Are you ready for a bunch of photographs of gorgeous cheese?
Over Memorial Day weekend, I went to an amazing food photography, food styling, and cheesemaking workshop hosted by Carey Nershi and Eva Kosmas Flores in a beautiful house on Long Pond in Plymouth, MA. It was also my 30th birthday on Sunday, and I had the best time celebrating and learning with Eva, Carey, Brandy, Jennifer, Renee, Jenn, Olga, Camaron, C.J., and Leslie. When I first thought of signing up for the workshop as a birthday present for myself, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel ringing in a new decade amongst virtual strangers, but everyone was so wonderful that by the time Sunday rolled around I felt like I was surrounded by a group of close friends.
Eva taught us how to make ricotta, fresh mozzarella, and goat cheese, and Carey taught us how to dip hard cheeses like cheddar in wax to keep them well-preserved as they age. Above you can see Eva stretching the mozzarella and then forming it into a ball, which has to be done quickly before the cheese begins to harden. We sliced up that ball of fresh mozzarella and ate it while it was still warm with a tiny sprinkling of sea salt, and it was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.
We also had the opportunity to try a huge array of local New England cheeses and some from the Pacific Northwest, where Eva lives. Molly from Jasper Hill Farm came to spend the day with us and taught us all about how cheeses are made, how they’re aged in the cellars at Jasper Hill, and how the rinds are put on. Carey styled the gorgeous display of cheeses you see here, which are from Jasper Hill Farm, Vermont Creamery, Grafton Village, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company, and Kite Hill. We all had a chance to take photos of the tantalizing display for an excruciatingly long time before we finally got to dig in and try all the amazing cheeses. My two favorites were Jasper Hill’s Harbison and Vermont Creamery’s Cremont cheese, but all of them were really good.
Carey, Eva, and Renee made us gourmet food for all three meals of the day, except for one lunch when we enjoyed lobster and clam rolls on the beach. The three of them are ridiculously good cooks, and we other attendees barely had to lift a finger (except, of course, to take photo after photo of their scrumptious creations). This is a gingerbread dutch baby with strawberries, basil, and sliced almonds, which was just as fantastic as it looks.
(Since it was my birthday weekend and I knew I would be starting a Whole30 on June 1st, I did not try to eat paleo while at the workshop. I’m lucky that I’m able to make exceptions for special occasions like this since I can tolerate some grains and dairy. I tried not to go to overboard with the cheese, but it was difficult to restrain myself!)
I had never tried ramps before, and we ate them in some form with almost every meal. My favorite was a dip/dressing made from caramelized ramps and cream cheese. I can’t wait to track down some ramps and start using them in my own cooking!
In addition to learning about cheesemaking and sampling all the cheeses, we got to set up and style our own photographs with beautiful and rustic props from Carey and Eva’s collections. Seeing all the things they have definitely made me want to spend all my free time trolling Etsy and combing though local flea markets and antique stores! We actually stopped at a couple of antique stores on our way back from the beach, and I got an antique cup and spoons that you can see in my blueberry buttermilk ice cream post here.
(This cheese from Cowgirl Creamery has edible flowers and herbs in the rind. I usually don’t like the flavor of flowers, but it was surprisingly tasty!)
On top of everything I’ve already mentioned, Eva and Carey went over camera settings, types of bodies and lenses, other photography equipment, and how to edit photos in Lightroom. I learned an incredible amount, and could not be more happy that I decided to attend this workshop. If you’re interested in developing your food photography skills and have the chance to do a workshop with Carey and Eva, I can’t recommend it highly enough. The next few are international, which means it’s a great opportunity to get some exciting travel in, too, but I’m sure they’ll be holding some more workshops stateside in the future.
(I had a blast sharing a room with Brandy in the adorable cottage you see below!)
With that, I’m going to wrap up the written part of the post and leave you with a few more photos. I also want to give a shout out to all the wonderful sponsors that Eva and Carey found, who made the weekend even more spectacular. If you’re looking for cheese, chocolate, woodworks, paperworks, or dishes, check them out!
Luna Moss | Beautiful seasonal flower arrangements & installations
Repeat Press | Custom letterpress menus
Nershi Woodworks | wooden cheese board + knife for each attendee
Alma Chocolate | toffee bars for each attendee
1Canoe2 | herb skillet recipe cards + welcome greetings for each attendee
Treehouse Chocolate Co. | Rich gourmet hot chocolate for each attendee
Treehouse Chocolate Co. | Rich gourmet hot chocolate for each attendee
Grafton Village Cheese | Clothbound Cheddar + Sage Cheddar + 1 and 2 Year Aged Cheddars + Smoked Chili Cheddar
Kite Hill | Ricotta + Soft Fresh Original + Soft Ripened + Chive Cream almond milk cheeses
Vermont Creamery |
BonneBouche + Bijou + Coupole + Crottin + Cremont + Feta + Chèvre
Vermont Creamery |
BonneBouche + Bijou + Coupole + Crottin + Cremont + Feta + Chèvre
Nora says
June 17, 2015 at 6:55 pmOh my gosh, what a wonderful event!! Your photos are stunning and the cheese looks like it is to die for (well, so does all the food). Happy birthday!!
Rebecca Winkler says
June 19, 2015 at 7:01 pmThank you so much, Nora! 🙂
Kelly Smith says
June 10, 2015 at 2:38 amHappy belated birthday. What a beautiful post! I'm so happy to have discovered your gorgeous blog. Blessings to you, Kelly
Rebecca Winkler says
June 11, 2015 at 1:46 amThank you so much, Kelly! I am enjoying your blog, too 🙂 Wish I had some brownie bites right about now.
Faith (An Edible Mosaic) says
June 8, 2015 at 1:46 pmHappy belated birthday! I can't think of a more fun way to spend it…what an incredible weekend! Your photos are absolutely gorgeous; you are so talented and so are those ladies!!
Rebecca Winkler says
June 8, 2015 at 4:57 pmThank you so much, Faith! I can't think of a better way to spend a birthday, either 🙂
Eva Kosmas Flores says
June 7, 2015 at 12:07 amSo happy you joined us for your birthday, and my goodness you took so many beautiful photos!! We had such a fun time with you, Becky, and hope we get to meet again soon!!!
Rebecca Winkler says
June 7, 2015 at 2:02 pmThank you, Eva!! I learned so much and had a fabulous time. Hope to see you again soon, too!
Sarah Rose says
June 6, 2015 at 9:10 pmHappy belated birthday! Your photos are absolutely gorgeous! I can only hope to take pictures as beautiful as yours 🙂
Rebecca Winkler says
June 6, 2015 at 10:28 pmSarah, thank you so much! I am working all the time to try to make my photos better–they were horrendous when I started, so your compliment means a lot.