{"id":152032,"date":"2015-12-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gracious-khorana.45-76-20-142.plesk.page\/preserved-lemons-inspiration\/"},"modified":"2023-06-26T17:11:13","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T17:11:13","slug":"preserved-lemons-inspiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/localmilkblog.com\/2015\/12\/preserved-lemons-inspiration.html","title":{"rendered":"Last-Minute DIY Holiday Gift | Preserved Lemons"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is a post about little gifts. A list of my five favorite blogs<\/strong> & a recipe for the perfect DIY last minute gift<\/strong>, homemade spiced preserved lemons. In a world full of content and things, it\u2019s easy to get lost in the noise. That\u2019s why I wanted to give you an idea for a simple, affordable, easy gift that\u2019s also absolutely wonderful, and a very short list of my favorite\u00a0reads.<\/p>\n

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The truth is I don\u2019t really keep up with most of the content that\u2019s out there these days, and that\u2019s why these few blogs I do visit from time to time are so special to me. Generally, I prefer to seek inspiration elsewhere in art, literature, music, nature, food, and travel, and I usually find my time consumed by\u00a0my own work and spend any free time I have researching & experimenting or being with my family. I\u2019m always asking myself the question\u00a0how can I grow, how can I differentiate?\u00a0<\/em>I ask this both professionally as a cook, stylist, and photographer, but also as a human. These are the women that inspire me to keep moving forward and pushing myself to find what\u00a0my\u00a0<\/em>work looks like, because whether it\u2019s true or not (everything\u2019s always different from the outside looking in), it looks like they\u2019ve found theirs. Some of them are the ones that inspired me to start in the first place.\u00a0And I want to give that credit too. I tend to gravitate towards strong food styling, simplicity, texture, recipes I want to cook, and light. Click the title for the blog, and their names for their instagrams.<\/p>\n

Hungry Ghost <\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u2013 Masters of light & utterly unique. Nothing derivative about it. OG.\u00a0Andrea Gentl <\/a>& her husband Martin Hyers<\/a> (collectively Gentl & Hyers) are some of\u00a0my biggest inspirations as a photographer. The latest book they shot, Hartwood<\/a>, lives in the small collection in my kitchen.<\/p>\n

101 Cookbooks<\/a> \/ QuitoKeeto<\/a><\/strong><\/em> \u2013 A favorite blog & a favorite shop; I don\u2019t generally cook recipes but I cook Heidi\u2019s<\/a>; her styling is beautiful & appetizing, and she\u2019s always using the ingredients that fascinate me the most. It all appears\u00a0so effortless & calm. And her book, Near & Far<\/a>, is probably the one I\u2019ve cooked from most not just this year but in four years.<\/p>\n

Sunday Suppers<\/a> \/ Shop Ila<\/a><\/strong><\/em> \u2013 Another blog + shop combo I adore. Clean, classic, and another food styling wizard. Gathering maven long before \u201cgatherings\u201d were a thing, Karen<\/a> still styles the prettiest tables I\u2019ve ever seen. And I want everything in her shop. The spices are like an artist\u2019s palette for a cook, and the Sunday Suppers Cookbook<\/a> is a version of the blog you can hold.<\/p>\n

Cannelle et Vanille<\/a><\/strong><\/em> \u2013 Aran\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0styling on the plate and off are immaculate and her colors are perfect. Again, the work exudes a calmness and an effortlessness. It never feels overwrought yet takes such finesse. I\u2019ve never been, but her workshops<\/a> are an inspiration to me. She was doing it long before I was, and is part of the reason I aspired to do what I do today. She showed me it was possible.<\/p>\n

Lady and Pups<\/a><\/strong><\/em> \u2013 She\u2019s hilarious and her recipes induce cravings for things you might not have even known existed. Another blog I actually turn to for recipes. And her photos are the type of photos that actually make me want to eat and cook, not just buy plates. Her vibrant, graphic style\u00a0inspires me. It\u2019s beautiful without being precious, and the food is always the focus.\u00a0I wish she wasn\u2019t all the way in Hong Kong because Mandy<\/a>\u00a0seems like someone I\u2019d want to hang out with.<\/p>\n

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Onward. Preserved lemons. I\u2019m from Tennessee. These are not a thing here, and I hadn\u2019t heard of them until about five years back. Still, I never had the chance to try them, but they (like many other things: hello dukkah, harissa, chawanmushi, cured egg yolk) captivated me from afar. So I made my own. And now I can\u2019t imagine my pantry without them. If you\u2019re unfamiliar, a good place to start is using them anywhere you might consider using a caper or a diced up olive. Or any instance that would benefit from salt and citrus. Which is almost every savory thing ever.<\/p>\n

A preserved lemon aioli? That sounds like a good idea. In a dressing? Yes please. Over roasted cauliflower with a spatter of homemade creme fraiche and mint? I can vouch for that one. A topping\u00a0for soup, also a great idea. And they make an unexpected & wonderful garnish for cocktails & mocktails alike, a hybrid of the olive and the twist. And personally (as a lover of salt), I can eat them by themselves. But be warned, a little goes a long way. \u00a0They take about two second to make, and are gorgeous last minute gifts you can probably throw together with stuff you have on hand. Just make sure you remind the recipient (if you make them last minute) to let them sit around for at least a month before diving in. After a month, I keep mine in the fridge, but traditionally they are kept out. That\u2019s the American in me, forever sticking things\u00a0in the fridge.<\/p>\n

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