We had a bottle of 1971 Château Rieussec Sauternes after dinner a few nights ago. This is a fantastic Sauternes which is still going strong after four decades. It’s rich, full-bodied and sweet, but not cloying, with delicious notes of citrus, apricot, and honeysuckle and a nose that will knock your socks off – better yet, don’t wear socks while drinking this. The color is gorgeous – a very rich, deep golden that bespeaks its age.

Sauternes is, as the name suggests, a sweet wine from Sauternes which is located just to the southeast of Bordeaux, France. What makes Sauternes a truly special wine region is that noble rot occurs with great frequency. For those not familiar with how Sauternes comes to be, the word rot undoubtedly strikes a bit of terror into the heart. Indeed, in centuries past, the wine makers kept the use of Botrytis (noble rot) a secret, lest the consumers discover that they were drinking wine made from rather unappetizing looking shriveled grapes infected with fungus. As it turns out, people eventually caught on to what was going on, but no doubt any hesitations and feigned disgust magically disappeared after the first sip.

Given my love of both fungi and wine, it should come as no surprise that I love the science behind how a fungus and wine grapes can get together and turn Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes into something radically different. Noble rot is the common name for the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea, which infects several plant species, but most notably wine grapes. Noble rot requires a sort of “perfect storm” of conditions to occur – moist conditions followed by dry conditions. If the moist conditions persist for too long, the Botrytis shows its uglier side and can destroy the entire crop. Even in an area like Sauternes, where the conditions are prime for noble rot to occur, there are still many years which result in a poor harvest, or none at all. When the ideal conditions occur, noble rot removes water from the grapes and leaves behind concentrated sugars and flavors. By the time the grapes are picked, the noble rot has reduced them to a small shriveled size which yields a much lower quantity of juice than an uninfected grape would. Since it can take an entire vine to produce a single glass of Sauternes, the cost for most bottles is substantially higher than for many other wines.

A maritime climate in Sauternes allows for cool mornings that bring the fog required to kickstart the noble rot, and sunny afternoons allow the grapes to dry, preventing the rot from spreading too quickly and turning into the destructive form of grey rot that can threaten the entire crop. The morning fog is produced when the cold water from the Cerons, a small stream with a swift current, meets the Garonne, a large warm river with a slow moving current.

Now, on to the recipe! I have seen only a few references to Sauternes sorbet before, including one made at Alinea using just liquid nitrogen whisked into Sauternes. No doubt this was delicious, but I wanted to create something a little more complex that made use of Sauternes without being made of only Sauternes. Since the Rieussec I used for this already had notes of citrus, I decided that using citrus as its companion for this sorbet was bound to turn out well. The final result is delicious – the Sauternes is readily evident but not overpowering and blends perfectly with the citrus, while the egg whites keep it very light and easy to scoop even after a full day in the freezer. Depending upon the Sauternes you choose to make this recipe with, you may want to alter the amount of sugar used to reflect the existing sugar content of the wine.

Sauternes Sorbet

1 1/4 cup water

1 cup chilled Sauternes

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

Juice of two oranges

Juice of one lemon

2 egg whites

Squeeze the juice from two ripe oranges and one lemon, straining out any pulp and seeds. In a saucepan, dissolve the 1/2 cup of sugar into 1 1/4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes and then allow the syrup to cool completely. Pour the chilled Sauternes and chilled sugar syrup into a bowl and mix in the strained citrus juices. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff (but not dry). Fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture of Sauternes, syrup, and citrus juice. Add the completed mixture to your ice cream maker and prepare to enjoy an exotic desert that will delight and impress.

 

The other day I came across a solitary oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, which said to me “there must be more around here!” Nearly everyone is familiar with oyster mushrooms – they are commercially cultivated and are available in many grocery stores. Like many commercially grown produce, the cultivated version doesn’t even compare to what you can find in the wild. I went out into the woods this morning thinking I’d find at least a few more. I returned with over five pounds of oyster mushrooms. The oyster mushrooms available in grocery stores tend to be rather sad looking little things that would cower in the presence of the massive monsters I harvested today.

If you haven’t already read last week’s entry – A Prince in the Forest – Collecting Edible Mushrooms, I will repeat the same advice in this one. When in doubt, throw it out! There is not a single mushroom out there that is worth dying for. If you are going to collect and eat wild mushrooms, do not go off what any random person on the internet says (and that includes me!). If you can, learn from someone with experience and always read as much literature as you can. It might seem like one way to go about experimenting with unfamiliar mushrooms would be to take a tiny bite and wait a while…and if nothing happens, it’s safe to eat. Bad idea! The toxins in many mushrooms can take hours to cause any symptoms – some even take several days and others can take as long as three weeks to cause symptoms. During the time it takes to develop symptoms, the toxins wreak havoc on the liver or kidneys and in can be fatal. In plain English, don’t experiment.

At the opposite extreme from the needless risk takers are the folks who, intent on covering their own posteriors, insist that only trained scientists should eat wild mushrooms. State governments often issue yearly warnings instructing people to “avoid eating any wild mushrooms,” as if all wild mushrooms were deadly. Of course, this is silly as well, since millions of people around the world collect and eat wild mushrooms without incident each year. The key is not to become an expert on every mushroom (and indeed any expert will tell you that that is impossible) but to become an expert on a few individual species.

As I recommended in the previous mushroom entry, David Arora’s book, Mushrooms Demystified, is a must have guide that you should read and reread.

I went off this morning in search of more wild oyster mushrooms, and indeed there were more – lots more. I had a hunch about where I might find some and that hunch proved to be quite fruitful. Five pounds of oyster mushrooms later and I hadn’t even collected half of what was growing on a downed oak log. I wasn’t the first to discover the patch though – there were plenty of deer bite marks in some of the mushrooms and banana slugs happily gorging themselves on others. There is nothing that a banana slug loves more than a tasty mushroom. Unfortunately, there is nothing that I love more either, so we find ourselves at odds. Apparently banana slugs are marginally edible, but since I fancy myself more as a gentleman farmer and forager than a Bear Grylls sort, I think I will stick with the abundant mushrooms.

To harvest oyster mushrooms try to work your fingers as close to the base of the stems as you can to lift the entire mass as a whole, rather than ripping off little pieces. In North America there are not too many toxic species to get the oyster mushroom confused with, but the Jack O’Lantern Mushroom (Omphalotus olivascens) and the Ivory Funnel Mushroom (Clitocybe dealbata) both bear enough resemblance (and contain the toxin muscarine) that it pays to be overly cautious, as with any mushroom. Like many an enthusiastic mushroom gatherer, I gathered some mushrooms that were not worth gathering – if you have plenty of plump, moist mushrooms there is no reason to waste time on the shriveled and dried mushrooms that are a bit past their prime. If you’re out hunting, the logical place to look for oyster mushrooms is down, on downed logs and stumps, but you should also be looking up – I found a big clump about 12 feet up an oak tree. They were past their prime though, so they were left in-situ.

And now for the best part – eating the mushrooms. I decided to make a simple pasta with these mushrooms…something quick and easy that lets the mushrooms take center stage. This recipe makes enough for two to three people (who love mushrooms). As always, I’m not a huge fan of specific measurements and

8 oz of fettuccine (any pasta will work equally well)

1 pound of oyster mushrooms (a pound is a lot, if you aren’t as crazy about mushrooms as I am, you could reduce the quantity)

1 dozen asparagus shoots

3 garlic cloves

2 tbsp butter

3 oz Olive Oil

Salt to taste

Black Pepper to taste

Cooking time for this entire dish is relatively short, so depending upon the type of pasta you use you will probably want to start it at the same time that you begin sautéing.

Brush the mushrooms off to remove any soil and leaves and be sure to check the gills for tiny beetles that might be lurking. Trim off any parts of the mushroom that have become discolored and dry. Smaller mushrooms you can leave whole, larger mushrooms can be sliced or torn into chunks about 1 1/2 inches square. Mince the garlic and sauté in a large pan for a minute or two with olive oil and butter – I use both which increases the smoke point of the olive oil, but you could stick with just olive oil if you preferred. Add the asparagus and saute for about a minute before adding the mushrooms. Add salt to taste and stir frequently. Make sure the mushrooms are coated with the olive oil and stir frequently to cook them evenly. Like all mushrooms, oyster mushrooms will cook down, but they hold their shape and size much better than many varieties. Cooking time will probably be around ten minutes on the oyster mushrooms, but your best bet is to just sample a few while they’re cooking. You’re looking for the mushrooms to be very tender and turning a light golden color. About a minute before you finish sautéing, add the black pepper and toss the mushrooms to ensure even coverage.

Remove from the heat & toss with the pasta, serve, and enjoy!

A 1993 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, arguably one of the best Chablis wines of the last few decades, paired perfectly with this meal. One could go on for a few paragraphs or even pages about this wine, but I think “Wow!” sums it up nicely.

Edith Heath’s work resides in many museums and collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Sadly, Edith passed away in 2005, but her legacy and passion lives on. An exhibit of Vintage Heath Ceramics can be seen at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in the exhibition “California Design, 1930 – 1965: Living in a Modern Way.”

All products are made in their factory in Sausalito by 60 skilled craftsmen in the same kilns built in 1959 by Brian Heath when the factory originally opened that year. The tableware made here is of the highest quality, typically simple in appearance, but with subtle artistic characteristics that easily set it apart from department store pottery. It’s no wonder that customers return year after year, decade after decade….and as a testament to the quality, Heath is one of the few remaining mid-century potteries still in action.

One of the things that truly sets Heath Ceramics apart is that all of their tableware is made locally, something that is next to impossible to find in today’s outsourced world. While not priced to compete with mass-produced pottery manufactured by the millions in Asian factories, Heath’s domestically produced tableware lasts for a lifetime.

My favorite of their tableware lines is the “Coupe”, originally designed in the 1940′s. Readers of It’s Just Light will undoubtedly recognize the simple, yet elegant design in other entries. One of their newest lines is the Chez Panisse line, a collaboration between Heath Ceramics, Christina Kim, and of course, Alice Waters.

In addition to tableware, Heath also produces tile. In fact, Edith Heath was the first non-architect to win the AIA Gold Medal Award for her exterior tile at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California. Their gallery of Heath Tile installations is certainly inspiring – I encourage my many interior designer friends to have a look. For those of us who aren’t quite ambitious enough to undertake a big tile project, their house number collections are pretty fantastic. I particularly like the Eames collection in paprika.

Reaching a maximum of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit, the fifty year old kilns fire around 400 pieces of tableware each day.

A plate from Heath's Coupe line in action!

For my birthday last year, Caitlin gave me a CuisinArt automatic ice cream maker. Having always been an avid consumer of ice cream, but never a producer of it, I had no idea how easy and inexpensive it was to make my own. Not only can you avoid eating 17 varieties of chemical nastiness by making your own homemade ice cream, you can also make flavors that you will never find on a grocery store shelf. There are thousands of ice cream recipes online, but there is nothing quite like having a cookbook written by an authority on the subject – David Lebovitz’s book, The Perfect Scoop, is that must-have guidebook to all things ice cream. From the perennial favorites like chocolate and vanilla to the wilder (but equally fabulous) concoctions like Fresh Fig Ice Cream and Olive Oil Ice Cream.

David Lebovitz is an authority on all things dessert, and if you buy only one book of ice cream recipes, The Perfect Scoop should be it. Perhaps my favorite among all of the recipes of his that I’ve tried is the Roasted Banana Ice Cream. It’s simple to make, doesn’t require any exotic ingredients, and is incredibly delicious. I have made this ice cream so many times now that I know the recipe by heart. I have made a few modifications to it, and you certainly can modify it even further. I have never been a strict follower of recipes and have found that with ice cream in particular you have a bit more freedom to add and subtract ingredient amounts than if you are making something like bread.

What I used to make this:

Adapted from David Lebovitz’s Roasted Banana Ice Cream recipe:

2-4 Ripe Bananas (I only had two very large bananas & it turned out perfectly – I have also increased the number to four. Lebovitz’s original recipe calls for three.)

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar (depending upon how many bananas you use you can either add a little or subtract a little, but 1/3 cup gives the perfect amount of sweetness in my opinion)

1 tbsp Butter (I have made the ice cream without butter when I found that I had run out, and it also turned out just fine)

2 cups Whole Milk (The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups, but I haven’t noticed any decrease in flavor by adding a bit more and since I love to eat as much ice cream as possible, 2 cups goes even farther)

2 tbsp Granulated Sugar

1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 F. For this recipe you will want bananas that are ripe and yellow – brown spots are fine – the riper the better. Peel them and slice them – the size of your slices doesn’t really matter, but I usually make the slices about 1/4 of an inch thick. Put the sliced bananas in an oven safe baking dish and toss them with the butter and brown sugar. I typically melt the butter to make it easier to coat the bananas with.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until the bananas are browned, stirring them once while cooking. You don’t want to burn them, just to bring them to a beautiful golden brown to release their natural sweetness. In the oven I used, 30 minutes was enough.

Once you take them out of the oven scrape the bananas and syrup from the dish into a food processor or blender. I just used an immersion blender while making it this time and found that to work fine as well. Add the granulated sugar, vanilla extract, lemon juice, salt, and whole milk and puree until very smooth.

Refrigerate the mixture – some versions call for 4-8 hours or even overnight, but really you just want to get it cold enough so that your ice cream maker’s chilling chamber stays frozen for long enough to make the ice cream. I really have no patience to wait almost a full day before eating the ice cream I just made, so I just use a second freezer bowl which I can put the pureed mixture right into. Instead of waiting 8 hours for the mixture to cool, it only takes about 15-20 minutes. If you don’t have a spare freezer bowl, you could try chilling a glass bowl in the freezer prior to making the ice cream and that will at least cut down on the cooling time a bit. Once the mixture is cold, you can put it into your ice cream maker and within about 20 minutes you will have ready to eat Roasted Banana Ice Cream that will be an instant hit.

Let me know if you make it (you really should) & how it turns out! Do you have a favorite ice cream recipe? Share it as a comment.

Coat the bananas with the brown sugar & butter

Roasted bananas fresh out of the oven

A few days of rain and fog here in California’s San Francisco Bay Area have gotten the mushrooms excited and I was ecstatic to find this small crop of Agaricus augustus (Common name, The Prince). I’m not an adventurer when it comes to mushrooms (I like spending my days not clutching my stomach in agony, thanks) and only eat what I’m 110% positive about. The infamous Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) also grows here and so exercising abundant caution is never a waste of time. Although they can bear somewhat of a passing resemblance, there are very distinct differences between the two mushrooms.

For anyone reading this and feeling a tingle of mushroom envy, I would recommend picking up a copy of Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora. The following are some words of wisdom from the fantastic book:

Mushroom hunting is not simply a matter of traipsing through the woods after it rains. It is an art, a skill, a meditation, and a process. If you proceed at a careful, deliberate rate, you’ll enjoy much more success than if you rush around frantically picking whatever mushrooms you see, then stuff them in your basket, bring the whole mess home and dump it on your table.

…It is far better to learn a few species well than a large number superficially.

Agaricus augustus is one of those few mushroom species which I feel confident about, and fortunately, it’s also one of the most delicious. While the latin name may make these mushrooms sound quite exotic, you are undoubtedly already familiar with Agaricus – the mushroom most people consume more than any other is Agaricus bisporus, aka. the Portobello Mushroom. While Agaricus bisporus grows in the wild it is also easy to cultivate and is widely sold in grocery stores under various names. Young bisporus which are typically white are sold as button mushrooms. Slightly larger and darker mushrooms get sold as “baby bella” mushrooms, and the big ones are of course sold as Portobello mushrooms. The batch of Agaricus augustus mushrooms I collected this time were of moderate size, but they can reach up to 40 centimeters in diameter and indeed I have found examples this large before(they were delicious). I spotted these Agaricus mushrooms two days earlier, but decided to wait a day or two to see if they would increase in size. No such luck, and when I noticed that some small forest creature had been indulging himself on one of the mushrooms, I decided it was time for me to indulge. Prior to cooking, you’ll probably notice that Agaricus augustus has a scent very reminiscent of almonds. A little olive oil, salt, and pepper and you’ve got a meal of The Prince fit for a king.

Thomas Fogarty Winery's Damiana Chardonnay Vineyard in Woodside, California

Most people spend a lifetime toiling away in one profession, often one they dont particularly enjoy. Few have the luxury of having a job they love, and even fewer still make any time to pursue their passions. Thomas Fogarty is a member of that rare breed of Rennaisance men, brilliant men (and women) who make careers of what they love and pursue all of their many talents and passions in life. The author or coauthor of more than 125 patents and patent applications, Dr. Thomas Fogarty is perhaps best known in the medical world for his Fogarty balloon embolectomy catheter. In plain English, the balloon embolectomy catheter has a small hollow tube with a tiny inflatable balloon attached at the tip. The catheter can be inserted into an incision in a blood vessel and pressed through the clot and inflated, displacing the blood clot. It sounds simple, but before Fogarty invented it as many as 50% of patients were dying on the operating table or losing limbs during surgery to remove blood clots. Dr. Thomas Fogarty invented the catheter even before recieving his MD from the University of Cincinnati, cobbling together his first prototypes with his fly tying skills developed as a young fisherman. His balloon embolectomy catheter became the very first minimally invasive surgical device and is the most widely used catheter for blood-clot removal today, responsible for saving the lives of over fifteen million patients.

In 1969 Dr. Thomas Fogarty began teaching surgery at Stanford University Medical Center and like many of us who move to California, it’s difficult not to become fascinated both by wine and winemaking. After helping a Stanford colleague with winemaking, Fogarty’s passion for the art grew and he purchased acreage in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Fast forward to the present, and the Thomas Fogarty Winery is a thriving estate, producing 15,000 cases of wine annually. With 325 acres (25 under vine) in Woodside, the Thomas Fogarty Winery estate is nestled in some of the most picturesque countryside in Northern California. We visited on a warm Wednesday afternoon and parked next to a duck and lily-pad filled lake adjacent to one of the vineyards planted with Chardonnay. A short walk up the driveway found us at the tasting room where as luck would have it, a four flight wine tasting is offered for free every Wednesday.

In addition to the large estate in Woodside, Dr. Thomas Fogarty also owns the Gist Ranch Estate, a 100 acre parcel 17 miles south of his Woodside winery. With 14 acres under vine there, several varieties of grapes are grown including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris.

Thomas Fogarty Winery - Damiana Chardonnay Vineyard

The standout winner among the wines I sampled at Thomas Fogarty Winery was the 2006 Skyline Red, a Bordeaux style blend with 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. ’06 had one of the longest growing seasons in recent years and it shows in this medium weight red. It was a quiet day in the tasting room, with just two other couples there. The service was friendly and attentive and the tasting room was located on the second story of the building housing their production operation. From the balcony on the second floor, one can look down at the production room where there are large fermentation vessels and oak barrels.

The winemaker and viticulturist at Thomas Fogarty Winery is Michael Martella. Martella has been with the winery since it’s beginning in 1981, which says a great deal about both the skills of the winemaker and about Thomas Fogarty. A great many wineries hire an excellent winemaker when they first begin and of course go on to produce some outstanding wines. Then the winery begins to wonder why they are paying the winemaker so much money – after all, they’ve been watching him for a few years and they’re pretty sure they can do the same thing for a lot less money. The winemaker gets put out to pasture and it comes as little surprise that the wines begin to suffer. As it turns out, a skilled winemaker can be worth their weight in gold – and then some. That Fogarty has kept Michael Martella on as winemaker for three decades speaks volumes.

Chardonnay Grapes growing in the Damiana Vineyard at Thomas Fogarty Winery in Woodside, California

Thomas Fogarty Winery is located at: 19501 Skyline Blvd, Woodside, CA 94062. The tasting room is open Wednesday – Sunday from 11am-5pm. Enjoy!

I briefly considered waiting until after the trip and then writing about every place I visited after the fact in chronological order, but now that I’m not camping any more, I want to write about what I’m doing now….not about how I was sleeping on a rock the month before. So, I’m stuck with a bunch of cool photos and awesome memories and experiences – but you might have to wait a while before they make their way to the blog – and when they do, it likely won’t be in chronological order. In any event, I’m in California now, where power plugs, showers, and granola are in abundance – so if I don’t start updating this thing more, I’ll have no excuse. Well, at least not any good ones.

Here’s a little tidbit from the trip.

I took this photo at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. There are 275 square miles of gypsum sand dunes to get lost in, and you could easily spend a few days exploring. We spent the night backcountry camping there, which was $3 per person. The site we camped at was about 3/4 of a mile from the parking area and trailhead. 3/4 of a mile is laughably easy on just about any terrain but sand, and as the name White Sands suggests….there’s a lot of sand here. It was quite a challenge getting to the top of some of those dunes carrying 50 pounds of gear and water. They recommend one gallon of water per person per day as a minimum and even though we only ended up drinking less than a gallon between two of us during the evening, it’s definitely better to struggle up a dune with a little too much water than to end up as a future archaeological exhibit.

There was only one other group camping in the backcountry and their site was far enough from ours that we couldn’t see or hear them, which is the way backcountry camping should be. Some people like the comforting sounds of screaming babies and generators humming at night, but I’d prefer to hear the wind. There were no fires allowed, so the propane stove probably added some unnecessary pounds to the pack – if I had to do it again, I think I would just forgo the cans of soup and just eat something cold. The temperature dropped at night into the 60s which was a great reprieve from the scorching daytime temperatures.

The sunset was beautiful and there was no worry about anyone else getting in the shots! The photo above was taken in the morning as we were hiking back toward the cars. The dunes are definitely more scenic the farther west you go from the parking area. They get larger and larger and the vegetation growing on them gets much more sparse, giving you the sense that you’re somewhere in the Sahara Desert. The photo was taken using a Canon 16-35mm f2.8 L lens, which really is a perfect lens to take to a place like this. I brought along a 300mm lens, but really didn’t use it at all. The wide angle the 16-35mm offers is perfect for showcasing the vastness of the dunes and the wide open expanse of blue sky above. A polarizing filter is a must have item for your kit too.

If you’re thinking of camping at White Sands National Monument, check out this Backcountry Camping Brochure. Campers have to register at the visitors center an hour or more before sunset, and with only 10 sites available it’s best to get there early in the peak season. You can fill your water bottles at the park visitors center, but there is no water available inside the dunefield once you go through the entrance, so be sure to bring a few jugs to fill up. Temperatures can fluctuate as much as 30-60 degrees from day to night, so if you visit during a cooler time of year, be prepared for it to get even colder at night. A good rule to remember is, bring extra clothing and extra water – the farthest site is only 1.1 miles from the trailhead, so carrying a few extra pounds trumps freezing during the night. It got chilly during our stay, but a lightweight backpacking sleeping bag plenty to keep me warm. If you’re backcountry camping at White Sands National Monument, you might not be able to get cell reception at your campsite so if you need to call someone, do it at the park entrance where there is definitely service. You could get a bar or two at the top of some dunes with AT&T.

There are rattlesnakes, black widows, and scorpions at White Sands, although the likelihood is that you will see none of these. Just don’t leave your shoes outside the tent and be sure to shake them out in the morning. Pay attention to where you are walking – several years ago I was jogging back to the car to grab my camera and nearly jogged right into a rattlesnake’s mouth.  Good thing they rattle! For photography here, a tripod or monopod would be nice to have along, but you can certainly take fantastic photos without it. If you are going to bring one, bring as light a tripod as you are able. Be sure to charge your camera batteries in advance since there are no power outlets near any of the trails. It might not hurt to bring along a little blower like the KOH Hepa Jet in case some dust finds its way into your camera – it can be pretty windy here, so if you are going to do a sensor cleaning, do it somewhere out of the wind.

Even if you aren’t planning on doing any primitive backcountry camping at White Sands National Monument, bring water with you even when hiking a short distance away from the road. If you lose sight of a reference point like a parking area, it can be very easy to get lost in the dune-field, and indeed several people do every year. Deaths in the park are rare, but as recently as June of this year a 23 year old woman died while hiking the Alkali Flats Trail, apparently of heat related causes. Temperatures during the day can soar to over 100F, so bring as much water as you can as well as high energy snacks. Have fun! I sure did.

See that little dot in the middle? That's the tent!

A woman came by to buy a touch sensitive floor lamp I was selling and as soon as she got out of her car started to tell me how she “wasn’t feeling comfortable.”

“I don’t normally do this,” she kept muttering.

Jeez lady, you’re buying a lamp at 10:30 in the morning, not responding to an ad for a “massage” in some dark alley. In any event, she bought the lamp.

If any of my readers are considering putting up a Craigslist ad, here are a few pieces of advice: assume no one has any common sense – if you’re selling a shelf for a stereo system for $30, be sure to add a disclaimer that the stereo system is not included. If you’re selling a couch with a pullout bed, be sure to put the couch’s specific measurements – describing the mattress as “full size” and having several large photos of a couch that’s two cushions wide apparently still leaves some people “thinking that it would be much bigger.” If someone calls you and says they “definitely” want to buy whatever you’re selling, keep trying to sell it to someone else until someone finally shows up with cash.

Oh, and, if you are thinking….oh this is great, we’re going to move and only have a few things in the car so traveling will be easy….that means the car will actually be packed like a Shanghai subway car, rear window barely visible over the mountain of clothes, shoes, boxes, and assorted miscellany. Suffice it to say, some shoes and miscellany will be finding their way to the Salvation Army shortly.

With the old house emptied out and the car dragging its belly along the pavement, we drove all the way down to South Florida to visit some family before we drive back up the length of the state and then head west on I-10. Today we went out diving off Fort Lauderdale beach at the Hall of Fame Moorings. The reef was in great shape with tons of live coral, sea fans, and abundant sea life at 20-30 feet. It has been a bit choppy the past week, so visibility was not incredible from near the surface, but was probably about 20 feet on the bottom. On the boat we saw three sea turtles, including one very tiny baby hanging out in the weed line. On the bottom I saw a live queen conch, a stingray, a giant pufferfish the size of a toddler, two big lobsters, and lots of angelfish. Pink jellyfish were in abundance near the surface and it was hard to avoid bumping into a few on the way up and down, but their sting was very mild.

Pictured above is the Mirabella V, moored next to the 17th Street Causeway in Port Everglades. Designed by Ron Holland and launched in 2003, the Mirabella V is the largest single masted yacht ever built. She was built for Joe Vittoria, the former Chairman and CEO of Avis at a cost of over $50 million dollars. 247 feet long, 290 feet high, and able to outrun Jack Sparrow’s Black Pearl at 20 knots under sail, the Mirabella V can be yours for just $420,000. A week. Feel free to invite me along. The reacher sail is the largest sail in the world at 20,450 feet. If the ocean isn’t enough for you there is a pool and a jacuzzi. If you want to test your nerve, a crows net will carry you 200 feet up the mast like an elevator.

Just down the inter-coastal is La Maison Blanche, my favorite house in Fort Lauderdale, which could be yours too if you have an extra $28,500,000 and need 20,000 square feet for your chihuahua to romp. Unfortunately, I don’t. Have the money that is. I have the chihuahua though, if anyone wants to chip in on the $140,000 per month mortgage payments. You know a house is expensive when it not only has a name, but a name in French.

If you cruise up the New River you will pass by billionaire Wayne Huizenga’s house, pictured above, which he reportedly snagged for around $22 million. Wayne Huizenga was the founder of Waste Management and AutoNation and grew Blockbuster Video into a successful company. He owned the Miami Dolphins, the Florida Panthers, and the Florida Marlins. And has a pretty snazzy looking backyard.

Below are just some photos of the sights along the New River so that you can share in the breezy South Florida day.

I’m convinced that I am the only one in the neighborhood who notices the rumpus happening just outside. The only one to know why there is a gaping hole in the neighbor’s garage door and the only one to know how there came to be thirty oranges strewn across the pavement. And, most importantly, the only one to know specifically which heads of lettuce in the garden to avoid eating.

The arrival of spring has swiftly grown and emboldened the nightly congregation. Last night there was the usual troupe of wobblers, but one disconsolate passerby, ostensibly piqued by the sheer temerity of my radish bed decided to blight the soil (and the brick wall) with what once may have been edible prior to an all inclusive tour of the human digestive system. You get the drift.

So, after excavating the funky offender and the surrounding earth and double wrapping the sullied mass in garbage bags, I set off in search of something worth photographing. Being spring, flowers seemed most appropriate and easily available and a perfect antonym to my befouled radishes. A cloudless Prussian sky and a white sun invited me to photograph with my back against the warm grass but a swarming gang of biting ants drove me back to me feet within minutes.

Fashion photographers are often asked where they get their inspiration. Many reply with enthusiastic prose about the current London collections and the past lens masters, but for me – this is where I get my most vivid inspiration. The rays of the sun filtering through the textured petals and veined leaves and the gusting wind trembling the slender branches – that is what inspirits me. If art imitates life, what more better part of life to imitate than this?

For those who care about such things, the photos were taken mostly with a Canon 85mm F1.2 L lens, probably the most glorious piece of glass ever. Lots of sun, lots of wind, lots of color.

If you really like these photos here are three links to download a zip file of them to use as your desktop wallpaper or screen saver. As always, reblogging is encouraged – just stick up a link to www.nickzantop.com

Click here to download if your screen resolution is 1024 x 768 – Size 5.7 MB

Click here to download if your screen resolution is 1280 x 800 – Size 7.2 MB

Click here to download if your screen resolution is 1440 x 900- Size 8.4 MB

Rock on

Even more exciting is the trip my girlfriend and I have planned for this summer, a very extended, round-the-country roadtrip that will culminate in California where we will hopefully be able to find some nice digs to try our hand at permanent residence on the Pacific side of things. The fashion world is pretty different on the western edge, but I figure that it’s time for a change of scenery. Plus, my best buddy Ryan has been bugging me for the past three years to make the leap ever since I helped him move out to LA, so I’ve finally caved to peer pressure and the promise of that glorious California weather. And, of course, the surfboard I got the other month needs some real waves. The logistics of moving a ridiculous amount of stuff – and a @*&&^% surfboard – a few thousand miles hasn’t quite been worked out yet, but these things have a way of sorting themselves out.

In the name of organization and the spirit of procrastinating from real work, I’ve been sorting through a lot of my old photos and trying to consolidate ten bazillion randomly named files scattered across a dozen temperamental external hard-drives into a system somewhat less confusing. It’s probably a lost cause, but it got me thinking about the countless images that are never seen by anyone. Some of them deserve to never be seen – especially the ones where the strobes were out of sync and the image is black….why those got saved I will never know. Some, I wonder what I was thinking when I took the photo. But, some are pretty damn decent. When I photograph a fashion editorial or an advertisement or even a set of photos for my personal work, invariably only a handful of photographs make it to print. Sometimes my favorites get cast out by editors who prefer a different angle while others are simply redundant.

I’ve decided to share some of this unseen work with you, my anonymous internet friends. If this idea goes according to plan – and my ideas rarely do – I’ll share a different unseen image in each entry. If you enjoy the images, feel free to share them on your facebook, twitter, blogs…whatever(that’s a noncommercial usage only whatever, not a “you can put this on a giant poster in your boutique” whatever). Just put a link back to http://www.nickzantop.com so I don’t have to resort to caps lock yelling.

Here’s the unseen image for today, a shot of Brazillian Bombshell & top model Natalia Subtil from a shoot for Futureclaw Magazine. Rock on

Natalia Subtil