Tag Archives: cooking

October 15, 2021 · 10:43 am

Becky Homecky

For Christmas gifts, this year, I’m giving a recipe book I’ve been making using Blurb’s Book Wright software. Over the course of the year, I’ve been taking photos of food I’ve cooked. Some of the recipes I made up, some of the recipes are my sister’s that everybody loves, some of the recipes are keepers I’ve taken from cookbooks, and some of the recipes come from online. Not all of the recipes have exactly been keepers – they’ve been ok, but I won’t ever fix them again. In truth, this is a way to keep all the really good recipes together within easy access. And of course, I give credit with each recipe, along with the website or the book name. These books can only be gifts and not something I’m selling.

Anyway, I when I realized I needed to get cracking on putting the recipe book together, I started sifting through my food photos and discovered somewhere along the line, I either forgot to get photos for certain recipes, or else I’ve lost them onto other hard drives along the way (and I can’t remember which portable HD they are stored). So, I’ve been cooking up a storm in order to get photos to go with the recipes in the book. Tonight’s recipe is a slow cooker cream cheese chicken chili recipe with homemade guacamole on top of the chili. I’m serving prosecco margaritas with dinner, too.

A friend of ours, who likes to give people nicknames (my sister, Kathy’s name, for example, is Kathella), gave me the name Becky Homecky since I do 99.9% of the cooking in the household. As such, earlier in the year, I also ordered from Etsy an embroidered apron and chef hat, as you can see in the photo.

I decided to set up the camera and tripod to get posed photos of me in the apron and chef hat for the cover of my recipe book gift. Please notice I am wearing makeup, including bright red lipstick. I haven’t worn makeup in three years, and I learned a couple of things. First, you really *do* lose it if you don’t use it – I had a hard time trying to put on eye makeup and finally gave up on that – it was difficult enough to put on the lipstick neatly. Second, makeup has a shelf life. The mascara was all dried up in its tube, and if I had any lipstick (which I didn’t, so I had to go buy some), it would have probably been dry/gummy as well.

One of the most important things you should have for your camera for shots like this one, is a wireless shutter release. Vello is a pretty decent brand for that, and I purchased mine from BH Photo online. Mind you, the plastic used to make this little wireless wonder is pretty cheap, and it wouldn’t take much to break it. Nonetheless, it’s an integral part of any good selfie or group shot with you in it. It works better than your camera’s 10-second timer, because with that, you pre-focus before running to get into the photo, and unless that focus is on Infinity, then more than likely, you’ll come out a little on the blurry side. Truth.

Oh, and just how did I manage to click on the remote, since you can’t see it anywhere in the photo? I placed it on the floor, then took my shoe off so my toe could push down on the remote’s shutter release button. And, as mentioned before, I had to be very careful not to push down too hard and crack the plastic casing.

This image is not the one I used for the recipe book cover. It’s more of a test shot, because I was trying to figure out what to use for foreground food objects on the cutting board and had to get some test shots, first. It’s how I realized I needed lipstick – My face looked far too washed out without a little color.

Here’s something else you need to watch for: glare on glasses. Sometimes, it can be removed simply by the way you hold your head (turning it one side or the other, or bowing your head a little). Other times, it takes more than just a head tilt. I used only the ambient light around me – no light stands for the shots – so I knew it wasn’t a matter of moving the lights to eliminate the glare on my glasses. Because of these test shots, I discovered I needed to pull the shades down on some of the windows to keep reflections and glare off of my glasses.

And yes, that glass of bubbly is real. I was shooting around lunchtime, and figured it must be Happy Hour somewhere in the world.

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Filed under Cooking, Photography, Portraits

Tagged as cooking, photography, self portrait, selfie, where the trails take you

February 10, 2021 · 7:51 am

Tuna Noodle Casserole (With and Without LumeCube)

*Finished Tuna Noodle Casserole (Without LumeCube)*

*Finished Tuna Noodle Casserole (With LumeCube)*

WTF? What on earth is this? Food photos? And not even really good ones. Well, yeah, I basically just saved them as-is without any fancy touches. It’s to demonstrate my new toy: the LumeCube panel. And no, I’m not a paid whatever – I’m just impressed, that’s all.

Ok, here’s the backstory. I am a pretty damned good cook, and I do almost all of the cooking for our family (me, my sister, and my youngest nephew). My sister suggested I create a little Blurb-made cookbook to give as Christmas presents this year. I have tons of recipes that I’ve been using over the past 3 years, and I take photos of my daily dinner creations. They aren’t fancy, posed, food photos because I get these suckers right before we chow down, and frankly, I don’t have the time (nor do I want to make the time) to get everything all just perfect in terms of composition. I just take the photos and then will work on them later for my cookbook.So, last night’s dinner was an awesome tuna noodle casserole (how 1950’s, right?). I took a photo of it sitting in the oven after it was done, then remembered I’d just gotten my LumeCube panels (one for the camera, complete with little mini ballhead that sits on the flash shoe, and one for my laptop so I’ll look only slightly better and more lit-up during Zoom meetings. I’d not yet even tried the LumeCube panel for my camera and decided this would be a good opportunity to test it out. I’m totally impressed.Yes, I might be able to get the same view with a regular camera flash, but with LumeCube, the light is on all the time so I can actually see how everything looks lit up through the viewfinder before clicking the shutter button.

To learn more about LumeCube, click the photos.

Anyway, I can tell you from personal experience that the tuna noodle casserole was very good, and it’s going to end up in the cookbook, tentatively titled “Becky Homecky’s Cooking Template.” That Becky Homecky moniker was bestowed upon me by my hairstylist a year ago. She likes giving people nicknames and since I’m the cook, she thought up that name. It’s a “cooking template” because all the recipes I use can either be cooked per the recipe, or tweaked (and I’ve tweaked many if not most of the recipes I use). So, if somebody wants to add cheese, or take it out of the recipe, they can, since all the recipes are basically “templates” which can be changed to suit the cook’s preference. Clever, eh?

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Tagged as cookbook, cooking, food, light, lighting, LumeCube, photography, tuna noodle casserole, where the trails take you

May 15, 2012 · 3:47 am

Fried Ravioli With Marinara Sauce

My sister is a gourmet cook. Sometimes, though, I think she goes overboard. Like when I was there in April 2012 to visit and help celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday at a themed party with 11 other people (not counting me, my sister and bro-in-law). My sister had already made dessert (crème brulee), the main course (a loooonnnnggggg sandwich with three different fillings), crispy baked buttered wontons with garlic, spicy cheese coins with pepper jellies, roasted garlic and cambozola on crispy baked pita chips, and lentil soup. She looked at all she’d cooked and then looked at me and said “Maybe I should make some fried ravioli too”. I told her she’d gone above and beyond already, but my sister NEVER listens to me.

She made the fried ravioli.

And I photographed the process, using my Canon 5D Mark III and 50mm f1.2 lens.

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Tagged as appetizer, cheese, cooking, food, fried, photography, ravioli

May 6, 2012 · 10:46 am

Crème Brulee

(Burnt Cream – refers to that crunchy brown candy top created from the caramelized brown sugar)

This is the dessert my sister made for 13 people at my brother-in-law’s birthday party in which I partook. Recipe from Chef Francisco Gutierrez of New York City’s Le Cirque 2000 via Martha Stewart (my sister adoresMartha Stewart and has all of her cookbooks).

Notes:

· Always use fresh eggs

· It’s easier to separate the egg yolks from the whites if the eggs are chilled first

· For best flavor, use vanilla beans (NOT liquid vanilla flavoring)

Crème Brulee:

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

4 cups heavy cream

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

¾ cup granulated sugar

7 large egg yolks

· Spread brown sugar in a large pan or baking sheet and let dry uncovered for about 3 hours. When sufficiently dried, the sugar will feel sandy. Pass the dried brown sugar through a sieve to remove any lumps. My sister then stores it in a glass jar.

· Heat oven to 300 degrees F

· In a small pot over medium heat, combine cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla bean and scraped seeds. Heat the mixture, stirring occasionally, until bubbles start to form around the edges. Make sure the cream does not boil. Remove the pot and set aside.

· In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks.

Continue to whisk the yolks while slowly pouring cream mixture into yolks. Whisk until the mixture is smooth, then strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a large measuring cup to remove the vanilla bean pieces and any overcooked eggs.

· Place nine 5-ounce shallow ramekins on a baking pan with 1-inch-high sides. While the recipe instructs the pan to be placed in the oven and then the custard mix to be poured into the ramekins, my sister pours the strained custard mixture into the ramekins and then carefully places the entire pan into the oven. Make sure the ramekins are filled all the way to the top with custard, because shrinkage occurs during baking. Once the pan with the custard-filled ramekins are in the oven, pour enough hot (not boiling) water into the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekin.

· Bake about 40 minutes, until the custard is set and trembles slightly when shaken.

· Remove the ramekins from the water bath and place on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes. Then chill for 2 hours (they can chill up to 3 days) before serving. The custard will finish setting in the refrigerator.

· Now, you could actually serve the custard as-is. But, if you like that crunchy caramelized sugar coating, then:

· Just before serving, heat the broiler, or – as in my sister’s case – use a kitchen torch – to caramelize about 2 tablespoons of the dried brown sugar sprinkled over the top of each custard. To do it the broiler way, transfer the ramekins to a clean baking sheet and place the baking sheet about 4 inches from the broiler. Broil until the sugar is caramelized – about 40 seconds – then serve immediately.

Thanks to my sister, I now know what freshly-made crème brulee tastes like (and feels like in the mouth) and will use that as my standard for all other crème brulees which I order.

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Tagged as cooking, cream, creme brulee, dessert, food, photography, sweet, vanilla

May 5, 2012 · 10:58 am

Spicy Cheese Coins with Pepper Jelly

As promised in my previous post, here is the next recipe post with photos. My sister made this during my April 2012 visit. While I have tried for myself the recipes about which I previously blogged, I have not yet tried this one. However, since my own tries at her other recipes have been successes, I’m pretty sure this one will turn out well too when I finally decide to make this one on my own.

Above is the recipe, below are the photos. For the jelly, my sister bought a bunch of different pepper jellies produced by Micks. I had no idea they made so many!

I unfortunately did not get any shots of the cheese dough preparation. They were already mixed and rolled into logs and in the fridge before my arrival at my sister’s home.

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Tagged as biscuit, cheese, cheese coins, cooking, food, pepper, pepper jelly, photography, spicy

April 29, 2012 · 7:13 am

Pita Chips, Roasted Garlic, and Cambozola Cheese

My sister always goes above and beyond with the cooking. She’s a gourmet cook and awesome! I know I will always eat well when I visit.

Here is a very tasty, addictive little appetizer my sister made for my brother-in-law’s birthday party (of which I was a guest during my April 2012 vacation to Washington State).

I must tell you I don’t have photos for every single step of this appetizer construction – I either forgot (like with photos of the tops cut off the garlic heads), or my fingers were too messy to pick up the camera, or I was too busy eating the appetizer to think of taking a photo of it, messy fingers or no.

Sorrrrryyyy.

So, for this recipe, you need:

A small cupcake baking pan (one of those pans that allow for 6 cupcakes)
Several heads of garlic

Now, you need to roast said heads of garlic. My sister wanted to try a new method for doing this, rather than using the ceramic garlic roaster they have. I can tell you I have tried the crockpot method of roasting garlic, and I am personally underwhelmed, so I was interested to see how her method turned out. After tasting the results, she and I agreed: to get a true roast garlic flavor with some wonderful caramelization, you must roast it in the oven.

Slice off the tops of each garlic head so that you can see the insides of the garlic cloves.
Rub olive oil over each garlic head and also inside the cupcake pans.
Wrap aluminum foil over the pan and set inside the oven set at 375 degrees. Bake for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. You will want to periodically check to make sure the garlic is not only spreadably soft, but also nicely caramelized.
Some of the cloves may stick to the aluminum foil – my sister tried spraying the foil with a non-stick spray, but that didn’t seem to work. So, we just ate those few roasted cloves that stuck to the foil 😉

Roasted garlic. Done.

Now, for the pita chips.

Purchase a bag of pita bread
Either tear the pita bread into smaller pieces, or cut it into smaller pieces for a more orderly look to the edges of the chips.
Slather melted butter (the real stuff) over each piece and then stick in the oven to bake at 375 degrees F for oh – maybe 10 minutes or so? It’s not an exact science so you will want to keep checking the chips to make sure they don’t burn. They should be nice and crispy.

Baked pita chips. Done.

Purchase some cambozola cheese. I live in rural SE Texas (bleah) and when I made this appetizer for myself, I could not find that particular cheese even in the Super HEB some 22 miles away from my town. So, I purchased brie cheese and gorgonzola cheese and sliced a little of each.

Now, serve your guests (or yourself) the pita chips and slather (I mean, spread) a little of the cheese, then the roasted garlic atop your chip.

Enjoy! Open-mouthed smile

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Tagged as appetizer, cambezola, cambozola, cheese, cooking, food, garlic, photography, pita, pita chips, roasted garlic

April 28, 2012 · 8:26 pm

Caprese Sandwich

This is a super-easy one.

For my brother-in-law’s birthday party, my sister made this looonnnnggg sandwich comprised of three different fillings. This caprese (kuh pray say) filling served as the vegetarian offering.

The bread part of this looonnnnggg sandwich was comprised of 7 loaves of frozen bread dough, thawed and then rolled into long French baguette-sized loaves. The dough was allowed to rise for a little bit then baked in the oven until golden. I believe my sister followed the regular baking instructions on the frozen dough package for the oven temp and baking time.

Caprese is usually served as an appetizer or salad. It’s simply tomato slices layered on top of slices of fresh mozzarella with fresh basil leaves on top of all of that. A nice little splash of balsamic vinegar is added for good measure.

For the sandwich, my sister eschewed the balsamic vinegar and instead mixed Dijon mustard with mayonnaise. She did all of this by eye and taste, so I have no idea what the mix measurements were.

Prior to loading the looonnnnggg sandwich with its fillings, the middle portions of each of the loaves were hollowed out, thus keeping the sandwich from being too….”bread-y”…with not enough filling.

Yum! Open-mouthed smile

‘Nuff said.

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Tagged as basil, caprese, cooking, food, mozzarella, photography, recipe, recipes, sandwich, tomato

April 22, 2012 · 2:05 pm

Crispy Buttered Wonton Wrappers With Romano (or Parmesan or Minced Garlic or Garlic Salt)

My sister has made these tasty little appetizers before, and we all just love them. They are super-easy and very versatile. They go well as a stand-alone appetizer, or with soups and salads.

Recipe:

One package wonton wrappers
One stick butter – melted
Grated parmesan cheese or Romano cheese or finely-minced garlic or garlic salt

Separate and lay out the wonton wrappers on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (my sister did this) or foil (I did this)
Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter over each wrapper
Sprinkle the one of the above-mentioned toppings
Bake at 375 until the wrappers look golden and crispy (about 7 minutes; they cook quickly you’ve really got to keep an eye on these to make sure they are nicely browned but not burnt)

Voila!

My sister has made these before using parmesan, but during my April 2012 visit, she used garlic salt. Now, I love salty foods, but some of these were a little bit too salty – so if you use garlic salt, be judicious in how much you sprinkle.

Upon my return to Texas, I made these for my mother, aunt, and myself to accompany lunch. Instead of garlic salt, I used 1/2 pkg of grated Romano cheese (left over from my pancetta-wrapped turkey meatloaf recipe). I almost burned the first batch because I wasn’t keeping an eye on them and didn’t realize just how quickly they brown up. It would help if my oven had a little window like my sister’s ovens do (yes, she has two ovens as she does a lot of cooking).

WARNING: These little things are super-addictive Winking smile

Nom, nom!

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Tagged as appetizer, butter, cheese, cooking, food, garlic, garlic salt, parmesan, photography, romano, wonton wrappers, wontons

April 21, 2012 · 7:16 pm

Pancetta-Wrapped Turkey Meatloaf

During my vacation, I spent several days with my sister and her family. My brother-in-law has a birthday 3 days after mine, and my sister always throws a huge themed party (this year, the theme was Flowers). I try to visit them around this time of year so I can enjoy her cooking and join in on the party, which is always a blast.

My sister is a gourmet cook. She’s awesome! I, on the other hand, do not cook at all unless it’s something to be thrown in the crockpot (the best invention since the microwave). So I enjoyed every single thing she baked/sauteed/fried/roasted/boiled.

My sister cooked allllll day long on the Friday before the party. She made it look so effortless, yet I knew it was time-consuming. I figured the least I could do (besides vacuuming for her) was take photos of each dish she made, step-by-step. I knew deep-down these photos would make for great blog posts, plus I’d get good practice with food photography.

So, this post, and several future posts, will deal with a particular dish my sister made for the party, complete with photographs and recipe.

As I’ve been craving pancetta-wrapped turkey meatloaf all week long since my return from vacation, I thought this would be a great starter recipe to post. I even made it in my own home today. Yes, I, who do not cook, made pancetta-wrapped turkey meatloaf, and it was a success!

The recipe is an original from Giada de Laurentiis. My sister loves her recipes and – when she had time before becoming an overworked medical transcriptionist – made a point of watching Giada’s show on The Cooking Channel.

For my brother-in-law’s birthday party, my sister made this long, long sandwich, part of which had the turkey meatloaf with arugula mayo in it.

Following are the photos, and then the recipe at the end.

Recipe:

The meatloaf I made earlier today turned out wonderfully, even though I had to substitute coppa for the pancetta since I could not find pancetta anywhere within a 25-mile radius of where I live. Jeesh. So, if you decide to make this dish and end up in a bind because you cannot find sliced pancetta nearby, then coppa will work just as well.