New Look & a Strawberry Cheesecake

Hey there, everyone! As you know (or may not know) my blog suffered a radical change. Something took over my mind so I decided to change everything. As you now can see, the background's different, also the name & header. But I'm still the same; I'll continue sharing recipes, tips and photographs with you.

Today I came with a Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe.

This recipe is significant for me, because every Christmas or any gathering with family, we always share this cheesecake, we usually don't put any kind of toppings, but this time I decided to put some strawberries on top for better looks & taste.

Cheesecake is one of my family's favorite desserts and not everyone has that "special touch", so when my family said it was delicious and they wanted more, I felt happy & really excited. It was the first time I baked it and it had great acceptance. 

Have you ever had that feeling that comes after being accepted for something? I did that time. That my aunt (the one who bakes it) told me it was great and that I was good at cooking was a boost to my self-esteem, confidence, and everything else.

Make Over!

Hey there everyone, I've got news! I'm giving my blog a complete makeover!!
This make over includes: a new name, new background & stuff like that.

You may ask, why? I wasn't bored of how my blog looked, actually is something that goes a long way with myself. I felt that I needed to change my blog as I am changing. I started (or am about to) a new phase in my life and I want my blog (which is very important for me) to change along & reflect what I am feeling & thinking at the moment.

Don't worry, older posts will not be deleted, the recipes that I've posted are going to be available any time, but I hope that as I like the new everything of the blog, you will like it too. I'm working hard here.

I want to thank a friend of mine who has been very supportive with this change (in my life & blog). N is a great person, so nice, friendly, easy-going, imaginative, and amazing, I really don't have many words to describe her awesomeness. She has stood still by my side during some rough times and even great ones; I think she would be one of the most accurate descriptions for True Friend. I think I'm getting very emotional here, so I'll better just say Thanks N! You're great; I [heart] you my friend. And the white chocolate chip chocolate cookies post (coming soon) is especially for you.

Well, I think that's all for this post, I'll tweet the date of the release of the new image and name of the blog. Thanks for your visits & I hope that you find my recipes useful. [The new URL will be available soon.]

Thank you for stopping by!

Peace. OX

Spring [almost summer] Findings & Some Of the Things I've Learned

Today was a great day, I found some great fruits in the market and I decided to practice my food photography with beautiful peaches and pears. I think after reading some tips from Blogher food '11 Conference, my photography has improved.

In these photos, I used different colors, styles and the like, but I like them both. (:

I'll keep improving and practicing. Something really important that I learned was that it doesn't matter if I'm using my canon point n' shoot or if I can put my hands on a DSLR to shoot something, it is up to me to take that great picture. Learning to use your camera and feeling comfortable with it is really important, you have to know what does every little button can do and how you can use them for your advantage.

I'm feeling really happy with what I've accomplished at this time, and I hope to improve in every aspect of my photography, styling, and even my writing. I also hope that if you are learning like me, you do it from great personalities in the food photography world,practicing and sharing with everyone what you have learned, so that we all can share tips and enhance our photography.

Spring kisses & warm hugs to you all,

                                                   

Another Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe & a Journey For The Future

So, here I am, I've been having a hard time writing and baking. Have you ever had a time when you are totally up to doing something but it always ends up badly or you don't even have a chance to start? (This has been one of my longest questions ever!) Well, I'm in this time. Now I've been more into writing my personal feelings about what is going on in the other side of the screen; trying to combine that with food sounds easier than it is, at least for me.
It's been a while since I wrote my last post, and today I felt like I should finish this one that has been saved as draft for so long now, that I don't even remember what I was thinking when i started typing.

They're awesome in flavor

Well, in my Journey for the Future I've been looking for a place to live now that I'm leaving to college, actually it's harder than I thought. There are a couple months left for me to enjoy in my hometown, but it feels like time is running out, almost like water in my hands. I have a lot of things planned here, that I don't even know if I'll get to do half of them, so much pressure is on me right now with final exams in high school, all the paperwork that has to be done for college, housing, etc. But another thing that's been in my thoughts lately is finding the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that makes me go wild, the One! And it's not like I'm not going to bake when I'm gone, but the new tiny apartment kitchen and limited tools will make it very hard.

My goal for this summer vacation is to find THE recipe and bake a lot other things. I have a huge list of "What to bake next..." that I want most of the recipes there crossed by the time I'm in another city.

But let's get to the fun stuff, OK? The next Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, that has been the one with the best flavor so far. This recipe is from David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes. One more time they were flat. What’s wrong with my karma?? I'm starting to think it may have been because either one of these things:

Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies (K1)

This is the second recipe for the cookies I've tried on the Cookie Quest!

These cookies were great in flavor, but after a day or so they were really hard, maybe it was something I did wrong, so if you want the recipe, it's after the jump! (:

Ingredients

• 220 g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip