Thursday, April 2, 2009

Me and My IPhone Camera

Food photographer extraordinaire? No, I'm just a girl with an IPhone.

And there I am to the left trying to capture the best angle of the polenta cake I posted last weekend.

As you can see, my kitchen is simple with few mod-cons. Sometimes I surprise myself with the meals I produce with minimal gadgetry, especially given the cook-and kitchen-ware available now.

When I did my professional training we had our own knife set (which I still have), a uniform including ridiculous hat, and minimal equipment in the school's kitchen. The philosophy: It's not the equipment that makes a great meal, it's the chef!

Maybe you've read The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry. My culinary education wasn't that brutal, but I do remember having some mini-meltdowns after humiliating reprimands from one of the tougher chefs I studied under.

I think the boot-camp style of teaching was intended to toughen us up so that once out in the world of fast-paced commercial kitchens, sweating under stress and pressure, we didn't crack. I didn't crack, so I guess boot-camp worked.

My next post will be a picture and method for making flourless, Orange and Almond cake, which I'll be consuming this evening at my birthday dinner! I sent the recipe to a friend, as she kindly offered to make my birthday cake. It's one of my favorite desserts; I hope you'll love it too.

Coming up on Market to Mouth, I'll write another shopping list, a modified version of the list a friend uses for her family. Using items from that list, I'll post accompanying meal ideas for a family of four.

Then at some point next week, I'll accompany that friend to Whole Foods while she grocery shops, offering her tips on the spot to help her reduce her weekly expenditure on groceries. In subsequent posts, I'll share those tips, and more.

Enjoy your weekend!

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