purple | a food shoot

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.”

— Alice Walker

Lately, the grocery store's produce section looks as colorful as Willy Wonka's Chocolate Room. From crazy colored cauliflower to purple sweet potatoes, the vibrant mashup of red + blue is oozing out everywhere you look. It's impossible not to be captivated by this hue and the many characteristics it embodies: equality, courage, royalty, mystery, + imagination.

Purple food is a rising trend across the country as our population becomes more health-conscious. It has come a long way from last years açai bowl trend (not hating, I love those wildly colored smoothie bowls just as much as you do) and is making its way into the spotlight of our winter farmers' markets and our local grocery stores. Full of antioxidants and densely rich with nutrients, you can find purple foods in the produce + grain sections of your markets. 

And let's face it, purple food is tasty and sexy.  

best of 2016 | food

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. ”

— Prince

This year was tough. It was full of tension, loss, + anger. I believe these things, and whatever you associate them with, will make us stronger. it also teaches you to find the peace that does still exist in our lives. It teaches us to tell stories that are truthful: both the ones we choose not to acknowledge + the ones that give us hope for our future. 

I'm saying these things because 2016 wasn't the best year, although there was a lot of hope going into it. I poured tons of good energy into this year, and despite what happened worldwide, personally,  it was a very colorful, vibrant, year in which I tried to seek out the best in everything. 

This year took me to China, France, + other nooks of our county. It let me make new friends all over the world + cherish old friendships. It moved me to Dallas with Jerry + Eloise, it taught me to hustle and to also be at peace with things I cannot change. It taught me to constantly shoot and experiment with food, styling, and travel + push my photography style further along. It brought me some amazing clients who trust my style + work ethic. But mostly, it taught me to be grateful, patient, + to stand up for your beliefs. 

la tamalada | corpus christi, t.x.

Every Christmas, our family, like many other Mexican families sits down, spreads out the oil cloth, splits up the masa and hojas and pounds out a good tens of dozens of tamales (about 26 dozen this year...but this is no official count). Our tamaladas, or tamale-making parties, are full of laughter, and full of our family history and traditions. We may joke that we make them because it gives us something to open up on Christmas morning but the time spent with family, catching up on our lives, and reliving memories is the best reason to throw a tamalada...and, you know, the fact that tamales are outrageously delicious, a true Christmas treat. 

While tamaladas are great fun, tamale-making is serious work full of superstitions. The masa must be perfectly thin on the smooth side of the hoja. Stuffed with meat, beans, or maybe you make the sweet corn kind, it all comes down to a few small rituals: count your tamales (purely for bragging rights, according to my Grandma...and if you miscount, you must recount when they're done cooking before anybody eats them!), use the bathroom before the steaming starts, and they are best eaten leftover, toasted in a pan served with ketchup (don't mock the ketchup until you try our quirky family tradition).

From our familia to yours, feliz navidad y próspero año nuevo!