Brought to You by the Letter P: Photography, Pancakes, and Pickles

Food photography just gets me in a mood sometimes. I love getting a great photo, but sometimes it can be painful to get what I want. The pancake shot above was nice and easy, I think its my favorite photo so far. Recent shoots though, have been more difficult. The shorter days mean not much natural light, and then combine that with trying to snap a dinner photo. Sometimes I just want to eat after all that work and before it gets cold! Baked goods are so much more relaxing for me to photograph, so that explains my lack of dinner photos. A better understanding of my camera would help, but I'm also looking into artificial lighting.

Finally we're feeling some fall weather down here in the South. A few weeks ago, when temperatures were still in the upper 80's, I wanted to get into the spirit. My brother was visiting and I realized I didn't have many breakfast recipes. Specifically I had pumpkin pancakes in mind, so as I normally do when I don't have the right cookbook, I head to the computer.

I already had a box of Bisquick so I found a recipe for Spicy Pumpkin Pancakes on Betty Crocker, and boy did it ROCK! It was easy and the pancakes tasted so good. Don't let the "spicy" in the name fool you, it's actually a gentle flavoring. Eating them was like snuggling under a warm blanket when your house is freezing cold. There is something comforting to me about breakfast in general, but also the pumpkin pie spices. Perhaps because pumpkin pie makes its appearance to kick off the holiday season and time spent with family. The pecan syrup is really a must and only takes seconds. Mmmm, I think I should make these again this weekend.



Well then, how about those pickles? I thought I knew what "Zesty" meant, but I guess I was wrong because these pickles really kick you in the mouth. Maybe I should rename them "Kick You in the Mouth Pickles". I used the recipe for Easy Zesty Bread and Butter Chunks from my Ball cookbook. This was my first experience making pickles so I wanted it to be simple. This recipe keeps in the fridge for up to 3 months, so no canning is involved.

While the method was simple, measuring out the tons of spices was a little time consuming. I chose to make my own pickling spice instead of a prepared one, so I was using spices left and right. The kick comes from the turmeric, ground ginger and prepared horseradish. I really was hoping for more of a bread and butter flavor but I think these are so punchy its on another taste level. I think they'd be good as part of a relish tray, or maybe on a simple pulled pork sandwich.

As a crafty final note, I made my jar labels with twine and paint sample cards cut into tag shapes.

Pancake recipe: Betty Crocker
Pickle recipe: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

Reflections, Banana Muffins and a Pupcake

Recently I've been reflecting on my cooking habits and wishing I had more of a pattern. I have a credit at Shutterfly to make a photo book, and I've been thinking it might be fun to make a little cookbook of my favorites. As I was making my idea list, I had a hard time narrowing things down. I realized that my husband and I don't eat a lot of repeats, even when something comes out great (unless of course we need something fast and easy). Because I cook new dishes often, I never get a feeling that I've mastered something. I'm going to try and work on that more by revisiting some past favorites that are tucked into my recipe box. I think to really get a feel for cooking something you should make it at least three times.

Repeats are for another day though since I've got a backlog of food photos to blog on. Most of the new recipes came out well, but I had a bad cupcake experience last week when I wanted to make a treat for my brother who was visiting. (Note to self: Don't test new recipes for company if you really want it to come out, even if you're feeling invincible.) My husband and my brother ate the cupcakes like they were fine, but for me every attempt to give the gross-cakes another try ended with most of it being thrown into the trashcan.

Several days before that disappointment we had some bananas that weren't looking too happy. I did a quick Google search for Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins and found a promising recipe. The initial plan was to make my recipe for Spelt Almond-Banana Bread, but it was after dinner and I wanted something fluffy with a little chocolate. Well, I ended up loving the recipe so much that I wrote it down on one of my super cute bakery-themed Snow & Graham recipe cards.

I was distracted by the television while the first muffin pan was in the oven so they got a little too brown. If you make them watch them closely because they should still look kinda yellow instead of golden. I tried using both paper liners with a traditional muffin pan, as well as using a greased mini muffin pan. I found that I preferred eating the mini muffins though both were great!



Lastly, Lulu turned 3! While we didn't have a party, as we did for her first birthday, I did feel the need to try baking a dog cake again. I'm afraid I won't be repeating this recipe though it did look pretty! (I love an excuse to use my pastry bags and tips!)

This cake recipe was copied onto a card a few years ago and I'm not sure of the source. The main ingredients are rice flour, canned pumpkin, mashed banana, safflower oil and a tiny bit of honey. The icing was my own experiment using natural peanut butter, carrot baby food, low fat cream cheese, and safflower oil. I only frosted the top to cut down on the fat I was adding to the cake. Though Lulu loved eating it (in very small portions for only a few days), I wasn't happy with the gummy texture. Next time I'll find a recipe that uses an egg.

Muffin recipe: Bon Appétit

This Cookie Dough Was Made for Eatin'

Well I'm happy to report I've been much more productive lately in the kitchen and I've tried some new recipes. Saturday after a trip to the huge local farmers market, I made refrigerator pickles. Last Wednesday I made something sweet and chocolaty as I awaited the premiere of Bravo's Top Chef: Just Desserts. I can already see that show is going to be a lot of drama. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to see more of the contestants working in the kitchen, but maybe that will change after some eliminations.

Feeling a little adventurous I chose to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles. I say adventurous because I sometimes put off trying recipes that are messy or finicky. Overall this was an good recipe for a casual evening. A simple recipe, but not necessarily quick, because you have to chill the dough twice just to finish making them, and then chill again after they've been dipped in chocolate. I should mention no eggs are involved so this is a perfect treat for cookie dough lovers!

This was my first experience making truffles and I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, I made a chocolate mess but it was fun. When it was time to start dipping I had planned on using a plastic fork with the center tines removed. After a few tries where I struggled to easily drop the truffle off the fork and onto wax paper, I decided to dig in with my hands. Using my hands was easier and felt natural to me. I enjoyed it so much more and really felt like I was making something. Chocolate art.

Now, the truffles tasted great straight from the refrigerator but I was concerned that this recipe wouldn't work well if I brought them to a party. Party food usually sits out at room temperature for an hour or more, so I decided to do an experiment. My husband and I tasted 4 truffles at 15 minute intervals with disappointing results. After just 15 minutes the truffles centers were gooey and soft and we both decided the only way we'd want to eat them is if they were well chilled.

Truffle recipe from : Love and Olive Oil

Pickle results in 2 weeks! I am (not so) patiently waiting.

A Slow September

My kitchen hasn't been very busy these last two weeks. At least not in a way that inspires me to grab the camera. Over Labor Day weekend my husband and I took a trip to visit family, and since coming home I haven't felt much like cooking. Something about long trips always throws me off of my routine, be it cooking, exercising, or cleaning. My husband has been picking up my slack and made the salmon in the photo. I jokingly named it "Magic Salmon" because he doesn't really follow a recipe but it usually comes together with great results. The glaze basically contains fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar and red pepper. My small contribution was the Asian inspired sauteed spinach.

I jazzed up some boxed organic mac & cheese last night. Does that count for anything? It was pretty good actually. We had some fresh cherry tomatoes lying around so I halved them and generously tossed them into our bowls of macaroni, along with some crumbled bacon, fresh white pepper and a light sprinkle of 2% shredded cheese. Then I popped our bowls into the microwave to melt the cheese and warm the tomatoes. Comfy and quick, sometimes those are the best recipes.

Tonight I'm excited for the premiere of Top Chef: Just Desserts. I've really had an interest in baking recently so I can't wait to see the chefs in action. Perhaps I should whip up something sweet tonight. Is it wrong to eat dessert while watching a show about dessert?

Olive Bread and the Perfect Wife

Much of my growth in cooking started with my marriage three years ago. All of a sudden I was a wife. Wives are different right? I was now the woman of the house apartment. I felt compelled to magically and instantly transform myself into a Martha Stewart clone. I decided that just being myself wasn't good enough. I had to have a cleaning schedule, a meal plan with the perfect recipes, and be prepared for guests at any moment. I had a vision built from fairy tales and magazines.

My husband was and is wonderful and more understanding than I could ever ask for. All of the pressure I felt was from my own desire to be perfect. So, I spent a lot of time that first year feeling inadequate. It was a single recipe for olive bread that gave me the nudge I needed.

Growing up, my cooking experiences were fairly limited. Mom wasn't in the kitchen baking pies from scratch and teaching me her trusted recipes. If we ate as a family it was usually pasta, grilled cheese, or something quick involving ground beef. As I got older I cooked enough to satisfy a meal (or a brownie craving) but it usually involved boxes, cans, or the microwave. Holidays were about the only exception.

So, when I became a married woman I decided I had to know everything. I began my cookbook collection. I love cookbooks. One ambitious day I decided to make bread. I had been reading Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking and couldn't resist the sound of warm, crusty bread flecked with Kalamata olives. I wanted to try and make something real and without shortcuts.

Deep in the middle of the recipe I got pretty hard on myself. I was upset that I was doing all of this hard work when I was certain that the bread wouldn't even turn out. Did I mix the dough too much? Did I knead it right? Had it risen enough? I had no idea what I was doing in my tiny apartment kitchen. I had zero knowledge of bread-making and my anxiety was getting the best of me. I just knew that I badly wanted to impress my husband.

More than four hours later, this was the finished product:



I was so proud of this. I still am. I made bread for the first time and it even looked like the cookbook picture. It was delicious.

The olive bread sparked something in me that I had forgotten, and still at times forget. I can do more than I allow myself to believe. Perfection is an illusion.


(P.S.- The bottom of the bread was badly burned)