Portland Bloggers: Photography Workshop

You may or may not know that I am the blog master for the Portland Bloggers blog. This past Sunday, Portland Bloggers hosted a photography workshop, so naturally I showed up to help out, and also participate in the workshop. I really enjoy playing with my camera, and love learning new things when it comes to photography. In particular, I wanted to learn more about shooting people, and Sunday was a great opportunity for that. Margaret Jacobsen led the group for learning to photograph people, and she was a lot of fun to work with. Did I mention she's an incredibly talented photographer? Below are some of the shots I captured during our breakout session on Sunday.

Caitlin of Caitlin Liz

Jenni of A Well Crafted Party

Margaret Jacobsen

I had a lot of fun at the workshop, and learned some good tips. Moreso, I'm inspired to pull out my camera more often and take more pictures.

Note: all of the above pictures were taken with a Canon Rebel t3i, 50mm/1.8 lens, and edited with A Beautiful Mess Photoshop Elements Nico action.

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Greek Crostini for Tapas

Hey all! This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending an event for Portland Food Bloggers held in the Whole Foods Market's tasting room in the Pearl District in Portland. Along with some Spanish wine tasting, we were encouraged to bring a tapas dish to share as part of a little competition.

Given that I had been sick and exhausted the week prior, I wanted to slow down and not put to much pressure on myself when it came to preparing a dish. Naturally, I scoured my Pinterest boards for something quick and easy. Greek Crostini came to my rescue.

This dish was so easy to prepare, and the results were delicious. I love Greek anything, and I don't care if tapas is Spanish. Give me some bread, cheese, and olives and I am good to go!

The viuara.

The event itself was awesome, and educational, especially for me, since Id on't know much at all about Spanish wines. I love wine and love going wine-tasting and learning more about different varietals and what aspects of the wine-making process affect the flavor profile. Our wine steward was very knowledgeable and gave us a great introduction to Spanish wine. We enjoyed a cava, a viuara, a tempranillo (which was more earthy and not so fruity, like most tempranillos I've tried), and sherry (which I'm not so sure I've tried before).

This is a cronut. It was awesome.

Going into the event, since it was sort of potluck style, I had a feeling that my options would be few since I am a vegetarian, and I was right. What I did try, however, was delightful. Sadly, by the time we got food, we had already tasted all the wine, so I didn't write down what I ate- I just ate it. But there was a stuffed pepper that I really loved, and a pumpkin flan, which won he prize for the event. For a better recap on the food, hop on over to Pech's blog post.

Now for recipes! I have 2 for you. One is the crostini, and the second is the pasta I made with all of my leftover crostini ingredients. Both are really easy and delicious with red wine.

Greek Crostini

recipe adapted from here

24 cherry tomatoes (12 red, 12 orange), quartered

1 tsp greek seasoning (I use Penzey's)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 French baguette

1/2 cup garlic and herb whipped feta

1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced

dried dill and feta for topping

1. Preheat broiler on low. Set the top rack one or two slots down from the top slot (unless you want blackened parchment).

2. In a bowl, combine cherry tomatoes, olive oil, greek seasoning, and garlic. Mix well and then place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Broil on low for 10 minutes, then stir gently and broil on high for 4 minutes. Remove tomatoes from the oven and let cool. 

3. Cut French baguette in 1-inch slices. Spread garlic and herb whipped feta on each slice, then top with broiled cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta, and dill. Serve immediately.

Greek Pasta

All ingredients listed above

8 oz penne

1. Boil the penne according to instructions, to your liking (al dente kinda freaks me out).

2. Follow step 1 & 2 above for roasting the tomatoes.

3. After draining the pasta, toss it in a bowl with the whipped feta, making a kind of creamy sauce. Add the warm tomatoes, olives, extra feta, and dill. Serve immediately.

Note: something tells me wilted spinach would be a welcome addition to this pasta dish. Again, serve with red wine, it pairs nicely.

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