About the food in this photo:
I’ve been on a journey of learning how to cook traditional foods ever since I picked up a copy of “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon. “Nourishing Traditions” is as much a nutrition text book as it is a guide to how to make everything yourself, from lacto-fermented condiments to home made raw cheese to sour dough bread.
Every 1-3 weeks, I make a trip to SVP dairy in Flandreau, SD, to buy raw milk from a small local farm. The cheese in this photo was made using that and the recipe in “Nourishing Traditions”.
I also have been baking with einkorn flour for years now because I prefer the nutritional profile it has compared to modern flour and find it more filling. I highly recommend “Einkorn, Nature’s Original Wheat” for anyone who is interested in a cookbook about how to make that change!
The lacto-fermented red sauerkraut was also inspired by a recipe in “Nourishing Traditions”, and the fermented lemon recipe came from this webpage: https://www.growforagecookferment.com/fermented-lemons/
Since moving to South Dakota from New York, I’ve become more interested in gardening. In New York, I didn’t have any space to grow plants in four out of the five different apartments I lived in. In the one in Bushwick, I got annoyed that there were eight other people living there, and I was the only one trying to take care of the vegetable garden! However, I kept a few house plants, and my aloe plant is over a decade old now!
I have a patio garden during the summer, but most of the year, it is too cold for me to grow anything outside. To have fresh plants year round, I have a Gardyn hydroponic system in my apartment, and this photo features fresh produce from that.
To get the lighting perfect in this picture, I set the table up next to a window with the blinds closed most of the way and a white cloth taped over the exposed section of the window to soften the shadow. The side angle of the light source is an ideal way to show the depth and texture of the food and make it look extra appetizing!