Sunday, April 18, 2010

HAPPY 1 YEAR BIRTHDAY MORTA DI FAME!

     My first post one year ago was appropriately titled "About this blog," so I figured I would post an excerpt from that post:
"As a child my father would proudly feed me pasta with sardines, broccoli rabe, mussels and any other food by which most kids would be horrified. Children are described as having their father's eyes, but my Dad still says that I have his stomach. Not in appearance, thank God!"
Working on this blog this past year has been amazing. I started this blog as a creative outlet. I really needed it! I watched a lame movie called Running With Scissors about a crazy middle aged horrible poet who was diagnosed by an even crazier psychiatrist as being creatively constipated. While the movie stunk, I liked that idea. Because of this blog, things are certainly flowing.
I wanted to use Morta Di Fame as a platform to explore my writing, my food photography and most importantly food. I wanted to figure out what kind of role food would play in my life and in my career. 
It has opened many doors for me; some very special and personal to me, as well as a lot of professional opportunities. All the while, I have been having a great and delicious time. Morta Di Fame worked! Something works! And people, only a few, actually read it!
Because of Morta Di Fame, I now am a "micro-investor" in a great pizza place in Greenpoint called Paulie Gee's. I have published food photography in Edible Queens, which I am very proud. I have also done food photography for Cello Wine Bar and was the official Press photographer of Fresh the Movie, attending awesome events like a Chocolate and Beer Tasting and a Joel Salatin lecture.
In the last year I cooked non-stop and ate non-stop. I went to Supper Clubs, Take-Downs, Meet-Ups, Festivals, Tastings. Wherever I could find food (and cocktails), I went. My palate has opened up more than I ever imagined. I used to say, "I wish I could eat everything, because then I could go out to eat for a living." I am not quite a restaurant reviewer and probably won't head in that direction, but I eat things I would never have imagined eating before I started this blog: oysters, bone marrow, whole sardines, calf brains, chicken hearts, snails. Bring it on!
What I really have enjoyed most about this experience is how close it has brought me to family and friends. Eating is an experience, best shared with those you love and Morta Di Fame always reminds me of how wonderful and insane my family is and how supportive and loyal my friends are.
Now going into my second year, I plan to really focus on local eating, as I really feel very strongly about and will be doing a Local Wednesdays post each week. I will also write a weekly Sicilian Sunday Dinners post as a way to bring family and friends together and learn now to make traditional Sicilian dishes. Please invited yourself over to these weekly meals. I need someone to help me eat them! And of course I won't forget to write about the crazy antics of Rocco and Nonna. Those stories are really what makes this blog what it is.
(I plan on making a professional push in the direction of food photography and using the photography from Morta Di Fame in my portfolio in order to do high end still life of food for cookbooks and magazines as well as editorial pieces with portraits of chefs and environmental shots of the overall food experience. (Food stylists and chefs let's shoot together!) Aside from lighting food, my strength is capturing the essence of the event of eating. I am moving in a good direction in terms of developing my own unique style as was recognized by my Fresh the Movie client who wanted me to shoot their events in my style. I have a style! I hope this transition will afford me some fun travel, too!) These are my professional goals and if I write them I will stick to them and will review this post in another year and hopefully will have accomplished these goals.
Thanks a lot to everyone who reads and comments and inspires me to cook, take photos and write about it all! Let's enjoy a meal together soon.
Happy Birthday Morta Di Fame!

9 comments:

Mister Meatball said...

Felice compleanno!

Jennie said...

Happy Birthday Morta Di Fame! I've enjoyed reading for the past year and look forward to reading for years to come!

Pizzablogger said...

Your photos are indeed inspirational and always love looking at them. You can write and convey the spirit of a topic as well. Looks like our anniversaries are within a couple of days of each other.

Congrats kid and looking forward to another year of your posts, photos and the good natured laughter it often brings to us down here in Charm City! --K

pizzacommander said...

Congrats Jen! Cheers to a great year in food blogging, can't wait to see what the future holds for you and the blog!
-b

Rocco Galatioto said...

AUGURONI, BUONA FORTUNA E TANTE BELLE COSE.
YD
Now to basics. Are you impugning my looks? And I thought I was such an handsome man.
You cannot ever understand how proud I am of you. Not only as a daughter but as a colleague. Your photography is of great creativity and your writing is absolutely superb. It's funny, concise and absolutely hits the proverbial nail on the head. I always enjoy the blog and I wish you the greatest success. I am sorry I missed it. On Sunday I was driving from Sicily to Genova to try to get back to the USA. Again good luck.
YD

Javelina Bomb said...

Happy birthday Morta Di Fame, when do we eat? Also, since some of us might be kind of far away, how bout advance notice on these grande feste so we don't catch rush hour traffic. Especially since I'm in Arizona. Maybe I can get out of work early...

Also, more Rocco and Nonna

Jennifer Galatioto said...

Thanks for the good wishes everyone!

I am going to have to give you VERY advance notice to come all the way from Arizona!

www.undergrounddining.blogspot.com said...

Congrats Jen!! I am so happy weve met and explored food together! Keep blogging!

Peter Minde said...

Happy anniversary, keep up the great writing!