Skills Training

I'm still new to blogging. I can't figure out how to change a layout of an entry. I'm not a writer. I've been adding posts with photos from the past and it's evident that I paid no attention to taking the actual photograph. I wasn't thinking about making the food look good or if the lighting was nice. I've been only more aware of this recently. Hopefully you'll see better visual images in the future, that is, if I ever share my 3-day blogging secret with any one.

Food for thought: If I'm going to continue with a food blog, I should hit up some yard sales for some cool-looking plates, table clothes and baskets.

Question to self: Should I only post photos of food I've prepared or also food I've encountered and taken a decent photo of?

Accordion Potatoes

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/accordion-potatoes-ghk1207

This was the second time I made this recipe from Good Housekeeping. The presentation is outstanding.

This is a little time-consuming (slicing the potatoes down as far as you can without cutting through them) and messy (getting all the garlic olive oil in between the cut). It's worth the trouble if making it for company.

Ham on Baguette

For Father's Day I whipped up a Ham Sandwich on a French baguette.

-dijon mustard-mayo
-mixed greens
-plum tomatoes
-S&P
-white cheddar cheese
-slivers of red onion

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookie

I wish I could say this cookie was as good as it looks. Sometimes its best to follow a recipe and not attempt to make a guilty food healthier. I got this recipe from OceanSpray.com. I tried to make it a bit healthier by cutting the AP flour in half and subbing in whole wheat flour for the remainder.

http://www.oceanspray.com/recipes/Oatmeal_Cranberry_White_Chocolate_Chunk_Cookies.aspx?id=1143&nid=11

Chocolate Cherry Surprise!

Last Christmas I was invited to my first Holiday Cookie Swap! I cannot tell you how excited I was to toss baking 6 dozen cookies into the holiday shopping and decorating madness. No, really...I was excited. I did a dry-run of two cookies and this recipe won (only because it was easier to make in bulk).

In the end, all of my cookies ended up in the freezer since one of many record-breaking snowfalls for the DC area made driving difficult. Maybe next year...












This recipe makes 4 dozen cookies. 28-31 each

1 1/2 (10 ounce) jar Maraschino Cherries (42-48)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 (6 ounce) package (1 cup) semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk or low-fat sweetened condensed milk

Drain cherries, reserving juice. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in cocoa powder and as much of the flour as you can with mixer. Stir in remaining flour using a wooden spoon. Portion & shape dough into 1-inch balls (~tbsp). Place balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press your thumb (or tsp) into the center of each ball. Place a cherry in each center.

To make the frosting: in a small saucepan combine chocolate pieces and sweetened condensed milk. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Stir in +/- 4 teaspoons reserved cherry juice. Spoon 1 teaspoon frosting over each cherry, spreading to cover. Frosting may be thinned with additional cherry juice if necessary. Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 10 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Frozen Grand Marnier Torte with Dark Chocolate Crust and Spiced Cranberries

Being asked to bring a dessert to a holiday meal is like trying to find a dress to a black-tie affair - you've gotta bring out the big guns. I found this tasty treat in an issue of Bon Appetit magazine. Anything that takes two days to make better be good!

Food Stylist/Food Photographer for Hire

Many occupations appear to be glamorous... restaurateur, fashion designer, hotelier, investment banker...and, food stylist. I work in a restaurant, I've worked in a hotel, I dream of being a food stylist or a professional photographer, or independently wealthy living a life of leisure. At the end of the day, its all work (minus the independently wealthy person part) and probably not as exciting as we imagine. But, it'd be fun to give something glamorous a try.

For a holiday appetizer one year I decided to put a little spin on the usual cheese and cracker tray. I found these cute little sweet peppers and herb cheese at Costco. Pretty easy app to make and it makes a great presentation, in my opinion. Photographing it turned out better than I expected. If only all of my photographs turned out this well...especially my photos of casseroles.

Augh. Someone tell me how I can change the layout of my post. It's driving me crazy.

"Finale" in my Cake Decorating Class

I've taken two courses on cake decorating. I've had enough buttercream frosting to last me a lifetime. At the end of my second course we made a 'finale cake' where we could display a bouquet of all the flowers we learned to make. We also learned how to make a basket weave design on the side of a cake. Looks impressive and is really not that hard to master.

September '09 - Cake #4

I am officially "caked-out". My refrigerator is full of buttercream icing that will never be used. My freezer is full of cake that I will never eat. I've enrolled in the 2nd Cake Decorating Course offered at Micahel's, but only because we only have to bake one cake over 4 weeks.

This cake was nice to decorate because the only skill I was working on was the "Wilton Rose". My instructor made one of the roses on my cake. Can you tell which one it is?

September '09 - Cake #3 - Testing my Cake Decorating Skills

It's the 3rd week in September and it's the 3rd week of my Course 1 Cake Decorating Class.

I didn't know you could get sick of eating cake, but you can. Buttercream icing...won't need to be eating that for a while.

In this cake decorating class I decided to frost my cake in two tones (although there was a mess of three different colors between the layers).

I practiced my writing, my 3D clown, flowers and piping. I've received praise for this cake, but to me it's just a mess of things I was trying to learn. The whole thing got hacked up, portioned and tossed in the freezer.

Justin's 2nd 2nd Birthday Cake.

That's right. Justin was the beneficiary of my cake decorating classes, in spirit. Last September while taking classes, his 2nd birthday rolled around so I used my newly acquired skills to decorate him two cakes. He tried neither.

After tasting this icing I realized the importance of using "no-taste" red icing color. It makes a huge difference.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Justin!

I was taking a cake decorating class @ Michael's last September when my son's 2nd birthday rolled around. What better way to celebrate than decorating an Elmo birthday cake? Remember, I was taking a class so my skills were/are limited. I learned how to transfer an image onto the cake. It's a shame he didn't even try it.

Kaluha Toffee Ice Cream Dessert

Who doesn't enjoy dessert? Yes, we could all do without the extra calories and fat, but that never interferes with our enjoyment while consuming it, does it? And, how many times have you been stuffed from a very satisfying dinner, but yet had a little extra room to squeeze in at least a bite of dessert? Be honest! We've all been there.

My Mother-in-Law bought me a fantastic Southern Living Cookbook as a gift and in it I found this...

This recipe couldn't be any easier or tastier!

-Vanilla Ice Cream
-Kahlua
-Crumbled Toffee Bar

Enjoy!

Mini Caprese Bites

Southern Living magazine and cookbooks never steer me wrong.

Back in December '08 I prepared this appetizer for our Christmas dinner. This little bowling wasn't going to cut it, so I changed my app layout for a large serving plate.










This was the finished display.

Prep: 20 min. Grape tomatoes vary in size from week to week at the grocery store; some pints we found had only 24 while others had more than 40. Good news, you should still have enough mozzarella balls because they are generally sold in 8-oz. containers that have more than enough.

Yield: Makes 8 appetizer servings

Ingredients

• 1 pt. grape tomatoes, halved
• 10 to 14 fresh small mozzarella cheese balls, cut into thirds*
• 32 (4-inch) wooden skewers**
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Thread 1 tomato half, 1 piece of cheese, and another tomato half onto each skewer. Place skewers in a shallow serving dish.

2. Whisk together oil and next 3 ingredients. Drizzle oil mixture over skewers; sprinkle with basil and salt and pepper to taste.

*1 (8-oz.) package fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, may be substituted.

**Wooden picks may be substituted.

Marci Parham, Birmingham, Alabama, Southern Living, MAY 2008

Soft Fresh Herb Cheese & Grape Crostini

Back in December '08 I must've had time on my hands, even with a 1-year old running around. I successfully pulled off three appetizers to contribute to the Christmas dinner my Mother-in-Law was hosting.

I adapted this recipe from one I found in Bon Appetit magazine. The original recipe called for herb goat cheese, bit since I'm not a fan of goat cheese, I improvised. It was unique and yummy.

Attached is the original recipe.




As you can clearly see, presentation and photography were not my strengths. I chose not to use three different color grapes because grapes are hard enough to find in December. Also, their fresh herb cheese is so much more visually appealing than my cheese spread, although I'm sure mine appealed to the non-goat cheese eaters in the group.

I would definitely prepare this again, with a little more attention given to the visual appeal.

Chocolate-Honey Dome Cake

I prepared this cake for a Pot Luck at a friend's home. I loved how it looked in the Bon Appetit magazine.

Back in 2007 I didn't know that when photographing food, it's not ideal to use a flash. I also knew nothing about styling the food...not that I know much now, just a bit more aware.

I'll attach the magazine's photo so you can see what I wanted to replicate.




Warmer light, crumbs, interior of the cake. You can practically taste it, can't you?

Cheesecake with Pinenuts and Pumpkin-Apple Butter

Back in 2006 I prepared a Cheesecake with Pine Nuts and Pumpkin-Apple Butter courtesy of Bon Appetit magazine.

Not mindful of taking a proper photograph of food. It's going to be a while before that happens.

Pear Tart

Back in 2003, my husband and I were heading to a neighbors for dinner and I decided to try out a Pear Tart recipe since the photo looked so good.

Dessert was great. The photo was ordinary.

Tummy Temptations

I love food and I love photography so I've decided to try and combine the two. I will try to tempt you with simple descriptions and mouth-watering photographs of my work in the kitchen. Here goes nothing!