Gifts for the Foodie
December 20, 2011
This time of year is always a whirlwind for me. Between holiday prep, recent traveling for work, gift buying and festive gatherings, I haven’t had any time to spare, and am just getting around to sharing some of my favorite gift ideas this season– brought to you by my amazing friend, Leslie. She recently launched Gifts Curated, a collection of carefully handpicked items from independent artists and vendors, ranging from food to body products, candles, bags and more. Last weekend she hosted a brunch and trunk show at her apartment. Not only selling her items, but giving customers a taste of her products and leaving them with inspiring ideas of recipes they could try at home. On the menu was grilled chicken and tofu sandwiches using the spicy pumpkin ginger and tomato apple chutney sauces, popcorn with sea salt, cookies with raw organic cacao chips and her grandmother’s homemade pound cake recipe with caramelized bacon using barrel-aged maple syrup. I also included shots we did for her website of my other favorite products that I couldn’t resist sharing with you. Happy Holiday Shopping! x
Gold rimmed spoon and bowl perfect for olives
Alta Cucina's Basil Olive Oil is perfect dipped in a fresh loaf of Eli's bread
Oil & Bread
Spicy Ginger Sauce and Sandwiches
Saucy By Nature Spicy Pumpkin Ginger & Tomato Apple Chutney
Sandwiches, Pretzels and Saucy By Nature
Popcorn with Salt Farm's gourmet sea salt
Vandalia Street Press Card & Salad
Pancakes with Langdon Wood's Barrel-Aged Maple Syrup
Pound Cake, Bacon and Maple Syrup
Homemade cacao chip cookies
Graham Crackers and cacao chips
JC Hot Sauce
Sydney Hale Company Candle & TM1985 Hand bag
TM1985 Handbag
Aromatherapy bath salts
Annie of Gift Shop Brooklyn makeup bags
Donna D Goes to Seattle
December 16, 2011
For Donna’s second featured post, she took us to Seattle. Here’s what she has to say…
“I hadn’t been back to Seattle since I was in the fourth grade, so needless to say I jumped at the opportunity to go visit my cousin, her fiance and their oh-so stinkin’ cute daughter. My cousin and I are huge fans of oysters, so naturally our first stop was to Pike’s Place Market to find the freshest, fattiest, most juiciest oyster shooters around. We ended up getting a bit side tracked en route and sampled delicious crepes from Crepe De France, one of Nicki’s favorites. We also hit up Piroshky-Piroshky, a Russian bakery; however, the piéce de résistance of the market (besides the oysters) had to have been Daily Dozen Doughnut Company. Pure heaven. These donuts were warm and fluffy but had a marvelous crunch on the outside. I was eating them like popcorn– by the handful. Maybe that’s why I wore sweatpants on the remainder of my trip?
Spinach, Goat Cheese and Tomato Crepe at Crepe De France
Donuts being fried to golden perfection
The smell of donuts permeates the air
Russian pastries from Piroshky-Piroshky
Homemade in Red Hook
December 10, 2011
My roommate and I took the ferry over to Red Hook last weekend, an eclectic little community in Brooklyn, and one of my favorites. Stumbling upon Homemade, we couldn’t help but go in for a quick bite to eat. It’s warm, welcoming and has great food. I love their attention detail, like the leather and wooden tie around the coffee carafe. Sitting on the comfy white couch, we split the delicious special, charred filone with a ricotta spread.
Bread and Cheese
Bread, cheese and unlimited coffee
How could you not want to visit this place?
Our mess of food
A Taste of Syracuse University
December 5, 2011
There’s nothing like revisiting your college days. When I was back in Syracuse, my friend and I did a tour of my favorite hang outs around the University’s infamous Marshall Street. Although new additions include chains like Chipotle, the good old classics are still holding strong, so I opted for pizza at Varsity. I haven’t been back since 4 years ago when my professors took us after class. How quickly time flies. I continued my flashback food tour at El Saha, one of my favorite late-night spots, and I’m not the only one that thinks that. A sign in the window said it was rated 29th best late night college eat in the Nation according to complex.com. Already full from pizza, my friend and I split a beef gyro with feta, sprouts, and tzatziki sauce that was just as good as I remembered 4 years back.
Rootbeer float
Pepperoni Pizza
Beef gyro
Circa in Caz
November 30, 2011
While I was home for the holidays my mom and I had lunch at Circa, a small restaurant in the heart of Cazenovia. Using produce from local farmers and regional artisans, and their very own herb garden grown in the window sills, the dishes are prepared fresh and with thought. How can you complain about a sandwich served in the shape of a heart? Alicyn Hart, the chef behind Circa, has an impressive resumé as she’s traveled and cooked her way around the world, including a sous chef at a fly fishing lodge in Alaska, in guest houses in the Austrian alps, on private yachts around Mexico… you get the idea. She’s an inspiration for following your dreams and living life to the fullest.
Special of the day: tofu wrap
Main Street, Caz
Roasted free range chicken salad sandwich
Circa
A Rustic Post-Thanksgiving Picnic
November 27, 2011
It’s that time of year for my second seasonal themed dinner party. For autumn, I decided to go with a rustic outdoor picnic, inspired by my family’s leftover Thanksgiving food and style inspiration from my great grandfather’s fishing gear. For the ingredients I couldn’t find in the fridge, I spent the morning in the quaint village of Cazenovia getting fresh, local food from Troyer’s, a general store opened by the Amish (I have a whole other post on this I’ll share soon).
The Menu…
Drinks: Pellegrino Sparkling Orange Drink and Saranac Craft Beers
Appetizers: Maple Popcorn, Roasted Edamame, Vegetable chips and Homemade Trail Mix from Troyer’s Country Store
Main Course: Roasted Turkey Sandwich with homemade toasted bread, lettuce, tomato, basil infused mayonnaise, provolone and caramelized onions
Side: Saratoga country fried potato crisps seasoned with oregano
Dessert: My mother’s chocolate Italian roll cookies and homemade banana bread
Styling Tips…
• Pack each meal individually in a small cardboard to-go box for an easy transport to your great outdoor picnic location. Cut gift wrap from Anthropologie in thin strips and adhere to the sides of the box and label the menu on a strip of tape on the top of the box
• Birch bark as name cards and propped up at each place setting with one of my grandfather’s fishing lures
• Brown paper bags folded over, tied with ribbon and a burlap bow make for great serving bowls for snacks
• Sprinkle the center of the table with leaves and pine needles
• My great grandfather’s blanket from World War I as a table cloth
• Centerpiece floral arrangement, dried hygendra with a plume from ornamental grasses
Roasted turkey sandwich
Table setting and packed lunches ready to go
Homemade Trail Mix from Troyer's
Floral arrangement
Roasted Edamame
Country fried potato crisps with oregano
Boxed meals and Saranac Craft beer
Maple popcorn and birch bark place cards
Dried vegetable chips
Roasted Turkey sandwich
Drinks and cookies
Chocolate Italian cookies and banana bread
Recipe
November 23, 2011
I’ve been meaning to feature Recipe, a favorite restaurant of mine, that brings some of the best rustic, local farm cuisine to the city. Barely large enough to seat more than 20 or so guests, it lends to an intimate dining experience. Although I tend to grab it to go, I highly recommend waiting for a seat. You can tell they paid extra attention to styling details to give it that rustic farm meets city chic vibe. I was recently tempted to try their special of the day, the bleu cheese quiche, with a side of sautéed swiss chard and kale.
Bleu Cheese Quiche
Sautéed Swiss Chard & Kale
Recipe's Interior
A Year in Review
November 18, 2011
A Camera in the Kitchen turns 1 tomorrow! I cannot thank you all enough for your support and enthusiasm you’ve expressed to me. It’s been such an amazing year capturing and sharing the art of dining. I’ve dug through my archives to compile some of my favorites that I think best reflects this. From tasting California’s fresh fruit while dancing at the Coachella Music Festival, to chowing down on a burger in Montana after a day of snowshoeing in the Beartooth Mountains, or grilling Wahoo from Aruba’s local fish market in celebration of a friend’s birthday. It has been such a learning experience for me, and I only hope to bring more exciting things to the site in the year to come.
Above all, I’ve learned a meal is more than just satisfying your hunger, it’s about the experience, the culture, and most importantly the people you are surrounded by. Whether grabbing take out for an evening home with the roommates, or sitting at a cafe in Reykjavik with new friends, I always make the most of the moment, and the meal, and that’s what I aim to capture here. I hope my photos inspire you to take time in your own life to appreciate the moments shared over that dish. You may get too full for that last bite of pasta, but you can never be too full of great memories.
Some of the dinner parties we've hosted-- big and small
Travels to Iceland, Montana, California, Miami, Beacon and Newport
Travels continued through New Jersey, Montana, Iceland and Brooklyn
Summer Flashback from Donna D
November 9, 2011
I’ve decided to do a guest feature post once a month from my photo partner-in-crime, Donna. While she accompanied me in Iceland, and several other adventures around New York, here’s a flashback to summer time and what she has to say about City Island:
“Ever since I saw the movie, City Island, I was dying to make a trip over to this quaint little destination which is often described as a place where Cape Cod meets the Bronx. Being a Masshole expat living in NYC, I was surprised I hadn’t discovered this place sooner. So you can imagine how stoaked I was when my friend, Andrew offered to take me out on the Limerick (R.I.P his trusty Irish sailboat) for a day trip around the Long Island Sound. We enjoyed lobster brioche rolls, fries, salad and mac ‘n cheese from Aggie’s Roll, a trailer serving the best food on the Island, and finished up with chocolate ice cream for dessert from Lickety Split.”
Although the winter months are upon us, we can at least keep it on our list of things to do come Spring 2012!
Lobster brioche rolls and a side of fries from Aggie's Roll
Spinach & mushroom salad with a shallot vinaigrette
Fresh squeezed lemonade with a hint of mint
Lickety Split's chocolate icecream
Island Burgers & Shakes
November 7, 2011
This weekend my friend Kelly was here, and we ran around town (literally) for 2 days doing all sorts of fun activities like wedding dress shopping and cheering on our friends running the NYC Marathon. With little time to spare, Island Burgers and Shakes was the perfect quick stop for a delicious and filling meal on Saturday afternoon. Difficult to choose from the never-ending menu, we went with the Mona Lisa Churasco, a grilled chicken sandwich with mozzarella, pesto, sauteed onions, mushrooms, roasted peppers and Parmagiana reggiano on ciabatta. And I had the Roma Churasco, grilled chicken with thyme, rosemary, garlic, oregano and red pepper.
Roma Churasco
Fries & Ketchup
Roma Churasco
Mona Lisa Churasco
a camera in the kitchen 
