Foodography: Culinary Creations

I told you all that I had a photography project coming up and that my focus was going to be food. Well, I tried to take my first picture yesterday evening. I had whole wheat penne pasta with marinara sauce, sauteed mushrooms, green, red, and yellow bell peppers and onions with sausage. To make my bowl look pretty for the picture I garnished it with roughly chopped spinach. Get this...just as I was about to snap my delicious looking masterpiece of a meal, my camera didn't take the shot. I was very sad to say the least. Nevertheless, the pasta was wonderful. If there is anything  that I have learned in my few short weeks of being a photographer, it's to be patient with yourself, and that practice makes perfect. So, this afternoon I tried again. I had my advisor look at my camera and see if she could figure out what I was doing wrong. I thought she would be the best person to go to because she was a photography major when she was in college (what are the chances of that? Lol) Within seconds, she fixed the problem and then I went to work. I'm totally in my element when it comes to food, and if I can capture the beauty of it like I desire to with this project, then I have succeeded. I started  off with 24 pictures and now I'm down to my last 18. I don't know what the outcome will be, but I'll just keep stirring up new ideas, one photo at a time.

Food For Thought Part 2

I am taking a photography class this semester, and my teacher gave my class and me our next assignment. We are working with film photography so we have to use a whole role of film by next Wednesday. He said that we could take pictures of anything...Can you guess what my focus will be for this assignment?

...Food of Course!! What I would like to do take pictures of plateware, silverware, and different dishes that I will create. Using black and white photography I plan to capture the beauty of the food on the plate and strategically place everything so that each time I snap a shot, I capture a masterpiece.

I sure hope we get to keep these pictures, because I want to put them in my portfolio.

Cantaloupe Craze

The weather is getting warmer because spring is around the corner. So I started thinking about fun and healthy dishes that are pleasing to the eye and tasty to eat. I don't know about you, but when spring comes around I think of bright colors and refreshing tastes. Now, cantaloupe has always been one of my favorite fruits. the bright orange color and the sweet juice is very refreshing. I also enjoy eating raspberry sorbet. So why not make it the best of both worlds?
I have a few ideas on fun, healthy, colorful dishes: Check 'em out

Cantaloupe kabobs:
The tools
Skewers
Melon Baller
The Fruit:
 1 large Cantaloupe
1 1/2 pounds of Strawberries
Directions: cut the cantaloupe in half and scoop out all of the seeds. Then with the melon baller, begin making little balls and place in the fridge. Next, wash the strawberries well, and cut of the leaves off, proceed to cut in half. Unless strawberries are already sweet enough to your liking, rinse, pat dry and put them in a bowl. Pour approximately 2 1/2 tablespoons of white sugar over top of the strawberries, cover and put in the fridge. When the allotted time has past, begin constructing the fruit kabobs starting with the cantaloupe and then the strawberry slices.
* If you want to get really creative get a Styrofoam ball cut it in half and place the finished fruit kabobs inside to make a fruit bouquet.

Cantaloupe Bowls:
Why waste good china, when you can make an edible bowl?
All you need is...
- 1 medium sized Cantaloupe
- 1 pint of Raspberry Sorbet
- Whipped Cream
- Mint leaf
Directions:
Cut the Cantaloupe in half, and scoop out the seeds. Let the sorbet sit out until soft. Proceed to pour the raspberry sorbet into the cantaloupe bowl. Garnish with a large swirl of whipped cream and a mint leaf.

Enjoy!

Chili Snow Day (continued)

Well now all of my plans have changed because of the snow storm. It's snowing so hard the only thing that you can see, are sheets of white. Can you imagine? So because I am officially snowed in, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get my hot bowl of chili with all the fixings (sour cream, cheese, jalapenos peppers and a splash of hot sauce added to taste) with a grill cheese sandwich on Texas toast. Instead I have frozen Bagel Bites, not really a good alternative solution I know. Depending on if my friends go to dinner or not, Bagel Bites will have to suffice.


Word of advice:
If you really want something, but there is an obstacle in your way, push through because you're goal will be so much better when you finally reach it.

The Culinary Chronicles: The Business

So guess what I have...

Well, you don't really have to guess, I'll tell you. Thanks to my Dad, I now have business cards for my blog! I told you guys when I first started this culinary expedition, that this blog would serve as a networking forum. My hope is that one day a food magazine writer, or editor will read it. But until then, I'll just keep Stirring Up New Ideas...One Recipe at a Time.

"Bon Appetit"

Dear Readers...

Wow, I just checked the stats of my blog and I do have fans! Oh I'm so excited. I have a readers in the U.S, from Germany and even one from Malaysia. At least now I know that I'm not just throwing my thoughts into a great big void. So too my readers, I want to thank you. I appreciate that you all are taking an interest in my work. Please comment. I want to know what you think about my recipes. Have you tried them? Do you have any recipes that you want me to try? Let me know!

Chili Snow Day

Well, I'm snowed in for the day. The President of the school cancelled all classes for today. Good thing too, because I went to bed at 3 AM, only to hear my alarm go off at  at 6:15, and have classes from 9-2:50. On top of everything, my dorm doesn't have hot water, and the heat in my room is fickle. Sometimes it's hot, and other times I'm freezing. So I changed my whole schedule around. I went to the cafeteria and got a bowl of hot chicken noodle soup and a buffalo chicken wheat wrap with spinach, a little mayo, two scoops of rice, onions, roasted red peppers and fresh green peppers. I know it sounds like a lot of random ingredients, but when you bite into it, it's like a flavor party in your mouth. Yum! I'm spending my snow day curled up in bed with my teddy bears, Toffee and Chestnut watching movies. My movie line up is Julie and Julia, No Reservations, and my Love Comes Softly Saga. I think I'll have a small bowl of Chili for dinner, but we'll see.