Approaching the holidays, and our general industry slowness that comes with December and January, I find that it’s a good time to re-focus, re-prioritize and simplify. Things can get busy in the Spring and Summer and can easily venture into the realm of hairy, and it seems hard to do anything beyond what’s right in front of me. To be honest, I relish simplifying things - for lack of a better term, it’s what floats my boat.

I’ve adapted to the fact that this time of year is the slowest for business and now when it approaches I look at it as the perfect time to strategize for the upcoming year. Here’s what I’ll be working on this December & January:

Celebrate my suppliers, contractors, mentors and clients
My business has got to this point because of the generosity of those around me. Though thanking them during the holidays seems to be the norm, personally I find everyone is so busy with hundreds of other holiday parties, cards & gifts, so I opt for sending out something freshly baked the first week back in January.

Reconnecting!
Nothing beats face-to-face connection with people. Getting in touch with some key decision makers for a quick 5 minute portfolio review or even just a coffee to reconnect and keep top-of-mind before the holidays hit is a good thing.

Organizing
I’m a bit of an organizing fanatic on a day-to-day basis, so for me this will be dedicated to my 2010 sales & marketing plan. Looking back on what worked in my 2009 sales & marketing (and what didn’t!), establishing new goals for the new year, and creating the 2010 plan that will help keep me on track to getting those important things done. I’m also going to take Jim Collins‘ advice and do this, as well as Chris Gillbeau’s advice and do this. Call me nerdy, but this kind of stuff excites me.

Brainstorming
This time is perfect for those projects that have been living on the back burner, or ideas that haven’t been given their deserved brainstorming time yet, or new markets I want to expand into. I’ll do this before I organize my 2010 sales & marketing plan so I can include these goals in the plan.

Bring on some extra hands
Starting in January I’ll be bringing Robyn on board to help with JCP’s marketing and business development…my 2010 sales & marketing plan will be what she helps me with. Robyn’s introduction will be posted in the New Year!

And last but not least…taking some time off
Part of December & January will definitely be dedicated to some R&R on Vancouver Island; family, good food, and sleeping in

I’ve written about the wonderful place that is Au Petite Chavignol before; I photographed the owners being inducted into the cheese hall of fame (technically called the Guilde de Fromagers) and I hosted the 2 year anniversary for my business there with a group of about 40 friends and clients. Needless to say I recommend it to anyone looking for a hoppin’ place on the weekend, the very best mac n’ cheese, or for the best cheese in town (because their cheese shop, Les Amis du Fromage, is right next door).

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve photographed some of this fabulous cheese, a few gewurztraminers, and a full leg of a pig, just to name a few things. Here are some of the shots…I hope you enjoy.

Being busy is almost always my excuse for not cooking.  It means I put off grocery shopping or haven’t cleaned up the kitchen from the previous meal (gasp!) and as a result think take-out is easier, which who are we kidding, it is.  But, it is nowhere near as satisfying to me.  It’s tasty yes.  But I don’t get that sense of satisfaction seeing a variety of ingredients come together, either randomly or with great thought and planning.

Perhaps it is because cooking is my creative outlet.  When I don’t get into the kitchen I get irritable and often stress out over the things that I normally can deal with.  A colleague told me when her home life is in order; it makes her work life easier. I totally agree with that, yet at the same time, I know that when my work life gets busy and overwhelming, my home life falls into disorder.  Recognizing how important cooking is to me, coupled with the fact that work has been busy, I’ve been on vacation and sick in the last three weeks; I knew I needed to get into the kitchen -and soon.

I’ve taken to some basic meal planning over the last few days to help ensure I have what I need to make the food I want to make.  It’s helped.  It also helps if I don’t sit down between coming home, walking the dog and getting dinner prepped.  This meal grew out of my meal planning and trying to find a few meals that use similar ingredients.  This meal specifically has wheat berries as the main ingredients.  I love wheat berries.  I cooked double the amount below one evening, used half to make an Asian beef wheat berry salad and then the other half saved for the next evening’s meal, the recipe below.  It’s a fairly unique take on a rice pilaf, but as a wheat berry pilaf, I am sure you could make it with a variety of flavor profiles. I opted for something a little more comforting: mushrooms and spicy chorizo.

© bakergirl creations

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat berries

2½ cups chicken stock

3 chorizo sausages, two sliced into coins and one diced

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 shallot minced

2 garlic cloves minced

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 sprigs rosemary

2 sage leaves, finely chopped

Rosemary garnish, optional

Directions:

Combine wheat berries and chicken stock in a medium-large pot.  Bring to boil, cover and allow to simmer until wheat berries are tender.  They should be slightly chewy – it should take about an hour and a half or so.

Once wheat berries have cooked, remove from heat, uncover and let dry out a little. While this is happening, sauté in a medium-hot skillet the sausages, render out the fat and with a slotted spoon remove sausages from the pan.  You want to leave the fat or oil in the pan as the flavor from it will be infused into the mushrooms and shallot.

Reduce heat in pan to medium.  Add the shallot, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes until beginning to soften.  Add mushrooms and garlic.  Cook until mushrooms are soft and browning and onions are translucent.  Add the sage, rosemary and wheat berries. Cover and re-heat the wheat berries.  Stir in sausage and serve.
Serves 3-4.

Guest post by Bakergirl Creations

Hailing from the Comox Valley I try my best to keep tabs on what’s going on there. From a fellow Islander, Hans Peter Meyer, I kept seeing something he was interviewing Valley residents about called CV2050.  Born out of conversations between Hans, David Stapley and Meaghan Cursons around 8 pillars of sustainability (social & community well-being, food security, infrastructure
ecosystems, environment, parks, economic health, transportation, building & site development, housing & neighbourhoods) and the fact that they love the Comox Valley and want to see it thrive in years to come (with specific goals to reach by the year 2050) , they are interviewing a variety of Valley leaders in the hopes deepening the conversation about sustainability in the Comox Valley community and region.

I watched his 3×2x8 interview with Roberta Stevenson of the BC Shellfish Growers Association and thought “Well, it’s about the Valley and sustainability, yes I will re-tweet!” Be careful what you wish for, because not two days later I got a message from Hans asking if he could interview me on the topic of food Sustainability in the Valley. Of course, without question, I agreed.

If you’re interested about reading what some major players in the Comox Valley are saying about these 8 pillars of sustainability, here’s the run down:

Sam Sommers
Gary Rolston
Andrew Gower
Patti Fletcher
Mark Holland
Betty-Anne Juba
Vivian Dean
Tom Dishlevoy
Roberta Stevenson (BC Shellfish Growers’ Assoc)
Jack Minard
Chef Ronald St. Pierre
judy walker
Jackie Connelly
Meaghan Cursons
Paul Krismer

If you’d like to keep up to date with this project you can follow Hans Peter Meyer on Twitter and join the 3×2x8 Facebook page. And, Hans is really hoping that others will pick up the interview and run with it - so if you’d like to be interviewed, or would like to interview someone in the Comox Valley on one of these pillars, give either Hans or I a holler.

Last week I was sent an email from the 100-Mile Diet Society, with a link to a video (scroll down to view) that I think is one of the sweetest, most effective and creative pieces of promotion I’ve seen in a while. Of course I tweeted it, and saw others picked it up and did the same…one of the many reasons I love the power of social media. The fact that I love this video so much, combined with the fact that it speaks to an issue I support, I wanted to get to know the 100-Mile Diet Society and who the people are behind it a little bit better, and I thought my readers might too.

On that note, I am honoured to introduce Shirlene Cote of the 100-Mile Diet Society. A professed lover of food, Shirlene admits she thinks about food all the time, so having the opportunity to do work that revolves around food is pretty ideal for her.  She also loves working with youth, and is currently working on an education program that brings the two together; food serves as an engaging, not to mention delicious, lens for exploring current issues relating to health, the environment, economy and society. Well said!

Is there a certain food or dish that reminds you of home?
It’s pretty simple, but I love strawberries and my mother would always serve them up with whipped cream on my birthday.

What is the ideal Shirlene meal?
Hmm, I think this is the most difficult question.  I’ve never been good at choosing favorites.  However, I think I’ll take the easy way out by saying breakfast.  I love breakfast!  Eggs, jams, fresh fruit and blueberry pancakes.  If it’s the weekend and late morning, I don’t see why I can’t justify having it all, especially if I skip lunch.

What are you having for dinner tonight?
Tonight I had spaghetti squash from Delta splattered with some sauce made from tomatoes, oregano and garlic I grew and canned in the summer.  I also joined this awesome Grain CSA last year and received some lovely hard spring wheat that grew in Agassiz, from which I made some garlic bread.  Happens that it was mostly 100-Mile tonight (although I used some Italian parmesan, I could have used another local hard cheese).

Is there one food that gives you the heebie jeebies?
I started to include some of the sustainable seafoods into my diet about a year ago, but there are still some that I have not been able to acquire a taste for.  Recently I discovered that Black Cod, aka Sablefish, was one of them.  It’s something about the texture.  Different strokes for different folks though- my partner loves it!

How would someone start on their own 100 Mile Diet? Where would they go for info to make food choices and plan meals, especially now that we’re getting into Winter and the bounty of Spring harvest is almost over?
This is probably not the best time to try out the 100-Mile Diet, but making a 100-Mile meal could be a nice way to start- the holidays are a great time for this.  For what’s in season, check out www.getlocalbc.org.

If you’re feeling inspired to go local all the way with a 100-Mile Challenge, late spring might be the best time of year and if you’re really eager, start planning now. Learn about what foods are in season throughout the year, join a recipe exchange online, start your own community kitchen and/or get your family on board for extra support.  Its pretty fun once you get into it and you definitely learn a lot about yourself, your community and the food system currently in place, not to mention how innovative you can be.

There are lots of resources out there to help you get on your way.  The food network has created an awesome database for recipes and locating food close to home.
Check out our website for more tips, links and resources.  Also, check out our newest website if you’re interested in learning more about what makes this region such a fascinating place to eat.

~~~

* And if you haven’t seen the video I mentioned up top, take a few minutes to watch it here, I promise it won’t disappoint!

Home is Where the Food is from The Juki Museum on Vimeo.

*Update as of November 25th: the workshop has reached it’s limit. If you would like to receive info about future workshops, the next one happening in the New Year, please leave a comment/send me your email address: info@jackieconnelly.com

Last month, as part of the Sustenance Festival, I held a food & beverage photography workshop at The Roundhouse in Yaletown. Attendance to this first workshop filled up so so quickly, we had to add a second one, which also ended up being full! Danno, our trustee volunteer that day, took some photos; you can see them all here. So now, prior to your holiday baking & hours spent in the kitchen, back by popular demand is:

Food & Beverage Photography 101: A Workshop for Food Bloggers! (and other creative types!)

Why is this a perfect workshop for food bloggers?

I continually get asked how to shoot better in restaurants with low lighting, or at home in natural light, and without spending wads of cash on equipment. That is exactly what this workshop is all about:  simple and affordable solutions that will improve your photographs.

Not a food blogger? But love shooting your kitchen creations and want to learn a few techniques? That’s ok - you’re more than welcome too!

To Register

Email Jackie with ‘Register me for Food Photo 101 Workshop‘ in the subject line. I will send you some info immediately, as well as a PayPal link to confirm your spot.

The Details

• Saturday December 5th at Campagnolo Restaurant located at 1020 Main Street, Vancouver

• Workshop is noon - 2pm, followed by Q&A with Jackie over lunch from 2pm - 3pm *cost of lunch not included

• Guaranteed 1-on-1 time for every student

• I will teach you step-by-step how to set-up your shots using some specific food & beverage examples, focussing on using your camera’s manual settings

• We will shoot in a variety of set-ups including natural light, restaurant lighting, and a commonly used softbox lighting setup

• I will be sending out some refresher notes before-hand, and some workshop notes for you to take away from the session

• Cost for the workshop is $45 (gst included) and  there are only 10 spots available = the most personal attention from me.

• All you are required to bring is your camera, it’s manual, a tripod and your appetite!

© 2009 Danno

© Danno 2009

*If you attended one of the first workshops at The Roundhouse this will be an extended version of that class, with more 1-on-1 instruction, more tips & notes for you to take home, and more food!

I wasn’t a fan of school - at any level, be it elementary or my university days. I am very much the type who likes to get the assignment (quickly) and then go figure out how to get it done, and done well. Having recess, play-time and homeroom were frustrating road bumps in my to-do list filled days. (Hmmm control freak, Type-A personality much Jackie? Yes yes, I’ll be the first to admit it.)

But what I saw this Fall November morning made me want to be a kid in school again. Walking through the front doors of Grenfell Elementary at five minutes to nine, that smell of an old school building and the sight of hand made art projects pinned to the wood panelled walls whipped me back to my school days faster than that hilarious scene with Anton Ego in Disney’s Ratatouille. And what made me wish this upon myself, you ask? Project Chef.

"You must respect your food" Barb told the class.

Project Chef’s mission, through going directly into schools and giving kids the hands-on experience of cooking, is:

“To teach children the knowledge and skills necessary to make healthy food choices and enable them to make wholesome, nutritious meals for themselves so that they may lead healthy lives.”

What a concept! And let me tell you these kids weren’t totally out of the organic, local, know-your-farmer food scene. They knew what pesticides were; why an organic pear could hold the title of organic; and they knew why local was better (”Because it gets here faster!” the bright one at Kitchen Purple answered). But Barb, their teacher for the week, didn’t hold back in explaining why it’s good to know who grows your food and to buy from as close to home as possible.

Food stylist extraordinaire Angelyne Martin who helps with Project Chef

Today was extra special because Chef Michael Smith popped by to see what all the excitement was about. And to eat orange peels, which the kids got a major kick out of. (More on Chef Michael and his new book coming soon!)

Chef Michael...sans orange peel.