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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Foodographs Volume 1

I love to read food blogs, get great recipes and drool over their images of the food as they make it...but what baffles me is who has the time to stop and take beautiful photographs in the midst of cooking?! My kitchen gets pretty messy and so do I for that matter, so getting my camera out is the last thing I want to do. Yet, I have always wanted to create some images that make you want to lick the screen in hopes to get a taste of what your eyes are enjoying. I have decided to call said images..."foodographs!" (not sure if I coined that word, but either way, I like it and will use it!)

So...yesterday I had my chance to take some foodographs! I help out with a women's group for high school girls, and three of the seniors of the group are heading off to college next week, and after tasting my homemade hummus they asked if I would teach them to cook. I, of course, said SURE! None of them had much knowledge of cooking at all, so I was excited to impart some of my humble wisdom onto them.

I taught them what I have learned over the years from my parents, friends, reading in magazines and watching all those fun cooking shows. (I am listening to the season finale of Master Chef in the next room as I write this). Therefore, while they cooked and got messy....I took foodographs!

So, we will take full blame if you feel the desire to lick your screen or if you are drooling after looking at these pictures, because I must admit, it all tasted pretty yummy! I think we went through 2 full heads of garlic, and I might still be tasting garlic in my mouth as I write this! (Italian and proud!)

To get the full affect of the foodographs, click on the image to enlarge it.
I also added the links to the recipes if you can't help yourself after seeing the foodographs.

I printed recipes of what we were going to make, had ingredients and utensils
all laid out for them when they arrived--aprons tied on and ready to go!

The girls said that you really know how to cook if you can bake bread!
With Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day, anyone can bake bread!

Making homemade pasta is one of my favorite things to teach people.
My great uncle invented the homemade pasta machine, so I feel like I am carrying on our family history and heritage every time I teach someone. The girls were so fascinated by how we made dough and then cut it into pasta.

Nothing beats homegrown tomatoes, except the recipes you make with them.
Thanks to my father-in-law's abundant crop, we made some amazing
brushetta, on the homemade bread of course!
Keeping with the Italian theme, we had to make some meatballs to go with the pasta.
Again, with so much enthusiasm and excitement, the girls couldn't wait to get their hands in the bowl to mix up the ingredients for the meatballs.
And who doesn't love some chocolate cookies for dessert! (Please don't judge my imitation vanilla, I must have been low on food budget money at the time. I prefer pure vanilla extract!) The reason I chose these cookies to make was because I wanted to teach the girls simple recipes that would be easy to follow and create some food that is quite tasty. These are cake mix cookies and can be whipped up in no time when you have a craving for chocolate and only take the ingredients that you see in that bowl! (and any additional mix-ins you want to add--we went for reese's pieces)

We then had the rest of the women's group over to sample all of our hard work and all mouths were happy! The girls were so proud of what they made and were so excited to share the information that they learned.

I had a blast with these ladies yesterday and can't wait to do it again with the next batch of seniors, or anyone who asks..."Will you teach me to cook!?" I am no Master Chef, or Iron Chef...just a woman who loves to share her love of food with others. I did win the way to my husband's heart through his stomach when I made him homemade lasagna with homemade noodles just a month after we met!

As my mother says..."anyone can cook....If you can read, you can cook!" And of course, it just takes practice, practice, practice!

Mange! Mange!


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