Tagged: California

Bringing It Back 80s Style

by Aida Mollenkamp —

Little Gems Salad with Green Goddess Dressing from www.aidamollenkamp.com

This salad is at its most simple a great big excuse for me to make Green Goddess Dressing. I’m a California girl through and through and Green Goddess is too.

Though this dressing is just a tad bit older than me — it has been around, by some accounts, since the 1920s when a chef at the Palace Hotel made his West Coast version of the classic French sauce verte. If you grew up out west, you probably remember that Green Goddess was all the rage right about the time Madonna came out with Material Girl and Regan was our commander in chief. But, with time, this dressing went the way of shoulder pads and scrunchies and became all but obsolete. 
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Photo Shoot // Picture Perfect with Bonnie Tsang

by Aida Mollenkamp —

Aida-Mollenkamp-Black-and-White-Silverlake

I’ve been doing a bit of spring cleaning around these parts. First up was the redesign of the site and then, to freshen things up further, I decided to take a few new portrait photos. Bonnie Tsang was my photographer of choice because she does a beautiful job shooting natural, lifestyle, almost editorial shots that I find positively dreamy.

But it really was more organic than any other photo shoot I’ve been on as there was no posing and we had a very loose plan. Basically, Bonnie and I met in Silverlake, spent the day perusing the area (list of shops we stopped in below), and the result is a snapshot of our afternoon chronicled in her gorgeous style. You’ll see plenty of her work on the site and elsewhere as I ready for my fast-approaching cookbook launch, but I thought I’d give you a few sneak peeks in the meantime.
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Monthly Mood Board: April 2012

by Aida Mollenkamp —

Monthly-Mood-Board-April-2012

April has been a month of celebrations — which have been exciting but tiring, to say the least. In the last 30 days, I’ve hopped north and south and east and west all in the name of baby announcements, birthdays, showers, music festivals, and weddings. Throughout it all, I’ve come across some top tunes, tasty treats, great reads, and other fabulous finds that I wanted to share with you. Here are my ten favorite finds from the last month:
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TasteMakers: Bryant Terry

by Aida Mollenkamp —

Bryant Terry

Bryant Terry is an inspiration for all of us to take action.

The food activist, eco-chef, and author is doing more than his part to help make a more just, healthy, and sustainable food system. I first came across Bryant’s work when I moved to the Bay Area and he had just published first book, Grub. As I got more involved in the local food scene, I noticed his book popped up seemingly everywhere I turned. Reading that book was a big piece of my personal journey to become a more conscientious cook and a more eco-friendly eater and I’ve followed his work ever since. Though I don’t personally eat a vegan diet, I find that recipes like Bryant’s make eating meatless all that much easier and delicious.

He is this month’s TasteMaker because we can all learn something from where he’s been and the work he’s doing. He’s now splitting his time to spend more time with his daughter and she has become his muse for his work as you can tell from his interview below. Here’s a bit about Bryant and his latest project, but be sure to also check out his new web series, Urban Organic, and his latest book from which he generously shared this recipe for Chewy Lemon-Coconut Cookies with Lemon Icing.
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