Sunday 2 May 2010

Working with what I've got: giant vanilla sugar cookies from Joy the Baker

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Lately I've been obsessed with food photography.  I recently discovered all those foodporn sites you all probably had bookmarked months (years?!) ago– foodgawker is my favorite– and I'm suddenly realizing just how sub-par my pics are.  Not just compared to SK and Joy, either– all the other amateur food bloggers out there are blowing me out of the water too!



So, after much cruising of eBay and Amazon and drooling over fancy SLR cameras, and consideration of digital cams with more than 5 megapixels and a better macro setting (my poor camera has served me so well for traveling, but it resents this new skill I'm trying to force upon it), I've decided to do as my lovah Gok Wan says and work with what I've got!  What I've got is a 2005 5 mp Casio Exilim, an old pillowcase with a pretty pattern, and a new, beautiful cake stand.  Oh, and some tulips.

E voila! 


As for the cookies, I needed something I could bake quickly and easily from items already in the cupboard/fridge (working with what I've got on that front too, since it was late and raining and I so didn't fancy a run to the store), and something that would mean easy cleanup, since it was the bf's dish day and he already had quite a pile going.

I settled on Joy the Baker's giant vanilla sugar cookies, which I'd been meaning to make for a while.  With parchment-lined cookie sheets and only one mixer bowl/paddle required, they made very few dishes for my honey, and they were ready in a little over an hour (includes chilling time) with minimal effort.  Oh, and did I mention they're tasty?  Quite tasty, in fact, and pretty photogenic, even on such a dreary day!


P.S. Speaking of photos, I've recently created a Flickr account for this blog, mostly because I don't want to inundate you guys with too many pics but I always take a million and a half and it's like Sophie's choice (if Sophie's kids were kind of ugly and mean) every time I have to pick.  So stop on by and leave me a comment (you know you can also comment here.  I'd love it, in fact.  I know you're out there.)!

4 comments:

  1. Delicious looking cookies and such a pretty cakestand! I love that they are so easy to make too. Thank you for stopping by my blog.=)

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  2. Hi Lisa,
    Thanks so much for commenting! They are delicious, and MASSIVE. I had to give most of them away!
    ~A

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  3. Hi Anne,
    I found your blog via doing a search on Photograzing...I had no idea about foodgawker! It looks like a good one!
    Jen

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  4. Hi Jen,
    Thanks so much for stopping by! Yes, foodgawker is amazing, but so far I haven't had any luck getting my photos past their judges... Hopefully my new camera will make a difference. But I'm quite fond of Photograzing- you find some really unusual ideas on there, and it's a bit less snooty about the 'artiness' of the shots...
    ~A

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