MattBites

Dear Margaret

This is my friend Meg. We've known each other forever and we go wayyyyy back. I mean, like, prehistoric times. She's the only person I know who caused me to get in so much trouble for cutting up in an office which led to a big cubicle panel being installed between us. I love that. And I love the fact that I was with her as she peed on little sticks numerous times as she double and triple checked the results of her pregnancy test.  I love her because she makes yummy vegan dinners when we visit and we sit outside and eat. And I love her because she knows me better than anyone else and is so pleasantly crabby it ain't funny. Or is that crabbily pleasant? I also love her because her husband is super super super famous and amazing and sweet.

I love her so much that I'm willing to forgive the voicemail that was left for me today. It went like this:

"Hey Mo, it's me. Where the hell are you? YOU ARE SO COMPLETELY BORING AND YOUR BLOG IS DEAD. DEAD AND BORING AND OLLLLLLLLD. Tired and old. OLD and tired. Gaw. You must post again. Toodles!"

Ok, so I made up the "toodles" part because if you know Meg you know she's never really all that pleasant. Or at least not to me she ain't. Look at that picture again and try to argue. And that's exactly why I love her.

And the truth is yes, I've been painfully absent from this blog lately. I don't mean to be, it's just that I've been busy with the day job, shooting amazing food for people like Mark Peel and these lovely ladies, as well as lining up some really interesting gigs.

Oh, and yea, there's this:

Ladies and gentlemen, this is my new studio.

MY. NEW. STUDIO.

As in a real, naturally lit space in downtown Long Beach. If you think I'm not giddy and giggling like a child then you're wrong because I cannot wipe this permasmirk off my face. And why would I? I'm super excited to be shooting in such an amazing space now and not in my garage or some random space. Not that I don't love my garage and all. It's just, well, you can see why I love it.

So Meg, I hope I'm off the hook for not posting lately and I promise that once I get settled I'll be back to sharing way too much information about myself and your pregnancy tests.

Forgiven? I thought so. I love you!

Wow I'm like so techno it's scary

I Melt With You

Not sure if it's the same for you, but we're melting here. I mean, it's 96 degrees outside. It's April. I'm confused. And sweaty. But happy! And you know why? Because while stepping outside to grab an orange off my tree I looked up and noticed these glorious little orbs. Already. Yes. Nectarines on my tree.

It's gonna be a great summer. Albeit an early one.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend, everyone. Big hugs from me to you.

In The Kitchen With Design*Sponge

Augh! Finally! Have you seen this? I'm on Design*Sponge's In The Kitchen this week and I can't tell you how much of an honor it is.

I think it may have been about six months ago when Grace and Kristina asked me to submit something, but I lagged and lagged and didn't just want to give her something I've run before. I felt it had to be new and original, and then I spent about the next 5 months or so trying to figure out what that could possibly be.

The idea hit me when a grower at my local farmers' market had a box of beet greens for practically nothing. I've been a huge fan of beet greens for some time and was thrilled to be able to take home a nice hefty bag of those stems. Not that I don't like the beets, but I didn't particularly feel like roasting, ya know? And the idea was born: share one of my favorite recipe for greens. And it's a dish that can be vegan, vegetarian or not, it's really versatile and so completely delicious.

Remember folks, you don't have to discard the tops of beets. Eat them!

So head on over to Design*Sponge to check it out!

And yes, that's my home office there and me in my bathtub. I bet you had no idea I was so wacky, what, with me being Mr. Serious all the time.

* * * * * * *

As a little behind-the-scenes, here's what it took to get the greens & polenta shot as well as an outtake.

Clockwise from top left

1. Yes, that's my man on the floor. What he won't do for a good picture. In this case I rushed him so that I could eat the dish which I promptly did while sitting on the garage floor. I'm so romantic.

2. A bigger view of the surface and the set tray. Don't think those extra little bits of pancetta went to waste. They didn't.

3. Here's an outtake of the recipe shot. This was my original image but I didn't feel as if you could see enough of beet greens. Hey, it happens.

4. Here's the set I put together for shot before I decided to do an overhead. I have a collection of old wood that comes in handy. That big white thing is my scrim which diffuses light and creates a much softer spill. It basically becomes a big giant softbox. It's not always necessary but the sun was pretty bright that morning.

This isn't food related but it's photo related. I do hope that's ok.

I recently completed my first big ad agency shoot on Monday (that picture above is from last month) and man oh man I couldn't be happier. I don't want to get in trouble by revealing too much about who it was for and all that stuff just yet but here are some of my initial observations:

1. Accept the fact that the prop stylist will bring things you covet and drool over and no, you cannot keep them and take them home. Including that perfect little glass you've been looking for for about 6 months. This makes my heart hurt.

2. My first time around and the big wig agency people were dreams come true; gorgeous, warm, all smiles, friendly with an idea of what they wanted. It was magic.

3. After all this time I actually feel like I know what I'm doing. Who knew?

4. Do not tease, provoke, annoy or trip the food stylist. You've been warned.

5. Mary Sue Milliken is as nice in person as I thought she'd be. She rocks.

6. Staring at avocados for 10 hours did nothing to diminish my unshakeable love for those things.

7. Do not leave obnoxiously-sized muffins laying about in the late afternoon. They will be consumed by me until they're gone. So much for my recent pattern of healthy snacking.

8. When technology and creativity work together it's a beautiful thing. When they fight or argue, well, I never realized I knew so many swear words.

9. Ok, I give up, I admit it. I WILL hire an assistant. I promise.

10. When you love what you do and have the best significant other in the entire world, well, let's just say life is a blessing and the work has meaning. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Please forgive the hokey illustrations. I have never claimed to be an illustrator and just looking at the uneven drawing of the glass in item #1 proves that I should stay away from pen and paper.

Secrets Revealed, Issue 1

"Gross."

"You're totally freaking me out."

"I can barely handle one of you, what's this crap with 3 arms?"

"You grew another arm and you still can't pick up your phone when I call you? You're an ass Matt and that's that."

These are a few of the various comments via emails I received over my last post. No no no, most were actually very sweet and nice and I thank you but it seems the three-armed Mexican trick was just a bit too much for some.

Reminds me of a trip I once took to Tijuana....Oops nevermind.

My whole goal wasn't to freak you out nor was it meant to employ any digital shenanigans. It was solely meant to illustrate that a) for some ungodly reason the shirt I was wearing actually matched the scene, unintentionally and b) even though I was crying and sobbing and cursing my solitude I could also be my own best company. I may have been alone but I didn't need to feel alone. Got it?

There really wasn't any genetic trickery involved. It's simply two separate shots that were composited in a matter of seconds. And please, if you feel a photo purist rant coming up from deep down in your soul, save it, would you? For the record I don't dig the overuse of Photoshop either and have greatly learned to do things "in camera" as much as possible (save for the requisite color and contrast adjustments that are sometimes needed when shooting RAW files).

So there you have it.

I promise it won't happen again.

So tell me folks, I've said this blog is about "food, drink, travel + photography" and yet I don't really talk about the ins-and-outs of photography all that much. Would you wanna see more stuff behind the scenes? I'm always happy to pull the curtain back and reveal the inner workings. But it ain't always pretty. Let me know!

I'm not only a member, I'm the President

Me and my bright ideas. Who knew an open Saturday, a few pounds of crawfish and a hankering for company would lead me down such a solitary path? If you remember, my significant other is still away and I've grown weary of my own company. The dogs aren't much help, they entertain themselves. And so with my antsy self I sent out a few emails and dialed a few numbers but oddly enough they all came back with the same thing.

To:  Dana <xxxxxxx@gmail.com>,
Date:  Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 8:03 PM
Subject:  Dinner, My Place?
Mailed-by:  gmail.com
Hey, Adam is still out of town and I was thinking of making something festive, Saturday afternoon, non-vegetarian though. Are you free?

To:  Matt <matt.armendariz@gmail.com>,
Date:  Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 10:16 PM
Subject:  Dinner, My Place?
Mailed-by:  gmail.com
So sorry! I've got plans! But lets catch up soon, k? Hugs to Adam next time you talk to him. Xoxoxoxoxoxo"

and...

To:  KevinH <xxxxxxx@gmail.com>,
Date:  Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 2:37 PM
Subject:  What's happenin' hotstuff?
Mailed-by:  gmail.com
Hey mister, do you have plans this weekend? Adam is still gone, I wanted to cook and have peeps over. I'm sick of my own company. U Free?"

To:  Matt <matt.armendariz@gmail.com>
Date:  Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 3:03 PM
Subject:  What's happenin' hotstuff?
Mailed-by:  gmail.com
Hey sistergirl! We're visiting family this weekend, otherwise we'd so be there. So sorry! Call if you're bored."


Well drats. No one was available. To be perfectly honest I was discouraged and thisssssssclose to opening the window and screaming out to strangers on the street just like Gilda Radner in that classic SNL skit for Harvey's Bristol Cream. And I would have totally been happy with a bum a la Bill Murray. Heck, I couldn't even get that.

Suddenly I panicked. All that food. And then panic became sadness. And then the sadness became a funk. And the funk made me want to shuck out those little crustaceans in a dramatic huff that would have been straight out of a Lifetime Meredith Baxter Birney movie. But I remembered a friend back home who loved to do things alone. She'd make big meals and save the leftovers, she'd take herself to the cinema all alone (secret candy stash in purse), she even went hiking and camping by herself. This woman was going places - ALONE! That's it! If my friend Nature Girl can be comfortable in her own skin, with herself and no one else, why was I complaining about a meal that I couldn't share? It's not like I didn't have friends, it's just that they were all busy.

I mean, I do have friends, right? You guys were really busy this past weekend, right?

Eating alone is different than with a group. And for me eating alone is usually something that wouldn't be best suited for a crowd. There's a definitely absence of starters, main dishes, and desserts, and it's usually something so basic and simple it simply wouldn't do for a crowd. But an old-fashioned crawfish boil? Now that's a party. You don't do that for yourself. It's the same reason I wouldn't cook a whole turkey with sides for myself–it's group food, pure and simple. And when you throw those boiled crawdads (I'm from Texas, remember) down on the table with corn and potatoes and crack open a beer or twelve then you're really engaging in a festive, familial act. It'd be like making fondue for one. Wait, that sounds good. Make a note of that.

As I was seasoning my water and getting my mix of spices just right I began to wonder if I was seriously the only one who's had a crawfish boil for and by themselves. And then I hit my stride. Who says certain things can't be enjoyed solo? I felt silly at first but realized it was no big deal because heck, I gotta eat and it might as well be something fun and tasty. Then I started thinking how I could probably form a zydeco band all by myself, accordion strapped on my chest and knee symbols clanking away.

For my spice mix I decided to go the homemade route with whatever I had on hand. For large quantities of people the seafood spice mixes aren't bad but I wanted to give it a go doing it myself. I added coriander seeds, whole cloves, red pepper flakes, allspice, black peppercorns, bay leaves, cayenne, salt and celery and mustard seeds and added my corn and potatoes. My crawfish were already purged and ready to go so I added them to the boil a little bit later. I wanted to be sure my potatoes were cooked throughly because I happen to think an undercooked potato is worse than being a dork and having a crawfish boil all by yourself.

After I made sure I completely documented my efforts through the miracle of photography (did you notice that trick? It's me times 2!) I sat down to a large tray adorned with butcher paper and stacked with hot corn, steaming potatoes and a few bright orange fellas. My fingers and chin were wet with spicy, briny liquid and then my mind began to fill with memories of being back home in Texas and and eating crawfish and also of every shrimp fry I ever went to. If you thought eating alone was depressing enough try doing it with a meal that was never meant to be created in solitude. And then I was snapped back into reality when out of nowhere my cat Birdie appeared and began to beg. She is naturally crazy for anything fishy, the spicier the better.  I cracked a claw in my mouth and removed a nice nugget of meat and gave her a taste and before long we were both enjoying the wacky fruits of my labor.

Maybe I wasn't alone after all.

    

The Life and Times Of Grizzly Adams, or just me in my backyard.

Does anyone remember Grizzly Adams, the movie and tv show from the 1970s about that woodsman who was wrongfully accused of a crime and set off to live the life of a trapper somewhere in the mountains? Of course you do. All God's creatures loved him and he ended up with that cute little bear companion named Ben.  I remember it too, and boy did I love it (this may explain a certainly affinity I have towards bears but this is so not the place to address this and besides, I'm married and all that happy stuff.)  I remember thinking how thrilling it must have been for Mr. Adams (played by Dan Haggerty) to do what he wanted to without being bothered by anyone. I also remember how hard it must have been for him to do without ZOOM (or any other TV show for that matter), Tang, Atari and Toughskin Jeans from Sears. But my biggest concern for Mr. Adams was food. What did he do? Did he have to learn to kill his own food? And what about foraging for nuts and berries? And how did he know what was safe and what was off limits? Did he have the internet? There wasn't even an internet in the 70s so, what, did he have access to all those encyclopedias from the grocery store that you'd buy each time you went for milk and eggs? And whose bright idea was that, anyway? You don't go to the Library for chuck steak, why would you buy books other than Mad Magazine at the grocery store? Huh, Mom? Someone answer me please I have been alone for 6 days and my dogs are starting to ignore me please anyone Grizzly Mr. Haggerty anyone please!!!!!!!!!!!

Now where was I? Oh yes, dinner.

As organized as I am, today I actually forgot to get dinner. And because you-know-who is gone I had to rely on myself. But the thought of heading to the store when I was already home didn't sound appealing and neither did plucking pantry items to create some mix-matched meal. And while I was standing outside with my dogs in my backyard I remembered Grizzly Adams. Don't ask me why but the mind is a powerful thing. All of a sudden I remembered I had leftover roasted beets in my fridge, a tree full of small colorful oranges, and one lone fennel plant sticking out of the ground that came out of nowhere. A salad! I'll make a salad. And with that thought fresh in my mind, I loaded up the dogs in my sled, threw on a few pelts, grabbed my shotgun, scratched my beard and headed to the Lone Star*.

Beet, Orange and Fennel Salad

Please don't hate me. I based this off a recipe from Epicurious and there really are no measurements. I doubt Grizzly Adams had measuring spoons. And while my beets were local and the fennel and oranges walked exactly 29.2 paces from yard-to-kitchen, my vinegar traveled 542 miles and my mustard was from France. Don't worry, I bought offsets. Obsessive locavores, I'm only thinking of you...

Salad
A few roasted beets, sliced
A few orange segments
A few fennel slices, make it thin!
handful of hazelnuts

Dressing
a touch of olive oil, extra virgin
a splash of champagne vinegar
some dijon mustard, not much, about a tablespoon or so
fennel seeds, crushed

Arrange the slices in a bowl. For the dressing combine all ingredients and drizzle over the salad. Top with a few hazelnuts and get ready to crunch.

*Grande points for you if you get this reference.

Blurb presents International Photography.Book.Now

The folks at Blurb sent over an email and I wanted to share it with you if you haven't seen it. Blurb, the creative publishing service, is sponsoring a self-published photography book competition called International Photography.Book.Now along with an international salon and symposium. There's a nifty grand price of $25,000 and some amazing sponsors like American Photo, PDN, and liveBooks, the company that hosts my professional photo site.

(And words cannot convey how much I love liveBooks and their amazing service as well as my contact Jon. It's been worth every single penny!)

You should probably know I'm not too big on competitions. I've based my belief on Bruce Mau's 1998 Incomplete Manifesto which I have carried with me for 10 years. And if you haven't read it, it's brilliant and has served me well as a graphic designer and also as a photographer. I'm always turning to it for inspiration (I'm really big on #41 in case you haven't noticed!) Having said that, this Blurb thing looks pretty nifty, has great sponsors, and seems to have the potential to offer a great amount of exposure for photographers as well as events that will bring people together. I definitely can support that.

Even though I've worked in print for almost 20 years now, the thought of having such self-control over one's very own book is truly exhilarating. Have any of you ordered books through Blurb? How'd they turn out? Thoughts?

images courtesy blurb.com

A Simple Emoticon Would Have Been Sufficient.

Woe is me.

My better half is at some undisclosed location across the country working with this fine gentleman and this photographic genius. And nope, I'm not being purposely vague about it and I'd tell you if I knew. Something about that stack of non-disclosure forms on our fax machine the other day prevents even me from knowing what's happening.

But I know it's somewhere in the middle of the country.

And I know it's for several weeks and weeks and weeks.

And I know I shall be a bit lonely and sad and forced to cook for one.

And even though it's only been one day I have adjusted to a big empty house. I have three mutts to keep me company after all. And just when I made peace with this reality I hear that familiar ping of a text message arriving on my phone.

And this is what I see (embellished by yours truly, natch)

Sometimes he can be so cruel.