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
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