Photos by Renee Comet,  Most of the foodstyling by Yours Truly

These crazy food bloggers don’t waste a second. I believe they were blogging on the fly. Incredible. Kathryne, the Food Muse, with whom I had a lovely conversation after our session, was kind enough to mention me in her Eat, Write, Retreat post.

Food Musings

#12.  ”A Closer Look at Food Styling and Photography”

I will never afford the camera and equipment that Renee had at her disposal. On the other hand, the tools of the stylist, Lisa, are everyday things that I can slowly collect. Having those tools will have an immediate impact on my photos.  Wow, was she a hard worker.

Thanks to everyone who made the weekend come to life! To read more, take a look at Renee’s excellent Eat, Write, Retreat post here.

The Baltimore Addys were awarded recently and some of the work which received golds included my foodstyling. I wouldn’t mind being credited in the program, so I must remember to speak up next year. It’s taken me 25 years to take note of these awards at all, so this is a step in the right direction. I’m on my way. Honored.

The Wheat Foods Network currently features my sophomore foray in chef profiles. Chef Andrew Little was a dream to interview and I found him very inspiring, in both his approach to cooking and his personal demeanor.

To acquaint yourself better with Chef Andrew, I recommend his funny and educational blog, Eat Like You Live Here.

As American as apple dumplings, the cooking of Chef Andrew Little, at Sheppard Mansion in Hanover, Pennsylvania, reflects deep pride in the heritage of South Central Pennsylvania. Land of the Pennsylvania Dutch, barely 50 miles from Baltimore, Philadelphia and Harrisburg, and another stone’s throw from Washington, DC and New York, the undulating hills of this stretch of mid-Atlantic is rich in agricultural and culinary resources. Chef Little is at home, and it shows.

When creating menus, “Presenting an in-depth taste of the area and its rich culinary history is foremost,” says Chef Little. Sourcing local ingredients, researching old recipes, and cooking from the heart all are paramount.

Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, with its roots in the kitchens of 17^th and 18^th century German and and Swiss immigrants, is not known for being light and modern. Chef Little’s interpretations, soundly rooted in tradition, herald an updated direction. Converting outsiders may be an uphill battle, but this man is up to the task. Dinners at Sheppard Mansion are renowned for authenticity, seasonality, freshness, and wonderfully contemporary surprises.

Historically, the economy of the Pennsylvania Dutch community was rural, founded on agriculture and the supporting trades, including millers. Grain and dairy farms continue to abound. Local wheat is still grown, and still milled. Wheat, in its many incarnations, forms the cornerstone of the seasonal, and as-organic-and local-as-possible menu at the Mansion –  Slippery Noodle Pot Pie, Creamed Chicken and Waffles, Sauerkraut Balls, Schnitz und Kneppe, Apple Dumplings and Shoofly Pie are all lovingly featured.

Read on here.

How a food stylist makes it.

This is the back view. Look under the salad closely. Those are instant mashed potatoes, made with hot tap water, used as a sort of “floral foam”. A salad is an arrangement, similar to a flower arrangement. Balanced and asymmetrical, poised and random, casual and pleasingly neat. There.

Looks nice, right? Chicken fills the biscuit with a little overhang. Guess what? I only had one piece of chicken – salvaged from a purchased breakfast sandwich from a fast-food joint – and it was a little too small for our biscuit.

Quick fix. This is what you do. Brush that puppy with a little vegetable oil and away you go!

Working with the Eddie’s family – bonds formed by blood, or time, or both – was a dream. These people deliver on all fronts – spirit, dedication, kindness, hardwork, not to mention DAMN FINE FOOD.

One more compelling reason to love Baltimore.

All photos by Dan Whipps

Eat Write Retreat!

Introducing the first issue of our new e-magazine, Kernels. Starting with this Winter edition, we’ll be bringing you quarterly stories, articles, recipes and more.

We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed preparing it for you.

Photos by Renee Comet

This recipe is mine, as in, I created it for the Wheat Foods Council. My first recipe development outing with these folks was a complete pleasure, a twelve-recipe pleasure. Lovely to be home, in my one-turn kitchen, thinking and cooking and thinking. About waffles, pasta, crepes, croissants, cinnamon rolls and…did I mention lasagne? Pretty darn fun.

Mine! Mine! Mine! Temporarily. Until I turned them loose to a new home.

Raspberry Pudding is the inaugural recipe, leaning away from winter and towards late spring. Make it now to inaugurate the optimism of longer, sweetly warmer, days.

Cherkasky is a D.C.-based food stylist, writer and crafter.

Describe what you do.

I’m the person who makes the food for the photographs. I shop and I cook, then I build it and work on the set.

Who sees the food?

I do a lot of magazine photographs, a lot of packaging and advertising. McCormick spice, Maggie Moo’s Ice Cream, Rich’s foods. I just worked on a book for the American Diabetic Association called “Diabetes Comfort Food Cookbook.” And I worked on the book “Dining with the Washingtons” which is the first cook book the Mount Vernon estate has ever done.

What was it like cooking recipes from the 1700s?

That was very interesting. They worked with a very well known culinary historian. I’m interested in culinary history, so I liked it.

What kind of recipes were in the book?

Hoe cakes, made with cornmeal. They had a mill for grinding corn at Mount Vernon. There was also something called a great cake, which was made with a lot of dried fruit.

How is food styling different than just cooking?

You have to know how to cook. I think I’m a much better stylist because I’m a good cook. Knowing food is really important if you are going to be a stylist.

What’s the most important thing to know about food styling?

That the food is always changing. It’s extremely perishable. It’s your job to keep it looking good as long as it needs to look good. It could be two hours.

How to you keep it looking good?

There are lots of little techniques. A lot of it is moisture. Using water and oil. I carry several boxes of supplies.

What do you use?

Glycerin, sticks and forceps, Q-Tips. I use lots of Q-Tips. And Armor All.

What’s Armor All doing on food?

It holds moisture in. It’s great on tortillas. It keeps them from drying out.

– Susan Ferrechio

The Examiner