Croquembouche with a Pistachio Rosewater Pastry Cream

  

Procrastination has a new name – MEETA! I do not think I have ever done a Daring Bakers’ challenge this late in the three years I’ve been with the group. But boy was it worth it. If truth be told, I was going to give the challenge a pass this month. 

Spinach and Caramelized Onion Lasagna

  

I like to reminisce in regular intervals. While I am whisking, chopping or simply stirring I will tilt my head to a side and think to myself "So I am whisking now! What was I doing this time last year?" Tom often tells me look forward and not back. But I tend to disagree with that. I believe that by taking a look back at what you have done and where you came from, you can often reassess your goals and check if you are progressing forward the way you wanted to, if not re-focus. Furthermore, if you do not remember the mistakes you made back then how will you hinder yourself from making them again?

Monthly Mingle South Africa Roundup

I hope you are sitting in an upright position and your seatbelts are tightly fastened as we get ready to take off on an exciting culinary journey to one of the most colorful countries on our planet – South Africa!

Rhubarb Mango Pistachio and Amaretti Crumbles

   

We pulled up on to the gravel path of the deserted gas station and as I stepped out of the car, stretching after the long ride, the pebbles crunched under my shoes. It was dark. The only light coming from an old, dusty lamp above illuminated a shanty looking shed with a bedraggled sign above it.  The moth bouncing off the lamp, wings fluttering in haste, caught my attention for a minute. 

Spanish Tortilla with Asparagus, Fennel and Cress

 

Friends come in all sizes, shapes and formats. Some come, others go and only a handful leave an impression in our lives, chiseled in our every sense, for the lifetime to come. Friendships, while some will remain cherished and nurtured, others will break away maybe not forgotten but outgrown or remembered in disdain.

Campari Orange and Grapefruit Macarons

 

Mr. Chadwick would be the hero of this post. Without him coming into my life I am sure it would not be filled with romance, intrigue, adventure, passion, suspense and love. Without him I am sure I would have lived in a very different, colorless world and probably would never have discovered and understood some of the world’s greatest literary classics.

Cooking School: South African Bobotie

  

The cuisine of South Africa is a melting pot of flavors, aromas and ingredients brought to the country by the several cultural groups that have co-existed together over the past 350 years. Each cultural group made their impact on South African cuisine, making it vibrant and colorful. It’s not much of a surprise that the cuisine of South Africa is called “rainbow cuisine”

Brioche Makes My Blog Look Good!

  

It does!

It’s not what I think but the grand judges who were judging the April 2010 edition of DMBLGIT thought and they awarded the above photo as the first overall winner.

Overall winning photographs achieve the highest scores from all three categories - edibility, originality, and aesthetics.

One of last month’s Easter treats were these buttery Saffron Brioche. I loved the photo series for the recipe. My aim was to use the natural light to highlight the golden yellow of the saffron brioche. My post was about Spring and its arrival. The yellows of the nature around me inspired me for the photos.

About this photo

Styling
As I mentioned above lighting was to play a major role to highlight not only the yellows but also to mirror the writing on my blog post. On brown wooden parquet I placed an old piece of distressed wooden board, which is fairly thick and builds height. Behind it one can see a vase with yellow narcissus flowers. The background is a piece of brown card. Yellows, beige and browns were the main colors playing off the colors I saw outside. Keeping it simple I presented the brioche in the baking tins not only do they look good but I was liking that they were also reflecting light.

Photo
I wanted to focus on the one brioche in the front, give the feel that it was ready for the first bite. Playing with the DoF I chose F/4.5 (f-stop value) to focus on the brioche in the front, blurring the rest behind. Shutter speed was set to 1/250 sec. and ISO at 400.

The light comes in from the right of the photo and I used a bounce on the left to light up the dark patches on the left. In the front I use a large mirror to bounce light from the window onto the brioche in the front.

I’d like to thank the judges for their hard work, having judged a DMBLGIT previously I know it’s a difficult task. I am chuffed about this one and glad to have a new turquoise badge to add to the others. I also want to thank Julia for hosting this round!

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