Meet Our Guest 'Grammer of the Week: @Foodsofjane
Photo: Janey Schafer
This weekend on #TastyTakeovers we tag along with Janey Schafer, a Cleveland based foodie who is passionate about cooking, eating, and taking mouthwatering photos. Her blog and Instagram, Foods of Jane, is a result of her infatuation for all things beautiful and delicious. Find out how she got into food in the Q&A below!
Name/Instagram Handle: Janey Schafer/@foodsofjane
Yahoo Food: Tell us a bit about yourself!
Jane Schafer: I am from the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. My passion for food was born the day I found out how much of it I couldn’t eat due to some serious food allergies. Being allergic to peanuts, seafood, shellfish, chickpeas, avocados, sesame seeds, (and probably more) turned me into an insanely picky eater as a child and I started cook my own meals (mostly various types of noodles) at a very young age. I started asking my mom lots of questions in the kitchen and with her guidance and the Internet I taught myself how become a great cook. I am so passionate about the way my food looks and tastes that I naturally put my whole heart into creating beautiful and delicious eats! The cooking continued when I lived on my own during college (I studied at Ohio University for 4 years and Cleveland State University for 2 years.) Right now, I work as a marketing intern for Destination Cleveland, I blog about food I eat and make, and I also do freelance food photography work for local PR companies.
Photo: Instagram/foodsofjane
What first got you interested in food and photography? Where do you draw inspiration from?
I live in my kitchen and I’m always spending way too much money at the grocery store or at restaurants all around the Cleveland area. I don’t even know what to say about what else I like to do in my spare time because my life is completely centered around food, friends, family, and, of course, my silver lab Kyrie (who’s snout is cropped out of almost every picture I post to my Instagram account.) I am constantly cooking for my friends and family, either that or we are socializing over a meal at a restaurant.
How do you take your photos (with a camera or phone)? What are your favorite photo editing tools and/or tips for taking exceptional food photos? Give us the scoop!
I’ve always had a natural talent for taking nice pictures, I actually started off college studying photography. The combination of my love for food plus my raw photography talent resulted in @foodsofjane! I started taking my food pics with my iPhone 5 and then my parents got me a Cannon Rebel for my 24th birthday last year. I am still learning how to work it, I get better with it every day. There is definitely a huge difference in iPhone quality photos versus a macro lens photos from a nice camera. PRO TIP: If you want to step up your game, you should probably commit to using something more than an iPhone for taking photos — just sayin’. I also use painted wood and white poster boards for my backdrops.. It helps to use natural sunlight too, I’m always shooting next to a giant window.
Baby deviled eggs. (Photo: Instagram/Janey Schafer)
Who are three of your favorite Instagrammers? What do you like about them?
My three favorite Instagrammers — it’s so hard to pick.
First and foremost I love my girl @Gilliehouston. Not only do her food pics rock, but she’s hilarious and is always dying over whatever she’s eating. I love someone who seems to be as unbelievably food obsessed as I am. Another foodstagrammer I like would be @arjieljosephfg. He has the most perfectly balanced and beautifully plated/colorful food grams. I randomly found his page with only a few hundred followers on it and it’s been awesome to see him blow up on other accounts like @foodbeast and infatuation. Last but definitely not least, I LOVE @dad_beats. He is a breakfast master and I seriously love his witty humor as well as creativity and his insanely brilliant usage of the waffle iron.
What do you enjoy about Instagram compared to other online communities?
I love Instagram because it is a whole online network of food friends. I don’t technically like the word “foodie,” but it’s foodie heaven; a whole different world for people who enjoy sharing what they are eating on Instagram. I think that the use of hashtags is incredible, and I get so excited when my pictures get reposted by bigger accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers!
Pineapple whole-grain brown fried rice bowls. (Photo: Instagram/Janey Schafer)
What’s the best thing you’ve eaten recently?
I am a cheese lover. I somehow only just recently discovered burrata cheese and I think I nearly choked on it because I was so obsessed with the creamy, rich flavor and all of the things it can be paired with. ALSO, I make a bomb.com homemade Alfredo sauce and I recently started mixing it with a combination of olive oil, fresh garlic gloves, parsley, cilantro, basil, and chives that have basically been turned into liquid herbs via my food processor. So it’s a creamy lime green pasta sauce that isn’t pesto (can’t eat pesto because of the pine nuts and my allergy). It’s unique, and insanely delicious.
Nut-free pest mixed with Alfredo sauce and pasta. (Photo: Instagram/Janey Schafer)
If you could throw a dream dinner party for any three people — living or dead — who would they be and what would you cook for them?
My dream dinner party would involve Chrissy Teigen. And I wouldn’t want to invite anybody else except maybe her mom and her dogs. She’s the funniest human ever. I love how she somehow balances being a super model and loving bacon so much. It’s so amazing to see a model with such a passion for cooking as well as her own food blog and cookbook! I would probably make her some tomato basil soup because it’s her favorite and then some sort of bacon-wrapped meat because, well, bacon + meat is actually low carb, if you think about it.
What’s the best dish you’ve ever made or the dish that you’re known for?
I am a noodle child. I’ve taken a bath in ramen noodles before, I swear. (You can find a picture of it on my Instagram, and, P.S., it was also shown on ABC “The Chew”.) I am known for my various types of noodle dishes. I make Italian pasta dishes; white, red, or blush sauces from scratch, and I also love cooking Asian style noodle dishes like soups and stir fry. I actually won Zoup Fresh Soup’s National Soup Recipe Contest last winter! I made a spicy noodle soup with Sriracha and glass noodles. It’s super hot but totally worth the sweating and tongue burning.
Jane’s award-winning spicy noodle soup. (Photo: Instagram/Janey Schafer)
What does the new food revolution mean to you?
The new food revolution is EVERYTHING to me. When I go out to eat, I want to know what my food is going to look like when it’s served. It’s a huge deciding factor for me, so I love checking out Yelp, or scrolling through pictures that were tagged at the restaurant I’m dining at. It makes me sad that some people thinks it’s dumb to take and post pictures of food. Like, hello, food is awesome and it needs to be shared with others who enjoy eating. Then again, who doesn’t enjoy eating? C'mon. I’m always that girl asking to sit next to a window for that crucial lighting, and if that doesn’t happen you know I’m getting up and walking my plate over to the windowsill for a 5 minute photo shoot + awkward stares. There’s aren’t a lot of “foodies” in Cleveland, I’m usually the only one obnoxiously taking several photos of whatever I order at restaurants, but I’m okay with it because it’s what I live for.
And last but not least — what’s your favorite food (if you had to pick one)?
Favorite food = pasta. You can choose your own shape and texture noodle as well as pair it with almost any type of sauce, veggies, oils, meats, cheese — OMG I want some pasta right now! It’s seriously my favorite even though carbs aren’t the best for you. I’m always in the mood for something different but it’s safe to assume that some sort of noodle will be incorporated into whatever I’m eating! I also really love chicken wings, the flat kind, with copious amounts of ranch for dipping.
Breaded chicken breasts topped with melted provolone and roasted red peppers and a homemade white wine Alfredo penne. (Photo: Instagram/Janey Schafer)
Look through past Grammers of the Week:
