There is nothing like sitting on your deck by the beach with your family and enjoying freshly caught steamed mussels with melted butter from a local seafood store located on Ship Bottom, Long Beach Island on the Jersey shore where I spent many of summers enjoying the beauty of the relaxing ocean air and cool summer nights. We would swim and ride the ocean waves all day long while looking forward to sitting down to quarts and quarts of fresh steamed mussels with parsley and drawn butter. I don’t think I would eat any thing else, just filled up on heaps of fresh locally harvested mussels. Pick...

When my Mom brought me my first taste of homemade risotto I knew this was one of the best culinary delights I would every enjoy! She would make a simple Risotto Milanese, risotto, good Parmesan, butter, and fresh chopped parsley. Risotto is a dish you have to make many times before really understanding how it is made. I do not use a recipe but a guideline of 3/4 cup of Carnaroli or Arborio rice for each person. I find Carnaroli has more starch content which in turn makes for a very creamy risotto. When making risotto remember that it is the rubbing of the wooden spoon against the rice while stirring...

There is just something about pretzels and chocolate…. Chocolate Pretzels Tart Makes one 10 inch tart For the crust half a bag or 8 ounces pretzels 1/4 or cup more of room temperature unsalted butter 1 cup 10x sugar 1 teaspoon sea salt Place the pretzels in a large bowl and crush with another smaller bowl, reserve 1/4 cup. Place the crushed pretzels in a mixing bowl and with the paddle, add the butter, sea salt and 10x sugar. Mix for a couple of minutes until all the ingredients are incorporated. Place the crust in the refrigerator, covered, for 30 minutes to become firm. Place the dough between...

Cracked Mustard Vinaigrette 1/3 cup white vinegar 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 1/2 tablespoons cracked mustard 1 large shallot, diced Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Place all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and incorporate all ingredients using a whip, set aside. Salad Serves Four 1 Asian pear 1/2 cup Gorgonzola, broken into small  pieces 1/2 cup toasted chopped Cashews 2 heads red organic bibb lettuce Remove core and outer leaves of the lettuce and discard. Wash the remaining lettuce in cold water and drain, then pull part the leaves with your hands, set aside. Slice the pear...

Part food photography, part craving oysters. On my day off I set aside most of my day to practice shooting food pics for my blog. Nothing relaxes me more, it’s the challenge of setting my camera, getting the lighting right and then working on my composition. As you can tell I like to get in real close with my food. I want my readers to really see what I am creating. My favorite lens right now is the Cannon 100mm F 2.8 “L” lens. I use natural light from my porch, reflectors and a lot of patience. Bluepoint oysters are a northern oyster and because of the meatiness, salinity, hard...

Sometimes I like to make it simple, a little pasta, fresh artichoke, mushrooms, garlic and some fresh herbs. Artichokes are probably my favorite non starchy vegetable.  As a child my Mother would purchase an artichoke for myself and one for each of my eight brothers and sisters. She would have me trim them and then simmer in lemon and salted water until the leaves and stems were tender. I would take the leaves and dip in warmed butter with a little garlic and then with my teeth scrape and eat the tender part. I can still feel the warm butter running down my chin and onto my lap. Trim the stem...

Downtown Roswell Georgia We are so busy at Mckendricks during the holidays I don’t have much time to take my camera out. Towards the end of the holidays I like to rent a lens from Aperturent.com  because with the holiday break I get an extra week of rental. I am looking to purchase a new lens and can’t decide which one to purchase so renting is a great option for testing new lens before you buy. I rented the Canon EF 24-70mm 2.8L”  USM lens for two weeks to see if it would be a good all around lens. To gather more information needed to make my decision I like to watch a video...

My Grandmother is the sweetest person I have ever met. As a child she would help me with my pronunciation and spelling by working with me with her flash cards. She was always smiling and most of the time doing what she loved, cooking. I came across my mothers and grandmothers recipe collection while visiting with my family in New Jersey. My Father let me take  most of their collections. While looking through them I came across this recipe for peanut brittle, something I have been unable to conquer.While the chef at Chops I would make a chocolate peanut brittle and peanut butter ice cream pie but I...

One of the most difficulties with food photography is the lighting. Once you learn the the functions of your camera and composition you have to learn how to light your subject. I believe that the type and direction of your light determines the quality of your picture. I spend many hours every week trying to increase my knowledge about light. This is a great video on lighting for portraiture, a two hour video from  B&H Photo and Video  that will talk about the different types of light according to the Kelvin scale. Your camera comes with different settings for your white balance. White...

Whenever I purchase lamb racks for grilled lamb chops I always prefer to buy the Australian Lamb. Australian lamb has a less gamy flavor and a lot larger loin than the New  Zealand or Colorado lamb. If you want to prepare lamb chops for a cocktail party you will need to use the New Zealand lamb rack because the smaller loin and bones make them easy to eat while standing and your guest will be able to use one hand. Sage Crust 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 teaspoons chopped fresh garlic 2 cups panko bread crumbs 1 tablespoon honey 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh sage 1/4...

I had the chance a couple of months ago to visit my family up north. Most of them and their families live in New Jersey except for 3 of my brothers. Kenny lives in Oregon, Paul in Atlanta and Tony in Connecticut. Whenever I return to Jersey, as I call it, I must take time to get to work and practice with my camera. I try to capture pictures of  my favorite childhood memories. When taking photos I feel such love and warmth behind my lens. It makes me happy to be able to capture these pictures to enjoy or share with my family.. this is the river crossing,,,,, in Clinton New Jersey. I...