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Welcome to Four Eyes Forum, a meeting place to exchange news and views on food, food photography, the word on food, food science, style and architecture. Join me, the blogger who wears glasses, in this world as I throw out engaging stuff that I think you'll find interesting, beautiful and delicious. As Charles Dudley Warner, American editor and writer, said,
"Lettuce, like conversation, requires a good deal
of oil, to avoid friction, and keep the company
smooth....You can put anything, and the more
things the better, into salad, as into a conver-
sation, but everything depends upon the skill of
mixing."


That's my job.
-Kristin
khalgedahl@gmail.com


(All photographs, unless otherwise cited, copyright
Kristin Halgedahl Photography 2016)



Friday, July 17, 2015

'F' is for Farm

One of the reasons I moved to Traverse City is that, although a city dweller, I need access to farms and farm folks at any time.  This feeling could go back to my Kansas roots, or to a much deeper human urge to 'grow' things. In any case, northern Michigan is deep agricultural country, and farms dot the landscape as frequently as lakes do. One such special place is Holmstead Farm, at 2102 West Long Lake Road. It's organic and CSA. It's stewards are Becky and Marshall Holmes, and their children and grandchildren, and teddy bears, and cats, and chickens, and friends, and customers.


'F' is for Farm.
'C' is for,  "Come and rest awhile."



'L' is for Grandma's Ginger Lemonade.





'G' is for Grandma, who never rests.


'C' is for Chickens. Barred Rock Chickens.
'E' is for crazy good eggs.

'M' is for Farm Mouser.

'B' is for bike; they come from everywhere around.

'T' is for table, a CSA dinner.



From the Odyssey, the code of hospitality is an ancient code
common to just about every known culture and moral code.
It states that anyone who comes to your home, invited of uninvited,
should be treated with the utmost respect, provided food, comfort
and basically be treated like family. Turning away someone's request
for shelter or mistreating a guest was a terrible, shameful act, worthy
of severe punishment by the Gods. By virtue of its existence, Holmstead Farm
honors this code. Of course, you can look at their Facebook Page, but, to really see for yourself, watch for the barn and just turn at the Egg sign about a 1/2 mile from Crescent Shores Road.








Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The Great Culinary Divide -- My Exploration Of Gender Bias In The Professional Kitchen



I just received word that a spec article I'm writing on gender bias in the culinary workplace may be published in Taverse Magazine. The topic is important to me because I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area before coming to Traverse City, MI three years ago, and I'm, therefore, a diner used to eating in female-led restaurants. Julia Child, Cindy Pawlcyn, Alice Waters and others set the standard for the nation, raising the bar for women in a male dominated workplace.  Having followed online coverage of the recent Women Chefs and Restauranteurs annual conference in NYC, I struck out to solicit the help of co-chef/owners Jennifer Blakeslee and Eric Patterson, to find out what makes their partnership tick. They generously opened their kitchen at The Cooks' House, to this fledgling explorer. Here are the pictorial results of an evening shooting there during a wine pairing dinner where equity was everywhere in evidence. 

Jennifer and Eric



Menu - Front of the house.



Menu - Back of the House.



More than one route to the same destination!





Rabbit


Lamb


Duck


Savory Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomato Tart


Sparkling Gruener, Mari Vineyards, Old Mission Peninsula