Who Doesn’t Love a Food Explosion? : Watercolor Food Illustration
Couch Talk
Ever since I was little, food has been a huge part of my life and overtime, it has played many roles. It has given me sustenance, of which I am most grateful. It introduced me to many flavors and smells as well as color and presentation. And it has been a comforter, which is not as it was intended.
Finding that balance is hard. When is too much food, too much? It has been a lifelong struggle for me, especially since a lot of my favorite foods make me sick. But I am slowly learning to eat in moderation. I am learning that I can bake for my family without tasting. And I am learning that I can still enjoy food without it making me sick. Eating with dietary restrictions can be hard and disappointing but thankfully there are so many resources and recipes out there that one does not need to feel as though they are missing out. But I admit, sometimes I still do.
My hubby is an engineer and his brain works completely different than me. He doesn’t understand why I love tasting food so much. He can eat a piece of dessert over the length of a half hour while I savor each and every bite for the entire minute it takes me to devour it. And then of course I want more, which gets me into trouble.
How about you? Do consume your dessert over a period of time or are you a devourer like me?
If you want to read a great book about food, try this one.
Baking Yummies
Everyone loves these Peanut Butter Bombs. This week I made a batch to freeze so we can take them out when we want them. SO delicious!
I tried a new sourdough recipe this week and it was a hit. Chocolate Crinkle Sourdough cookies. I found this recipe on a sourdough discard group I am a part of on FB. My son, the baker, described them as being “Crunchy and sweet on the outside and soft and fudgy on the inside.”
The last new dish I tried this week was Sourdough Discard Steamed Buns. Since they would be sitting to proof for 3 hours, I filled them with left-over chili. I watched many tutorials on how to shape and seal the buns but as you can see, I failed miserably.
Here is my steaming basket set-up. I pulled it out of the cabinet, never used after 6 years.
Final verdict: They were all gone
I wasn’t sure how the kids or hubby would like them but they did! I will definitely be making these again so that I can perfect my dough and my sealing technique. I would also like to experiment with savory and sweet fillings. Next time, I will be adding a pinch or so of yeast to see if I can get a better rise. Or maybe I just need to use starter that has recently been fed.
If you are interested in trying this, here are the supplies that I used for this recipe.
Food Explosion
I love baking, as you know, and now I found a way to make it a part of my art. Food illustration. I have been binge watching Youtube videos on watercolor food illustration. I found them by chance while browsing and now I am hooked. Because I go through phases of creating, I have decided to do as much watercolor as possible while the inspiration exists. It may be food art overload over the next few weeks.
The berry popsicles is my first attempt at food illustration. I used the tutorial by Nianiani on Youtube. Her paintings are beautiful and she makes them look way too easy. But I love that she does step by step tutorials. I am doing as many as possible in my spare moments.
Next up, chocolate chip cookies.
One of the things I like and learned about food illustration from Nianiani, is that it helps to do a study of the object from different angles. I took this information and decided to do my own study of a carrot from online pictures. Here is my final piece.
Sadly, not everything turns out decent on the first try. For instance, who would have thought that blueberries could be so hard?
First try: wonky shaped blueberries and not much depth. I want to blame it on the paper, as hot pressed has little texture and it is difficult to spread the paint. Not the best paper I am thinking for learning.
Second Try: I used more water and pigment but still not very good control.
Third Try: Added in another color to help with shading. Better, but still lacking a lot of depth.
Well, as you can see, I have a lot to keep me busy. More practice illustrations next time.
Tea Day
I am joining the Tea Ladies, hosted by Elizabeth and Bleubeard. My tea today is Harney & Sons Fine Teas Jasmine Fragrant Green Tea. It was sent to me as a sample with my order. I am a huge fan of Jasmine. While I like the fragrant taste of Jasmine, it is strong for some. I can’t handle it in excess but I love to savor my cup when I do.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
Between you and Lisca you have some wonderful yummy food this week. Those chocolate cookies look great. I’ve never tried steamed buns. They look good too. I made sourdough discard brownies awhile back. I love trying sourdough in new recipes, and I think you do too. Food is always a tricky thing, isn’t it? We’ve all gone from eating to survive to eating to eat. I am a food trying too, as is my husband who is also an engineer. But he does think totally different from me for certain. Thanks for sharing this with us Kate. Happy T day and a great week. Hugs-Erika
Your watercolors of food are beautiful. What a great idea. I have read another post about sourdough discard today — your choices are neat. The only recipe that has been a success for me is sourdough-discard pancakes.
be safe… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I really enjoy your posts and find them inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve tried commenting before but it didn’t seem to work when I click on Post Comment. Trying again. I’m thinking it might be my sympatico account. I’ve had trouble with it lately.
If I wasn’t hungry when I arrived, I was when I finished reading this. I loved how you steamed those buns, too. Of course, the chocolate is probably my favorite. Yum indeed.
Your food drawings also made me hungry. I loved the carrots and even the blueberries. You are really getting there. Although I’m a big fan of those chocolate bombs, I am not a fan of chocolate chip cookies. There is something about chocolate chip cookies I don’t care for. I guess it’s the randomness of the chips relative to the cookie dough. Regardless, the drawings were great.
Jasmine tea is the first tea I ever had in a restaurant. I fell in love with it. I still drink it on occasion. Thanks for sharing your art, your baking, and your jasmine tea with us for T this almost Tuesday.
In reference to your comment about the Dollar store clothes pins. They are the ones I use to replace the ones that the wind knocks off the line. The pieces would end up in the recycle bin had I not thought to turn them into a trivet. And yes, it took almost two years to acquire all of these because I can only hang my clothes on the line from May to September or October, depending on the weather.
First of all I have to say that your food illustrations are so impressive- just beautiful Kate!! Your home baked desserts and meals are a treat for sure. I’m more apt to eat like your hubby while my hubby is like you :):) Happy T day!
Different here.
Hubby and I share a breadroll. I had two bites, he´s done. I often ask, “do you simply inhale this?!”
Does he even chew?! Enjoy?
Hmmm… chili!
Oh, your paintings scream summer, our temps say winter still.
Nianiani – link bookmarked! I just can´t buy any colors and stuff, darn lockdown (I want to buy local).
Great work, happy T-Day.
Your water color art is beautiful Kate. I love it. You’ll get the blueberries right in the end and in the process, you are learning.
Your comments have led me to think about my relationship to food and cooking. It is always on my mind as i love cooking and i love eating good food. It is often the first thing I think about when i wake up in the morning. We tend to eat too much so we have bought very small dinner plates and have gotten in the habit of chewing well and taking our time over the meal. That way we enjoy our food but don’t over eat.
We don’t have dessert but we do have a yoghurt later at night. Our (light) evening meal is at 9 pm and at 11 we have this yoghurt.
I still haven’t succeeded in making a sourdough starter. For some reason it doesn’t work with the flour that i get. I suppose I need organic flour, which is difficult to find. I’m scouring the internet to see if I can buy a starter online, but most sites ship from the UK and since Brexit that is outside Europe, so we get slammed with a huge tax bill when it arrives. It is often disproportionate to the value of the item being sent. Not an option for me.
Your discard cookies look so delicious! And the steam buns are such a good idea and I bet they tasted good. Very good for leftovers.
Happy T-Day,
Stay healthy,
Hugs,
Lisca
Such a fun post! I have dietary restrictions too, one of which is no nuts as I have an intolerance so those peanut bombs are something I’ll crave but can’t have …lol … and I’d devour my dessert like you, I could never make it last 30 minutes …ha, ha 😉. Your bakes and paintings look amazing, and I’d love to try that jasmine green tea! Have a wonderful week and sending you Happy T Day wishes! Hugs, Jo x
Kate your baking always looks delicious and so does your watercolours of the food, my husband is the chef in Our house, he loves food and will try anything, he eats fast and says it because he had four older siblings , if you didn’t eat fast they may steal it, LoL
Our DIL is Polish and does the dumplings and I love the ones we had a dim sum, yours look tasty.
Have a great T day
Jan x
Your illustrations are wonderful! I’m a fast eater lol Happy T Tuesday!
Your baked goods look wonderful, and I love the beautiful water colours, you are doing fantastic work. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
Food. Growing up in an Italian household, food was constantly with us. There was always mass quantities of food. We ate to celebrate joy, sorrow, and boredome. Weight has been an up and down struggle. I’m a Hoover when it comes to food especially desserts. Your food studies are wonderful and would make lovely kitchen tiles. Happy T Day
Fabulous post. Your food in real life and art are soooo good. I try to stay away from sweets but make a lot for Mr. M. I use to be a cook on a ranch and tasting the food is part of getting it right. Have a wonderful day.
I so enjoyed visiting you today. I devour all my food – always in a hurry and always eat way too much as a result. I totally need to slow down. Love all the things you bcked/steamed/made and your food illustrations are wonderful. I am so impressed with your whole post and so glad I visited!
I could eat almost every dessert or cake put in front of me but having Type 2 Diabetes it obviously isn’t a good idea! I have favourites and when I do have a dessert I choose one of my favourites and TRY to make it last long as possible When we are out I choose dessert and then have a third while hubby has the other two thirds – it’s sometimes difficult but I am getting used to it! Your could try matching his mouthfuls with yours – although that can be quite frustrating! When I bake I make myself much smaller versions usually – less temptation! I’ve found some desserts that don’t have as much sugar – not so satisfying but a necessity!
I love your watercolours – the cookies especially……..!!!
Belated Happy T Day, Chrisx