I am participating in a monthly blog circle with some amazing photographer’s that I met on Clickin Moms. This month we were challenged to photograph food.
I would have thought this challenge would have been EASY. Two loves: food and photography. Not so much! Photographing food is an ART. It really is. And it’s one I’m not very good at.
But food! Food, I have always been good at. Food is my family’s love language. Time to celebrate? Bring on the food. Have a broken heart? Sit and have dinner. Sick? Eat, eat! Grieving? It will seem a little bit better after a tray of lasagna.
I grew up with women who embraced their Italian background and loved to cook. And more than loving to cook, they loved cook for others. Dinners that took hours and hours because food isn’t just about feeding your body but it’s also about feeding your soul. Food was the vehicle for forming friendships and fostering love. It set the table for conversations, both the hard and easy ones. Food has been at the center of my life for as long as I have memories.
My mom passed on her love of food to me. It’s kind of in my DNA. There is nothing I like more than a table full of friends that I get to nourish with something I created. I am so blessed that this part of my mom has lived on in me and there are times when I am in the kitchen cooking one of her dishes that I can almost feel her beside me.
So when I set out on this monthly challenge I was hoping to capture the beauty of the food she passed down to me. But because of time and kids and my utter lack of ability to create beautiful food images I changed my plan.
Because just as important as big lavish well prepared meals were. It is sitting at the kitchen table with a simple cup of perfectly brewed (strong) coffee in my hands that I feel the most connected to my mom.
Mornings at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and my mom. That was our time. Before anyone else was awake. We shared plans and dreams and fears and laughter and tears. Just us. And coffee.
Please head on over to Ashley’s blog to see how she captured this month’s theme.
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This is so heart warming Amanda! I feel like you should have two cups there and we were having a chat.
Judy – if you are ever in the DC area I’ll set a place for you
I can relate – this is how my family is as well
I love how simple and clean this photo is but it tells a sweet story 
great job!
Thanks Sarah!
love it. so welcoming.
love your writing’s and ‘Food is my family’s love language’.
<3 thanks Tracey.
I love your words here Amanda, and your photo is beautiful and really tells a story! Beautiful china too!!
Very lovely! And such nice sentiments too!
This is lovely, so inviting
Comeon over. There’s always room at our table
Yay! I was hoping I could pull the vision off – it was a super last minute change of game plan!
Amanda, I love your story… I feel connected to you and your mom just reading this. And that gorgeous cup of coffee looks so inviting. <3
Thanks Holly. I’ve loved writing for a while. Being able to combine images and words has become a new passion!
My goodness Amanda… you cleared have been blessed with the gift words and images… breathtaking! I’ll be in DC for 2 short days in April and if I wasn’t on a school tour you would find me on your doorstep
You drew me right in! Perfection!
Oh, Dawne, thank you so much.
Well if you find yourself with some free time you know how to find me 
wow, I love the story this image tells. I can see you and your mom chatting over coffee – the image you have captured brings that memory to life (even though I was obviously not a part of the memory – I feel like I was!).
Oh Amanda, this looks so beautiful and so inviting! I love the story behind it and enjoyed learning of the loving bond you share with your mother. Just Wonderful!!
Everything about this is just beautiful! The light, the meaning behind it and the whole shot – love!