restaurants – We Call Him Yes!Chef!

Dulce de Leche Filled Shortbread or Does Caramel Make You Swoon?

Shortbread Filled with Dulce de Leche and cold milk — A cold glass of milk and Shortbread Filled with Dulce de Leche

I was cruising around the internet a couple of months ago and I read about something called Dulce de Leche in a jar. I don’t remember where I saw it or even what the recipe was, but I stored it away in the back of my mind and then didn’t remember it until I saw a jar of it in one of my favorite stores, World Market. I went ahead and bought it because…well…as I said, I had stored away the memory of it in the back of my brain. I thought I would just take it home and it would speak to me about what I should do about it.

You are probably thinking, “Why didn’t she just hand it over to Yes!Chef! and say, ‘make something magic with this'”. I thought about that myself and when I brought it home I said something like, “Look what I found at World Market!!!”. He didn’t know what it was and really had no interest in it. I think I’ve mentioned before that he stays away from desserts because he had a bad experience with the first one he ever made (over 30 years ago.) I was on my own for this one.

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March 16, 2013March 17, 2013

Karen Schmautz10 Comments

I’ve seen the Light…another food photography post

Occasionally I teach a class on basic photography. Whenever I teach this class, I always start out with how the camera sees light and I use this photo as an example. These two photos were taken within seconds of each other and within 5 feet of each other. This beautiful woman was taking a class from me and I snapped these two photos off to show how light makes a difference in photography. She was stunned with the results. This photo has been one of the best learning tools that I have used. The picture on the left is direct overhead, middle-of-the-day sunlight. The shadows are harsh and for people, this light is not very flattering. For the right hand photo, I moved her about 5 feet until she was under the open shade of a large tree with the same sunlight reflecting off the ground and bouncing onto her face. You can see that reflected light in her eyes. The light on her face is soft and without harsh shadows.

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February 21, 2013February 21, 2013

Karen Schmautz24 Comments

Food Photography is Hard or Think Twice Before You Snap That Restaurant Pic and Post it All Over the Internet…

As a wedding photographer, I have to be able to photograph anything in any light to document all the things that go on in the wedding. The bride and groom barely remember anything that goes on in the wedding, so it is up to me, as the photographer, to document everything they have been working on for a year or more. You cannot always set up lights the way you would like or really have the kind of time that you would want to perfect each and every photo. Most often, my second shooter and I come away with 2000 photos or more of each wedding we do. I always want at least one good photo of the food and several great photos of the cake. So, I have to know a little something about good light to get those photos. However, there is no way I have the time during a wedding to set up amazing food shots like I do when Yes!Chef! cooks.