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| Unique Visitors: 0 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 1612056 |
| Visitors Out: 16359 |
| Total Visitors Out: 37207 |
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| Food Photography #1: Creating texture & depth |
| 2011-11-28 16:50:02 |
Hello all, my name is Lee and I am honored to guest-post tips on food photography for Renaissance Culinaire. We are going to try to make this a monthly feature, so send us feedback with questions or suggestions on what we should photograph next!Avo-Tuna Cerviche ©2011 Spinwave PhotoToday's post focuses on the attention-sucking feature I like to call "black holes". While shadows are important to creating the illusion of depth, black spots with little-to-no detail will quickly suck a viewer's eye into its vortex of darkness (thus the nickname black hole). Here's how to identify and correct them:Click to enlarge photo.In addition to the black holes, the light flattened the texture of the tuna and avocado chunks. So we added a foam-core reflector close-in, camera-right:Click to enlarge photo....
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| Spa Pampering at Home Using Food Based Ingredients |
| 2011-02-22 17:32:51 |
The daily grind. Whether you are a high powered executive or working a minimum wage job, or stay at home parent - everyone has their stressors. Factoring in lack of sleep, deadlines and financial woes can make for one un-happy, sleep deprived camper.
If you watch television or read magazines you are sure to have seen the segments devoted to 'spa rejuvenation', whether or not it is geared for females, the theme seems to be pampering yourself. Popular media likes to flaunt this term, as it is conducive to the high-end, trendy "jet setter" lifestyle most average people dream of - the thinking behind it is simple, those who have the means put indulgence at the forefront.
Photo Courtesy of samthehamsmom
You don't have to be a jet setter to experience a spa style session. In-fact you don't even have to purchase expensive high end concoctions in a jar - no, you can make them yourself and be satisfied knowing all the ingredients are natural and safe fo...
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| Suffering From An Irrational Fear of Cooking? |
| 2010-12-21 13:38:08 |
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from CPD (Culinary Performance Dysfunction)? What is CPD? It is the aversion to cooking, in a kitchen, anything besides microwave burritos or jarred spaghetti.
Photo Courtesy of gregpphoto © All Rights Reserved.
People who have CPD have an irrational fear that they can't use culinary techniques to crank out a fabulous tasting meal. People with CPD, when faced with cooking, in the kitchen, conjure up horrible disasters that will unfurl if they attempt a recipe.
Ingredient experimentation is a extreme anxiety trigger for people suffering CPD. It is far worse that attempting to follow a recipe.
If this sounds like you, or someone you know, there is help. As Shakespeare mused: "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." The mind is a powerful tool, which can be both helpful and damning. But CPD sufferers can overcome their aversion to the culin...
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| I'm Famished - Takes On New Meaning During 2010 |
| 2010-12-08 17:40:37 |
The United States to outside eyes is one of the most extravagant, wasteful , "media-hore"- loving cultures in the world. But in reality what the media hugely magnifies and the general public readily eats up (mainly in a desperate need to placate humane curiosity or escape the mundane.), is a very small example , say a micro-percentage of what the other large percentage of regular people in the US really surmounts to.
However there is a problem creeping into the general population, American culture, which is fueled by the media. It is a shift, mainly a obtuse growth of false entitlement that leaves the act of daily, common courtesy let alone important humanitarian causes, fall slowly to the wayside. Every generation now seems to edge toward a self-centered existence who feels a constant need for digital gratification.
Being a blogger I cannot help but get swept up in this culture cult. With the growing competition to set myself a...
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| Baking is Poetry |
| 2010-10-24 16:36:15 |
What is Baking mean to You? Here is a poem I just jotted down in an effort to get back to food blogging again. I want to hear from my readers --- is baking a smell, a sight or sound? A memory?
Baking
It is patienceIt is understanding the
ebb
and
flow Of ingredients
Of Environmental factors
It is flirtingwith formulationsto achievethe ultimatein taste combination -Whether that result achievedissimplisticor quite complicated.
Baking is the warmth of a stack oven
Of the freshly
de-panned product.
Baking is the satisfaction
Of creation.
Of the tears which well in their eyeswhen a taste, a smellinvokes memories
of home, Of a loved onethat has
passed on.
Baking is
the alcoholic fumespermeatingfrom a containerthat
housed your starter -your poolish -your biga -or your mix.
Baking is intoxication. Amber ©2010. All Rights Reserved
I also experimented with a new add-on for GIMP called "Polar Inver...
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| You Voted Best Entertaining Tip - Entertaining Guru Announced |
| 2010-03-26 20:01:43 |
I have had an overwhelming response to my previous "You Be The Judge -Who Wins Best entertaining Tip", the current comment count is 155, but I have about 212 comments that await moderation.
I would like to thank everyone who voted, or who noted their choices and especially to those of you who added your own entertaining tips. This was a pretty successful contest, and I plan to do more like this.
As a recap I wanted to give you a snippet of the original post that spurned this contest.
The most successful host & hostesses have an arsenal of tricks they have tucked away in their little entertaining hats. Cabinets and pantries stand at attention year-round, stocked with dinnerware, decorations and edibles. These entertaining geniuses can layout their hospitable spreads within moments of a surprise pop-in or short notice dinner party.
If you are one of these people - lucky you, you have mastered the art of snatching a mini quiche from the masters' hand IMDB. For those of you who ar...
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| Mini Quiches in Review & Nancy's Product Give Away! |
| 2010-01-27 13:02:53 |
The most successful host & hostesses have an arsenal of tricks they have tucked away in their little entertaining hats. Cabinets and pantries stand at attention year-round, stocked with dinnerware, decorations and edibles. These entertaining geniuses can layout their hospitable spreads within moments of a surprise pop-in or short notice dinner party.
If you are one of these people - lucky you, you have mastered the art of snatching a mini quiche from the masters' hand IMDB. For those of you who aren't entertaining gurus - you have much to learn, and remain the grasshoppers W of social hospitality.
Photo Credit WordRidden I mentioned quiche - what is quiche? In French cuisine, a quiche (IPA: [ki:ʃ]) is a baked dish that is based on a custard made from eggs and milk or cream in a pastry crust. Usually, the pastry shell is blind baked before the other ingredients are added for a secondary baking period.W Generally quiche are savory flavored with herbs, meats or vegetables.
O.K,...
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| A Foraging We Will Go, Mushroom Hunting in Oregon |
| 2010-01-27 12:58:57 |
Here in the Pacific Northwest we are lucky to have such lovely forests, as I mentioned in an early post, I found a mushroom hunter from Eugene, OR - who was interested in guest posting here on Renaissance Culinaire. Please note the orange icons with skull & cross bones, these reference poisonous or un-edible species of mushroom. Here is his post:
Hello, chanterelle hunters! The problem with yellow footed Chanterelles (Hygrophoropsis aurantiacaW) is that when they are plentiful, the price falls.
Everyone with a vehicle is suddenly a Chanterelle hunter. Get 'em while you can, because soon you will not see a chanterelle until next fall. I love hunting chanterelles, but making money with them is hard. When Chanterelles are abundant, more people go picking and the price drops.
For me, mushrooming is not about money. It is about finding those perfect beautiful patches in the forest. Hunting is about finding one chanterelle and then looking around and seeing a hundred more chanter...
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| Not Your Mamma's Clorox - Now Eco-Friendly & Green |
| 2010-01-27 12:52:47 |
A growing trend for established trusted brands seems to be going green or at least trying to add some Eco-friendliness to their image. As more and more consumers become aware of ingredients and chemicals used to manufacture many of the products on grocers shelves, a new urgency to find natural based alternatives has moved from what was once considered a frivolous choice to a well thought-out lifestyle change.
Clorox, a well known manufacturer of household bleach and disinfecting wipes, heeded the cries from consumers for a laundry detergent and line of cleaning products that were natural, safe and effective. Their product line Green Works, with new formulations full of plant based derivatives helped to propel their brand into the Eco-friendly arena.
Green Works Natural Laundry Detergent
Available in 3 different scents Original Scent, Lavender Scent and Free & Clear.
Green Works Laundry Detergent boasts an impressive list of why t...
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| Harvesting, Foraging and Mushrooms - Oh My! Part 3 - Foraging Edible Plants |
| 2010-01-27 12:41:35 |
This post references cookbooks, publications, lectures and industry focused literature - on foraging Edible Plants. I was re-reading a previous post Harvesting, Foraging and Mushrooms - Oh My!, and thought I should split up the Foraging , Truffles & Mushroom Hunting Publication list into 3 posts (Truffles, Mushrooms and Foraging Edible Plants, so that it would be more user friendly. Enjoy!
Wild Edible Plants Harvest & Identification
The Wild, Wild Cookbook: A Guide for Young Wild-Food Foragers(1982)
The Neighborhood Forager: A Guide for the Wild Food Gourmet(2000)
Eating And Healing: Traditional Food As Medicine (Crop Science)
The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts: How to Find, Identify, and Cook Them(2004)
The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants
(2006)
The Illustrated Guide to Edible Wild Plants(2009)
Edible Wild Plants and Herbs: A Pocket...
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