Archive for the ‘Portfolio’ Category
A Cookbook Project in the Works
I never call myself a food blogger. No, really.
I have never felt that I can keep up with all of the prolific food writers and recipe developers out there. How some people manage to publish new complicated recipes ever single week is beyond me. It’s impressive, inspiring and quite honestly, a little scary. Plus we all know what taking too many photos of your food can do to you… But this year I’ve gotten a good taste of what it means to make food your profession.
Along with Johanna Kindvall, I am working on an illustrated cookbook, with stories and recipes inspired by our Swedish roots, to be published by Ten Speed Press in fall of 2014. The entire thing is certainly an ongoing process, from proposal to contract to the many moments of “I have how many recipes to finish this week??” but it’s entertaining to be working on a book project.
Thoughts from Afghanistan: Afterword in Lewis & Clark Chronicle
After traveling to Afghanistan last fall, I was asked to write a piece for my college’s alumni magazine. I was honored to contribute to the Lewis & Clark Chronicle, and it was a good chance to dig deeper into a subject that continues to be at the forefront of my mind: women’s rights.
An excerpt:
“Remember that being a woman is different in Afghanistan.”
I was getting yet another opinion on my decision to travel to Afghanistan. The statement was said out of love, in an effort to remind me that I should be aware of my surroundings and behavior. Just because I was a strong, independent woman, I should be sure to remember to respect local culture. But it was also coming from someone who had never traveled to Afghanistan.
Biking in Paris
Everywhere I travel, I try to ride a bike. It’s one of those weird obsessions that I have; the need to discover everything on two wheels. Be it Afghanistan or Amsterdam, game on.
Here’s the thing about riding a bicycle in new places: it’s like learning how to ride a bike all over again. No matter how used to the bicycle you are – at home in Portland I don’t even own a car – discovering a new city on two wheels makes you fall in love with cycling all over again. It’s a challenge. Navigating streets you have never walked down before, learning the ins and outs of local bike culture, figuring out how traffic works. There’s a flow to cycling, and each city has its own variation.
Traveling to Eat: The Essentials
I am excited to be contributing to Food Republic, and kicking things off with a guide to traveling to eat – ie all the things you should keep in mind if you want your culinary travels to be interesting.
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“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener
Michener is right; if you can’t stomach the local fare, you’re not really traveling. Pulling us away from our local haunts, travel is a way to explore new destinations, and what better way to get to know a place than through its food culture? The added benefit of travel is that it allows you to indulge. You might skip out on that dessert at home, but hey, you’re in Greece… you have to try the baklava! And order that third beer.
If you’re a food lover at home, then traveling like one isn’t a difficult feat, but there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure you make the best of your foray into exotic palates.
1. Go off the beaten path
For those really looking for a culinary experience, you’re not going to get it sticking to the major thoroughfares. Take time to explore. Make sure you seek out just as many local dive joints as you do three-star Michelin places. And no matter how hungry you are, try to avoid eating in big chain restaurants.
New Project for 2013: ‘The Culinary Cyclist’ Book
A new year inevitably means new projects, and I have a few already lined up for this year. Planning for 2013 has been a lesson in putting energy into the right places and simply letting things happen… So it’s with great excitement that I let you in on the first one: the forthcoming book, The Culinary Cyclist. Yes, a real book. Remember those?
As these things often do, the idea for The Culinary Cyclist started over a round of kale smoothies (I am not kidding). Portland-based writer, cycling advocate and all around woman-that-makes-shit-happen Elly Blue and I were talking about the latest projects with her independent publishing company, Taking the Lane Media. This of course resulted in a bit of a brainstorm, including a discussion of local food and bicycles.
A Menu For When You’re Just Not Sure About Turkey
If there’s one thing I don’t like about Thanksgiving it’s the stress that goes into making the holiday “perfect.” Hint: it’s about being with friends and family, being grateful and in the process hopefully eating some delicious food. But too often we’re hung up on what has to be served.
Over on Foodie Underground, a story of why turkey will not be served in my family anytime soon inspired a full turkey-free Thanksgiving menu, complete with eight vegetarian, partly vegan, mostly gluten free recipes to get you from appetizer to dessert.
I could barely get past positioning the wings under the heavy carcass in the roasting rack. I am not a vegetarian, but I rarely prepare meat and quite frankly I was almost convinced that the thing was going to get pissed that I wasn’t treating it well, come back to life and start pecking at my face. Thanksgiving stress level successfully upped a notch.
Bringing Travel into the Kitchen
My latest over on Foodie Underground:
A freakish commitment to perfecting a recipe picked up while abroad might seem off, but don’t we all have food obsessions when we return from voyages? We come back from our travels, whether near or far with stories of “have you ever heard of [insert odd local dish here]?” and “they had the most amazing [insert normal dish] but with [insert oddball ingredient that is representative of the place traveled to here]. I wish we had that here!”
Ask someone which bus line they rode most often during a trip and you’ll get a blank stare, but ask about the best local meal and you’ll be sure to be listening to an animated story for a minimum of seventeen minutes. Food is often one of the biggest takeaways when we travel, be it just a half hour from home or on the other side of the world. That roadside diner with the house special sauce can be just as exotic as sambusas on a street corner in Kabul. Through food we experience a culture a people and a place. We are forced to stop and take things in, listen to our senses. It’s no surprise that the result is memorable.
Read the rest here.
Women’s Rights: Thoughts from Afghanistan
Thanks to a project with Mountain2Mountain I had the opportunity to travel to Afghanistan to help produce a series of public art exhibits. Afghanistan certainly isn’t the top pick destination for most people, and before my departure the mention of it would inevitable spur a handful of emotions and comments, somewhere along the lines of “are you sure that’s safe?” One of the common reactions also had to do with women’s rights, reminding me that the state of affairs in the far off country was different than the one I had at home. During the two week trip I had a lot of time to think about women and women’s rights, and I came up with the following essay, reprinted from the Moutain2Mountain blog. Hopefully it spurs some thought.
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“Remember that being a woman is different in Afghanistan.”
I was getting yet another opinion on my decision to travel to Afghanistan. The statement was made out of love, wanting to remind me that I should be aware of my surroundings and behavior, that just because I was a strong, independent woman, I should remember to respect local culture. But it was also coming from someone that had never traveled to Afghanistan.
Breaking Down Cultural Barriers with Food in Afghanistan
It should have come as no surprise that my favorite Dari word from nine intro language lessons would have been “lunch.”
The first step to traveling respectfully is to learn how to say “hello” “thank you” and “goodbye” in the local language. The second step is to learn a few things food related, because no matter where you are in the world, you are going to need to eat.
New Project: Foodie Underground
For those of you that have followed along, you know that for the last 2.5 years I have written a column called Foodie Underground. Over time it has morphed into a space where I try to make the idea of good food less elitist. That takes many forms, from interviews with people in the food movement to snarky exposes on sauteed kale.
Well today marks the launch of FoodieUnderground.com, an entire website devoted to the idea of “good food, from good places with good people.” Read the Foodie Underground Manifesto for an idea of where it’s headed.
blog.annabrones.com 