Inspirations
It's been a long time since I've blogged and the time has passed so quickly, two whole seasons have jumped by! It's been about six months since my last posting, I can't believe it!
I've been keeping busy working and then recovering from working on various TV commercials and a music video that snuck in two weeks ago, and I've been having a great time, except for the heat which has been fine up until now.
There are a few movies which have had a great impact and provided inspiration for me that I'd like to share. The first is "Fresh" produced and directed by a woman who has become a hero and friend to me, Ana Sofia Joanes. It's a positive, uplifting documentary on Organic farming and the small farmers that began the Organic farming movement before it was even named as such by the FDA. Joel Salatin, one of the featured farmers in this film and the other documentary that's made a huge impact on me and others this summer, "Food, Inc" , is like a rock star to me. He's such a dynamic, vibrant man that seems deeply satisfied and earnest in his mission of raising animals and food the way that it should be, in a bio-dynamic, sustainable way. He grazes cows on the property which then fertilizes the soil and let's the chickens and pigs run free as well and he raises and slaughters them on a small scale as opposed to large factory farms that view these animals and the people who work there as a commodity and not living beings. His quote on his website for Polyface Farms is: "We are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture."
A friend said "Food, Inc" was the scariest movie he's seen and I have to agree, I was in tears through some of the factory farm scenes and it wasn't just the inhumane treatment of the animals, it was the way the corporations have a lock on the farmers and animal farmers so that they can't survive without them. They keep them in debt and sue them if they get out of line or try to revert to old fashioned methods of farming that don't use their copyrighted chemicals and seeds. It's a frightening thought that we've been eating genetically modified food for years now and really don't have any idea on what the genetic impact is going to be on our future generations, and on our environment and we should start doing something about it...
The third inspirational film I've seen this summer was Julie and Julia, which was uplifting and funny and filled with delicious looking food! I have to own this movie to watch whenever my creative spirits are flagging. Afterward, my friends and I went to Cafe Luxembourg on the Upper Westside to fulfill my need for bearnaise sauce! I had the Creekstone Farms free range Hangar Steak with sauteed Rapini and Potatoes Confit. My friend Theo really hit the winner with a French Onion Soup and an appetizer portion of Corn Ravioli with Summer Truffles that I couldn't wait to get my fork into and while he wasn't looking, I soaked up all the good leftover bits with my bread when he was done! Sasha had the biggest, fluffy and juiciest Omelette I've ever seen with a side of the sauteed Rapini and we all shared a Chilled Melon Soup with a Watermelon Granite for dessert. It was perfect!
I'm going shopping now for a shoot this week, I think I'll do a Mexican inspired day for the pre-light, with quesadillas, guacamole and cilantro corn chicken salad, Italian for the first shoot day with Balsamic roasted vegetables and lots of mozzarella and tomatoes, maybe a bread salad...and Middle Eastern for the second shoot day. I'm so excited about making Good Food! I'll try keep you posted on recipes and menus for the day
I've been keeping busy working and then recovering from working on various TV commercials and a music video that snuck in two weeks ago, and I've been having a great time, except for the heat which has been fine up until now.
There are a few movies which have had a great impact and provided inspiration for me that I'd like to share. The first is "Fresh" produced and directed by a woman who has become a hero and friend to me, Ana Sofia Joanes. It's a positive, uplifting documentary on Organic farming and the small farmers that began the Organic farming movement before it was even named as such by the FDA. Joel Salatin, one of the featured farmers in this film and the other documentary that's made a huge impact on me and others this summer, "Food, Inc" , is like a rock star to me. He's such a dynamic, vibrant man that seems deeply satisfied and earnest in his mission of raising animals and food the way that it should be, in a bio-dynamic, sustainable way. He grazes cows on the property which then fertilizes the soil and let's the chickens and pigs run free as well and he raises and slaughters them on a small scale as opposed to large factory farms that view these animals and the people who work there as a commodity and not living beings. His quote on his website for Polyface Farms is: "We are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture."
A friend said "Food, Inc" was the scariest movie he's seen and I have to agree, I was in tears through some of the factory farm scenes and it wasn't just the inhumane treatment of the animals, it was the way the corporations have a lock on the farmers and animal farmers so that they can't survive without them. They keep them in debt and sue them if they get out of line or try to revert to old fashioned methods of farming that don't use their copyrighted chemicals and seeds. It's a frightening thought that we've been eating genetically modified food for years now and really don't have any idea on what the genetic impact is going to be on our future generations, and on our environment and we should start doing something about it...
The third inspirational film I've seen this summer was Julie and Julia, which was uplifting and funny and filled with delicious looking food! I have to own this movie to watch whenever my creative spirits are flagging. Afterward, my friends and I went to Cafe Luxembourg on the Upper Westside to fulfill my need for bearnaise sauce! I had the Creekstone Farms free range Hangar Steak with sauteed Rapini and Potatoes Confit. My friend Theo really hit the winner with a French Onion Soup and an appetizer portion of Corn Ravioli with Summer Truffles that I couldn't wait to get my fork into and while he wasn't looking, I soaked up all the good leftover bits with my bread when he was done! Sasha had the biggest, fluffy and juiciest Omelette I've ever seen with a side of the sauteed Rapini and we all shared a Chilled Melon Soup with a Watermelon Granite for dessert. It was perfect!
I'm going shopping now for a shoot this week, I think I'll do a Mexican inspired day for the pre-light, with quesadillas, guacamole and cilantro corn chicken salad, Italian for the first shoot day with Balsamic roasted vegetables and lots of mozzarella and tomatoes, maybe a bread salad...and Middle Eastern for the second shoot day. I'm so excited about making Good Food! I'll try keep you posted on recipes and menus for the day
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