Category: Random

Random

DIY Lightbox

by Wendi10 Comments on DIY Lightbox

DIY Lightbox

My latest DIY project was inspired by this post on Shutterboo.  I took one look at her homemade lightbox and knew I had to have one.  Sure, I could go online and spend upwards of a hundred bucks or so to have an “real” lightbox but thank you  recession, our disposable income is no longer quite so disposable.  A cardboard box and tissue paper I already had.  Goodbye counter top glare in my food photos, hello macros.

In case you now have lightbox envy, Shutterboo’s post is a perfect guide.  All you need is 30 minutes (or less), a box, utility knife, ruler, tissue paper, poster board, and tape.  For real.  Oh, and some lights.  I didn’t have any small lights that I could “borrow” from other rooms.  So I spent $12 on two small, adjustable lamps at Target.

I like the results.  But I may need to get a third lamp that I can shine down into the top of my rig.  Or maybe I just need to try stronger bulbs to keep from getting dark shadows towards the front of the box.

For other examples of homemade lightboxes, Google “light box photography”.

Random

Honorable Mention – The Images

by Wendi6 Comments on Honorable Mention – The Images

Sometimes I miss the forest for the trees.  Like when I could have posted all of my 2009 Maryland State Fair entries, but instead only linked to a couple of them.  Many thanks to  TKW (The Kitchen Witch) for her suggestion to give all the images their Honorable Mention. So without further ado, I give you my 2009 MSF portfolio:

Big Wheels Blush Bushels Distant Sails Tilghman Volunteer Fire Co. Tilghman Island

That last picture, the very blue landscape, that got the official MSF Honorable Mention.  But really, how could the judges NOT love the picture of the carnival rides at night?  Or the blushing tulip?  Don’t tell the other pictures, but those two were my favorites this year.

Random

Bloglove

by Wendi2 Comments on Bloglove

bloglove

Having a BAH post featured on WordPress.com’s homepage is not a bad way to start a week.  Seriously, those cookies really are THAT good.

**Update**

I am amazed where the Cookie Monster post has gone.  According to WordPress, it got 973 hits the day it posted.  And total hits on BAH were 1,535.  In one day, BAH got more hits than it usually gets in a month.  For real, these Interwebs have some legs.  Here’s where Cookie Monster has gone: Continue reading “Bloglove” →

Random

Share Your Food Memories

by Wendi10 Comments on Share Your Food Memories
Memories
image from istockphoto.com

I’m starting a project for the blog that I’m calling Food Memories and I hope you can help.  I’m looking for recipes that have special meaning to you.  Maybe it’s something your family always had at Christmas or what your mom or dad made as a special treat, just because.  What is the dish that always takes you back to a happy memory?

If you have a recipe that you’d like to share, email it to me (or just click here) along with the memory or description of what it means to you.  I will make the recipe and post it, along with your memory, on the blog.

By sharing our food memories, we honor our personal histories and the people who made them real.  I hope you’ll join me on this special adventure down Memory Lane.

Random

Fast Food

by Wendi3 Comments on Fast Food

Now Serving Kooper's Famous Burgers

Back in the day, and I mean way back in the day, the idea of fast food was a novel concept.  When Ray Kroc founded McDonald’s back in the 1940’s, America was a country undergoing radical lifestyle changes.  The lean years of WWII and the post war boom, the Eisenhower Interstate program, and the development of the American suburbs all contributed to the mass production and mass consumption of food by a country on the move.  Props to Mickey D’s for telling the people what they want and then giving it to them.  But tell me fast food, when exactly did you lose your soul? Continue reading “Fast Food” →

Main Course, Random

Honorable Mention

by Wendi2 Comments on Honorable Mention

honorable mention

As I said in my interview with The Baltimore Guide, I take pictures because I enjoy it; I photograph what I see around me.  I don’t do it with the notion of awards in mind and I don’t go looking for a shot for the sole purpose of being praised.  However, if someone is so inclined to single out a piece of my work and say that it is worthy of mention, I’m not going to argue. Continue reading “Honorable Mention” →

Random, Uncategorized

Save The Date

by Wendi2 Comments on Save The Date
houseof Ruth_invite_2009
awesome graphics by Jen Smith

I don’t think I can do any better than the write up I posted last year about the B-More Bags project at House of Ruth Maryland.  Go aheady, clicky on that link there and read all about it.  Because it’s Trunk Show time again.

On 12 November 2009 you have the opportunity to get a one of a kind, handmade bag with a heart.  That’s because 100% of the proceeds from the TAX DEDUCTIBLE purchase of every B-More Bag, supports the House of Ruth Maryland’s Emergency Transportation Fund.  Especially in these dodgy economic times, nonprofits need our support.  Budget friendly offerings include Stuff Bags (great for all the random stuff that likes to hide in the bottom of your purse), Bottle Bags (which make a great hostess gift), and my personal favorite, the Market Bag.

This year will also be your last chance to snag an original B-More Bags Tote.  Don’t miss out on this opportunity to get one before they’re gone.

But the exciting news is that we’re unveiling the new Grab and Go Bag as well as a Special Collection designed by folks from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).  Styles include a Small Duffel Bag and a Back Pack.

The holidays are right around the corner and B-More Bags make a great gift…for yourself or someone else.  I hope you’ll save the date and join us on November 12th.  For more information, please visit the House of Ruth Maryland and B’More Bags.

Random

Meat Market

by Wendi2 Comments on Meat Market

Old School

I had a pulled pork recipe to test recently for Cook’s Illustrated. While I can’t post anything specific about the recipe, other than it takes a hell of a long time but is goooood, I am completely free to say what a pain it was to find the pork itself. CI said to use 5 pounds of pork butt (shoulder) for a recipe that made 6 to 8 servings. Since there’s usually only two of us eating, I made the decision to cut the recipe in half. I figured, how hard could it be to find a small pork butt?

Harder than I imagined. I checked my usual grocery stores and struck out. Giant? No butts. Safeway? Everything but. I even called a small butcher shop that everyone always raves about. Yes, they had them. But the smallest one was 7 pounds and they would not cut it down. What kind of butcher won’t cut a piece of meat to order? Not one that I’ll be going to in the future…you hear that Treuth and Sons? And I won’t have to. Because I found exactly what I needed at an old school meat market.

Usually, when I hear ‘meat market’ I think of College Night at some bar. Booming bases and dark corners for your ‘shopping’ experience. Thankfully, the only butts waiting to be picked up at the Laurel Meat Market were of the pork variety. There were also ribs and loins and just about every other cut of meat you could want. Their sign in the window promised meat cut to order. And that’s exactly what they did. They cut me three pounds of pork that would be transformed into moist, sweet, pulled pork ‘que.

While I was there, a nice rump that caught my eye. So maybe my days of avoiding the meat markets are over.

Laurel Meat Market – 347 Main Street, Laurel, Maryland 301.725.5855.

My thanks to HowChow for the post that brought LMM to my attention.

Random

This Summer I…

by Wendi3 Comments on This Summer I…

Brugge Self Portrait

I don’t remember ever actually having to write an essay about what I did on my summer vacation.  Do teachers really give that as an assignment or have we collectively just made it up?  Regardless, it’s a good thing I never had to write about my summers.  Because for me, summer vacation from school did not equal going away.  Sure, there was one time that we took a day trip to Ocean City.  All I remember is leaving for the beach before the sun was even up and having to change out of  my sandy bathing suit in the back of the car at the end of the day.  There was also a stop at some restaurant along Rt. 50 for breakfast.  Silver Dollar pancakes, that I remember. Continue reading “This Summer I…” →