Inspiration from the blogging community - Jerry Deutsch

 A couple of  months back, Bart Luczak of K&L food blog started a food photo critique club, a gathering of like minded people who love to share their passion for food photography and a great place to learn. Some of the members are professional photographers and some of them chefs - most of them masters in their own field. I am so glad to be part of it as I have learned a lot and it is a lot of fun. Jerry is a professional still life and product photographer specializing in food photography. He is part of the food photography club and I have learned some valuable lessons and gotten some great tips from him.  Jerry has a very keen eye, and trust me, there is not a teeny tiny shadow that he will miss. I think he is the tech wiz as far as photography is concerned and he knows the science behind the art. I think some of us (and that totally includes me) are driving him nuts with our endless questions. Hope we don't drive you away!  Thanks Jerry and thanks to all of you at the photo club for the critique, feedback and encouragement.

My first lesson was: there is always one hero and that is your subject - food! Am never going to forget that lesson. There is so much to learn from him that I thought it would be great to have him over at TnS. Welcome Jerry,  hope you enjoy your stay as much as we enjoy having you over. For his complete portfolio you can visit him here or on his blog : photography by Jerry . 

What inspired you to food photography? Where did you study photography or are you self-taught?

I am neither self-taught nor did I get a photography education in college. I was trained as an assistant/apprentice. (Now they call them interns.) I did take classes online and attend seminars.

I was first exposed to photography in high school (a long time ago) and fell in love with it. It gave me an opportunity to be artistic even though I couldn’t draw, paint or sculpt. Photography was my hobby through high school and college. One day we had a speaker at our photo club at college – a wedding photographer from a local studio. He told us about becoming a photographer’s assistant and I jumped at the opportunity. I did that for over two years and finally went out on my own as a wedding and bar mitzvah photographer. During that time, I had graduated from college started a career as a chemist and switched to become a science teacher. 

As a teacher, I had the summers off and saw an opportunity to become a summer assistant for a commercial still life photographer in New York City. I did that for two summers for one photographer and for a third summer at a different studio. This last summer was for a food photographer. I fell in love with it.

Inspiration from the blogging community - Deeba Rajpal from Passionate about baking

I have been thinking of inviting some of the bloggers over to Turmeric n Spice for an informal chat over some exotic food with people who have inspired me to go beyond my comfort level, be it cooking, baking, photography or writing! These are some of my favorite blogs and I always read them regularly and have drawn inspiration from their work.

Some time near the end of November I wrote to Deeba from Passionate About Baking asking her to do a guest post for me.  She was so gracious to take out time from her busy schedule for a little chat at TNS. I don't think Deeba needs an introduction, her work speaks for her passion for baking.  She has some of the most exotic desserts showcased at PAB. Her blog is almost therapeutic,  I just love her rustic, earthy style of photography. You will fall in love with her desserts, photography, props - my heart is set on the rustic blue box - absolutely gorgeous!

Thanks Deeba for this wonderful chat and for sharing your beautiful pictures. Loved having you over, looking forward to meeting you in person the next time I am in Delhi.

"Find something youíre passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it."

Julia Child

Simi : What made you decide to do a food/baking blog?

Deeba : Having left my job after the kids were born left me with time on my hands so I began baking a lot more. Then one day the husband got me a digital camera. It opened up a whole new world. I decided to document my recipes in my own secret space on the net. It was quite a scary beginning as no one at home even knew what a 'blog' was back then in 2007.

Simi : How long does it take you to do a post, from cooking, to photography, edit and finally writing before you hit publish?

Deeba : It depends. On good days, I usually have a draft that I type with first thoughts as the ëstuff to be bloggedí cooks or bakes. Those are inspiring times as I have a good feel about the end result. I just know. These days itís taking a lot longer as I have work other than just feeding the blog so those commitments need to be met too. Ideally, 4-5 hours is good for a well balanced post if my pictures have been downloaded {and I havenít gone overboard with the camera!}

Coffee Panna Cotta

 Deepa of Aalayam requested me to do a guest post for them - she wanted me to create an 'easy holiday dessert'. Aalayam, is a lifestyle blog by Deepa and Supriya to quote them  "At Aalayam, we house our creative revelations in the vibrant world of multicultural design, decor and culinary diversity" A cute space with lot of visual inspiration. Am sure you will love their space. Panna cotta, for Aalayam, thanks for having me.  Also, I really wanted to make panna cotta for a while and there was really nothing that was holding me back. Well, two things happened and it did propel  me forward : first I saw the recipe on "Passionate about Baking" here  (  my recipe adapted from PAB) and second I saw these cute shot glasses at a store and there was no way I was not getting them...I had to, it was a cosmic signal. "make panna cotta in these cute shot glasses" It is dangerous to ignore or shld I say turn a deaf ear to cosmic signals and specially at a time  like this. ( you did know that the world is coming to an end right ! )  So, I did both and you can see the results right here. Impressive ! Well am in love with these and have indulged in these cute delicacies for some weeks now. Trust me when I say this : they are so easy to make that it is almost impossible for you to not fall in love with them.  Well, there is the calories part of the game - if you figure out how to go around it , let me know- there is no way any calorie threat is going to stop me from indulging in the holiday season this year.

Panna Cotta is a traditional Italian dessert and it has many variations, usually served with berries. I decide to serve it with some whipped cream and caramelized sugar thingies. This is my first time at weaving sugar, absolutely loved the experience and the taste is awesome.  The caramelized sugar went very well with the panna cotta and added the crunch to the dessert.

Monkeying around with monkey bread - Guest Post- Monthly Event

 I am planning to have a guest post every month. Would love to invite fellow bloggers and non-bloggers to share culinary tips and recipes. Email me if you are interested : turmeric53@gmail.com.  Looking forward to sharing and learning together.

My guests today : VC and RC - two young men, ages 11 and 7 ...who love to cook and relish the idea of creating something with their hands. There is so much to learn from children...they are not afraid to try something new and there is no fear of failure. Thank you V and R for sharing the recipe of Monkey bread with us.

Monkey bread is a popular dessert or breakfast pastry, coated in cinnamon and sugar.  A simple yeast dough is called for in most recipes, although one could use refrigerated biscuit dough for a easier version of monkey bread.

1 pkg refrigerated biscuit**
1/4 cup sugar
2tsp cinnamon
3 tbs margarine

...Preheat oven to 375•
Mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, open biscuits and separate on cutting board, use a table knife to cut the biscuits in half.  Melt margarine in microwave.  Shape biscuits in balls, roll in melted margarine and then in sugar and cinnamon  mixture. Use a spoon to dip the dough balls.  Place sugar/cinnamon coated biscuits onto cookie sheet. Place monkey bread into preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy!!

Use caution when working with kids in the kitchen, please do not let them operate the oven and use a table knife to help them cut the dough.

A big thanks to my friend  for the pictures and for letting Vand R share the recipe.

For Refrigerated biscuit**  from scratch. Click on link! :)