Zesty Cook » camera

Indeed One Scalloped Potato

zesty — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:00:36 +0000

Lets just say that yesterday was a whirlwind of a day! We found a vanity for the half bath in Halifax NS that we just had to have! So I took yesterday off work and drive over 3.5 hours to pick up the vanity. Along the way, we made a pit stop for a sandwich ( toasted Ham and Cheese- No sauce ) and drove 3.5 hours back. We better like this “vanity”!

I forgot my cds in the truck and I left the ipod at home – so the music was just fair at best. Does anyone else hate when they are driving and the radio never really works with the reception fading in and out? Anyway, we survived and was fortunately home in time for supper.

Scalloped Potatoes… a true classic and it gets me every time. I am such a potato pig.

It was a traditional meal with a nice pineapple ham roasted in the oven and some bubbly scalloped potatoes on the side. A fresh batch of homemade biscuits thrown into the mix and some good old fashion H2O.

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1/2 Tsp. salt
1/4 Tsp. pepper
2 1/2 Cups milk
1 Small onion, finely sliced

Method

Preheat oven to 325ºF.
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Blend in flour, salt and pepper.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly.
Gradually stir in milk, 1/2 cup at a time.
Heat to boiling. Boil and stir 1 minute.
Arrange potatoes in greased casserole roasting pan in 3 layers, topping each layer with part of the chopped onions and 1/3 of the sauce.
Dot the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, broken into little pieces.
Cover and bake until potatoes are tender, about 60-70 minutes.
Let stand 5 to 10 minute before serving.

Zesty Tip: I think a key tip with scalloped potatoes is to let them sit out on the stove once you remove them from the heat. This will allow them to thicken and prevent you from burning your tongue.

How often do you burn your tongue? It seems that I do it far too frequently and I think it’s why I’m not a big fan of hot drinks. I actually took some pictures of the scallop potatoes on my fancy shmancy plate but something happened and they were quite yellow. I had them under a different light and I think it gimped something up. I could not even fix it in Photoshop.

Sorry for the short post but I am on my way out of the house tonight (9:00 pm) to go do some clean up at the house. There is drywall pieces everywhere that has to get cleaned up before the seam fillers. Have yourself a great day and keep smiling.

Take care

zesty

Zesty Buys a New Camera Plus Updates

zesty — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:00:26 +0000

The time is here! I have been wanting a new camera for a while now. After discussions with photographer friends and research online, I took the plunge and purchased a Canon Rebel XSi. I didn’t really have a lot of time to do my research as you will find out below.

Zesty on the Road

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a large pizza chain in Nova Scotia, Canada to do a photo shoot for their new website and menus. Of course I was excited but nervous at the same time. I have been shooting food for quite a while now but I would not consider myself a professional by any stretch of the imagination. So before the shoot, I decided to pick up the new camera, learn how to use it and borrow some pro lighting from a photography friend of mine.

The shoot went pretty well. There were a few wrinkles tossed in the mix with some lighting issues but I overcame them ( I think ). I am still in the middle of digitally editing the pictures to ensure the light and final product is perfect.

Here are some shots inside the test kitchen where the photo shoot was held.

Zesty in the Media

Just last week I was approached by a women’s based magazine in New Jersey, First for Women magazine in regards to featuring ZestyCook.com in an upcoming issue. The topic they were interested in was “How to organize your fridge“. I was more than happy to do the interview and answer any questions they had. After speaking with them, it seems that zestycook made the cut and will be appearing in the November issue.

I guess there is a first for everything! I have never been mentioned in a magazine before so I am looking forward to the issue. For some reason I feel like a kid inside a candy store.

Amazing Food Blogs

As mentioned earlier regarding photography, I get a lot of inspiration from reading professional blogs that take amazing food photography. A while back I wrote a post on how to take amazing food pictures and a lot of people have used those tips to enhance their work. But if you want to see some amazing shots up close and personal – you need to check out these sites below. If you know of other sites that take amazing pictures, please add them in the comments..

Happy Tuesday to you! I hope you have a great day today. I will have a house update soon as well as a couple of homemade baked good recipes to share.

Take care

zesty

How to Take Amazing Food Pictures

zesty — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:00:31 +0000

Happy Wednesday everybody! So I have been blogging about 3 months now…. crazy I know and I have had a lot of people ask me about food photography. I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about just that… FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY. This is very much an art in itself. I consider myself very much an amateur at this but I really enjoy it.

I have spoken to numerous photographers getting tips as well as reading manuals and articles on how to take amazing food photography.

For all the people out there like myself, I have put together a list of top tips on what I do to try and take great pictures. I hope these help you the next time you flip open the lens and take a shot of your meal.

Food Photography Tips

Stabilize your camera. Use a tripod, or prop your camera on a high-back chair to help reduce the photo’s blurriness. This will eliminate the camera shake, you can also use a timer on the camera to be sure.

Try to cut foods in somewhat geometric shapes for a more professional presentation. I also like to use the stacking technique depending on the dish.
Arrange items on plate in a manner that showcases the strengths of a dish and its high-value ingredients. I get this from obsessively watching the food network.
Garnish the dish to enhance the color. Adding chopped parsley or chives gives spaghetti green specks that bring out the red color of the sauce. Adding a lemon wedge to a piece of fish kicks it up and gives it some zest. Or, consider ladling a sauce on the plate underneath the food, or over the items on the plate.
Place your dish in a setting which will enhance the dish’s overall appearance. Place the dish on a flat-colored background, such as a uni-colored table cloth or table surface. I myself like to use a white background and a white table cloth and normally my white square plate. If taking a picture from a side-angle, make sure the picture’s background will not distort the food in the foreground.
Use as much natural light as possible. A camera flash will actually distort food pictures more often than it will enhance them. Try moving your dish into a well-lit area and have a portable lamp close at hand to prop above the dish. Old school zesty has a five bulb light overhead shining 300 watts of crisp light. My photographer friend said that food can never really have too much lighting just be careful of shadows.

Carefully choose the best angle for taking the picture. Examine the shape and features of your dish, to determine whether it looks best from overhead or from a side angle. Often, taking straight on shots of a dish doesn’t highlight the dish’s more appealing features.
Zoom in so the dish fills as much of the picture as possible. Because I am an amateur I also like to use he macro setting for close ups as opposed to the manual focus.
Work Quickly: food only looks really appealing for a short period of time. Ice cream melts. Veggies droop. Lettuce wilts. So you need to work fast. Even with the best-case scenario, you won’t have more than 10-15 minutes from the moment the food exits the pan or fridge to get your shot. Being well prepared really helps, and having a helper there to plate and dress is invaluable. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different angles, settings, and garnishes nonetheless.
Remember: practice makes perfect.

Here are some food sites that focus on amazing food pictures:

I hope everyone found these tips useful and will try some of them out in the future. I would like to ask everyone, what is their best technique they found when taking pictures. Share your techniques and we can add to the list.

Keep smiling and have a great Wednesday!

zesty