a food geek's dream day

yesterday was a day worth recapping in detail. it was by far, the most food-geeky day i have ever had. which is a rather impressive statement. it began with a light hang over, cured by the wonderfulness that is created at the honore bakery in ballard. after standing in their usual line of people out the door on a weekend morning, i sat in their little courtyard out back (my best kept secret that i totally just gave away!) and drank a creamy soy latte and munched on their spicy cherry bomb quiche and a salted caramel coconut macaroom while reading a gastronomica article on feminism and blogging. if you have not been to this bakery. go. right now. actually, they have limited hours, so make sure you go when they are open! and buy a croissant.

after breakfast, i went next door to the pantry at delancy, which i've mentioned before, for a six-hour food photography workshop. walking into the pantry, i felt a sense of nervous energy like it was the first day of school. i was brimming with excitement and unknown expectations. the class was taught my the wonderful duo behind the blog 'not without salt' ... gabe and ashley rodriguez. i've never had any formal photography training. i've been poorly self taught, fumbling with lighting and aperture and not knowing what i was doing, only what i was going for. so for the first time ever, someone explained to me the workings of a camera. we talked about lighting. composition. staging. editing. it was fabulous and so much fun to work alongside a bunch of other foodies with cameras. i am incredibly proud of the photos that i shot. before i depended heavily on editing, these photos are original shots. no editing what so every. just an image created by a camera. magic.

but wait there is more. my food geek day continued on... i tagged along with ashley and gabe who were headed over to book larder, seattle's only cookbook store, to visit their friends and my idols: sara and hugh forte of sprouted kitchen! they were in town doing a book signing for their new cookbook. which you should buy. i got to pick hugh's brain about his food photography style and chatted a bit with sara who shockingly had read my blog! major ego boost of the day. yes.

i love days that inspire me. so energizing and refreshing. they keep me motivated. redirect my energy and creativity. it's days like these that i live for.

as the poster on my fridge says: "my kitchen versus the rest of the world"