When this year started I wished for less, not more.  Less stress, less worries, less clutter.  I wanted to get my yoga routine back and even meditate more.  It turns out, that I now work even more hours, so finding the time to reconnect with my inner zen self is harder than expected.  I do need the extra hours ( and money, of course) but between work, kids and all the extra-curricular activities, some days, I get ten minutes in the bathtub without interruption and that’s my me time.  It’s a good me time, but I was craving, and still am, for more.

Fine art, still life, and even food photography is often discredited by others in the industry.  They tend to believe it’s easy, and that these photographs don’t require a lot of time, planning or attention.  Well, I tend to disagree.

Take this cherry photo, how much time did I spend on it?

Since my garden is literally loaded with herbs, tomatoes and other yummy veggies, I decided it was time to cook so nothing would go to waste.  After all, I can’t eat that many tomatoes on the same day!  So I started by doing some Basil Pesto, then I moved on to Tomato Sauce and then I baked a Lemon and Zucchini loaf (Recipe found on Pinterest, slightly modified).  And of course I documented the process with photos.

Here are the recipes, please note that I’m not good at measures, and that for Pesto or Tomato Sauce, I improvise depending on how much I harvested. But the basic ingredients and process stays the same, so I’ll share anyway.