Had some good friends over for brunch today and made some peppered buttermilk biscuits. Everybody loves buttery biscuits….
I posted this recipe about 5 years ago here. Last time, I photographed the end result with my DSLR. This time around, I used my iPhone 5 & Camera+, my favorite camera app for the iPhone.
I randomly found myself at a Mexican grocery store over the weekend in Detroit and found some AWESOME bargains on fresh produce so I went nuts and got a serious load of tomatillos for only 2 bucks and made this delicious sauce for my chicken enchiladas that I planned for dinner on Sunday.
Perfection all the way around!
Ingredients:
– 2 lbs Tomatillos (roasted)
– 5 Cloves of garlic (minced)
– 2 Jalapeño peppers (halved & seeded)
– Lime (Juice)
– Cilantro (handful)
– Tequila (teaspoon)
- ½ Vidalia or sweet white onion
Roasted Tomatillos:
– Cut each tomatillo in half and place cut side down baking sheet
– (Optional) Drizzle a little olive oil (very little) & salt over your tomatillos
– Place your tray in the oven on broil for about 4-6 minutes or until the skins get a light/golden brown
- Once down broiling drain most of the juice & allow your roasted tomatillos time to cool
Back to the Salsa:
– In a food processor (or blender) add your roasted tomatillos & other ingredients then pulse until you get your desired texture
– Take a sip of the teaspoon of tequila then add the rest to your fresh ingredients
– Once you are satisfied with your salsa texture, salt & pepper to taste
- Allow your concoction to chill then serve with your favorite tortilla chips
Little known fact about me: I am not a fan of anything with pumpkin meat as ingredient. Period. No pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pie no pumpkin nothing. But I love the way pumpkins look. I actually find them to be quite beautiful and I do love toasted pumpkin seeds.
I guess this is kinda like me hating tomatoes but a HUGE lover of pico and salsa. I’m my own contradiction more often than not. On another note, I’ve been thinking about teaching a class on mobile device photography. Well, to be honest, I started thinking about it this morning.
Why? Because… there are some horrible mobile device photography out there.
Especially when it comes to food photos. Color, composition, & cropping are key. Going to let my idea marinate for a bit.
Catrinas are pretty scary looking but they are also beautiful.
The vision of autumn leaves take me back to my childhood where my aunts would take my brother, cousin & I on little expeditions to collect leaves in our neighbor on cold weekend days.
After collecting bags of all kinds of leaves, we would go home to make glue from a mixture of water & flour, which was used to glue the brightly colored leaves to construction paper. Then we’d ask our grandmother whose looked best. She would always say that they were equally nice. I know deep down, she was afraid to tell the other 2 that mine looked best.
Such a fond memory.
These days, fallen autumn leaves also remind me of the old jazz standard “Autumn Leaves” or “Les feuilles mortes” if you’re fancy. My favorite rendition is performed by Ledisi from her 2002 “Feeling Orange But Sometimes Blue” album.
“The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sun-burned hands I used to holdSince you went away the days grow long
And soon I’ll hear old winter’s song
But I miss you most of all my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall “
Johnny Mercer – Autumn Leaves ~1947
Sometimes you can just simply feel the love and passion coming from people.
People with a colossal love that seems so beautiful, soulful, and groovy.
While hunting for new soul house songs on Traxsource this past spring, I stumbled upon “Man of Summer” by QB Smith and was instantly hooked. I played the song on auto play & repeat for hours and adopted it as my 2013 summer theme song. Ever mutha needs a summer theme song!
The lyrics hit me in the right spot and reminded me of summer love and a connection to the earth and all things connected to light.
I, Tafari…. am a man of summer!
“I am fleeting thunder
on a blue horizon
nearby laughter
on an outstretched evenin’
I am a warm touch
all over your body
and shady branches
for your shelterIm a thoughtful moment
scorched emotions
cool remembrance
springs conclusionIm everything
Ive ever done
and ever seen
and ever felt
and Im ready
yes Im readyTo be the man you want
I am summer
Man of summer”
So I was out & about in DC last weekend doing my thing and all of the sudden, my super boo, Butta shows up. Things got real & real fun! Next thing I know, it’s a photoshoot.
You may know Butta from her award winning blog, Soulbouce (my favorite sources for new music) where she grinds hard as the Editor-In-Chief!
When my best friends, Brion & Chonda announced they were having a baby this year, I was so very excited for them!!!
Then my excitement turned to maternity photography to help them document this special time in their lives.
I’m looking forward to meeting their son OR daughter (they decided to be surprised)!
Next, I have to convince them to do newborn photos.
See a couple more outtakes here
Making my way to Washington DC from Chicago, I saw this magical vision from my window seat.
It was amazing seeing how cloud cover transformed one of America’s most iconic skylines.
I was in the right place at the right time!
“Imitation of Life” (1959) is one of my all time favorite movies!
If you’ve seen the move then you know how emotional the ending is & I love it.
My favorite scene is actually the scene where Annie is on her deathbed where she says to Ms. Laura
“My pearl necklace… I want you to give it to Susie…for her weddin’.
Give her a real bridey wedding… with all the fixins.
Our weddin’ day… and the day we die… are the great events… of life.”
Any wedding that I’ve attend since seeing this movie more than 20 years ago, I hear Annie in my head saying these words.
And who doesn’t love a good bridey wedding?
I can’t remember the last time I pulled out my camera to take macro photos of flowers.
It was quite fun & relaxing to do these photos with begonias from my garden.
A nice throwback to one of my first photography passion.
I only photographed 3 flowers but I took over 60 photos. I went a little crazy but I like to have a lot to choose from.
Every angle and shadow tells a different story.
