The Joy of Ribs
By guest writer/skilled photographer, Jake Thomas.
A huge thank you to Jake Thomas for writing this beautiful blog post about one of Taking Pure Joy's events this past summer. Jake is not only an incredible writer and photographer, but also a lovely human in general. Jake and I have been working together on various projects over the past 3 or so years and I have enjoyed every minute of it. If you are looking for photography (events, lifestyle, brand growth, etc.) or other help marketing your business, take a look at Jake's website here. You will not be disappointed. Jake has also hosted Taking Pure Joy on a podcast recently...have a look here if you would like to know a little bit more about my story. And now, without further ado, here is Jake's lovely work:
THE JOY OF RIBS
It’s not a difficult task to love food. It’s the most natural thing in the world. Humans are blessed with this amazing palette of flavors, colors and textures that they can consume via the edible arts. Is food the ultimate art form? It engages every sense that you possess and then it becomes a part of you. How powerful is that?
As a photographer, I relish the opportunity to work with culinary artists and so it was with great pleasure that I agreed to shoot my friend Teddy Danielson’s first dinner as a private chef. She had worked all day to get everything ready, and when I got there, an hour before she started serving guests food, she greeted me with a cookie.
“Jake! How are you. Try this cookie.”
I looked at the powdered-sugar-dusted little nugget of goodness and got a napkin and sat down to enjoy it. I sank my teeth into the cookie and I was transported. What the heck? I wasn’t expecting what I experienced. It was crunchy on the outside, but so chewy on the inside and sweet and almond flavored all the way through. It was like a magic trick.
“Are you kidding me?”
“Good texture, huh?”
What a way to set it off. I knew that she was an expert chef, educated in technique and passionate about creating great food, but even with this expectation I was happily surprised. The cookie was evidence of her magic. Teddy was a contemporary sorceress working with her team to prepare beautiful hors d’oeuvres and rolling out some gorgeous pizza dough. These lucky guests were going to eat some absolutely perfect pizza with pears, brie cheese, and caramelized onions, as well as other flat bread masterpieces. But that was just the beginning.
As I moved around the kitchen keeping out of the way of this master orchestrating her work, I kept catching a whiff of the short ribs that had been slowly cooking all day in a bottle of wine. Next came the risotto which filled the kitchen with that unmistakable scent of rich cheese infusing rice with flavor. As she was plating the buttery short ribs atop a bed of risotto I witnessed the final course of a dinner that is as good as it can possibly get. Check her out if you are hosting a party and want the best of the best private chefs. She also delivers meals on a weekly basis for clients who want something delicious, healthy and easy to heat up.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to Taking Pure Joy here for any catering needs! And remember...Jake J. Thomas for photography folks...contact him here.