As a person, I’m pretty upfront about my strengths and weaknesses. And as far as this blog is concerned, my weakness is definitely the photography.
I’ve come a long way since 2008, when I was trying to capture stew in a messy bowl at 9pm with my point-and-shoot. But the learning curve has been steeper than other areas. And I know that being a food blogger with mediocre pictures is the equivalent of being a butter face (but-her-face) in high school. I’m shocked anyone wanted to hook-up with me or my blog years ago.
Anyway, despite running around like a crazy person half the time, I have been trying to make a concerted effort to improve my photography. I still have no idea what I’m doing in terms of my camera settings. But it does help to take the extra fifteen minutes to style my food and arrange my table setting on the floor below the ladder to my sleeping loft – my unofficial photo studio.
But whenever a professional offers to sweep me and my food off our feet for the day, I am always gratefully game. And I was lucky enough earlier this year to meet a great fellow Brown alumnus at a food panel I spoke at, who offered to do just that.
I had a wonderful day shooting with Kristin Gladney last month. If you didn’t check out my full interview and portrait on her site, you can see it here. She’s been working on a project capturing people in creative fields in their work and home environment (often one in the same, if I’m any indication!). Make sure to scroll through the site – there are so many interesting characters to discover!
As a secondary subject for our shoot, I made a batch of blueberry almond pancakes. They are gluten-free, thanks to the almond meal and rice flour. But you would never know it from the texture. They were a total winner, and very photogenic to boot.
Check out some of the great shots from my kitchen – I’m excited to start integrating some of these into the site! And here’s hoping to one day having the skillz to make my own rice jars look so darn sexy.
Gluten-Free Blueberry-Almond Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2/3 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
- 2/3 cup white rice flour
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces fresh blueberries
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
- Butter or Earth balance substitute
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, almond milk, and sugar until combined. Fold in the flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined.
- Set a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add a small pat of butter or Earth Balance to the pan and swirl around until there’s a light coat. Add the batter to the pan, ¼ cup for each pancake. You’ll make 2-3 at a time depending on the size of your pan.
- Add a small handful of blueberries (about 5 per) to the top of the pancakes and a sprinkling of slivered almonds. Cook on the first side until golden brown on the bottom and beginning to form bubbles on the top, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the second side until golden brown and the blueberries have begun to soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat with the remaining pancakes.
- Serve the pancakes immediately in a stack, alternating the blueberry side face up/down, with maple syrup and additional butter on the side.
Gorgeous photos Phoebe!!! And the pancakes are drool-worthy!!
Thank you Liz!
You were great with my kids! Lucy asked about you for a long time after Chef Race. And this morning after eating chocolate chip pancakes and a banana, she asked if there was such a thing as chocolate bananas and if we have the recipe. Can’t wait to make these with her.
Andrea – I have been meaning to send you a longer email! It’s so great to hear from you. Loved spending time with your family, and so thrilled you’ve found me here. Lucy was the cutest. I hope she enjoyed the frozen bananas! Crazy to think that we met a year ago – where did the time go? Hope all is well in your world and that you don’t end up with any more reality chefs on your doorstep this summer! xo
Ow Ow! Good looking pictures! Both you and the pancakes, girl!
winky face. heart you.
“But-her-face”? From these photos, you were never that girl. Fun recipe, too. Now can you figure out g-free dessert crepes?
aww thanks. yes, i have had a great GF crepe recipe up my sleeve for some time. Will definitely share at some point this summer! x
Beauty!
Nice photography with the fork in action and the maple-syrup-drizzling in progress, I’d like to know how to get those types of shots. Makes me want to try those gluten-free blueberry almond pancakes!
Trial and error for me re: fork! Expertise for Kristin who took the maple syrup shots. Love those.
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OMG!!! These are delicious!!! Thanks sooo much for sharing!
yay! did you make them? hooray!
Hello, I want to thank you for creating and sharing such a successful and tasty recipe. I grew up having blueberry pancakes as a special occasions breakfast and was skeptical of finding a satisfactory gluten free replacement for “samuel whisker’s rolly polly pancakes” from the Beatrix Potter Cookbook. I have tried pre-made mixes as well as recipes from around the web and none have measured up til now. Thank you.
this warms my heart ailia! i’m so glad I could help you recreate that food memory. enjoy those pancakes!