Taste the (healthy) Rainbow

I think I know what I want to make this week! Don't these look just yummy??? What a great snack they would make!!



---Dare to Cook---

"Food" for thought...

One of the main reasons I need to cook more right here...




---Dare to Cook---

Fun with Prezi

So at my last Lunch-N-Learn for VISTA, our VISTA Leader introduced us to a new presentation tool called Prezi. Well today I have been playing around with Prezi trying to learn how to work it. The only material I really had access to was from my food blogging so that is what I used.
To view the "presentation" you keep hitting the forward play button.

I might even use this as a way to post recipes with pictures step-by-step in the future. If nothing else it will help me learn how to use Prezi better.

There is even a YouTube video of Good Eats at the end. Watch it if you'd like, it's the pizza episode.

By no means is this a finished presentation. It's just me learning.

Enjoy!

Krispy Jones Food Photography on Prezi

---Dare to Cook---

Party Drinks

One cannot party on cheesecake alone, they need something to wash it down with. So here are the two yummy drinks I whipped up for the House Party over the weekend. The first is simple and easy: lemon infused water.
Step One: gather some lemons
Step Two: cut up the lemons
Step Three: pour water into pitcher
Step Four: put lemons in the pitcher of water
Step Five: refrigerate for at least two hours, I let it chill over night
Step Six: ENJOY!

If you're lucky your brother will give you one of these cool infuser pitchers for Christmas.

The other drink I made has a little bit more two it but still easy as pie.

Lime Sherbet Punch
Source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/lime-sherbet-punch-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:
2 quarts lime sherbet
2 liters ginger ale
1 (46-ounce) can pineapple juice
Lemon Slices
Lime Slices
Maraschino cherries

Directions:
In a punch bowl, (my punch bowl actually was not big enough so I used a really big pot) add 2 quarts of lime sherbet. Then add ginger ale and pineapple juice. Decorate with lemon and lime slices and some maraschino cherries.

Or do what I did and just dump everything and mix it together. Depends on how anal you want to be about presentation. I figured it was all going to get stirred together eventually anyway so I went a head and did it. I was also sad when my cherries sank but oh well.

Lemon and Lime Slices

Punch!!

I hope these lovely beverages will help to keep your party guests hydrated as then enjoy whatever festivities you may have planned for them.

---Dare to Cook---

Nacho Normal Cheesecake

Well, as promised here are some goodies that I made for my House Party. The cheesecake recipe is kind of involved but I think the "WOW factor" was worth it. Unfortunately I had to substitute some of the candies because I just couldn't find them after looking in three different grocery stores. So instead of the green and black licorice I used jelly beans.
I'm going to post the recipe from foodnetwork.com first and then show you some of the steps with the pictures I took. And when I say post I literally mean copy and paste.

Ingredients

For the cheesecake:

• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• Yellow and red food coloring
• Cooking spray, for the pan
• 1/2 cup sour cream

For the chips:

• 1 roll refrigerated pie dough
• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar

For the salsa and garnishes:

• 8 red Swedish Fish
• 1 cup low-sugar strawberry jam
• 3 strands green licorice twists
• 6 black licorice dots
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• Yellow and red food coloring
• 3 tablespoons chocolate-covered raisins

Directions

Make the cheesecake: Beat the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add 2/3 cup sugar, the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla; beat well. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Tint the batter orange with yellow and red food coloring.

Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. Pour in the batter; bake at 350 degrees F until puffed and almost set, 25 to 30 minutes. Mix the sour cream and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar; spread over the hot cheesecake and bake 5 more minutes. Let cool, then chill 2 hours.

Make the chips: Unroll the pie dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to flatten slightly. Brush the dough with the milk and sprinkle with the sugar. Cut the dough into 2 1/2-inch-wide strips.

Cut each strip into as many 2 1/2-inch triangles as possible. Place the triangles about 1 inch apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake in batches at 450 degrees F until lightly golden, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.

Make the salsa and garnishes: Cut the Swedish Fish into 1/2-inch pieces and toss with 2 tablespoons strawberry jam. For the chiles, cut the green licorice on the diagonal into 1/8-inch-thick slices.

For the olives, cut the black licorice dots into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Use a straw or pastry tip to remove a circle from the center of each round.

Tint the sour cream orange with yellow and red food coloring to look like melted cheese. Spoon the orange sour cream into a resealable plastic bag. Press out the excess air and seal.

Press the pie chips into the cheesecake. Add the black licorice, chocolate-covered raisins and some green licorice and jam-coated Swedish Fish.

Snip a small corner from the bag of orange sour cream and pipe a few dots on the cheesecake for the melted cheese. Serve with extra chips on the side, and make extra salsa by mixing leftover candies and jam.

Source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nacho-normal-cheesecake-recipe/index.html

And now for the good stuff... My pictures!!

Lemon Zest

Cheesecake Pre-Oven

Cheesecake Post Sour Cream

All the toppings ready to go on.

Close Up of the Finished Cheesecake

Nachos along with Chips and Salsa

I'm going to warn you right now that trying to poke the holes in the black jelly beans to make the olives was the hardest thing in the whole recipe. Even though I said the recipe was a bit involved it really was not all that hard.

Next post: Party Punch

---Dare to Cook---

Coming Attractions

I'm going to be making my very first cheesecake tomorrow!! Standby for blog and pictures!! Probably be Saturday night. I'm making the cheesecake and all the toppings on Friday but I'm going to put it all together on Saturday for my Glade House Party.
I will also be making a punch Saturday that I will post about as well. FUN FUN!!

---Dare to Cook---

New Years Resolutions

Ok, so it's a few days after New Years but I've been sick so cut a girl some slack. I'm not going to share all my resolutions with you because this is a food blog. not somewhere to go on and on about issues with graduate school and/or work. I am going to share with you my food related resolutions.

Recently I have had a few people actually express an interest in my food photography. I know they might just be trying to be nice but it still gave me a little bit of confidence into looking into selling some. So step one was to set up another blog, one that was exclusively for my pictures. If I get some interest in that I might move them to an actual website where people can buy them, however, still doing the VISTA thing I have to be careful. I can't really market this so for now it will probably just stay an underground thing for those close to me. Once I'm done with VISTA I will open it up more and really try to make something with it. I love taking pictures of food and so far I'm doing a learn as I go kind of thing. It makes me feel really good when someone says they like my pictures.

While I was setting up the blog for the food photography I had an idea: make a cookbook. Ok so it was an idea that had been stirring since I made that shutterfly book of my food photography. People were asking if I had made all the food in the book and I wished I could have said yes. So that being said, this cookbook isn't going to be fancy, or elaborate, but something that I can say with pride that yes, I not only took all the pictures, but cooked all the food too. More details to follow as they come up.

Next is just getting back to cooking. I have neglected cooking since I left Kentucky and this is unacceptable for me. I miss getting in the kitchen and getting my hands dirty. And with getting back to cooking comes getting back to this blog. At first I felt like I had something going and then life hit and it kinda fell apart. Getting cooking again will also help me with getting my heath back on track, but I said I wouldn't bog you down with non-food resolutions.

One other little side note for this blog. I need to actually put something on all the other parts to it. I have yet to put and tricks and tips or favorite gadgets up. I need to do that too. I believe this one needs a sooner deadline though so I am going to say that by the end of February I will have posted my favorite gadgets and some tricks and tips.

As for deadlines on other resolutions:
The food photography deal will be on going. I'd like to putz around with it now and then really work at it once I'm done with VISTA. Not to say you can't buy from me before then but I can't really market it as a business until then.
The cookbook might also take some time, because I'm going to want it to be just right. However, maybe by my birthday I can have a rough draft going. I'd really like to have an original recipe in there. That would be heavenly!
And finally, getting back to cooking. Well, that I want to get on this weekend. And not baking, I mean cooking. I like baking too but you can't live on cake alone. Well you could but you'd be sure to find yourself on The Biggest Loser in no time.

So there you have it. My food related New Years Resolutions. I hope you enjoy and I really hope I stick to them because they really do mean something to me.

Until next time...

---Dare to Cook---