Hi Everyone. Erica has very kindly let me takeover her blog today as we both went to Tots100 BlogSummit in Birmingham last weekend. As part of BlogSummit, we all had to put our blog names in an envelope and randomly pull one out of the hat and do a guest post on that blog. I was very pleased when I got Erica’s blog as she is not only very local to me and I love reading her adventures with H. My son Thomas is only 18 months old so it gives me a taste of things to come!
I first started blogging as a food blogger five years ago at Jo’s Kitchen. I started my parenting blog, Jo’s Nursery just over two years ago when I discovered I was pregnant with Thomas. I still love cooking despite having to work round a toddler to make things and I do not get as much time as I would like to cook.
Despite being a food blogger for five years, I have never attended a food photography workshop until I went to BlogSummit last weekend. We had a session by John Arnold, geek mummy’s husband. He taught us some simple tips below to help improve our food photography:
• For flat food, use a straight down shot looking directly above the food
• Use foam core white boards (available from art shops) to move the light where you want it in the shot
• Use natural light where possible
• Use dark colours to provide a contrast to the food
• Use a variety of table mats to bring colour and texture in your photographs
• Finally, tell a story with your photographs – the cooking of our dish, the finished dish and the eating of the dish are an example of a story.
Here is a simple and easy recipe for flapjacks. These are ideal as a lunchbox treat, after school snack or for taking out on an adventure together. I tried to take John’s tips into account when taking the photo but I did have a toddler running around me at the time. I also did not put quite enough golden syrup in my flapjacks so they are a bit crumbly. I have adjusted the recipe accordingly so your’s do not do the same!
Fruity Flapjacks
Ingredients
• 250g unsalted butter
• 10 generous tablespoons golden syrup
• 500g porridge oats
• 150g dried fruit (sultanas, raisins or glacé cherries are good)
Method
1. In a saucepan, melt the butter and golden syrup together over a gentle heat.
2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees c
3. In a big mixing bowl, put the oats and the dried fruit in and give them a good mix to spread the fruit through the mix evenly.
4. Pour the melted butter and golden syrup into the mixing bowl with the oats and the fruit and mix thoroughly until all the oats and fruits are covered with the melted butter and golden syrup.
5. Put the mix into a medium roasting tray (I used the foil trays you can get from a supermarket – if using a normal tray, line the tray with baking parchment/grease proof paper first)
6. Put in the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes until slightly golden brown. Allow to cool and cut into squares as big or small as you like. Eat and enjoy!
Thank to Erica for allowing me to do a guest post today. I hope you have enjoyed reading it.
