cooks2books

The trip that didn't get beyond "go"... Then, the one that did...

2011-02-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

The trip to Montreal and Quebec ended quickly after it started with my husband spending 5 days in the hospital. Yes, he's fine now and has added meds to his every day 'todo' list. Full recovery, Yay!

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February vacations can be lovely. George went to the Everglades and took pictures of wildlife. I took a cooking/eating cruise with dear friends.

Toasting to friendship while leaving the harbor in Miami

Lovely sculpted butter with crispy rolls every night for dinner.

Fruits and vegetables grown in a botanical in Roatan, Honduras

Sun sets on Roatan as we cruise on to Mexico

Chilean Seabass

Most of the food on the cruise was average, but a few of the meals were excellent. Rack of lamb was delish and we chewed on the bones to get every morsel. Chilean seabass was the highlight of the food! I had to rescue the fish before it became soggy from the oozing sauce and vegetables surrounding it.

More about the food and travels later, Sheila

Off to Montreal & Quebec City, Canada

2010-09-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

Summer has been a blur of attempting to learn a little French. The biggest thing I learned was there is a lot more to it than Bonjour...

Behind the scenes I've been busy planning a voyage to Montreal and Quebec City via Wilkes-Barre to visit my son, Barry. On the drive to Montreal there is a must stop for lunch at the CIA, my alma mater, in Hyde Park, NY.

Watch for glorious pictures of food, farmers markets in the Hudson Valley including every nook and cranny in search of the best apples.

Also in the works is a month in Paris next May... Even though I've been quiet in cyber time, I've been busy in real time.

Cooking Class: French-Asian Fusion – Gluten Free – Paired With The Perfect Wine

2010-04-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

Whole Foods Presents

Cooking Class, Saturday

May 8, 9:30 - 12:30.

Sheila Hanson

7380 SW Bridgeport Rd.

Bridgeport Village

Tigard, OR

French-Asian Fusion – Gluten Free
Paired With The Perfect Wine

This class celebrates the cuisine of France combined with hints of Asia fused with wholesome healthy ingredients. These superb dishes boast lively flavors, bright colors, and surprising combinations which are sure to delight your family and friends.

Appetizer: Asian KidKid
Everyone begs for more of this zesty appetizer made with a savory mixture of garlic, oat groats, oat bran and fresh chili paste.

Main course: Beef Chardonnay puts a mouthwatering meal on the table as quickly as waiting in line at a drive-through.

Dessert: Flaming Lemon Sugar Crusted Spice Cake, the title says it all. This dessert will delight your senses. Made with eggplant adds delish to the menu and health to you.

Cost: $35 To Register call Whole Foods 503-639-6500, extension 0 and ask to register for a class in Salud!

From zero to zero - It's all in a bloggers day...

2010-03-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

The day begins with a zero. Sometimes that's a good thing. Then, you can add to the day as you go. But, then again, zero can also be a flat line and the day drags by with meaningless activities of laundry, bill paying, drudgery of weeds begging to be pulled.

Oh now, just wait a minute... then again it can be filled with a lovely lunch at Wellspring http://iamvitality.com/ in Woodburn. The best kept secret. You'd never know there was a restaurant in a medical complex. Vitality is the restaurant name. Sounds a little too healthy to be so delish. Fabulous food and fancy desserts.

Nothing fancy about the point and shoot tiny Canon I pulled out of my purse, poked the 'on' button and took the shot.
Can it ever be that quick and simple when photographing food? Even the best of 'automatic' needs a little nudge to get a better shot.

My lunch partner had a tiny flashlight in her purse. (Purses are such wonderful things, they can produce all kinds of emergency stuff.)

Holding the tiny flashlight tricked the 'automatic' to deepen the color.
The final "shot" was enhanced by combining both photos, adding a window curtain and a picture of the Eiffel Tower.

While we "ouud and auud" our way through this mouth watering dessert we talked about food around the world. Not only food, but flavors and customs of eating and enjoying the flavors. Paris was part of the conversation, so, of course, nothing would do but pretend we had a seat looking out the window toward the Eiffel Tower. Zero starts to your day can turn into a grand adventure.

Food Styling For Bloggers and Food Writers

2010-03-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

For the first time in Portland, Oregon there was a class on Food Styling For Bloggers and Food Writers at In Good Taste Cooking School. I was the instructor. It was so exciting to see everyone arrive with enthusiasm and good cheer. After describing my journey from zero to a finished cookbook doing it all myself, the real teaching task began. Tips, tricks and techniques were crowded in to three hours.

The making of a BLT for the camera is much different than making it for the plate. This picture was taken after four hours, yes four hours, of preparation.

Smoke and mirrors were used to put on grill marks with a description of what to do in Photoshop to ensure perfection. The student rave reviews reflected the impact the information had on everyone.

Portland Culinary Alliance is going to sponsor another class in September. It will include photography too. Check back for details as they become available.

2010-03-11T04:43:00.001-08:00

One Month Nearly Gone

2010-01-21T05:13:00.000-08:00

This new decade has launched itself whether we like it or not. Along with a new decade comes more cooking. We all have to eat so why not make it fun and delish?

My new cooking classes have started with 12 enthusiastic students. First shot out of the barn was the introduction of my favorite food item, oat groats. Looks of disbelief and muttered grunts turned to grins and lip smacking when the dish was served. This week's dessert of chocolate pudding cake brought volunteers to lick the dish. Yum, what tastes better than scraping the bowl to get that last bit of goodness.

Come back soon to see pictures of some of this spectacular grub.

And yet more styles

2009-11-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

There's more than one way to showcase a picture. What the camera misses, Photoshop can fill in.

Omeomi, the holidaze cometh. If only I could photoshop up a dinner as quickly as an upload. With visions of food, food, food coming and going I'm dizzy with choices to be made. Turkey, duck, ham, oh, how lucky the Pilgrims were to have the indians step up with all the fixin's like the pictures indicate.

Before and After says it all...

2009-11-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

Before and after taking Food Styling and Photography made a huge difference. What do you think?

Food Styling and Photography

2009-11-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate to be among the students in Denise Vivaldo's Food Styling class in Long Beach, California last weekend. Denise and Cindie Flannigan showed us how to style the food and Matt Armendariz coached us in taking photos of the food.

Looking at food pictures in a magazine makes it look elegant and easy. The pictures are a 1000 words. Many of the words can't be repeated in mixed company. It's not as easy as it looks.

I arrived a little nervous and worried I might have forgotten something. I had checked my equipment many times to be sure it was ready to go. I had planned to take dozens of shots and have Matt show me better angles to capture the light. I picked up my camera only to have it refuse to take a picture. No problem - if I had put the compact flash card in it. Muttering silently to myself and frantically searching through my camera bag I had to fess up to having no card. Matt graciously loaned me one of his to take the pictures of my food. The pictures turned out gorgeous. I was so pleased with all I learned and would recommend this class to everyone.

Then I wanted to take pictures of the food everyone was doing. Oops, the flash card problem again. Lucky I had a little point and shoot in my camera bag and was able to grab a few shots.

I left the class on Sunday after two days of intensive care from Denise, Cindie and Matt with my head spinning. So many ideas, so many things to do and start and finish and...

I met Cathy Shambly at the class and she encouraged me to start a blog. Thank you Cathy, now I have another addiction... blogging.