Cooking for Seven

I am honored to host this month’s “Does My Blog Look Good in This?” event. DMBLGiT was started in 2005 by Andrew of SpitoonExtra. It is a monthly food (and drink) photography event open to all bloggers who have posted a food photograph on their blogs last month.

Photographs are submitted from blog posts of the previous months and these are judged, scored and the winners are selected in each of three categories (edibility, aesthetics, and originality). There will also be three overall winners.

To see the winners from last month’s DMBLGiT event, please visit My Diverse Kitchen.

General DMBLGiT Rules:

• Only one food/drink photograph may be entered per person.
• The photograph must have been taken by you.
• The photograph must have been posted on your blog between the 1st and the 30th November, 2010.
• The deadline to submit your entry is the 20th December, 2010 midnight, whenever that is in your part of the world.

Scoring:

A panel of five judges will choose six winners based on the following criteria:

Aesthetics: composition, food styling, lighting, focus, etc.

Edibility: Does the photo make us want to take a big bite out of our computer monitor while drooling on our keyboard?

Originality: a photo that makes you stop, look twice, and think “Wow! I never thought of photographing it like that before.”

Three overall winners will be selected and one in each of the above categories. As host I have the privilege of choosing one photo that I think stands out but wasn’t chosen as a winner.

My announcement post with the winners for this month should be published by the 1st January 2010.

How to Enter DMBLGiT:

Draft an e-mail with DMBLGiT as the subject line.

Attach one qualifying food or drink photo, no more than 500 pixels in width. Please ensure your photograph does not have any text or watermarks on it.

In your email, please include the following details:

• Your name
• Your blog URL
• The title of the image/what it is
• The URL of the post where the photo first appeared
• The camera and lens you used

Then send the email to me at ericalberge [at] gmail [dot] com

Please note that by submitting a photo, entrants agree to their photo being redisplayed and altered in size on the host’s page and on the SpittoonExtra DMBLGiT page.

I have created a gallery in Picasa where I will be adding your photos as I receive them. If you do not receive an acknowledgment from me within 72 hours, please leave a message in the comments section of this post.

If you would like any further clarification or have any questions, please feel free to send me a message.

If you would like to host a future edition of DMBLGiT,  write to Andrew.

Can’t wait to see all of your delicious entries!

The deadline for submissions has been reached. Thank you to all who entered!

{Grandma’s Cooking School is my chronicles of the informal cooking lessons that my Grandma graciously decided to give us girls. I have compiled a list of all the lessons so far. Enjoy!}

Apple Strudel. A thing of beauty. Sweet apples encased in a thin, flaky dough. Delicious.

We began our lesson by reading through the recipe and preparing the apples.

Next, we mixed together two kinds of dough: a quick version and a more traditional version made with yeast. Meanwhile we cooked the apple filling.

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{Grandma’s Cooking School is my chronicles of the informal cooking lessons that my Grandma graciously decided to give us girls. I have compiled a list of all the lessons so far. Enjoy!}

I am at a loss for words to describe these delicious creations, so I’ll let the photos do (most of) the talking.

Grandma’s homemade bread. Light, flavorful, delicious.

I love Grandma’s flour/baking drawer.

And her cupboards.

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I can hardly believe that my blog will turn two in a little over three months. It has been a wonderful experience. I have learned (and am still learning) so much about photography, cooking, and writing.

Let me share some of my earliest posts with you. Above: my very first post — Honey Pecan Pear Bread. I was so proud that it was accepted by TasteSpotting.

Smoky BBQ Sauce. I was so excited when Joy the Baker linked to my sauce.

Sweet Onion Dip. I thought this shot was so cool. Ha!

Banana Nut Bread. I thought this photo was pretty much the awesomest ever.

I hope you’ve enjoyed looking into my blogging past. I hope you didn’t laugh too hard at my early attempts at food styling/photography. I was eighteen.

I have so much more to learn and am still very excited about my blog. It gives me satisfaction and allows to me share my work with the world. I can’t wait to see what the next 100 posts will bring!

This cake is my favorite.  The batter is not too sweet, the custard filling is so rich, and the whipped cream frosting is perfect.

Here’s a tip from Grandma: soak your poppy seeds in milk overnight.

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