Mar
24
Beets Resprouting
It’s amazing. After a long winter of storage these beets are bursting with life. As a kid, I remember taking potatoes with toothpicks and sitting them in a glass of water to sprout. Sounds lame when you compare that to surfing the web for half pipes in San Diego or looking for used laboratory equipment for your next science project on eBay.
I can’t find anything about eating or preparing resprouting beets, or other vegetables for that matter, but I have to guess that they’re at the market for a reason. Does anyone know how to prepare resprouting veggies?
Mar
11
12:37PM, 3/10/2010 - Apricot Blossoms for Sale in Union Square Market
Nothing says “Spring” like twigs with blossoms. So, I’m going to assume winter is officially over, even if we still have 10 days to go.
Somehow, mushrooms don’t say “Spring” at all.
Feb
23
11:43AM, 2/3/2010 - Late Season Winesap Apple with Dead Leaf
The leaf is dead, but the apple lives on.
I find it amazing that apples keep for so many months after harvest. According to AskMen.com (a web site for kitchen challenged men, among other things), “if stored in a cool, dry area (the basement and the fridge drawer are always good picks), apples can last anywhere between 3 to 6 months.”
Honey has an indefinite shelf life. Supposedly in Egypt in 1800, some archeologists found a pot of honey and, when opened, found it tasted just fine. (Both died later from the curse of Tutankhamen. >I’m making that part up<).
Sliced turkey, on the other hand, gets slimy in a few days.
Go Figure.
Jan
24
12/14/09, 10:14AM Union Square Market - Where's the Purple Broccoli?
Where’s the purple broccoli?
I make my marketing message as clear as possible because I want the attention of the smart, little shops with brilliant creatives who fly under the radar, as well as the equally brilliant big boys. I’d certainly lose the interest of those I wish to work for if I sent out a constant stream of mixed messages. Not an easy task in a competitive industry as this, but probably one of the most important lessons we can learn and a word we know all to well. Focus.
If you want to find your audience, keep your message consistent, your work focused and your vision clear.
Jan
07
Onion Mirror
A vision evolving.
While in the process of this particular exploration I’m finding there is a lot of failure. Not failure in the sense of exposure or composition, but failure in concept and vision. And, there’s certainly no value in putting images into my book simply because I did it. Right now, I’m developing the concept of a dark series. The vision is evolving and this shot is more like what I need for the new series; it definitely feels like a sister image to the Steak photo that started it all, back in October.
Now the challenge is to find a thread that connects my next dark image to the first two.
Dec
28
Eye to Eye with Blue
A little departure from my usual musings…
Every once an a while, when the sun is out and the time is right, cats go into the day crazies (there is a similar variation known as night crazies). They skitter, they leap, they walk sideways, turn somersaults, and levitate and transport themselves, in cartoon fashion, across various vertical and horizontal surfaces.
And then they plotz.
Cats, as I understand it, have no sense of self. But after an event of wild abandon, they head off to wherever the sun is streaming and lay in the glow of light and strike a pose,
or two,
or three,
or forty – in movie star fashion, in some kind of repose as if to expect the camera to capture them in their glorious, sultry elegance.
This time I obliged.
And, within seconds, she fell asleep in heat of the sun.
Sleeping Blue
Dec
28
Eye to Eye with Blue
A little departure from my usual musings…
Every once an a while, when the sun is out and the time is right, cats go into the day crazies (there is a similar variation known as night crazies). They skitter, they leap, they walk sideways, turn somersaults, and levitate and transport themselves, in cartoon fashion, across various vertical and horizontal surfaces.
And then they plotz.
Cats, as I understand it, have no sense of self. But after an event of wild abandon, they head off to wherever the sun is streaming and lay in the glow of light and strike a pose,
or two,
or three,
or forty – in movie star fashion, in some kind of repose as if to expect the camera to capture them in their glorious, sultry elegance.
This time I obliged.
And, within seconds, she fell asleep in heat of the sun.
Sleeping Blue
Dec
22
12:43PM, 12/21/2009 East 3rd Street between 1st and A
Like the snowstorm of last Saturday, the year is slipping away. 2009 looked good for a moment (here and there) until, like the snow, it turned into a syrupy slush. So,what’s the lesson learned this year?
It was all good.
If we learn from our mistakes, we grow and move on. We don’t whine and complain about the failures; we embrace and discuss the solutions. Why did I relaunch my studio business in the middle of all this? It was time to come back. I make a lousy employee.
2009? No, not a great year by any standards. But a good year nonetheless.
2010? Well, it goes without saying (although I am, aren’t I), it’s going to be a better year by a long shot.
Dec
15
10:12AM, 12/14/2009 Rows of Romanesco Broccoli
Swaying like the tops of pine trees blowing in the wind, these end of season romanesco broccoli are actually an edible flower in the Brassica oleracea family (cauliflower, not broccoli!).
Now that the clocks have been set back, I don’t have to get up quite as early to capture the more dramatic early morning light (It’s not like I’ve ever actually gotten up early to shoot these). People keep asking me if I light or arrange the Union Square, Shooting from the Hip photos. The answer is always no. The light and styling of the subject just happen to be that way when I capture the image.
P.S. All my friends have commented that, “Hey, they look like Xmas trees.” Silly me.
Dec
04
2:15PM, 11/23/2009 - Watermelon Radish at Union Square Market
Watermelon radish is a beautiful root vegetable with a magenta to white center that looks like it was made on a spin art machine. Although its nickname is the bleeding heart radish there’s no heartburn here. This radish is sweet, not spicy or bitter, which is a really good reason to try it if you don’t normally like radishes in salads. The watermelon radish is different and worth a try.
Here’s a link to New York Magazine for a Mâche-and-Watermelon-Radish Salad recipe by Akhtar Nawab, formerly of Tom Colicchio’s Craftbar and his own restaurant, Eletteria.
Simply wonderful.
