Cook, Bake, Live

Now that I've gotten familiar with my camera, I've started shooting in manual and wow, what a difference! I love the feeling of being completely in control of the picture and being able to change anything to make it right. One of my favorite photo styles is a blurred background with a clear foreground, so, I've been playing around, seeing what my lens can do. I also love nighttime shots, so, I included one of those.

Here's one...

Settings: Natural sunlight, 1/400 of a second, F5.6, 70mm, ISO:100

And here's another...

For these types of shots, you'll want to go to manual focus and focus in as clearly as possible on your subject, which (with the above settings) will blur the background.

Settings: Natural sunlight, 1/400 of a second, F5.6, 70mm, ISO:100

And a fun nighttime shot. 

With this nighttime shot, I use a technique my uncle (total photo nerd) taught me to keep the camera steady. Hold the viewfinder in place and press your forearms to your chest, breathe in, press the shutter and breathe out. 

Settings: Just a dim porch light, 1/10 of a second, F5.6, 35mm, ISO:1600

Oh, and before I leave, I've joined the Daring Bakers, so, expect some fun baking pics in late January! 

Yum, yum, yum! 

Super Simple Hummus Recipe 

2 16 oz. cans chickpeas, drained & rinsed (garbanzos) 

1/4 cup sesame tahini 

1 tbls. garlic powder 

1/4 cup olive oil 

1/4-1/2 water 

Blend in a blender or food processor (I use a Fuzion Blender, which is half blender, half food processor) and serve immediately or it can be kept in a glass storage container (don't use plastic...ever!) 

I call it health conscious rather than healthy, because it's not really healthy, but way better for you than your usual chocolate-y dessert. 

I wish I had a recipe, but I can make a list of ingredients... 

Whole wheat pastry flour, oat flour, cocoa powder, melted dark chocolate (2 tbls maybe?), vanilla extract, coconut extract, chocolate extract, vanilla yogurt, skim milk, agave, brown rice syrup, a bit of organic cane sugar, egg whites. Is that it? I think so, I was very tired last night. The icing started out as VCTOtW's Agave Icing, but I then added meringues, chocolate and powdered sugar and then it was a quite good icing. 

This cake was tasty, it would have been better with some ground nuts, walnuts maybe... 

Anyway, just wanted to share what I'm up to in the kitch, I'm off...

I'm kind of falling apart...I want to say that I probably won't be blogging for a few weeks. My grandmother had a stroke yesterday and she's going on hospice in our house tomorrow, all of the family is together, so that's good. Please send out your prayers. 

I of course have entered this contest http://eatingbender.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/vita-mix-super-5200-giveaway/#comment-4923 to win a Vita-Mix and I wanted to tell all of you about it! 

In my last post, I introduced you to a new line of serving ware and I'm happy to announce that we've come up with a name for the company! Earthware Organics, meet the world, world, meet Earthware Organics! One day, my dad came into the house and showed me a cheese platter he'd made and since I need something to do (and I have lots of the skills needed to run a business and he has the skill of being able to make them)we decided to go into business. These are humble beginnings, dad making them in the backyard and me making the packaging and shipping them myself right from the kitchen table, but we also have lots of determination, so, we'll see... 

My other new venture is a paper goods company, deco•daring•darling, featuring unique paper and fabric goods, ranging from handmade cards and fabric covered magnets to handmade japanese paper wrapped soy candles. I'm going to open up an Etsy shop within the next few weeks, right now I'll be making some cards and candles and experimenting with different mediums and hopefully I'll have sell-able products ready by then. =)