I can’t believe it’s almost September. Another summer has flown by. Is it my imagination, or do the years really speed up as you get older? Speaking of getting older, anyone who knows me knows I’m not the type to sit around waiting for life to happen. So, in October of 2022 I applied for and was accepted into a year-long commercial photography internship. It was a great program that covered both the artistic and technical sides of food photography as well as the business side. Honestly, it was tough. It was a lot of work and definitely outside of my comfort zone. Some of the more technical aspects, such as doing composite photographs in Photoshop and using artificial lighting were completely new to me, but I learned – A LOT. I did it, and I’m proud of my accomplishments. If you haven’t done so already, you can check out my new professional portfolio here. 

I started this blog over 10 years ago in October 2013 during a Government shutdown that gave me enough free time to get it started. Over the years the blog has had its ups and downs, but we’re still going strong. When I look at the photography in some of those early blog posts, I want to cringe, but that’s where my skills were at the time. We’ve come a long way! 

The cool thing about food photography — and blogging too, for that matter — is that if you do it right, no one knows about the mayhem that sometimes can take place during a photo shoot. Take this garlic bread for example. I was craving it, and it’s a simple recipe to execute and photograph. Well, it should have been. I didn’t take into account that it had been entirely too long since I did any food photos, and both the computer as well as my processing software needed updating. That took a day to fix, and when it was time to do garlic bread, I was in a hurry. I managed to blow up the garlic butter in the microwave, and then (icing on the cake) the bread caught fire under the broiler. DON’T DO THIS! Fortunately, I didn’t burn down the kitchen and I had wisely prepared a second loaf of bread. 

Garlic bread doesn’t need much of an introduction or even a recipe really, but this will allow you to make sure you’ve got the right ingredients and timelines. I will warn you this one is really garlicky. It sure doesn’t taste like the ready-to-bake foil wrapped ones at the grocery store. 

I hope you enjoy this recipe. In the meantime, you can expect to see a lot more recipes from me right here in the near future. And, as I move into my next phase, whatever that may be, I’ll make sure you know where to find me online.

Garlic Bread

1 Loaf

I prefer to use Italian bread for this rather than a skinny baguette, but you do you. If you want to make this ahead, you can freeze it. Just wrap it in foil first, just like the grocery store. Let it thaw while you preheat the oven. 

1 loaf of Italian bread

1 head garlic, chopped fine or pressed using a garlic press

4 ounces (1 stick) or more butter

1 bunch of chives

Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Use a serrated knife to divide the loaf of bread lengthwise. Turn the pieces cut side up. 

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the garlic. If you don’t think you’ve got enough butter add another 2-4 ounces. Brush the garlic butter on the cut pieces of the bread. Bake for 15 minutes, and if you want a little more brown on the bread carefully place it under the broiler for about a minute, watching it very closely. Slice the bread crosswise and enjoy. 

Adapted from a recipe published in 2010 on Heidi Swanson’s 101Cookbooks.com, one of the original first food blogs.