Sometimes when my hubby comes home from work, I'll tell him I had a great shoot. There might be a crack about my models being cooperative or maybe only Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra? looks were being given. Of course, the subjects of my photography is food and he's merely poking fun but I do enjoy shooting still life.
Ah, the life of a food blogger. There are some quirks to it.
My children never question me about taking pictures of food, they are quite used to it. They, along with my hubby, have even helped me by being my lighting assistants, especially if I'm trying to be more creative. It's like a family affair. My kids are pretty patient, having to wait to have goodies until after I'm done taking pictures. And, it's usually only one person who gets the prettied up plate (the one used for photographing) while others get food without mint garnishes :) As a food blogger, I sometimes eat food that has cooled down since it takes some time to set up and getting the right picture.
I don't have too many family and friends knowing about my food blog, I'm a bit shy about it. I have let a few people know about it over time, all with positive feedback. I'd say the majority I've told do not follow my blog, and that's ok, I totally get it's not everyone's shtick. The few who do know about it, sometimes when I have them over for dinner, they will start to spoon some food on their plates, then stop and gasp "do you need to take a picture of this!". I always chuckle. How considerate of them to think of me and my hobby. I don't always take pictures of everything I make, and if I do, I try to do it preferably before guests arrive because it's just easier that way.
How about you fellow food bloggers? Are you reserved about your food blog or have you let everyone in your life know about it?
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These banana pecan bars are moist and chocolatey good without being too sweet. I brought them over to a friend's house and they were a hit. However, since they were pretty moist (which is a good thing), it makes them more crumbly so it really should be given out on a plate with a fork. These were more cake-like, not as firm as something you can grab and eat over a napkin, as I assume the term "bars" implies.
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banana pecan bars
makes about 18 bars
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
5 ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped pecans
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banana pecan bars
makes about 18 bars
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
5 ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Beat sugar and butter together at medium speed until creamy. Add bananas, egg and vanilla until well blended.
Combine flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in medium bowl. Add this to to banana mixture until well blended. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
Divide batter in half. Stir cocoa into one half. Spread chocolate batter into 9x13 prepared pan. Top with plain batter. Swirl with knife.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until done at 350F. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Recipe adapted from: Cocoa Bottom Banana Pecan Bars. KitchenAid Best-Loved Recipes.
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Beat sugar and butter together at medium speed until creamy. Add bananas, egg and vanilla until well blended.
Combine flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in medium bowl. Add this to to banana mixture until well blended. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
Divide batter in half. Stir cocoa into one half. Spread chocolate batter into 9x13 prepared pan. Top with plain batter. Swirl with knife.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until done at 350F. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Recipe adapted from: Cocoa Bottom Banana Pecan Bars. KitchenAid Best-Loved Recipes.
Those look delicious, and your photo's truly are amazing. One day I hope to upgrade from a simple point and shoot...maybe even learn about white balance!!
ReplyDeleteI'm 50/50 with people knowing about the blog. When I started in Januray I was telling quite a few people and I didn't get the excited responses I thought I might. People were like...you are going to take pictures of food; we know you like to cook Chris but.....
So now if it comes up..it comes up. Although the people who are cool with it are super cool. Holding dishes up..moving things out of the way.
I have to agree, your photos go above and beyond ours :-) Most of my girlfriends are at least amused enough by my blogging to let me photograph, but certainly most of my friends don't follow it. My hubby on the other hand is the most frequent complainer because he is the one that either has to wait while I photograph and his food gets cold too, or eat without me. It's fun though, and I certainly don't photograph everything. That's the best part about having a blogging partner - no need to document quite as much.
ReplyDeleteI love the eye rolling at restaurants when I say "Wait, I need to take a photo first!"
ReplyDeleteIf it's my own cooking then I usually feed the other people and take photos of my own dish.
As for telling people I didn't tell anyone at first. More recently I told some friends, of which 2 out of 8 regularly read and 1 occasionally reads my blog. Telling them didn't affect my blogging, but it certainly helped to explain why I kept taking photos!
Your banana pecan bars look totally delicious. It's so funny that your kids actually help you with the taking of the photos! Quite handy too. We don't have kids, but I have a hard time already making sure the cats don't get in the way... :)
ReplyDeleteas for telling people about my foodblog; it kind of depends. When I started it I send out a note to friends and family saying that I had a blog, but I think in the end only a few are following it. And that perfectly fine; as you say, not everyone is into foodthings or photography for that matter, so I can't blame them...!
Yeah, the kids don't really help out all that much anymore. But they kindly helped with holding up a reflector every once in a while. But they soon learned that even if they didn't help me... they would still get a treat. darn. hehe.
ReplyDeleteSeems like we are all on the same wavelength about telling people about our blogs. Added bonus if folks join in on it with us.
Those pecan bars look delicious :_)! Oh, and you shouldn't be shy about telling everybody about your blog, you take some awesome pictures!! :-) XOXO
ReplyDelete*blushing*
ReplyDeletethank you gine :)