes out to judi}
21 Aughappy birthday, mama! ❤
i miss you so much! ❤
i miss you more as i get older – ardently, i just want to be able to take you to lunch or bring you flowers or treat us to a pedicure or meet for coffee or go for a walk or call you on the phone and complain about something that in the grand scheme of things is/was probably irrelevant or unnecessary but you would make it feel that much more important because you loved me so much and everything i cared about mattered to you. i also wish i could call you to talk about the hard things, too… and i just know you’d give the best advice and offer the best most loving support. i wish i could hear you say my name even just one more time.
not a day goes by that i don’t think about you… your love, your heart, your spirit, your mind, your energy, your humour, your kindness, your gentle nature, your hair, your eyes, your hands, your scent, your voice… the list goes on and on.i
i remember you had a tender and fragile heart of gold. i remember you could play the piano with such grace and ease. i remember you could read sheet music like it was a language to you… even songs you had never even heard before… if it was in front of you, you could read it and play it as if you’d been playing it forever! {anything by phil collins always comes to mind!} i remember it also was so crucial to you to teach us music – it was written in your soul. i remember you making funny faces on long car rides to entertain us… we called it the “bear face.” i remember you did this silly thing with your hand to crack me open and make me giggle when i was being stubborn or ornery. i remember you constantly encouraged me to write and to be creative {SO many days spent rearranging the furniture without asking you, and you would come home and praise me for it anyway!} i remember before you passed away, you sweetly requested to be buried with one of my stories that you had laminated and wire-bound for me. i remember you taught me how to use a typewriter and now i can type almost 90-words-per-minute on a computer. i remember nothing was as important to you as your children. i remember your favourite meal was stuffed shells {maybe i should make that today?!} i remember you were soft-spoken and understated, but also incredibly tenacious and resilient. i remember people noticed you, even though you didn’t want the attention. i remember that everyone remembers you. i remember that you left a remarkable impression on everyone you engaged with. i remember you had a quiet strength that i feel has been instilled in me because of you.
i remember that your very loving spirit and energy and influence are still present here, helping me every day to be better… and you leave me pennies… and you reconnect me with and/or bring people into my life that also remember you… those who share you with me… with whom i relate, connect, and learn from… and even those that never had the privilege of knowing you… the mothers in my life that give me motherly love… that accept me and honor me and show up for me… those who have “adopted me” ❤ !!!
{*** LP, PL, SJ – shout out to you… you know who you are, and i’m forever thankful to and for you! ***}
when someone compliments me in just about any way, i pretty much always say – “i got it from my mama.”
and another thing! — why does my cat remind me of you?! ha! one of my fondest memories since you’ve been gone is when we threw you a birthday tea party! i would love to do that for you again. the older i get, the more i look like you. lately, i keep my hair short – which i personally like for lots of reasons, but also mostly because it makes me look more like you. last week, i was treated to a dinner out for the first time in a long time, and i carried your denim purse with me… it’s so 80’s and it’s so fabulous! {still can’t believe all the fashion stuff eventually circles back around – haha!} there are lots of things that were yours that i kept for many years and eventually let go of… but some things i held on to, and i love that you find ways to remind me that you’re still with me, and within me. most of that comes with an intangible feeling in my heart and not from material things. ohhh, how i am continuouilsy so thankful for that!
i am so thankful that you were and are my mom and that i am your daughter! i will continue to celebrate you and all that you did and all that you showed me and all the ways i am like you! i love you, judi.
to my readers : thank you for having the space to allow me share these very personal and intimate thoughts about my beloved mom on this special day. thank you to those of you that have been on this journey with me all of these years. thank you to those who reach out and show me love through your thoughts, words, and actions.
to all of you : love the ones you love with all the love you have. always and forever…
{spring is springing… again!}
16 Mayi was recently having a discussion with a dear friend the other day about rebirth and resurrection and cycles of life, etc. and i was thinking about how gardening is one of the most fascinating things for me because plants go through all of the cycles… birth through death and then rebirth… it’s fascinating and marvelous to witness. springtime is so incredible because we get to be renewed with LIFE again… each and every time.
it has been a simply marvelous spring season here in maryland! we have had lots of rain lately, so everything looks so lush and green and vibrant! i just can’t help but pause to admire all the beautiful blooms up and down the streets and in peoples yards and gardens! i snapped a few fotos with the iphone, and here are some images of the beautiful flowers i’ve been seeing lately on my nature walks… 🙂
{don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers!}
i am so excited for the next round of blooms! 🙂 ❤
{“hobo hands”}
15 Mari have some of the best friends ever! mainly because they are TRUE FRIENDS, but also because they give me the best gifts. many of which are homemade and/or handmade and/or practical and/or purposeful… all the things i appreciate… always given with love and thought behind it. true treasures, just like the friends and people that they are!
case and point : these fabulous fingerless gloves that a dear friend sent me for christmas last year. her sister made them and i think they are just fantastic! coincidentally, i had recently been looking for a pair of fingerless gloves to replace the pair i had for decades that finally unraveled. then these appeared and – !!!!!! they are so much better than anything else i was finding in my search!!! 😀
AND! they are in my food and foto colour! 😀
even though spring is approaching, i still wear these often because they keep my wrists nice and cozy!
THANK YOU, S & K!!
{happy holidays and happy new year!}
5 Jangreetings!
happy holidays and happy new year! {also – happy mercury retrograde for all you astrology fans out there!}
i hope you all are doing well! also, i wanted to welcome my new readers to this tiny little space on the world wide web. thank you for taking time to subscribe and follow along – i truly hope you enjoy the time you spend here at food and foto dot com.
as a personal goal, i am working to post new blogs at least once or twice a month… but ideally, my aim is to post once a week. as usual, you can expect the topics to include all things food and foto related – as well as the great outdoors, cool people and places, occasional astrology jargon, and general musings/ramblings from yours truly.
for example :
even though our temps have been in the mid 50s all week, this morning i was thinking about the weather and how i really never liked winter… this became particularly true when i lived in the high country in colorado and worked at 12,000 feet elevation {brrrr!}. i don’t enjoy the cold, although i do know that some people really do! the winter season is just not my favourite. however, i have recently learned to embrace each season for different reasons.
as humans, we are just as much a part of nature as nature itself. i sometimes feel we have really lost that connection and we often forget that we, too, have seasons. whether it be the “aging” process, or a relationship, or a job, or relocating/moving, or any other variables in life, we all go through seasons. and i believe that the winter season is a time to relax, reflect, and regain strength for spring. it’s a time to hibernate and go within, and most importantly – a time to REST!
personally, i {now} enjoy the downtime that winter has to offer more than I ever did in the past. of course – a lot has changed in my life which has offered me new perspective on this time of year… but nevertheless, i have certainly learned to embrace this season in a different way. plus, {in true introvert form} i enjoy working on a lot of puzzles this time of year – one of my favourite hobbies. 😉
also, i am not really big on “resolutions” – but i did make a short list of things i want to do more of this year. that includes :
- practice my piano/keyboard
- learn how to use {and use!} my sewing machine
- spend less time on social media and more time on my blog
- grow a vegetable and flower garden closer to my home
- get back into my exercise routine
- volunteer somewhere in my local community
- welcome more ways to sell my greeting cards
do you have any resolutions or goals this year?
{i’ve always wanted one of these!}
29 Juli have some of the best people in my life! thoughtful, genuine, generous people… and i’m so thankful!
for my birthday last year, a dear friend gave me this awesome feather pen and quill ink stamp kit. i have always wanted one! i casually mentioned it to this person, and one day she brought it to me and i just shrieked in excitement! 🙂
i have since written several letters and sent them out to a select few people… it is just so much fun! i found this cool stationery that i had been holding onto for years, and it was just perfect for this kit!
my thoughts are like this – the internet and social media and all of that have great perks… but i also tend to be a little old-school… in that, i will always love sending and receiving mail! so this is just a perfect addition to my artistic studio!
would you like a hand-written wax-stamped letter from me? go to my about me page and fill out the form with your mailing address information and let’s be pen pals! 😀
{praying mantis hatching}
20 Juni thought this would be a good post to celebrate the summer solstice! 😀
i have always been somewhat obsessed with the praying mantis. for as long as i can remember, i just thought they were so cool, and when i was a kid i used to look for them everywhere i would go! i saw one giving itself a bath one time and it was just about the most amazing thing ever. until i saw THIS! something i have had on my “bucket list” for a while…
backtrack a bit – when i lived in north carolina, a friend of mine found a praying mantis pod {aka ootheca} and saved it for me. i, of course, totally freaked out about it and immediately went to read about how to care for it… then i took a bunch of photos of it and eventually put in my garden…
i did not get to see that one hatch at that time, but this year… i totally made up for it. i found at least a dozen of these in my garden earlier this year. and in late spring, they all began to hatch… and all of these baby praying mantids started to emerge!
IT WAS SO COOL!!!
fun facts :
baby praying mantids are called nymphs. they hatch by the dozens {or sometimes hundreds} a while after the mama creates her ootheca pod {which tranlates to “a place to keep.”} praying mantids are so good for the garden! they are beneficial predatory insects… which basically means they prey the harmful insects which would otherwise harm or eat plants! and i just totally adore them!
{strawberry full moon}
15 Junobviously i have a little theme going here, lately… 😉
all things strawberry!!!
upon waking {accidentally super early} this morning, i went down to the park and captured a few fotos of the beautiful full {strawberry} moon. while there, i made friends with a few ducks, and even finally got to see some baby ducklings for the first time this season!
please enjoy these lovely fotos!
i just love that gradient sky! good morning {and good night} moon! ❤
see the blue herring?!
i just love a pier on a summer morning…
mama and baby ducks… they followed me around for a bit… it was so cute!
baby ducklings splashing around…
aaahhhhhh, morning golden hour! the best!
how was your morning? have a great day!
{homecoming portraits : mister C and miss R}
29 Octwould ya just look at this adorable couple!
i had such a great time taking some cute and fun fotographs of them right before they went out for their first homecoming experience! {ahhh, remember those days?!}
these types of portrait sessions are my absolute favourite! i love spending time with the youth, they always make me laugh and bring out the best in me! i especially love it when we establish an instantaneous connection! the lighting and weather in northern maryland were just perfect on this late october evening just before dusk, with the colourful autumn sky and leaves changing and falling. this sweet couple were both full of personality and instantly connected comfortably with my camera. i just love it when that happens so naturally!
here are a few of my favourite images :
i loved fotographing these cuties!
i loved their colour scheme!
i loved their laughs!
i love the preset filter i used for this image!
i loved their spontaneity! at one point, i asked them for a “silly” pose and this is what they gave me – haha!
i loved this candid moment! the struggle was real – trying to pin his boutonnière on properly.
i loved this solo moment when i asked miss R to “twirl” for me!
i LOVE this image! it is my favourite shot of the day… i LOVE the light and the chicken coop in the background!
i loved this portrait session so much!
{DIY up-cycled candles}
25 Octi love to repurpose things! do you feel the same way?
i know from personal experience that so many items get tossed out and/or thrown away, unnecessarily. i spent a large portion of my career in grocery retail trying to educate people on this subject… but i still don’t know if most people are acutely aware of where our “trash” goes. i feel like our society tends to have this mindset of “out of sight, out of mind.” that said, it is known that some of the highest physical peaks in parts of this country are not something like a mountain-top, but actually more like the tip-top of a landfill.
take that in for a moment… isn’t that crazy to consider?!
all of that said, i love to find ways to “up-cycle” items that would normally get thrown away or would end up in a landfill. recycling is a great option, but sometimes i think we tend to forget about the fact that we can also repurpose things. it’s easy to throw a decent glass jar into a recycling bin… but have you ever considered if you can reuse it for something else?
case and point : i have been loving these yummy french yoghurts that i have recently been buying at my local grocery store. i like them for many reasons… yes, they taste great! and that’s a major selling point! but the main reason i like them is because they come in glass jars. i LOVE to support and also repurpose products that choose to use glass… i’m all about minimizing plastic consumption!
i’ll get off my soapbox for now, but i encourage you all to think about what you throw away… and perhaps {re}consider a creative way to reuse some of the items you may normally toss out or recycle.
and now… onto today’s blog. 😉
a friend of mine gifted me some old candles that had been stored for a long time. the wicks were no longer usable, but the candles were in good condition and still had a great scent! so – i decided to take them home and reuse them to make some DIY {repurposed and up-cycled} homemade candles.
as i mentioned, i had been saving these yoghurt containers. i also repurposed some old candle containers.
i used my double-boiler that i scored at a local antique store {YAY!} i purchased the wicks and wick-holders online, and then i simply re-melted the wax and allowed it to cool slightly before pouring. this is not exactly a perfect method. there is a bit of science to candle-making, which i’ve recently discovered. temperature plays a factor, and in this case my DIY at-home method typically created a ‘sink-hole’. however, i also discovered that in my case, this issue was easily rectified with a second pour. plus, i’m not generally aiming for perfection with this project. {wow – can’t even believe i’m saying that!}
so – overall, i think they look awesome and i am proud of myself and the dedication to creation!
have you ever made your own candles and/or repurposed old ones? i would love to receive your feedback!
happy creating!
{funky fungi}
6 Octspeaking of mushrooms and fungi – check out this fantastic wild funky fungi that was recently gifted to me. apparently it’s edible, but it was just a little passed its prime when i got my hands on it. this amazing thing grows wild on a tree in a friend’s backyard. i wish i could remember the name. perhaps she will remind me before i decide to post this blog. another good friend of mine said it looked like a brain – haha. {he’s constantly saying silly things like that}
i love the golden colour! it reminds me of {yummy!} chanterelle mushrooms, but i was informed that this is technically a fungi. so now i’m curious about which is which… how to distinguish the difference, if there is one?! i think it may have something to do with the underside – the gills?! i’m going to do more research, and i welcome any insight from my amazing readers and/or forager friends!
so without further ado, here are some artistic fotos i took of this fascinating creation from our incredible earth.
update 03/17/22 : i am pretty confident that this is a “chicken of the woods” mushroom”…
it does kind of look like a brain in this foto
{fantastic fungi – local edition}
30 Sepy’all – i LOVE mushrooms! i always have. they fascinate me. i recently watched a super cool documentary that i highly recommend you check out – fantastic fungi. in discovering that film, i learned that mushrooms aren’t really a plant and they aren’t really an animal… they are like their own category. understanding that made me love them even more! i wish i could articulate just how amazing mushrooms really are. essentially they have an entire underground system in which they are all interconnected… and in some ways, mushrooms connect all of us, too! it’s just mind-blowing to learn and think about!
the weather has been just gorgeous here in maryland as of late. simply and purely perfectly autumn – warm sun, cool breeze, crisp air… the best! which means i want to get outside as much as possible! and so i went on a beautiful nature walk the other day and i must’ve seen at least 30 different kinds of mushrooms! i was constantly stopping and marveling at them. i snapped some pics with my phone and so i wanted to share what i saw.
i hope you enjoy and i truly encourage you to watch that film. i think i’ll watch it again and again!
{sunday (funday) snacks}
18 Julspeaking of eating seasonally and such…
on sundays lately, i’ve been curating a platter fully of yummy and healthy snacks to eat in leiu of lunch or dinner. i’ll have it out while i am cooking or relaxing or whatever else and just kind of graze on the snacks… basically all day.
here are a couple of pics of how i spent my last 2 sundays :
chianti-wine aged salami, garlic-herb wafer crackers, fresh avocado, fresh pineapple, locally-grown cherries, blueberries, & peaches, super thin pretzels, roasted mixed nuts, truffle parmesan crisps, dehydrated apples, apricots, dates, various chocolate, and a homemade kombucha spritzer mocktail
homemade tuna salad, organic mini toasts, garlic-herb salami, smoked oysters, mixed nuts, homemade pickles, fermented radishes, locally-grown broccoli & cauliflower, fresh avocado, dates, apricots, locally-grown blackberries & peaches, and a ginger tonic mocktail
{thirsty thursday – beer journal #1}
15 Juli enjoy eating and drinking seasonally…
for example, you’ll hardly catch me eating asparagus in the fall or winter. and on the same side of that coin, you’ll hardly catch me drinking a porter in the spring or summer. i like having foods and beverages to look forward each season. it feels fun and better overall for me and my lifestyle to eat and drink foods that are in season, and drink beverages that blend well with each season.
in the summer – i prefer to drink ales, lagers, and IPAs.
here are some recent beers i’ve tried that go well with the season.
a classic all-time fav
a clean northwest style lager
i’m a fan of this one because i love galaxy hops
love this bright pale ale with hints of ginger
citric pale ale with hints of kaffir lime
easy drinking golden ale perfect for summer
another fav of mine though i tend to drink it more in spring
highly complex flavour profile in this unique APA
{always look for the silver lining}
1 Juljust a lil’ reminder 😉
and also, i had the best intentions of updating this blog more…
and i still do…
and i will again…
and i thank you all for your patience and for showing up, even when my presence is a little more vague and sporadic than usual as of late…
and it truly means so much to me that you continue to choose to follow along in my journey, and read my blog, and engage…
and i’m thinking of my sweet cousin tony today… ❤
and that is all… for now…
{i heart lighthouses}
15 Marhey y’all.
is anyone else experiencing spring fever?!! my goodness, i’m SO ready for warmer weather!! and getting a small taste it this past week has me feeling the excitement of new beginnings and gardening season and all of the other wonderful things that spring has to offer!
in the spirit of daylight savings time, i took a short drive and a short hike to a little area close by to where i live. which reminds me… i have much to update on. your fellow gypsy queen has moved… again. i’m living back in maryland, where i spent many of my years as a youth. lots of reasons brought about this decision, and i am happy to be back and i love being so close to the water again.
all that said, i can walk to the river in 15 minutes, and i can drive to this amazing place in that same time. i feel most alive when i’m close to a body of water {preferably the ocean – which is still pretty close!}, and so i am loving living in this space again! given the 60 degree temps this past weekend, i felt inspired to get out of the house and take a drive to watch the sunset over the water. i brought my camera, so i’m sharing some of my favourite images… mostly it was me playing around with a bunch of filters and edits. i really love lighthouses!
i have so missed blogging and i look forward to getting back into a more consistent rhythm with it!
thank you to my loyal readers and those of you that engage with my posts, send me messages, and truly care about what i’m doing, and my life, and my art, and all the things. it means the world to me and i am so thankful to be back doing what i love so much! i hope you enjoy these fotos.
xxoo
signs of spring
signs of spring
mushrooms?!
sunset through the trees
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{homemade greeting cards by food & foto}
1 Jan
happy new year, friends, family, and readers!
2020 marks the 8th anniversary of foodandfoto.com! thank you for following along on my journey during all this time! it truly means so much to me to have you read, engage, comment, and support! i have loved hosting this blog and of course taking the fotos that go along with it. fotography is and always will be an outlet that offers my creative spirit tremendous amounts of joy!
i have missed you and missed blogging! sometimes time has a way of fooling us to believe that we are too busy to do things that really matter to us. i have been feeling this way over the last few months, and the holidays seem to have a way of exacerbating that feeling. in the spirit of the new year, i have been wanting to reconnect with my love of blogging and so i decided to start fresh today!
as you may already know, i make my own greeting cards which highlight some personal favourite images my eye {and camera} have ever captured. i have done this for years and enjoy it so much! it has been another fun way for me to continue creating, and people tell me they love to receive them as gifts for any occasion. in todays fast-paced world laden with gregarious social media, instant-gratification-induced text messages, perception-deceiving emojis, and the like… i find myself wanting to go back in time. perhaps i ought to use my typewriter to construct meaningful letters and perhaps one of those cool wax stamps with my logo on it, sent “snail-mail” style. my soul has always felt connected to a “simpler” way of life and that is why i still, to this day, send out greeting cards as a means of sending a simple “hello” or “thinking of you” to a loved-one.
don’t get me wrong, i love being able to blog and share things through this platform, but don’t you think there’s something to be said about a different means of correspondence?! for me, i believe it’s the idea of putting time and effort into something meaningful. i love hearing from anyone i care about via email, text, letter, face-to-face contact, smoke signal, or whatever… but i guess what i’m trying to say is i think the greeting card is something that should be appreciated and celebrated and that is why i continue making them. plus, it’s fun for me! ❤
though i am not generally very rigid about such things, as one of my new year’s “resolutions” i wanted to sort of “promote” my greeting cards a little better. i have never really done anything like this outside of selling them at art fairs. so, it is with {my introverted} humility that i ask for your continued support and consider investing in my art by purchasing some.
currently, i am offering my greeting cards as :
$6/each or $15/3-pack + $3 flat shipping cost
mix-n-match {pick your favs} or grab-bag style {let me curate for you!}
most of my collection includes some of my all-time favourite images and there are also some of my famous “door” images in the lot. some of my greeting cards are not yet featured, and if you choose to let me curate the package, you will receive some very special choices.
you can see some of the samples of my greeting cards at this link : greetings.
please contact me via email when you are ready to purchase and/or if you have any questions.
thank you so much for your love and support! here’s to the best year yet in 2020!
i am audrey michelle
i am a minimalist
food & foto 