A winter cocktail

We recently had a photo shoot with photographer Amy Haskell and stylist Paula Hamilton to capture a cooler months approach to our cocktail and food recipes as Winter approaches.  One of our first shots was a tequila cocktail, a very simple cocktail, of an añejo tequila. Añejo tequila has been aged for at least a year in small oak barrels. The more time it is aged, the smoother the texture. It is a classic drink that is sipped and is the spirit of conviviality. 

Behind the scenes was the job of creating a setting of comforting warmth and we feel Amy and Paula "nailed it."  The tequila cocktail glows with a warmth radiating from it, thanks to Amy's use of light. Paula, who has an uncanny eye for the right prop, took a painting off the wall of her studio... and it set the scene of a Winter Cocktail. 

All that is needed is to stoke the fire, gather friends, and give a toast. 

Coffee (and salt?)

I love this photograph. My photographer friend, Brad Torum, photographed this setting for me to feature coffee and Sal del Mar. He captured that moment all of us who drink coffee relish... a quiet moment before the day begins with the morning paper, a cup of hot coffee and yes, even a bite or two of a muffin. 

Sal del Mar is part of the setting too because It is considered a "must" by many coffee connoisseurs who know that a pinch of Sal del Mar takes away any bitterness. 

Here is Alton Brown's (of Food Network) recipe for coffee:

24 fluid ounces filtered water

1/2 cup freshly ground coffee

Pinch (Sal del Mar) gourmet sea salt

Directions:

Bring water to a boil in an electric kettle or in the microwave. Meanwhile place the ground coffee and Sal del Mar into a French press carafe. Pour the boiling water over the grounds. Place the plunger in the carafe but do not press down. Brew for 4 minutes, then slowly push the plunger down. Drink immediately or hold in a thermos for up to 3 hours.

In the Mind's Eye

I have a new camera (a Nikon D5100 that I bought from Willy at Bromfield Camera in Boston) and I remember now how much I love a “real camera,”  I know that the camera on my i phone takes good photos but most of them are the result of pure luck because I usually can’t really see what I’m seeing because it is too dark or too light. And I call them “photos,” not photographs.

On one of my first days out with my Nikon I wanted to shoot everything I saw. It was a foggy morning as my husband, Phillip, and I strolled Lighthouse Beach in Chatham, Massachusetts.  I loved the even light and couldn’t stop taking photographs of the seagulls, the waves, the sand or anything that moved. This photograph of Phillip and Jessie was the result of one of twenty others just like it. I couldn’t stop taking them.

One of my favorite moments was Yoga On The Beach, a morning ritual in Chatham. My daughter, Stacy, is the one in the back row center with a pink towel and navy jacket.

It was amazing to have a “real camera” again. I began to see things. I even saw the flipflops left in the sand by the people walking on the beach and doing sun salutations.

I’m sure I have walked past the flipflops hundreds of times on our walks on the beach but never really saw them.

Well, I said I was seeing everything!  I only took two if the shark sign, but when I got home later I saw that I had taken 326 photographs that first morning with my new Nikon.  I love it and now I’m inspired to write more blogs.