Two weeks into our blog revival, it feels fitting to circle back to where it all started- our very first post.
On April 4, 2014, I took some crummy iPhone photos of a pizza I made for lunch and thus officially launched Port and Fin with my friend and colleague, Chelsea.
Chels and were ‘work-wives’ at the time, graphic designers in a bustling, financial district, business-bro environment. When we weren’t run off our feet churning out endless designs or convincing the boys in suits that drop-shadows are not, in fact, the height of sophistication, we were eating food, talking about food, or dreaming about food.
We loved to cook, we loved to eat, we knew graphic design, photoshop, the basics of web design… it seemed like the perfect fit. We would become food bloggers.
In the dream, shortly after starting Port and Fin we would quit our corporate day jobs and become professional food people. We would devote our days to cooking, taking artful pictures, making rustic preserves, tending our expansive vegetable gardens (obviously, in this fantasy we either became multi-millionaires or moved out of Greater Vancouver…) and sipping chilled white wine while wearing flowy linen frocks… we basically wanted to be Ina Garten.
Except, of course, I was a crummy photographer at best, we both worked long hours, which made weekends basically the only time we could devote to blogging, and oh look- everyone has a food blog these days.
Can you make money running a food blog? Absolutely. But it requires a lot of time, effort and hustle- not to mention photographic talent, which is something that you can learn, but that I was frustratingly not immediately amazing at.
4 years later, my photography is *marginally* better, but the real difference is my ultimate goal… sure, it would be cool to live the Ina Garten dream, but I’m not expecting to make a gazillion dollars in book deals and endorsements from this blog. I’m not going to become a social media influencer (I still find it crazy that’s actually a job these days?). I don’t need to become a judge on Chopped Canada (although how awesome would that gig be, right?).
I’m doing this simply because I enjoy it. I love cooking, I love sharing recipes.
Port and Fin 2.0: Passion Project Reloaded.
| Pear & Blue Cheese Flatbread with Rosemary Vinaigrette | | Print |
- 1 ball of your favourite pizza dough *(here's my tried-and-true recipe)
- Rosemary blue cheese vinaigrette
- 2-3 medium apples or pears, cored and thinly sliced
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
- ¼ cup grated mozzarella
- ¼ cup walnuts
- 50g prosciutto (optional)
- ⅓ cup fresh arugula (optional)
- .
- Rosemary blue cheese vinaigrette:
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (1 tsp dried)
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Place a pizza stone or heavy baking sheet into the oven. Crank the heat on the oven up to 500 degrees. Let the stone heat for at least 30 minutes in the oven.
- Mix all vinaigrette ingredients together (I like to use an immersion blender for this if possible, so the rosemary gets nice and small and the oil easily emulsified).
- Dust a flat surface with some coarse semolina and stretch out the portion of pizza dough you will be using. Take the heated pizza stone/tray out of the oven and transfer the dough directly on to it. This will cause the dough to start cooking right away, ensuring a nice and crispy crust.
1⅓ cups warm water
2¼ tsp instant yeast
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
.
To make dough: Preheat oven to 200°F. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine water and yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until yeast has dissolved and mixture is frothy. Add in flour, sugar, salt, and olive oil; knead on a low speed for 5-10 minutes until dough has formed. It should be elastic and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl; cover with aluminum foil, and place bowl in the oven. TURN OVEN OFF. Let the dough rise in the warm oven for about 2 hours until it has doubled in size. Divide into two balls of dough, then use one for the remainder of this recipe. (Prepare another pizza with the second ball of dough, or store in the fridge for another night.)
I made this last night and it was delicious. Great recipe
Yay! Great to hear, Shauna!
Thanks For Sharing this Amazing Recipe. My Family Loved It. I will be sharing this Recipe with my Friends. Hope They will like it.