@JoelECarlson: Hello everyone! Today’s special Food-Friday guest is Twin Cities food phenom @susanpowers. Lets find out what she’s been cook’n.
Susan: Hey Joel
Q – #1 To start, share with us where you grew up, went to school and what your 1st adult job was.
Susan: I grew up in the Lake Minnetonka area.
First adult job was as a usher at the Old Log Theater and Bacon Drug in Excelsior.
Maybe that isn’t an adult job…lol.
First adult job, out of college was a clothing designer.
Q – #2 So where did you go to college, what was your major and how long did you design clothes for?
Susan: I went to the U of M, I majored in Applied Design and I designed clothes for a few years, until I had my first daughter
at that point I was more interested in being a mom. They are only small for a short amount of time.
Q – #3 When then did you get back to working outside the home, and what led you to working in raw food?
Susan: I always worked, but would run businesses out of my home. My interest in raw food came about when I realized that I
wasn’t feeling the best I could and I realized it was the way I was eating. I started having some health issues. I
Figured that if eating wrong got me there, eating well could help fix the problems.
I started experimenting with raw and was amazed at how good I felt.
Q – #4 How did the publishing and photography come from your work?
Susan: When I started http://www.rawmazing.com, I was writing recipes and I new I had to take pictures of them for the blog.
I kept shooting, and the photos kept getting better. I decided to learn as much as I possibly could about food
photography and shot thousands of images, perfecting my shooting.
My books were an outgrowth of Rawmazing. A way to monetize., and also get some books out there.
Q – #5 Self taught photography? Amazing! What were some of the foods you figured out that you liked raw?
Susan: Yes, self taught. Raw Foods, I love food. So my biggest challenge was to make the dishes I normally enjoy raw.
I honestly love everything I make, or I wouldn’t make it. Raw can be very interesting and vast
But for me, it is always about experimenting and creating new stuff.
My raw food is more of the gourmet raw….not so much compost on a plate, raw. :-)
Q – #6 You recently started @ShootTheKitch with @FreshTartSteph. Explain what that is about.
Susan: It is an adventure into the sides of chef’s and restaurants that you normally don’t get to see.
I love shooting food and people. What better way to combine those two loves.
@freshtartsteph volunteered to do the recipes because I didn’t want to work with certain ingredients.It has been great
Q – #7 It’s great to do work that you love! Any new projects or books coming up in the near future?
Susan: I am working on a transitional raw food book and we have some amazing shoots coming up on @shootthekitch
I am completely in love with the photography so will be doing as much of that as I can.
@freshtartsteph has been a gas to work with. Her energy is amazing and a great contribution to @shootthekitch
Q – #8 More about YOU! Favorite(s): Restaurant, store, co-op/market, vegetable, fruit, TC neighborhood and book/movie.
Susan: Wow! ok…Restaurant. That is like asking which is my favorite kid. I love them both with all my heart, but I love
different things about them. That said, Lurcat has been a fav for a long time. I always completely relax when I sink
into those white chairs. Co-op, love them all for different reasons. I shop Lakewinds mostly.
Vegetable: Kale, Fruit: Watermelon but I am having a pineapple obsession right now…
Neighborhood….no clue…I live west of the TC, we really don’t have neighborhoods, Book: “Like Water for Chocolate
Movie: Sense and Sensibility, I am a romantic.
Q – #9 I forgot to ask, when you need a “pick-me-up” comfort food, what do you eat?
Susan: lol…that is an oxymoron. Pick me up would be a green drink….2 handfuls of greens, some fruit, very good.
Comfort food…Chocolate chip cookies…homemade by me, not raw…lol.
Q – #10 Raw cookie dough? :) If you could invite 1 person (dead/alive) for a meal, who would you ask and why?
Susan: Probably the Dalai Lama His peace, power, energy, knowledge, serenity, those are all things I would love to experience.
I hear he also has a great sense of humor. #jectv And no…no raw cookies. Bake those babies.
Q – #11 To close today, what advice would you give to newbies in the blog/food/photo world?
Susan: Be prepared to work your butt off, strive to do the best you can do, find your own voice and niche and go for it!
@JoelECarlson: Good points! Thanks @susanpowers for participating in today’s Food-Friday Twitterview and sharing some of your life on #jectv. Take care!
Susan: Thank you!!