Someone asked this on the ppk, and I thought it would make a good MoFo entry:  What did your family eat for Thanksgiving when you were growing up?  I’ve mentioned my parents lack of cooking skills in the past, so this list shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.  My memory is a little fuzzy and I have no idea what my parents are eating these days, but I can assume that the menu and the drunken screaming and crying are still holiday standards!

• plate of tiny sweet pickles and canned black olives: I never ever ate these!
• turkey: obviously when I became a vegetarian 17 years ago, I lost interest in the turkey.
• mashed potatoes, instant if my mom thought my dad wasn’t looking: The years with instant potatoes were sad, but I ate them anyway.
• sweet potatoes with marshmallows: Okay, apparently most people think this is gross and have never done it, but my family and extended family loved sweet potatoes with marshmallows roasted on top.  I’m sorry i’m disgusting!
• canned cranberry sauce: I have never understood the appeal of this stuff.  I like dried cranberries, but cranberry sauce or juice, not so much.  And anything shaped like the can it came out of is a little off putting.
• canned green beans: Green beans are pretty much the only vegetable that I think taste good canned, I will eat them happily.
• canned corn: Canned corn is okay, I think frozen is a little less gross.
• stovetop stuffing: I’m pretty sure you could stuff a baby and i’d eat it.  (Not really, please don’t hide your babies from me.)
• frozen rolls: I can’t remember the brand, but I can smell them like it was yesterday.  And lightly dry heave.  I love bread, so if a roll is able to make me feel ill, it must’ve tasted funny.
• storebought pumpkin pie: Dry crust that had to be removed before eating.  With Cool Whip.  I think Cool Whip tastes like soap and I always have.

As you can see, there was no signature family dish, nothing special, and nothing worth holding onto because it all came from a can or a box.  I’m envious of people who have a plethora of family favorites to veganize, but at least I get to eat my own food now and no one tries to make me clean my room on a holiday.

I was hoping I wouldn’t have to resort to this so soon, but here it is, almost eleven, and I have no idea what to post about.  So imma fill out this MoFo survey I found!

This is not a how-to on photographing food, I did that a few years ago.  Since i’ve started taking pictures of food, i’ve learned a lot.  Most of it was from experience.  Some of it was from my professional photographer friend gently steering me towards the better way to do things.  I went from using a dinky little digital camera and not even knowing what macro mode was, let alone how to use it, to shooting solely in RAW on a Canon Rebel.  And while yes, having a nicer camera with a portrait lens does help, sometimes I still can’t produce the shots I want (usually because of bad lighting).  Sure, I could set up lights and backgrounds and plate things better, but that’s just not me.  Food porn isn’t that important to me, i’d rather be pleasantly surprised by a photo that I took on a whim then spend lots of time setting up.  Of course, this doesn’t mean that I don’t admire people who do such things!  I love Hannah and Celine‘s pictures and the effort they put into them.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite food photos i’ve taken over the past few years.  After picking them, i’m noticing that what they all seem to have in common is bright color and natural light.

From top to bottom:  Veggie sandwich on toasted bread, peanut butter and homemade jam (some kind of berry, I can’t remember) sandwich, Fronch Toast from Vegan With A Vengeance, tofu scramble, Omlette and Red Flannel Hash (in the back) from Vegan Brunch, chocolate peanut butter pie, seitan and red pepper skewers, Scrambled Tortillas from Vegan Brunch, homemade burrito bowl ala Chipotle, and a tofu, kale, and peach stir fry over couscous.

Maybe if I decide I hate you all, i’ll do a bad food porn post too!