New Toy

I have a new toy and a confession....

My name is Jenny Saunders and I am addict.  

I am addicted to utensils, gadgets, gizmos and other fun unique appliances. Other than your usual electric mixer, blender and food processor....I own immersion blender, 2 crock pots, mini chopper, 2 waffle makers, George Forman 5 in 1, toaster oven, air popper, Chop Wizard, 12 pc. Genius Nicer Dicer, tortilla maker, Jack LeLann's Juiceman, Cotton Candy Maker, Sno-cone maker, S'more maker (so many more I can't remember what is in the drawer) and my latest acquisition....

Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker.  Found it on Amazon.com for only 16.99.  Don't know why they are $19-$33 now.  It came in a plain brown box not like the ones you see all pretty with their product on the outside.  Perhaps that is why.  It was sent in this box from HB for Amazon.  I guess the pretty pictured box cost $4-$16 depending on who you get it from.  I do make a lot of breakfast sandwiches for K-man.  Since I have received it last week I have made 5 sandwiches.  4 for K-man, one for me.  It's very petite and I really like it!!!

When you heat up the maker, you get out your needed items, english muffin, meat/sausage/bacon, cheese slice, egg/egg beaters, toothpick and non-stick spray.

When the green light come on you spray the surfaces with Pam.
1.  Place the bottom muffin on the lower area and on top of the muffin your meat of choice and cheese. 
2.  Lower the upper section and place your whole egg (pierce the egg yolk with toothpick), scrambled egg or egg beater product. Season as you like, top with remaining muffin and close maker. 
3.  In 4-5 minutes it's done.  Slide the hinged middle plate out to the for the egg to drop below to the bottom layer.
4.  Lift bottom ring to reveal your stacked Breakfast sandwich, remove with a non-metal turner.

The above pictured is our "snow day breakfast" of bacon with provolone and whole egg.  Last weekend, since I am doing Nutri System currently I made for lunch with Arnold Sandwich Thins (100 cal), Morningstar Farms Sausage (64 cal), slice FF cheese (31 cal), 1/4c egg beaters (30 cal) and Mrs. Dash.  Not too bad for 225 cal when most NS products are 250 cal.  You do have to trim away some of the bread since these "thins" are wider to get it to fit.  It was pretty good for a lower fat/calorie sandwich. 
You can also make these with deli meats and the cooked egg for a sandwich for lunch.
This little product does help in some areas when it comes to dishes.  No toaster or oven, no bowl or whisk (using the egg product), we always have cooked bacon that I bake on weekends to use during the week for K-man (you can use the pre-cooked bacon from the grocery or deli meat).  The rings totally lift out for easy cleaning, wipe off the cooking surfaces on the maker and ZING....all done.  My new addition to the family will fit nicely in my cabinet between the air popper and blender. 

HEY! Be proud that I did not purchase the breakfast sandwich maker cookbook that Amazon suggested I buy with this maker.  That is another addiction that I am trying to wean off of.....

This was not an assignment from any program or website, no company sent me this for free to endorse.  It was just me, JennyMac who found something new and fun and wanted to share it with you!

PLEASE! Feel free to comment and tell me the gadgets and gizmos you have like this or JUST ask me what other products I didn't list that I have or kicked to the curb.....I have no shame....


Sammich Anyone?

Chebe GLUTEN FREE Bread Mixes

A few months ago I trolling around the blogs looking for gluten free and came upon Chebe Bread. These bread ingredients are identical to frozen product I found in my grocery (another post one day). 
When I realized the versatility of the mixes I ordered some from Amazon.com (who orders it directly from Chebe).  It is made from mannioc root or known as tapioca flour.  Other than some baking soda and seasonings (depending on the mix you buy) its really Paleo friendly.  However, the recipe on the box does call for cheese (1 cup) but the nice thing is....the mixes can be made with or without cheese.  SCORE!  I use cheese depending on my splurging mood.
What you see on the left is a few of their mixes.  What is missing is their cheese bread mix, Garlic and Onion breadstick mix.  They also send frozen dough if you want more convenience. They also provide many recipes for you to tickle your creativity bone.

Now, when I want to splurge on some bread (like a hamburger or hotdog) this is what I did...

 

PIGS in a Blanket....

• Make the dough (oil, eggs, milk and cheese)
• Cut my nitrate free organic hot hogs in half
• Divide dough in the number of 'dog halfs'
• Flatten dough and pinch/form around them.
• Bake @ 375 for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Aren't these just so CUTE?  With a little dish of ketchup, mustard, relish or onion....these were FAB!  K-man was thrilled and I didn't even both to mention that they were my gluten free stuff....

When I have a hamburger....too much bun kills me.  I'd rather be full from the protein and fillings of the burger than a huge bun.  Sure I can go bunless but sometime you want a soft, chewy package to PICK up your burger.  So I made a basic mix and instead their suggestion of 4 buns I made 6.  I didn't mind them being thinner.  If you want soft and thick.  Go for it.  I wanted thin and crusty.  When you have tomato and mayo, sometimes the bun falls apart and gets mushy.  NOT CHEBE buns!

 The topping is from King Arthur Flour.  Their Artisan Bread Topping.  It is sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, black caraway, flax and poppy seeds.  Very tasty!








Here's a view how thin they are....(kinda like those sandwich bun makers THIN version)






All in all, the CHEBE company is very accommodating.  I had a little issue that I posted on their FB site and a rep called me and replaced them.  Also in doing so he suggested to mix and match some of their other products.  Now, I've tried all except for the cinnamon rolls.  These will def be my Go-TO mix in the cabinet.  THANKS Chebe!!

My next recipe adventure will be using just straight tapioca flour and making my own rolls to see how they compare.  But it sure is nice to have these mixes around for whenever you need pizza crust, rolls, or buns.  Non-Paleo or gluten sensitive family members won't know what they are missing.  PROMISE!


 Enjoy!

These are a few of my favorite.....

BLOGS!

I want to share with you the links and my thoughts about some of my favorite bloggers. Some have become friends, we exchange emails when we want to share private stuff about our lives or just gossip in general. They to me are real people with personality and have things worthy to read about or great recipes to try.

Mommy I'm Hungry
Blogger: Rachelle. Mom/wife with 3 kids. Hugely busy blogger. Tons of giveaway, always sampling products, wide range of recipes. She gets top billing for she was the first to comment on my blog and welcome me into the food blog world. How she balances the products, the cooking, the support of two eldest kids in the racing world. She was smart and got away from playing Cafe World on FB. She and I comment freely on our FB or blog. I admire her yet hate how she throws in my face how beautiful the weather is in sunny Cali. LOL I consider her a friend. You rock Rachelle, not Rachel. giggle.

The Life and Loves of HoneyB
Blogger: Shelby aka HoneyB. Mom of two adult kids. Wife of Grumpy (husband). She was one of the first blogs I started following. I love the range of her blog. She is very connected to many other bloggers. She is open about her husbands likes and dislikes about what she cooks. In my opinion, he is just too picky. She grew up a vegetarian yet eats some meat nowadays. But she always gets back to her veggie roots and makes dishes with Tofu. She is health conscious for the is always seeming to post about a recipe from Cooking Light. I envision a huge bookshelf full of her past issues. She participates in many group cooking blogs, guest blogs, cooks for family occasions and her workplace. She is so very sweet and puts a personal touch in everything. Her food pix are to DIE for perfect!

Once Upon a Gourmet Gin
Blogger: Ginger aka Gin. Mom of a High-schooler and one in college. She is not one I consider a 'rabid' blogger. She too took a leave of absence from blogging as well. She is getting back into the groove of blogging again. Her recipes are wide in variety from ethnic from just plain fun home cooking. We've exchanged emails on the side talking outside the blogs about our family life. We had a cake mix cookie friendly competition frenzy awhile back. I enjoy her blog and friendship.

The Hungry Housewife
Blogger: Leslie. At home Mom of a little girl and boy. Love, love, LOVE her. She does enough videos on her site that I feel kinship to her personality. I feel like if we met we would just talk for hours and laugh our butts off. I hate when she takes the video out to her Tampa Bay backyard and shows us the fabu pool and falls set up. It's nice to have a husband with his own pool/spa business, yes? Leslie is hilarious to hear her tell stories. She is self-deprecating and doesn't care if you judge when she tells how she ate fudge out of the trash. She is skinny and gorgeous with a killer laugh and personality. If I weren't an only child and could have picked a sister....it would be Leslie and we'd be in so much trouble together. She had a brush with the Food Network and came close to being a celebrity but after the visit with Gordon Elliot, and a cooking video...Food Network said essentially they "already had someone like her....called Melissa D'arabian. Ugh. No comparison. Leslie is the shizz! Just you wait. Someone will pick her up and put her on TV....then I can say "hey I used to email her" LOL.

My Tasty Treasures
Blogger: Donna aka FFW (firefighter's wife). This woman is a HOOT. If you looked in the dictionary under the word WILD the definition would be simply: Donna. Her recipes are hearty, easy, kid friendly, appropriate for parties. She often posts a dinner and the dessert/cookie she did with it. Although Donna can be deemed as controversial for people either love her or hate her. Yes, she does get some hate mail on occasion for Donna likes to make her blog....how do I explain this....A sexy food blog. LOL. She does put up some crazy pictures and when people comment loudly how inappropriate that is; (blah, blah, blah) Donna tells them "to get over themselves and don't read her blog if it bothers you." You tell 'em GIRL! I could learn alot from Donna about doing what makes you happy and not to care what others think.

She's Becoming DoughMessTic
Blogger: Susan. Mom of Seven. Not seven children. Her miracle child, Seven. LOL. Susan has been through the wringer in her personal life yet still manages to blog wonderful things. She also caters, and does some amazing cake decorating. SOMEONE HIRE THIS CHICK IN THEIR BAKERY! (however she probably thinks she is busy enough). Kid friendly, baking, meats, salads, candies, cookout fun, all the range is there. Yet she's been around in the blogging world....gone to Martha Stewarts Show a few times (don't ask, lol), gone to conferences, does a kick-A "pantry raid" experience how to budget food and money and keep everyone fed and happy. I think she's amazing despite some marital woes yet I see her as up and coming bigger blogger... Look out for her in bigger places too.

Noble Pig
Blogger: Cathy. Mom/wife/awesome food blogger/new vineyard business owner. I loved reading all the developing stories about Cathy's life upheaval. Her life alone with the boys while her husband was looking for home with appropriate land to start a new life as vineyard-ers. The recipes of yummy, fun or fancy recipes. Sometimes many to choose from for special occasions....the move, the step by step pictures of her land being treed for planting grapes....fast forward to placing orders for wine online now. WOW. She still blogs recipes that I adore yet takes the time to thank new customers for their wine order on FB. Adore her.

OTHER BLOGS I LIKE FOR WHATEVER REASON....

The Cutting Edge of Ordinary
I think I see more of Lisa from Facebook than her blog. lol I enjoy her recipes and crafty ideas. How she posts, her lovely pictures, the recipes; to me, are just warm and fuzzy like a comfy well worn sweatshirt. Her recipes aren't from a box or hoity-toity over the top. They are twisted in just ways that I find fun to read and prepare in my own kitchen.

Orangette:
My cousin sent me the link to her favorite webpage. I had no idea food blogs existed. It started with Molly from Orangette. I checked out some of the links to her favorite food blogs and my gmail reader EXPLODED from there and a year later I started my own blog.

The Pioneer Woman:
The Goddess of food blog world. Her pictorial step by step recipes are INSANE. I have her book. I stood in line and met her at a book signing. She's been on the Food Network on Bobby's Thanksgiving Throwdown. She won. She been all over on local TV new cooking segments. Her food is wonderful. Microsoft contacted her and gave her a separate site just for recipes (Tasty Kitchen.com). Every she touches is so down home- friendly yet she is so grounded almost perfect it seems. She homeschools her 4 kids (only because the school is like close to two hours by bus in the AM and PM-their cattle ranch is remote). Women wish she was your mom, sister, next door neighbor, best friend- yes, she is THAT nice. I love her corny, naughty yet self-deprecating ways.

How to Eat a Cupcake aka Flour Child Bakery
Sadly this young 24 y.o blogger is too busy to post anymore. She's moved on from yummy postings and funny videos to opening a new bakery with her mom. I am excited that she is located in Virginia Beach. K-man and I have a time share down there and we can't wait for this summer to make a special trip down there to meet Cassie and eats her wonderful goodies. Once she gets settled after a year she will post recipes again.

Girlichef:
I just love Heather's site. She is all over the place, a smorgasbord of food varieties, an ethnic buffet, a bookstore, a book critic, a cheesemaker.....and the list goes on. She's got over 10 sections to her website and I like to use her recipes and she's part of the reason for my cookbook addiction! Very cool chick....you'll love her too!

Cake Wrecks
Just a fun site from Jen who wanted to post about her irritation for the awful cakes she's seen over her lifetime. It exploded with followers started sending more and more pictures. She's been around so long now the site is almost too big to view in one day and she has her own book now. You will just keep shaking your head over and over with these awful cakes that bakeries are producing. She does NOT make fun of personal cakes people make but the cakes that BAKERS/BAKERIES get paid good money to produce a professional cake. Or NOT. lol

I have tons of blogs on my reader. Of course, I could not post about them all. I have LOTS of favorites but these are my BESTEST faves. Partly because I have some type of connection. We either email and talk personally, have their book, met them....I feel connected to them in some way. I hope I introduced you to a new place for more cooking adventures!

Eat 'em up-

Got salsa leftovers from your New Years Party?

What do you do with your leftover salsa?

I found this at Chile Pepper Magazine where they are inundated with salsas. They try them all. This generally results in an abundance of half-used salsa jars in their fridge. With all this excess salsa, they’ve come up with a few creative ways to use it over the years. I thought I'd give you some of their suggestions below (with a few of mine) next time there’s a salsa jar lurking in your fridge or you have some leftover from a party. Do YOU have a creative way to use salsa that we can add to the list?

1. Mix with ketchup; use as a dip for French fries. Mix with mayo and use as a dip for tortilla chips.

2. Combine with softened butter and refrigerate for a salsa compound butter; add thin slices to a grilled steak.

3. Stir into scrambled eggs or add to omelets and frittatas.

4. Spoon into cooked grits; add bacon and cheese.

5. Add to burger meat mixtures or slather on top of burgers (or both!).

6. Add lime juice and canola oil to a thin, puréed salsa and marinate meat.

7. Replace tomato sauce for a chunky tomato salsa on a homemade pizza.

8. Make a béchamel sauce, add salsa and toss with pasta.

9. Stir into cooked rice; add olives and cheddar cheese.

10. Layer onto a grilled cheese sandwich.

11. Use a puréed, chile-intense salsa an enchilada sauce.

12. Add salsa as your secret ingredient to soups, stews or chilis.

13. Take a fruit salsa and use as a chutney substitute with roasted pork loin.

14. Kick up some mac and cheese with a dollop of salsa.

15. Use in place of cocktail sauce for shrimp.

16. Add to deviled eggs for a pop of fire.

17. Combine with cheese for jalapeño popper filling.

18. Top off tacos, burritos, or huevos rancheros.

19. Glaze a sweet, fruit-filled salsa over pound cake or drizzle over ice cream.

20. Add breadcrumbs and feta cheese to salsa; stuff into eggplant, pepper or zucchini halves.

21. Use a chunky salsa as an easy start to bruschetta.

22. Mix with goat cheese and use as a dip for veggies or serve with crackers.

23. For a quick Mediterranean spin, top fish or chicken with an olive-filled salsa and bake.

24. Add cucumbers, jalapeños, tomatoes and vegetable stock to salsa. Purée into gazpacho.

25. Mix equal parts with yogurt or sour cream; slather on a baked potato or combine with mashed potatoes.

26. Add to meatloaf to give it a Mexican flair.

27. Stir into chicken salad, tuna salad or potato salad.

28. Mix with lemon or lime juice and use as a ceviche marinade.

29. Use a thin salsa, like as a base for salad dressing.

30. Mix chunky salsa with ranch dressing to dip your chicken nuggets/strips in.


Don't forget to enter my Cookbook Giveaway, you still have time to enter a comment and get that cookbook Santa didn't bring you!

Enjoy!

Did you forget something?

No, I didn't get a new haircut. No, this is not a new recipe post. No, the trash doesn't need taking out....

It's my blogversary! I guess you don't scroll waayyyyyyyyyy down on the right margin of my blog to read my blogversary countdown badge. LOL. It's ok, if you have one, I wouldn't know where to find yours either.

Hard to believe that on New Year's Eve I made a such big decision and it STUCK. Think of all those diets, exercise routines, fads, promises that we've never stuck to or lost interest in....

My blog was a great decision. I love it. Wow, the time FLEW by and over the past 365 days I've posted over 250 times. I think if I was ever asked by a boss or professor to write that much due to THEIR request/demand in one year....I would have passed out or quit. I guess when you truly love doing something...it comes easy and it hits all my creative buttons.

Well since I don't have any food companies banging my door down (I don't know how some of you bloggers get so many of these companies to send you free stuff!) so I will go out on my own and have a giveaway that I will purchase with my own hard earned teacher's salary.

Knowing this blogversary was coming up I've been thinking long and hard to what I wanted to GIVEAWAY......hmmmmm. I thought since many of the blogs I've been reading was what influenced me to start a food blog. THAT would be my giveaway. Whatever blogger's cookbook you'd like...I'd send you. I have many bloggers cookbooks but NOT all of them. There are some other books that have stories with recipes that I also like perhaps you'd like to try one of them....

Here's the gist of my GIVEAWAY:

Write a comment and tell me which of the books that I suggested down below that YOU WOULD WANT for your collection. If you'd like to suggest a new book that YOU have and think I should get to add to my collection do comment about it.... and then add to your commentWHAT BOOK you WOULD like that Santa didn't bring you this year!

Here's my list of goodies I think everyone should get:

One of the first food blogs my cousin Sue referred to me was Orangette. I became a fan and soon enough during my first year of blogging Molly Wizenburg published her first cookbook. Her book is based on her food influences that turned her gift of writing into a passion of writing about food. She is currently crazy busy running a newly opened restaurant with her husband. Things are settling down and she is slowly returning to blogging more. Would you like her book? Here is one of my posts about one of her recipes.








Now, this author is NOT a food blogger but I've been a fan of two Culinary Murder Mystery writers. This is Joann's Fluke's most recent book. She has 12 total, a new one arriving in Feb 2010. I have used many of her recipes and I am very excited about her new cookbook that encompasses ALL her recipes from her books being published in Oct 2011. Here is one of my posts using one of her recipes.








The other Culinary Mystery Writer who was my first is Diane Mott Davidson. Here is my post about her books. Her latest came out this summer called Fatally Flaky. DO know that her books ARE a series.






Dorie Greenspan's book was probably one of my second blogger books. Her blog is about a group of food bloggers who pick a recipe to cook each week and blog about it. A very tough group to join but personally when it was open to me....I decided I couldn't handle that type of pressure to produce. Kudos to many of my friends who do follow the Tuesday with Dorie clan plan. Here is my post of the first recipe I made when I needed to 'break in' my new birthday KA mixer!







I have all these books by David Zinczenko. After I pour through them....I mainly use them in my classroom with my students. Some scary food truths in them. Here is my post about this book. Cook this, Not that is now HOT out in the stores on 12/29. What is cool about this new book is that recipes are included now. Finally. I can see some future posts in it already. Shall I pick you up a copy?






I found this book cross referenced through Amazon.com since they keep track of the many things you order and make suggestions. Baking Boot Camp is writer being assigned to attend the CIA for their baking training and write about it. Of course many recipes are included and they are top culinary school level!










Of course I like the baking boot camp book so much that I went and got the culinary school boot camp one as well. This book was written first and done by a different author both were interesting, especially if you think you'd like to enroll to in any of these CIA classes. I did....notice the past tense.









I love this book! Jeff Hertzbery (one of the authors) even commented on my post from recipe I made from this book. He must have one of those 'robo-search tools' that finds sites who cross reference his book. Ironically, I was also having my first giveaway of ANOTHER book, not his. I know stupid rookie blogger move. But I won't go into the stupid food porn picture site reasons why I wasn't thinking straight. Live and learn. Anyhow, I've made a few recipes and LOVE how easy the dough is to use. Here is my post about the sticky buns I made!

Jeff, if you are reading again. I'd love to try your Healthy Breads in 5 five minutes cookbooks to review and another of for future giveaway! Sorry about my food blogger faux pas! I've learned.




Confections of a Closet Master Baker I saw reviewed on another blog.
Honestly when I found out it was written by Sandra Bullock's sister (former resident of Arlington VA, like me) I was curious. Since it was a memoir and had recipes in it, I got it. It was a fun read. Sorry no post yet.








Not sure how I got into Ruth's books. I guess since I love reading biographies/memoirs, when I found out these were the memoirs of a food critic and recipes my curiousity was piqued. I tested out her first one Tender to the Bone to see how I liked it. Really wondering how she became fell upon such a prized job as a food critic. OMG. You GOT to read these....you will be amazed over the stories about her mother's horrible cooking and wonder how she developed such a fine palate. The second book is Comfort me with Apples and Garlic and Sapphires is the last. Wonderful memoirs! Here is my post from the G & S book.






Too many Cooks was one of the those books I grabbed to take on vacation with me. When I was going through the shelves the looking for more reading material....it caught my interest....again I love the storytelling fused recipes thing. This is a story about a stay at home mom who has 4 kids and how she struggles to expose her kids to food preparation and a variety of foods. Sorry no post from her book yet.









Oh Hungry Girl cookbooks are so fun! I subscribe to her site to my email where I get sent very informative things about lower calories foods and how to tweak recipes to make them less evil. I am working through her cookbook like a mad woman. Like here and here and here. Love HER!







Speaking of Love, I also LOVE PW. Pioneer Woman Cooks food blog came into my life shortly after I found Orangette. Ree Drumond is soooooo funny and a hellacious great cook. No way she has the figure she does and eats the amazingly evil food she cooks too! She must eat only like ONE spoonful and then eat a salad! Sheesh I've posted so many of her stuff....like this. She also now has an AMAZING recipe sharing site called Tasty Kitchen. Sorry you are going to have to go around and find more of the stuff I've posted of her because at this point in this post...I am wiped. All these reviews are making me tired and hungry for dinner.



So there you have it! My suggestions. I know that there are many other wonderful and fun books that I do not have. I haven't had the chance to peruse through Steamy Kitchen yet. I have the new Cake Wrecks book but she isn't about recipes just funny pictures yet I adore her site.

OK my friends and FANS....comment and tell me what BOOK YOU'D LIKE to win for my BLOGVERSARY GIVEAWAY! YOU PICK AND I WILL SEND YOU THE BOOK YOUR HEART DESIRES....sorry, I was screaming I get excited like that sometimes....

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED....CONGRATS TO NORAOLSON
Tick Tock!

I had no idea my blogging would come to this....

I am here for the FOOD....judge me for my recipes if you will. But I had no idea that photography was going to be such a HUGE portion of it.



In my first couple of months of being a newbie food blogger I have become aware of the multiple facets to the FOOD BLOGGER:

• Some of us are here just for the fun.
• Some want to help inform, educate and/or share.
  
• Some take pictures, some don't.
  
• Some take step by step pictures, some show only a final product shot.
  
• Some bloggers shoot AWESOME pictures, some take dark, fuzzy pictures.
• Some food photogs ensure a 'blank' background to showcase their food, others include their 'counter stuff', house window or backyard as their background.
  
• Many bloggers take pictures to submit to food porn sites to increase traffic to their site and take their rejections personally.
• Some food bloggers have Kick Azz cameras (costing over $500), most bloggers have your average a tiny $200 camera.
• Some food bloggers don't care about their pix (love my pix or not, eh) and some would like to learn tips and tricks to improve their photography.

I am sure there are some other finer points of blogging I missed as well....

I am going to speak about the LAST point. Trying to improve your pictures. I have picked up tips and tricks from the blogs of food stylists and photogs who try to help us amateurs:

How to lighten the dark pix, how to edit the fuzzy, creating interest, making creative shots, etc. One of the 'tricks' I found was how to make your own light box. Made from a cardboard box, white tissue paper, desk lamps.....blah blah blah....I made one. Ok....it improved my pix a little light-wise. But when you store it on your dining table....it's hard to store it away and very delicate with tissue paper sides. This was a 'homemade' version to help those who couldn't afford to buy those professional photo light box, lights, reflective screens, etc. Then I found an alternative....

From a catalog I received among millions was Fresh Finds. I spied on a tabletop photo studio that has everything you need (not camera of course) and it folds up and packs away neatly. About 60 bucks, if you don't find that too pricey- to me, this price beat the professional photo prices BUT the convenience of it FOLDING won me over.

Here's what it looks like set up:

Here is my set up in the dining room, nice big window behind and lighting from above (only on if taking pix at night)


Comes with tripod, two lamps, blue or gray backgrounds, pockets for all the equipment.







It has BLUE background but I think is white best, so I just put in some butcher paper (pictured above).









The other side of the blue background is a gray one if you so desire.










Here it is all unattached and open, ready to fold up....












The sides velcro together and a black cover folds over it like a wallet









Here are both lights. One open and standing, the other with the legs put away. You gather the legs together at the bottom and they PUSH up into the base of the light. See? Easy storage, so far.









Nice professional switches. They are conveniently just below my table's edge when I need to turn them off/on.











Three pockets for your tools. Nice and roomy for your folded cords (even though I don't have them tucked in at this moment).









Ok, now all cords are folded away and the pocket tops are nicely velcro-ed on (in case for some reason you pick this upside down).










Here's how flat it is when you are all done packing it up. Not shown is the available handle on top, no biggie.














Here is my normal 'daylight picture in the kitchen. I open the back door for optimal light, object on a white plate plate and I am holding some white paper behind the object. The shadow is being created from my arm blocking so of the light from the left as I hold my camera with my right hand.






Here is the same object in the lightbox. The tripod is GREAT to have so you don't have to keep holding the camera while you move around your object. If you have one of the OLDER cameras that are large....it may be too heavy for the tripod. I have a little slim Sony cybershot, even when I tilt the camera on the tripod it tends to get a bit 'top heavy'.




Just so YOU know....I have gone from knowing virtually nothing about food photography and now am doing THIS to improve my pix. I am still very much an amateur for I haven't even scratched the surface using technical photo editing software (just the free tweaks I get from "Picnik" provided by Flickr).

So if you are an amateur like me and want to spend this bit of money for a cute and convenient light box to BUMP up your photo game....order it like I did. I am sure FG and TS will still not like my 'unflattering composition' but at least DARK won't be an issue anymore!

Lastly, if you are bummed over the constant rejections from your photos you have some very appreciative and LOVING food porn sites who won't turn you away:

FoodPhotoBlog
TasteStopping


Have fun!

Ha-Ha - Fooled ya!

Betcha, didn't know that we were on vacation for a week! hee-hee. Thanks to 'posting options' I was able to pre-date all my posts while I was away. I didn't think it was wise to advertise online that we weren't going be home. So now we are back from our stay @ Deep Creek Maryland. Here is a view of Deep Creek Lake from the chair lift coming down from Wisp Resort.

This is about 1/3 of the lake. Did I take any pictures of our rental or the view from it? Of course not. LOL. Our place was called "Island View" and the view from our dock was a lil pile of rocks that the boaters had to navigate around. Some 'island' LOL. I should have gotten a pictures of THAT....perhaps next year!

One of the perks about DCL is that Wisp Mountain Resort is nearby. So, DCL caters to the summer folk who like water as well as the winter sport folk. Here I took a picture of me going up to the top of the Mountain Coaster @ Wisp. I still have very far to go....since I was bored....why not take a few pictures. I didn't take any of my trip down for you have to keep the lever pressed down to get FULL SPEED and I wanted to go FAST.

As I am being pulled to the top of the mountain coaster....on the right here you see the turns I am in for on the way down. Of course many want to pull the brakes thinking they are going to fly off and you are belted down and so it the coaster....so FULL THROTTLE BABY!


Did you know that they had a full White Water Rafting on top of a mountain? We didn't. We were shocked when we found this last year. I was sure to bring my camera this year. Quite a huge undertaking to pump all this water on top of a mountain. We did not partake in the rafting trip this year. Perhaps I can convince K-man to do this next year. He is a little 'shaky' about fast stuff.


I call this picture: "K-man and the Boulders" LOL. Great Rock Band name....LOL

When I wasn't cooking for the crew of us in the rental, K-man and I went to two new places to eat as well as one favorite we found last year.

Archie's Barbecue- ROCKED! You know a place is good when it's packed on a Saturday night and since BBQ has to be cooked low and slow; getting our carryout quickly (our steaks were still frozen when we arrived) was a snap. Right on Rt. 219 A rack of ribs for 13.95 is a bargain when they start for 19.99 down here!

Santa Fe Grille - American Cuisine with a Mexican Flair. Not overtly Mexican but a little tweak of Mexican flavors here and there. Very nice. K-man got the Chipotle Bourbon Salmon and I got the Reuben Flatbread Sandwich. We shared some awesome Onion Rings for an appetizer. I could only eat half of my sandwich. Again on Rt 219 (next to the Visitor Center).

Brenda's Pizzeria - We love pizza and since we got rained out on our first attempt to go to Wisp we went here for lunch; for we noticed it was packed on Friday night when we drove in. A packed restaurant indicates good food everyone wants to eat. Of course the rain cleared and we had an awesome view of the lake and this pizza - 16" was the smallest they offer. If you bring your hungry family they have a 26" called the abondanza. I liked how they 'tweaked' some of the Italian classics like Shrimp Calzone. I've never seen Shrimp offered in a calzone...We shared a "Sei Cosi" six item pizza with pepperoni, sausage slices, onions, peppers, mushrooms and extra cheese. Surely a choice for when all diets are OFF on vacation! Yummy! We had 3 slices left to take home!

It was relaxing to get away, but it wasn't a vacation from cooking all the week. We were with the 'elders' of the family and they don't get around as well. Since cooking is my thing/career, I just take the helm cuz I am organized and I know they all appreciate that they don't have to do it. K-man manned the grill so he felt the pressure as well. Poor guy is used to a gas grill and had to cook over charcoal. Although charcoal is mused to render better tasting foods....it's slower, heats uneven and I still can taste the lighter fluid from the "match light" briquets. Ick.

I didn't take any pictures of the things I made for this rental was dark inside and honestly I wanted a break from dealing with picture snapping. It's pressure at times I tell ya. YOU know.
I did make a cake for my grandmother's birthday but I didn't take a picture of it for I didn't like how it turned out taste wise and I wanted to work on the recipe more before I blogged about it.

Bottomline folks, if you are even in need of a vacation. Western Maryland has Deep Creek Lake nestled into mountain resort called Wisp. Perfect place that has so much to do for the active sort. K-man totally loved it for he was able to bike all around through the national parks. Give it a look into if you are near enough! We love it!

Let's Talk About....

ACCESSORIES!

If you remember one of my posts around my birthday; I received a Kitchen Aid Mixer from K-man. YAY! I am so glad to finally have one of my own (I have 4 in my classroom).

Speaking of having KA mixers at school, when they were purchased, my supervisor suggested getting one set of some of the attachment sets. Hey, I wasn't having to foot the bill....."sure!" I said.

We selected: the first attachment set, it had a food grinder (haven't used yet) and a food slicer/shredder (I do not suggest this, food processor is so much quicker), a pasta roller/cutter attachment set and the pasta maker plates set (you need food grinder to use this!)

So I bought the pasta sets home for the summer to do some experimenting. It took awhile for me to get up the energy, because I've made homemade pasta before and I KNEW this was going to be an undertaking....

What I didn't realize until the very moment I started this project.....is that I needed the food grinder attachment in order to use the pasta maker plates. Grrrr....this is packed away in my school and that would be a task to go retrieve (sign out my keys, unlock the chains, dig for the attachment, chain cabinet back up, sign back IN my keys....ugh) SO, that attachment post will be another day, K?

Today I am showing you my the use of the pasta roller attachment. Here are the players:

This is the roller knob. Look above at the picture on the box for the full view of it. Man, these numbers were hard to see without my reading glasses. "Floury" hands don't make it easy to turn these knobs either.


This is the Fettuccine cutter attachment. No fuss, no muss. After you got your dough flattened from the roller on setting 5 you just switch out and slide the dough on in.


They call this attachment for the "linguine fini". Who are we kidding here? This is for angel hair pasta. LOL. I guess I have to use the 'pasta plates' to make linguine.


In the instruction booklet this was their recipe for making the pasta dough:

Basic Egg Pasta

4 large eggs
1 Tbsp. water
3 -1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Place eggs, water, flour and salt in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater. Turn to speed 2 and mix 30 seconds. Exchange flat beater for dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and knead for 2 minutes. Remove dough from bowl and hand knead for 1-2 minutes. Divide dough into eight pieces before processing with pasta roller attachment.

Flatten each piece of dough to approx. 3/8 inch thick. Set roller at 1 by pulling knob and turning to setting 1. Turn mixer on speed 2 or 4. Feed flattened piece of dough into rollers to knead. Fold dough in half and roll again. Repeat folding and kneading dough until smooth and pliable. Make sure you are always lightly dusting pasta with flour while rolling. Continue the 'kneading and flattening' with remaining pieces.

Move adjustment knob to setting 2. Feed dough through rollers to further flatten. Change setting to 3 and feed dough through rollers again. Continue to increase until desired setting (about 5).

HERE WE GO.....

This is (believe it or not) 8 layers of pasta, floured, flattened and ready to go. I actually cut this in half before I went to the cutter. I didn't need my pasta THAT long!


I started with the fettuccine cutter attachment....

WHEEEEEE....how happy I was! My own noodles! I cut half of my pasta in fettuccine and the other half as angel hair....

Clearly I have to now have to master the drying part....


Here is what the booklet said....that in my excitement I ignored:

"Pastas can be either dried or frozen for future use. To dry, lay stands of pasta in a single layer on a towel or drying rack to completely air dry (meaning don't do what I did up above, LOL).
Store dried pasta in an airtight container. To freeze, let pasta air dry for one hour before freezing in an airtight container. It is not necessary to separate strands of pasta before freezing just dust with flour and form into nests."

I suggest laying your towel on a tray and when they come out of the cutter just run the tray along as the pasta comes out. Too bad I did all my pasta on top of each other. But now I know for the next time!

Tune in Tomorrow to see what I made with my first batch of homemade pasta!!!