Italian Anise Cookies with Holly Sprig

Time for Holiday baking to begin.   Thurs. our Herb Study Group had a cookie exchange. I made Italian Anise Cookies.  I took this image with 3 cookies placed on a white paper plate with a small dollie as both items were matte  using a piece of navy blue polyester fabric. The paper plate avoided glare like china/dinnerware usually gives off.   iPhone 6, edited with PSE 11. Taken about 5 PM and starting to get dusk. So, I changed color variation to decrease blue and lighten from the original which I felt  had a blue tone. I used the healing brush to delete white artifacts on the navy blue material . I found a native holly sprig along a roadside and clipped a piece to include in the photo.  I may stamp a sentiment like Merry Christmas to place on the plate..  Then I could use for a greeting card.  Recipe from www.food.com.

December 14th.   Just could not get the image to be light enough and still see the doily pattern.   So, I decided to take another image with a red fleece material as the background.  Also went outside earlier in the afternoon.  I actually shot the right image with the camera in Instagram.   Did not apply any filters.  Immediately posted to Facebook page as well as Instagram.  

Thanksgiving Dinner 2015

This image should have been posted Thurs., Nov. 26th. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner but I was too busy cooking and organizing the feast to take pictures.of the turkey before it was carved...or all the other holiday week foods we had prepared.  My sister brought Swiss Cheese made in Ohio and a sausage called Trail Bologna, made in Trail, OH. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry apple sauce, green beans, herbal quick bread, turkey gravy, dessert was pumpkin bars which could be eaten plain or with non-dairy whipped topping or ice cream. Later for leftovers there were also brownies. One morning we made our traditional monkey bread but it got eaten very quickly. Taken with iPhone 6 - outdoor lighting.  China plate was placed on cardstock. This is an image taken of the leftovers at a later time. No editing.  

Culinary H.S.A. Luncheon - Food to Table Sweet Potatoes

Today the NC Unit -H.S.A. had their culinary luncheon which is always a gourmet experience.   The theme today was sweet potatoes and the herb for discussion was Oregano.  I made Trisha Yearwood's Sweet Potato Salad.   It was really simple and delicious.  The worst part was cutting the sweet potatoes in cubes.  My dish sample is between the 5 & 6 time slot.  I don't remember all the names for the food.   The red flower in the center is a nastursium.  It is edible and has a peppery bite to it. There is another plate that had 3 desserts.  It can be difficult to take a photo with a clear glass plate.  There are some reflections around the rim   Because of the low angle to see the foods the design of the carpet is skewed.  

Pumpkin Lowcarb Cheesecake for Nannette's BD 9-28-2015

Yesterday was my birthday and instead if baking myself a BD cake, I made a pumpkin low carb cheesecake.  Usually I like to take this picture outside using natural light, but it has been raining for 4 days.  Rain does not mix with Cool Whip.  So, I took this image using the halogen overhead stove light.  It has some blown out areas to the right.  Used black shirt for a background.  The fork was shiny and there are some reflections in the handle which I could not remove in photoshop.  Used native iPhone 6 app, edited in PSE 11. That us a fresh :"knock out rose" bud.  I would like to retake this before the cheesecake gets eaten..

Tomato and Brushetta CU - Summer is here

My neighbor, Karen, has a tomato ready to be picked.  I do have thyme, oregano and lemon basil herbs. My Roma tomatoes are all green, but went to Farmer's market to make brushetta.**  To me it is like an Italian salsa served on bread. You can vary the ingredients & seasonings. Both images taken with the native app camera. Edited right image to lighten & sharpen- PSE 11.

Per Merriam & Webster dictionary the definition of bruschetti is:  thick slices of bread grilled (baguette), rubbed with garlic, drizzled with olive oil, often topped with tomatoes and herbs, and usually served as an appetizer.  You certainly can vary the herbs and if you look on the Internet you will find all kinds of recipes.   I prefer to make it simple and not even toast the bread and rub with garlic because I plan to eat it after I put it on the bread. Toasting does keep tomato juice from making the bread get as soggy.   If you put enough garlic in the chopped tomatoes, you would not need to rub the bread with garlic.  Once you have the basic ingredients you can use the leftovers to put on cooked pasta, squash, egg plant, or with garbanzo beans as a salad...or to use as an Italian salsa.   I don’t really use a recipe.  I chop Roma tomatoes, onions (chives), Serrano peppers, garlic then add  vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper and Italian seasoning mix or chopped fresh oregano, basil, thyme, chives.   It is best to mix ahead to allow flavors to marry.  Some people top with mozzarella and put under the broiler to melt the cheese.  You can sprinkle with grated Parmasean cheese. Hint:  You can add dried tomato powder to the mixture to give more intense tomato flavor. In GSO this powder is available at the Savory Spice Shop in the New Friendly Center.   

Lavender Shortbread Cookies with Milkglass Plate

Took lavender shortbread cookies for lunch at the Herb Sale for the NC Unit of the H.S.A. I used outdoor lighting and square photo format. The plate of cookies  was placed on a purple tee shirt. This milk glass dinnerware I inherited from my Mother. It was common to obtain with gas purchase at the filling stations during the depression or shortly thereafter.  ??Pattern unknown.  I only have salad plates, cups & saucer, creamer & sugar container, and large serving platter for cake or cookies.  Because of the sheen of the glass at different angles it was difficult not to get some highlights.  I added some sprigs of lavender blossoms.  The original photo showed the background more blue than purple, so, I used PSE to change the background color to purple and applied a vignette.

Taco Pie Served at a Luncheon for My Stampin Buddies 4/17/15

Last week I made a taco pie as the main dish for a meet up with my stamping buddies.  So I took a picture of it using what I call my outdoor studio, i.e.somewhere outside on my deck.   I had a difficult time with my background using various cloths.  I really did not want to spend a lot of time fixing this post processing.  So, I just used the dropper to select a color and then use the paint bucket to fill in the background in PSE 11.  Well, it did clip part of the silver edging on the right side of the plate but I am going to post anyway.  It is not like I am submitting this for a magazine or contest. Basically it is like a lasagna with a Mexican flavor.  I did use scoops corn chips crushed instead of the corn tortillas which can get soggy if you make this up ahead of time. You could vary the seaonings in the meat, the condiments and toppings and have various hot sauces available.  My friends do not like jalapenos nor do "spicy".  I got the recipe called "One Dish Taco Pie" from the spring issue 2015 BHG Ground Beef Recipes. Jack and I have been enjoying the leftovers.

Tres Leche - Dessert with Violas

Today I needed to bring a dessert to a luncheon for the Piedmont Herb Group.  I decided I did not have time to make any dessert from a recipe.  I had tasted a Tres Leche a friend had purchased at Costco.
However, since this was an herb group and violas are edible, I decided to decorate the top with various colored violas from my garden.  I had difficulty trying to get an image of just the dessert on the counter and had to crop. This, of course, resulted in some pixalation of the image.   There was a little left over.  Perhaps I can  take a different image tomorrow where you can actually see the layers by showing a slice and the violas close up with my choice of better lighting and background.  The taste reminds me of a cross between Tiramisu  and a Flan.  It does require refrigeration.

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NZ and Australian Desserts H.S.A. Culinary 2/9/2015

On Tuesday the Herb Society of America - NC Unit had a luncheon. Members brought foods commonly served in Australia & New Zealand. One of the members attending was originally from New Zealand. She made several desserts. I took a picture of what was on my dessert plate but I think I skipped a few. I cropped and had to rotate the photo due to the position of the plate on a granite counter. This worked because the plate was round. Overhead kitchen lighting was used - HDR mode. I added some highlights and sharpened the image to show more texture. Then I added numbers to help with identification in PSE 11.

The meringe shell with the whipped cream, topped with various fruits is Pavlova (#6). It is served at special holidays and celebrations. Anzac(#3) was a (biscuit - not cookie) served to soldiers during the World Wars. It contains oatmeal, but requires Golden Syrup as do the Ginger Fingers (#4). This is available at Whole Foods. I bought the last one on Wed. at the Friendly Center store. There is a partial scone (#2), kumara pie (#1) It contains a root vegetable like sweet potato), and there is another Herb and Cheese biscuit (4). Bon Appe'tit!!

Blueberry-Cherry "Dump Cake" with Ice Cream

Some photos are meant to be a learning experience for future photography efforts.  I made this dump dake and decided to take a picture of it outside. Had everythihg ready on the plate except the ice cream and it was probably 40 degrees F. 

At any rate I went to a Scott Kelby seminar in Raleigh on Friday and learned more about taking pictures of food.  He did say that you could hire a food stylist (their ratres are about $150.00/hr).  I think I will keep practicing.  He also said it was 

not necessary to include the whole dish with the silverware et al. He routinely tilts his camera at a 45 degree angle. Should have used a diffusion screen or used window lighting. The depression milk glass had glare in addition to the food making shadows. There are numerous recipes available on line, just search for "dump cake". This was a combination of cherry pie filling with a pint of fresh blueberries which I baked in a Corningware Quiche dish.

Mexican Taco Dip

Took a picture of my Mexican Taco Dip with Bowlz tortilla chip dippers. Great for the Super Bowl coming up this month. You will be seeing more food pictures this year. Food photography will be another learning curve since I do not have studio lighting. I doubt I will be making altered images of food but may utilize different apps in camera for post processing. I used over the stove lighting. Image was cropped -edited in Snapseed. You can use sour cream, chopped cilanto, pickled jalapeno peppers, and/or guacamole as garnishes.These would have hidden the pretty chopped vegetables  but go will with the dip.  To top it off some Red Wine Sangria would be calling my name.  Bon Appe'tit!! Nannette