Halloween Fun for O Organics

I was commissioned to style and shoot some Halloween content for Albertsons (the grocery store company that also owns Safeway) featuring their O Organics line. This was my second time being hired by Albertsons to make and capture food art for them, and I love working with them because they ask me to include more human elements the photos (for example, hands-in-frame shots) than I usually include in the content on my own account and this challenges me to set up scenes differently and try different camera angles than my standard flatlay style that I’ve become known for.

For this shoot, they also asked me if it would be possible to add a spooky foggy effect to some of the photos. Actually, they originally asked if it was possible for me to use dry ice in the photoshoot. However, I was nervous about the idea of shooting this dynamic element whose movement I wouldn’t fully be able to control—this is why I am a food photographer and not an event photographer! So instead, I asked them if they would be okay with me editing the spooky fog/mist effect into the photos and fortunately, they trusted me to do what I thought was best to achieve that mysterious Halloween vibe!

I had recently learned about the AI editing tools on Canva from my friend Anisa, The Wonky Stove. I learned how to use the Magic Edit feature from this post of hers. (I’ve since learned that I got very lucky with timing and this was a feature I was able to try for free at the time but is now behind their Pro subscription paywall.) I was able to upload my un-magical photos I’d shot, select the areas where I wanted to add spooky fog, and type a prompt to describe what I wanted to add to the photo. The AI is still in its early stages here (which I am definitely ok with!) so it didn’t immediately produce a result I wanted and instead changed up way too much of the photo. But I was able to use what I got out of the tool to then edit together the AI-altered photo and the original photo to produce exactly what I wanted. I imagine this is what movie editors do, but just at a way smaller scale. Conclusion: it was still very necessary for a skilled human (me!) to produce these photos so robots haven’t taken over my job just yet.

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Here are the before-and-afters of the photos where I used this process.

Without AI

with AI

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Without AI

With AI

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Here are some other photos from the shoot. Fun fact: I used black electrical tape over my nails in these hands-in-frame shots to look like I had black nail polish on!

February 2021 Favorites

This month was emotionally challenging for me. Every day, I felt bombarded with articles about hate crimes against elderly Asian people. In my culture, we don’t call adults Mr. and Mrs. when we are young, we call them uncle or auntie, or the Chinese words for granduncle/grandauntie if they look hella old. Complete strangers are still uncles and aunties. Even when you are an adult, anyone who is obviously older than you is your auntie or uncle. So, when we see our elderly getting bullied—in some cases even being pushed to their deaths—because of anti-Asian xenophobia, it’s heartbreaking; it feels like the victim is a part of our collective family. It definitely put a dark cloud over Lunar New Year, which is normally our most festive time.

I’ve decided to use these monthly favorites posts as a time to also reflect on the month that has passed, and I couldn’t do that this month without touching upon the subject that was in my thoughts so much. I am grateful my parents are safe (they even got their first dose of the vaccine this month!) and that I am safe. But I know others who look like us haven’t been so lucky.

On a more optimistic note, I have started planting in my garden. For several years now, I have been planting tomatoes and veggies right before spring starts. I am starting early this year because I have nothing else to do and because SF has had a crazy mild winter—which feels all the more insane in contrast with the winter storms in the rest of the country. I am not an expert about when to plant so please don’t ask me questions. But I’ll probably share more about this topic next month.

Random Product Favorites

Vinyl Backdrop from Club Backdrops in Sandstone

I found myself reaching for this Club Backdrops Sandstone backdrop a lot this past month. It looks tan/sand colored on their site but with my edits it often ends up subtly peachy-pink. I try not to spend a lot on my backdrops; my earlier photos were shot with either a cheap-ass foamboard from the craft store or some abandoned wooden crates I salvaged from a parking lot. I just started investing in “nicer” props as of Black Friday last year but I am still really frugal about my backdrops. Club Backdrops has a great 3 for 2 deal so I bought three and this is the one I love the most. They are definitely not the most ideal; the material is stiff so it doesn’t lie flat without the corners being weighted down but they do wipe clean pretty nicely and the printing is nicer than vinyl backdrops I have purchased elsewhere.

Stoneware Planter by Opalhouse for Target

Bought this little planter from Target and I just love how it is the same color as my skin—something that is Very rare to find as a tan Asian. They come in other different sizes and shades too! Mine is the 4-inch in “light brown”. There is a kind soul in my neighborhood who puts out a box of cuttings and seedlings outside of his house on Fridays, so I picked up this little bb pothos seedling from him. I hope I don’t kill it.

Oolong’s Lunar New Year Lion Dance Costume

The dog costume I never knew I needed until I saw it! I am not really into dressing up my dogs but Lunar New Year felt different this year and I decided to indulge. Seeing my dog Oolong bop around erratically while running around in this (because the hood went over her eyes and she couldn’t see where she was going!) really did remind me of the playfully jerky movements of a lion dance and it was just too funny. The costume was surprisingly detailed and durable feeling. You can get one for your dog or cat here**! Oolong is a shih tzu-yorkie-generic terrier mutt mix of about 13 pounds and I got her a size 16, which fits her length and torso perfectly. I found that reading the reviews was very helpful for determining what size to buy.

Favorite Rejects

This section is dedicated to memorializing the photos that won’t be making it to my feed.

I snapped this as a really quick photo for my Insta stories but I ended up really liking it so I want to hold onto it here, too. Mandarin oranges/satsumas/tangerines are a really big part of Chinese New Year. Their name in Cantonese sounds the same as the word for gold, and plus they kind of resemble gold coins in appearance, so these are usually exchanged among friends as wishes for luck and prosperity.

I might still post this on Instagram. I’m on the fence. Please share your opinion in the comments! I was inspired by Ethiopian and Eritrean family style meals, and how there is a giant piece of injeria at the bottom of the platter with all the stews on top. I wanted to apply that concept to a fluffier flatbread (I used a naan recipe here) with other delicious toppings and dips piled on top for a really hands-on meal, but I think it ended up being too much chaos the way I styled it. I love how the colors and textures turned out though, so maybe this will be rescued from its reject status someday.

Another one that I am still very on the fence about. A while back my friend Sandy challenged me to make a pie that looked like the fish pie from the movie Kiki’s Delivery Service. I decided to make a mini salmon pot pie version, but I have never made an individual pot pie before and forgot to account for the major shrinkage of the crust dough after baking. I also underestimated how long this simple and cute fish design would take me relative to more elaborate pastry art I have done in the past so I was really stressing about losing the light from the sun and had to take it out for photos before it was the right shade of golden brown. I think my fish is pretty accurate to the movie, but I wish the photo was sharper and that the overall pie looked a little more polished. Let me know what you think in the comments—is it still insta-worthy?

other Random Favorites

Favorite Netflix Binge: American Horror Story: 1984. Definitely not my favorite season of AHS but in general I adore this show (if it is possible to adore something filled with truck-tons of gore) so much so this was still my favorite thing that I watched this month. The progression was similar to the prior season, Apocalypse, in that there are two very distinct acts. I didn’t find the characters as lovable or compelling this season and it was weird to have an AHS without Evan Peters. But the ‘80s fashion and music throwbacks were pretty rad. If you are an AHS fan, please let me know below! My favorite seasons are Murder House, Coven, and Hotel.

Favorite Video: This footage of an adorable Chinese baby and their makeshift dim sum cart.

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments what were the highlights of your February 2021!

January 2021 Favorites

I got some lovely positive feedback from my 2020 Favorites post, so will try to make this a regular monthly thing. I’m starting out strong by actually getting this post done in a timely manner, but we will see how it goes for the rest of the year!

I spent this past January mostly at home due to the latest lockdown, really leaving the house only for grocery shopping and picking up takeout. I shot Lunar New Year ideas and recipes that I’m excited to share with you guys. I binged watched the latest season of Great British Bake-Off, which I had very mixed feelings about. I had a lot of exciting preliminary talks with potential clients and partners. And I breathed a big sigh of relief on Inauguration Day. We actually got some decent days of rain here in San Francisco, which allowed me to feel productive, since I can shoot more on rainy days. Overall, not a bad month at all, and I continue to be grateful for my uneventful life and my health.

Here are some things that I loved over the course of this past month.

Food and Cooking Favorites

Pink Oyster Mushroom Mini Farm from Far West Fungi

If you’re reading my blog, then you probably already saw in my Instagram stories how obsessed I am with this pink oyster mushroom mini farm from Far West Fungi. It was by far the most exciting thing happening in my January. I picked mine up from their Ferry Building shop for $25 and I was able to grow the prettiest mushrooms I have ever seen in my life in a matter of days. The image directly above shows what the little growing kit looked like after 6 days and the image at the top of this post shows them when I harvested on Day 9 (I harvested them a day later than I should have). Maintenance for these mushroom babies is super simple—just follow the instructions that come with the kit (as simple as cutting slits in the plastic wrapping to make holes for the mushrooms to grow through and cutting air holes in a plastic bag), keep the farm inside the provided plastic bag in indirect sunlight, and gently mist the inside of the bag daily. The farm is expected to grow at least 3 mini crops of mushrooms like this. Considering the amount of happiness and entertainment I got out of it with even the first crop—it made me excited to spring out of bed in the morning to see how much they grew overnight— I think it is totally worth the price, which is less than two movie tickets (back when that was a thing)! They have other mushroom varieties too, but of course I am very happy with the pink one!

Black Garlic

I have already written many loving tributes to black garlic on Instagram because it has been one of my favorite ingredients as of late. I am a big garlic lover in general but black garlic is a different flavor entirely. It is made by caramelizing garlic in a limited temperature range over a very long amount of time until all the sharpness of raw garlic is gone and what remains is a dark, soft, sticky deliciousness that is naturally sweet, similar to very slowly caramelized onions. I get mine from local Korean markets like The K Market and my mind was blown when I first peeled back the papery brown skin to see that the entire bulb was one giant clove! I love mashing it up and then blending it into creamy things like mashed potatoes and cream cheese. So freaking good!

Miso Butter from Churn

I think butter in general is pretty high up there on the list of Lifetime Favorites, but this month I was blown away by this miso flavored butter by Churn. [Full disclosure, I received this as an obligation-free gifted sample from Churn.] When I learned about Churn’s flavored butter products, I thought of course flavored butter would be awesome, but I was skeptical about what would set them apart from making my own compound butter at home. This miso flavor truly stood out as more than the sum of its parts—a moreish spread that is creamy with a rich special umami. I struggle with making miso flavored things myself because there are so many types of miso and they are all so nuanced and I never know which to use or how much. But the ratios and flavor combinations in this miso butter are just perfect. Spreading this butter on some good bread is incredible already but I’ve also melted it into some mushrooms and ramen, and each was made more divine because of it.

Favorite Rejects

These photos won’t be making it into my Instagram feed but I thought they were worth memorializing anyway.

I tried making pink mooncakes using powdered freeze dried raspberries for coloring but they just did not bake up well for a number of reasons: 1) I learned from others afterwards that freeze dried fruit does not retail color well in baking. Someone suggested beetroot powder might be a little better; 2) Alkaline water. A common ingredient in normal mooncakes to produce a signature golden brown exterior, but I temporary omitted from my brain that alkaline + acidic fruit = color change; 3) My overall shoddy eggwash job—this was just a straight up fail on my part.

I made this pretty damn delicious sandwich out of leftover fried chicken from Voodoo Love. Will probably write more about them another time because their Creole Nouveaux menu is amazing. But for now, I shoved some of their giant chicken pieces into cheesy everything buns that I made myself by adapting this recipe by Ariel Lee. Shoved in some little gems lettuce, pickles, pickled red onions, and a spicy-sweet mayo I made with honey and and Sichuan chili oil as well. Snapped this really quick photo with no intentions of it ever going on my feed before shoving this in my face hole.

I saw my friend Hanna make faux crab cakes from lions mane mushrooms and decided to give it a try. I have nothing against real crab cakes but I am a sucker for these weird plant-based hacks anyway, motivated by curiosity more than anything. And they turned out quite good! You basically shred up the lions mane mushrooms into a texture that really does resemble crab meat and just use them as you would in your favorite crab cake recipe.

Local Favorites

XLB and SJB from Dumpling Home

My favorite place for soup dumplings in the city is Dumpling Home. It’s a fairly new place that opened up in the brief time that indoor dining was allowed but I’ve only experienced multiple rounds of takeout. Their xiao long bao have super thin skins and look at all those tiny pleats! I wouldn’t say there is an insane amount of soup in them but there is certainly a substantial amount and I love that they are full of flavor. Their pan fried juicy pork bao (their version of sheng jian bao) are indeed very juicy, so much so that Spouse got bao juices all over his shirt the first time he bit into one. Their other items have been hit or miss, but their XLBs and SJBs are definitely worth a try if you live in the area! I love their numb & spicy pork, beef, and crab & pork XLB options. The numb & spicy pork is my fave, though they are pretty inconsistent in how spicy they are—the first few times I ordered they were not spicy at all, and in my most recent order they really packed a punch! They are always consistently delicious though!

Mr. Pickles Sandwiches

The sandwiches from Mr. Pickles are so good that Spouse and I ordered them twice in one week! There is nothing fancy about them whatsoever, but they just make reliably good, perfectly toasted deli sandwiches that are magically so so tasty and satisfying. I love that they have sourdough rolls that are easy to bite into without slicing open my gums, and how I can somehow taste a faint hint of propane from their toasting process (maybe that last part is not for everyone, but to me it adds to the toasty flavor!). Another thing I love about their bread is that when I bite into it, the sandwich fillings don’t immediately slide out—that means it’s the perfect texture and density! Mr. Pickles shops seem to be all over the Bay Area, but the one that I always pick up from is the one on 20th and Van Ness that is closest to my house; it seems to have its own website separate from the others and its own questionable pickle mascot…so I am not sure if the others ones in the chain will provide the same experience. My go-to order: a custom sandwich on a sourdough roll with pastrami, provolone, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, pesto, pepperoncini, hot & sweet peppers, and oil & vinegar.

other Random Favorites

Favorite Netflix Binge: Carmen SanDiego, Season 4. I love this whole series actually but I binged its final season over the course of a couple nights in January. While that wasn’t its strongest season IMO, I do think it resolved things with the protagonist fairly well. Overall, what made me adore the series was seeing places around the world depicted in its somehow both retro and modern art style; the honestly compelling reimagining of the famous thief as a woke, complex do-gooder returning historical artifacts to their rightful countries; and the all-around badass Latina protagonist.

Favorite YouTube Video: This “One Day More” Les Miz parody by James Corden released the day before Inauguration Day. I have probably watched it 10 times now, and have most of the lyrics memorized.

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments what were the highlights of your January 2021!

My 2020 Favorites

I think we can all agree that 2020 was a turd of a year. The kind of thing that we’ll tell future generations about and they’ll partially listen in mostly disbelief, convinced that we are exaggerating about how bad it was. But IYKYK.

To memorialize the positive, though, here are the little things that brought small sparks of joy to my days…through 10 months of lockdown and those 2 normal-ish months at the beginning that seem like a lifetime ago.

Cooking & Food Photography Favorites

5qt Stand Mixer from kitchenaid

I bought this on Black Friday in 2019 and almost returned it after it sat in the box for about 2 months. I’m not big on baking cookies and I was super intimidated by working with yeast, so I began to question why I bought it in the first place other than out of envy. But that changed when I made my first focaccia (a pre-lockdown coincidence!) and boy was I glad to have it in the months that followed. It turned out that I didn’t need (knead?) to be intimidated by working with yeast at all, I just needed to learn to be patient. I never got on the sourdough train, but this was so handy for kneading quicker, simpler doughs for everything from soft pretzels and biang biang noodles. My quality of life was definitely higher in lockdown because of it. Yes, it’s a bit splurgy, so I recommend waiting for a big sale before buying and getting a color that brings happiness to your eyes. Mine is Buttercup colored and I got it for $224 from Bed Bath and Beyond.

TL;DR: Worth the price if you find it hella on sale, and you hate arm workouts.

Beer Can Style Glasses

I got these glasses from Crate and Barrel. This past year, I would try to create a little “home cafe” experience in the middle of the afternoon as much as I could, to help break up the monotony of the workday. Having a distinct set glasses of reserved specifically for making special cafe-inspired drinks seems trivial but any little way to create separation from regular home life made a difference for me. I loved experimenting with making iced matcha lattes, tea sparklers, smoothies, salted cremas, and more, and these chic glasses really brought some extra joy to the experience.

Tabletop Induction Cooktop

Having one of these really helped turn weekend dinners into fun activities; the ability to cook at the dining table really helped with recreating those interactive restaurant dining experiences at home. We spent many Friday and Saturday nights chowing down on hot pot, budae jjigae, and Korean BBQ. And if you don’t care about aesthetics, you really don’t need special cookware to do these. I make my hot pot in an old secondhand Dutch oven and I sear up my KBBQ meats on a big skillet. Just be careful with heavy-bottomed/cast iron cookware on the induction cooktop because it apparently may scratch the surface (which I have not experienced).

I have this one**, which has worked well but has quite a loud fan. I also would have preferred if the cord was longer. So, while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this one, I do think it is worth it to have some sort of tabletop cooktop to create these experiences at home!

Kitchen Linens from Granit

These are my favorite photography props for filling in space and creating a naturally disheveled look in my photos. I often get questions about these and unfortunately, they are not available in the US. I bought them from a Granit store when I was in Norway last winter. (EU and Scandinavia folks, lucky you!) I have amassed quite a collection of kitchen linens and I have found these to be the softest and easiest to shape of the ones I own; I wish I bought more!

Unsweetened Cold Brew Black Tea Concentrate from Trader Joe’s

This was my overall favorite Trader Joe’s find for 2020, and my favorite thing to use for those home cafe drinks I mentioned before. It was super convenient to have an unsweetened concentrated black tea that I didn’t have to brew myself, on busy days when I knew having a cafe-like beverage would help me focus on my work but I didn’t have time to make anything fancy. I found that mixing this with some hot water and condensed milk made for a great fast Hong Kong style milk tea and it also went really well with Korean citron and ginger tea syrups.

Local Favorites

Ground Domestic Wagyu from The Butcher Shop by Niku

My go-to for when I want to treat myself to an amazing homemade burger. At around ~$10/pound, their reasonably-priced ground domestic wagyu is the best low key luxury meat and I’ve been raving about it all year. While I still like my fast food burger now and again, I don’t think I’ll ever try to order a “nice” burger from a restaurant anymore—that’s how confident I feel about my homemade burgers when I get my meat from here.

Frozen Lobster Tails From New England Lobster Market and Eatery

Despite the name, this awesome seafood market is located in the Bay Area suburb of Burlingame in a random ass area near the airport. (It’s next to one of the major kitchens from which I assume bad airline food is produced.) I used to love eating out on their huge front patio picnic area, but this year most of my visits involved going through their drive-through to order frozen lobster tails to cook with at home (including making the lobster garlic noodles pictured here!). Reasonable prices, friendly staff, succulent lobster meat. What’s not to love? Their lobster corn chowder is also amazing, but it’s just not the same having it at home, so I’m going to wait to have that until I can dine there again.

Fresh Oysters from Sun Fat Seafood Company

This small seafood market in the Mission has a wall lined with buckets of fresh oysters at unbelievably low prices. They always seem to have my favorite varieties too—like Fanny Bays and Miyagis. The staff is always kind enough to check the oysters before bagging them up to make sure they are fresh and in good condition. Get good at shucking at home and you can have yourself a real oyster feast; this was something we treated ourselves to on special occasions a few times this past year.

Honorable mention favorite: Spouse’s shucking skills.

Random Quick-Fire Covid-Life Favorites

Current Favorite YouTube Channel: How to Drink. I don’t make cocktails at home very often, but I aspire to? I don’t know, I just find this dude entertaining and I like his sense of humor.

Current Favorite Bubble Tea Drink: Cookie Butter Hong Kong Milk Tea from Urban Ritual

Favorite Netflix Binge of the Year: The Umbrella Academy, Season2

Favorite Mask: I love the yellow one I got from Lilo & Len on Etsy because it fits me well and I can breath comfortably despite having a tiny nose. Sadly it doesn’t look like they are making masks anymore, but they have some cool Joe & Kamala fan merch (for my favorite president and vice president elect of 2020!)

Thanks for reading! Let me know some of your favorites for 2020 in the comments or DM me on Instagram to let me know what categories you’d like to see in the next Favorites roundup!