Tales of an Overtime Cook

It all started about 7, maybe 8 months ago. It was at least a month or two before this blog was even a germ of an idea in the back of my mind. I had been baking goodies and sending pictures of them off to my friends. They liked my ideas, occasionally asked for a recipe, but they really weren’t getting the full picture (excuse the pun) when they were seeing things like this:

Almost too embarrassing to post, but I had to show how far I’ve come.

I suddenly realized that learning more about photography, specifically food photography, shouldn’t be too hard. I work at a company that is known as the go-to place for all kinds of camera equipment. Even better, my company is known to have professional photographers who are there to answer your questions. And I had loads of questions. I work right next to the marketing team, many of whom are professional photographers in their spare time. One day it was quiet in the office, and I walked over the marketing department, and approached one of my friends. “Who here,” I asked her, “would be best to ask for advice about food photography?”

She steered me in the direction of an incredibly talented and patient! coworker named Gabe, who spent an hour teaching me the basics of photography.  I had brought in some home baked cookies, and he showed me how to compose them, how to focus, and how to take good pictures of them. By the time the hour was complete, he had taken some incredible shots of these cookies all on my iPhone! Even more impressive, I had taken some pretty nice pictures too!

About a month later, I started to dream of food blogging. Photography had been the missing piece, and now I was getting into that too!  And that’s when Overtime Cook began. It’s been almost six months, and I have loved pretty much every second of it. There may have been a few seconds between two and three in the morning when I was frantically trying to get a decent picture of something, cursing the concept of blogging under my breath, but those moments were few and far between. I have been taking my pictures solely on my iPhone camera. Which, amazingly, takes better pictures than my old point and shoot. Lucky for me, I have amazing coworkers who would look at my pictures, critique them, and offer constructive criticism.

But that wasn’t good enough for me. I spend my days selling electronics, notably cameras and camera equipment. And every time I sold a DSLR camera for the last seven months, (and we are talking many times per hour) I felt a burning desire for one.

I spent months learning all I could, researching my options, speaking to a million different photographers at work, picking their brains. Until finally, last week, the moment that I never thought would happen:

My camera came!!! (Excuse my use of multiple exclamation points. In most cases I am dead against it, but there is really no other way to convey my feelings about this.)

As I write this, my amazing new toy camera at my side, I appreciate my friends and readers who have stuck with me through my fuzzy pictures, and especially my amazing coworkers who have taught me everything I know about food photography. I’m still learning the ropes, but I am so glad to have you folks to share it with.

Wait, did you want a recipe? Ok, here goes. This came into existence simply because I had leftover brownies, which seems unthinkable. Honestly though, it’s delicious enough to warrant baking a batch of your favorite brownies, then sneaking some aside for a delicious, easy and super impressive treat.

Mini Triple Chocolate Trifles:

Ingredients:

10 mini (decorative) cups

Brownie scraps (about a cup)

1 1/2 cups Cool Whip (Rich’s Whip)

3/4 cup powdered sugar

5 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions:

Place a few scraps of brownie on the bottom of each cup, about a third of the way up. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cool whip until thick. Beat in the powdered sugar until just combined. Set aside about 2/3 cup of the cream. Meanwhile, add the cocoa powder into the remaining cream. Stir gently with a rubber spatula until cocoa is fully incorporated.

Fill the cups to the top with the chocolate cream. Use a rubber spatula to scrape any excess off of the top. Pipe the white cream over the chocolate cream. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Miriam

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