Bacon, Mushroom and Pea Risotto

Recently I discovered a new favorite ingredient….are you ready? I’ll give you a clue:

Photo via IMDB

Yup in addition to free healthcare and mounted police, Canada also has the most delicious bacon….really, what’s not to love about our neighbors to the north?

How to Save For Retirement by Eating a Healthier Dinner



Source: Crown Fried Chicken



It’s a story we’ve heard over and over– Americans are obese because many can’t afford to eat a healthy diet.  Really?! Is that even possible? I’m no genius, but the math in that equation never seemed right. 

To me, it seems more likely that most people are just too L-A-Z-Y to bother with meal planning and cooking. So, I was excited when I came across this article in the NY Times that supported my assumption.



Easy Strawberry Avocado Salad

I’ve been a bad blogger. Bad, bad KT for neglecting the readers (all 2 of you) and leaving the blog to rot like an old banana. Don’t worry though; I’m currently doing penance in time out…..

I wish I had some good excuse for completely ignoring my blog, but the truth is that it’s just been way too humid for me to even think about getting creative in the kitchen. My kitchen adventures lately have been strictly in and out affairs with tried and true recipes.  Nothing really exciting to report, but with autumn right around the corner I’m back on the wagon!

The upside of all this neglect is that it’s allowed me to get some serious wedding planning done. Ladies and gentlemen we have a dress! I’m so excited, but Mr. Officer is a little bummed that I won’t let him see a picture. Apparently no one told him that seeing the bride before the wedding is bad luck. However, I’m willing to make a one-time exception just to stop the bellyaching, so without further ado……a dress pic:

Weeknight Spaghetti & Meatballs

Confession time.....for most of my life I was afraid to make spaghetti & meatballs. It's true, this is the type of shame I carry with me on a daily basis.

I think maybe I've been traumatized by all the stories I've heard about Italian Grandmothers lovingly toiling over huge pots of red gravy for hours; stirring, tasting, seasoning, etc. The truth is, if I made Italian wine in my basement or grew tomatoes for my sauce in my garden in Queens, I think I might feel the same way because sometimes it's about the process and the memories. Who can compete with that level of dedication?


However, I managed to overcome my fears and made some very delicious meatballs the other day. Sometimes it's the small victories in life. Not to brag or anything, but the sauce was so delicious that I may have been taking little spoonfuls everytime I passed through the kitchen for the rest of the night.....please don't judge me (even if I used my fingers a few times).



End result: I had a delicious dinner, my man had a delicious dinner, everyone wins, I'm so proud of myself! Huh, maybe the Grandmothers won't rise up and chase after me with wooden spoons after all!

*Bonus wine pairing recommendation: I enjoyed my spaghetti & meatballs with a nice glass of Chaddsford Winery Merican. We're kind of obsessed with the Chaddsford Winery and my man never misses an opportunity to show off his vintners club frequent buyer card.....because we're giant nerds and love that kind of thing. Not to worry though, there will be lots more babbling on about wine as get closer to our wedding in a Pennsylvania winery/bed & breakfast next year!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Meatballs

1 lb ground meat

1 egg

¼ c. breadcrumbs

1 tsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. nutmeg

1 tbsp olive oil

Sauce

1 shallot, chopped

¼ c. red wine

28 oz. crushed tomatoes with basil

 15 oz.  diced tomatoes

2 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp. dried parsley

1 tsp crushed red pepper

2 tsp. sugar

1.       Combine all meatball ingredients except for the olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Form the meat mixture into balls using your hands (it should make about 12 meatballs). Be careful that you don’t handle the meat too much because that will result in tough meatballs.

2.       Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven on the stovetop and brown the meatballs in the oil. Remove the meatballs to paper towel lined plate to drain.

3.       Reserve 1 tbsp of the oil and meat drippings in the dutch oven, add the shallots and cook until softened (about 5 minutes). Turn off the heat, add the wine to deglaze the pan and cook off the alcohol.

4.       Add the remaining ingredients to the pan along with the meatballs and simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

BBQ Ribs

I hope you all had a fun and celebratory 4th of July, I know we all had a great time here in NYC!

I was so excited to finally spend a holiday with my main man this year. Alas, the city of NY had different plans and he ended up patrolling the harbor during the fireworks (cue Price Is Right style loser sound effect).

But as a consolation prize, doesn't he look so handsome and official in the picture below?! Rawr....not even gonna lie, I did consider leaping into the harbor so that I could be rescued by this good looking guy:

However I'm happy to report that I was able to hold onto some small shred of dignity and did not end up swimming out to his boat. Instead, I settled down to watch the exact same fireworks with our friends from a sweet vantage point behind the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Oooohhh, aaaahhh, pretty and patriotic!

Yup, Macy's really knows how to put on a show. Plus we discovered that the added bonus of a fireworks display sponsored by a huge department store is that it provides a perfect setup for numerous jokes about the finale involving a special, aerial coupon code for 25% off slacks. These are the jokes folks.

Now that I'm done gloating about my handsome fiance and excellent fireworks-watching spot.....let's cook some ribs! I don't really have too much to say about this recipe except that it's good, you should make it. And yes, that's a blueberry muffin on the plate. Don't knock it until you try it!

BBQ Ribs

Barbecue Bible BBQ rub (recipe below)

Rack of ribs

BBQ sauce

1.       Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Rub ribs all over with dry rub, seal tightly in aluminum foil and place in a baking dish.

2.       Bake for 2 hours at 300 degrees.

3.       Open aluminum foil and baste with BBQ sauce, put back in the oven and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Barbecue Bible BBQ Rub

¼ c. sweet paprika

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tsp salt

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1.       Combine all the ingredients in a mason jar, shake to mix and use as needed. Makes about ½ cup or enough for 4-6 racks of ribs. The rub can be stored away from heat and light for up to 6 months.

Chicken Tacos

Greetings blog readers! I feel like I’ve been a little behind on my blogging lately, but I’m back today with a great recipe for chicken tacos.

I love this recipe because it incorporates three of my favorite things: a crockpot, laziness and Pepper Jack cheese. Plus the tacos are relatively low-fat and taste great with a Corona. My main squeeze told me that these tacos were better than the version served at our local Mexican restaurant so I will take that as a big old compliment. Now if I can just learn how to make pizza we’ll really be in business! So, anyone have any good pizza recipes?

Chicken Tacos

16 oz container salsa

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
15 oz can black beans
1 package of 6" corn tortillas
Sliced Pepper Jack cheese
Tomatoes, chopped
Avocado, chopped

1. Place chicken, salsa and black beans in crockpot. Cook on low for about 8 hours or on high for about 5 hours (adjusting temperature as needed for frozen chicken).
2. Using a gas stovetop, char the tortillas slightly by placing each one individually on a burner for a few seconds until it's slightly blackened around the edges. Please use caution when doing this and watch your tortillas closely to make sure they don't go up in flames!
3. Make the tacos by layering the tortillas with the cheese on the bottom, followed by the chicken mixture with the tomatoes and avocado on top.

Slow Cooked Pot Roast with Whiskey Gravy

We just returned from the absolute best vacation ever in Disney World. Everyone say yay for Disney World! Who knew that Disney was so much fun for adults? We were like two big kids running around to all the rides, picking out which things we wanted to do next…..plus now we have the added bonus of being old enough to fully experience the Epcot World Showcase (a.k.a. the international beers and snacks of the world).  Huge score.

Photographic evidence of us finishing our vacation with French champagne & crepes

Now we’re back to reality, sigh. I think we’re both feeling a little bummed to be back to the real world so I decided we needed a little comfort food pick-me-up to start the week.  That and I had a pot roast in the freezer that was starting to feel a little neglected. Hence, slow cooked pot roast with whiskey gravy! Which, by the way, to add to the huge list of reasons why I love my slow cooker…..did I mention that we don’t have air conditioning here and that the thought of using the oven in 90 degree weather is not so appealing? I’m just saying, expect lots of slow cooked love this summer.

Slow Cooked Pot Roast with Whiskey Gravy

1 1/2 pound beef roast

10.25 oz can beef gravy

10.25 oz warm water

A few handfuls of baby carrots

1 onion, cut up

3 small russet potatoes, cut up

2 tsp flour

1/4 cup whiskey

salt & pepper to taste

1. Place beef roast in slow cooker and surround with vegetables. Pour the can of gravy over top, and add one can full of warm water to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 10 to 12 hours.

 

2. At the end of the cooking time, remove roast and veggies from the slow cooker and strain the juices into a saucepan on the stove.

 

3. Mix together the flour and whiskey (I usually shake mine in a mason jar to get out all of the lumps) and whisk the flour mixture into the juices in the saucepan to create a gravy. Add salt & pepper to taste and bring to a rolling boil, stirring or whisking frequently.

 

4. In the meantime, slice the beef and add it back to the slow cooker along with the cooked vegetables. When the gravy is done, pour it back into the slow cooker and put the cooker on warm until ready to eat.

*Note: I used a roast straight from my freezer, you may need to reduce the cooking time if you are using a piece of meat that is not frozen.

Yum - looks good enough to eat!

Memorial Day Cheeseburgers!

It’s officially summer in NYC, time for backyard BBQs, walks in the park and sweating it out in the subway stations.  

It also means that the fleet is in for Fleet Week….well hello sailor!

Photo via NY Daily News

Photo via Gothamist

In honor of Memorial Day this year, I salute our devoted servicemen and women with the most American thing I can think of.....a cheeseburger!  NYC loves you and thanks you for your devoted service. So up kick your feet, grab a beer and enjoy the guilty pleasure of a greasy burger because, baby, you've earned it.

1 lb ground beef

1 tbsp BBQ rub seasoning

1 tbsp Worchestershire Sauce

1 tsp dried parsley

1 avocado, sliced

1 beefsteak tomato, sliced

4 slices pepperjack cheese

4 hamburger buns

cooking spray

Directions

1. Mix together ground beef, BBQ rub, Worchestershire sauce and parsley. Form into 4 flat patties (about 1/4 inch each). Note: try not to overwork the meat because that will result in tough burgers.
2. Heat a frying pan coated with cooking spray over high heat. Add burgers and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Flip burgers and add cheese. Cover and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
4. Assemble burgers on buns with avocado and tomato slices. Enjoy!

Memorial Day Cheeseburgers

Broccoli, Pea and Prosciutto Pasta Bake - recipe help needed!

I have a confession to make….I made a terrible dinner the other night.  It didn’t taste like feet or anything, it was just kind of lame.

I was in the mood for a baked pasta dish but we’ve been trying to eat healthy. I figured it would be easy to whip up something good and low-fat. Wrong. Somehow in my zeal for low-fat deliciousness, I made a very boring dish. What can I say; sometimes the man of the house gets stuck with a big, steaming bowl of bland for dinner. Big bummer though, I was really hoping this one would work out because I wanted to love it.

Photo via tvtropes.org

Now, dear readers, I need your help because I still want this one to work. Take a look and let me know if you have any ideas on where this might have gone so wrong! The person that can tell me how to renovate it into something healthy, lowfat and satisfying gets a big, gold star.

Broccoli, Pea and Prosciutto Pasta Bake

1 10 oz bag frozen broccoli

¼ c frozen peas

8 oz large pasta shells

3 pieces prosciutto, chopped

1 15 oz container non-fat ricotta cheese

2 egg whites

½ c low-fat Italian cheese mix

½ c low-fat milk

¼ c grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried parsley

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Start a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta per the package directions.

2. Microwave the broccoli on high for 3 minutes, add the peas and microwave an additional 30 seconds.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Add the broccoli, peas and cooked pasta.

4. Pour the entire mixture into a 2 quart square baking dish and bake covered for 45 minutes.

BBQ Chicken Joes

The man of the household worked a double shift last weekend, which meant we spent a rare Saturday together. So, we made a little mini vacation out of it by meeting a friend for brunch, drinking boozy milkshakes in the afternoon and watching a Back to the Future marathon. In a word, our day together was AWESOME!
I knew that Mr. Man would be pretty tired from working an 18 hour shift, so I rewarded him with slowcooked BBQ Chicken Joes for dinner.  He had his on country white bread as a sandwich, which he swears is the way to go, but I had mine straight up in a bowl which I think is the better option.  Now I'm back from my "vacation" and trying to avoid the huge mountain of laundry that's been piling up in the bedroom, sigh.....

BBQ Chicken Joes

1 lb ground chicken

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

¼ c. BBQ sauce (I used Stubb’s honey pecan sauce)

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp chili powder

Shredded cheese as garnish

1.       Combine all ingredients in crockpot, cook on low for 8 hours.

Enjoy with the '80s movie of your choice for a fantastic date night!

image via Abduzeedo

Enchilade Fiesta!

We've had a recent tragedy here in our happy neighborhood.....our local Tex-Mex restaurant has closed.  Gasp, oh no! Some of you non-city dwellers might be thinking, "So what?! You live in NYC, you have tons of options." And, you would be right BUT you just don't really understand unless you've been faced with walking 10 blocks in a freezing, driving rain for a measly enchilada and cheap margarita.  So, I've decided that instead of torturing myself with a painful walk, I'll just figure out how to make my favorites at home so that we won't miss feel the loss quite so much.  Thus, I bring you today's recipe for low-fat turkey, black bean and corn enchiladas. We had ours with chips & salsa, Mexican beer and salad (I accidentally bought the Asian salad so our dinner was Mexican-Asian fusion, oops).

Dinner came out great and we had a nice little mid-week fiesta plus we've also got a freezer full of margarita concentrate so I'm seriously considering inviting the neighbors and charging admission to our living room.

Turkey, Black Bean & Corn Enchiladas

1 turkey tenderloins, cooked and shredded

1 10 oz. can enchilada sauce

1 15 oz can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 15 oz can corn, drained

1 4.5 can chopped green chiles

8 6 inch corn tortillas

1 c. low-fat Mexican style cheese

Low-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt, to taste

1 avocado, chopped

1. Mix shredded turkey with black beans, corn and chiles.  Can be made in advance and stored in fridge overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 7 x 11 inch casserole dish.  Wrap tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave for 30 seconds or until warm.
3. Assemble enchiladas by putting a heaping spoonful of turkey mixture on the side of tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place in casserole dish seam side down.
4. Pour sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of cheese.  Cover with foil and bake until bubbly (about 45 minutes). Garnish with sliced avocado and lowfat sour cream or Greek yogurt if desired.

Then do your Casa Bonita happy dance:

 
image via examiner.com

Retro Baked Hot Dogs

We just got back from vacation, yay vacation! We went on a cruise and had a great time. We got sunburned on the beach, drank mai tais, made fun of the onboard entertainment (while secretly enjoying every minute) and watched for dolphins from our balcony. Most of all though we just spent time together which is a special treat for two busy people with very different work schedules. Here's a very awkward picture of me enjoying our fun vacation, I think I was mid sentence or something and um, don't mind my fantastic tan.

Now we're back to regular life (ugh), and will be heading back to work soon (double blah). I was smart enough to clean out the fridge before we left so that we didn't come home to the lovely scent of old milk but my awesome planning meant the dinner pickins' were pretty slim. On a side note, this thoughtful bit of planning also lead to the great oj debate of '11 when I accidentally threw out the orange juice minutes before my main squeeze went to pour himself a glass....oops. I'm still hearing about it and doubt the jokes about throwing out the juice will stop anytime soon.

Anywho I'm trying to avoid ordering take-out all the time sooooo tonight I'll be looting what's left of the fridge to make a childhood favorite....baked hot dogs and soup.The recipe for this one came from one of the first cookbooks I got as a child (either Betty Crocker or Better Homes & Gardens Junior, although I can't remember which at the moment) so I've creatively named this one Retro Baked Hot Dogs and that's about as good as it gets with vacation brain, enjoy!

Retro Baked Hot Dogs

4 hot dogs

4 pieces of bread

8 toothpicks

Butter or margarine

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
2. Cut slits down the length of the hot dogs.
3. Butter the bread and place buttered side down on the cookie sheet.  Place the slit hot dogs diagonally across the bread, then fold the buttered side up and secure with toothpicks (creating a little “tent” with the hot dogs nestled in the middle).
4. Bake the hot dogs in the oven for about 20 -25 minutes or until bread is golden brown.

*Note: some people add a piece of cheese between the bread and the hot dogs before baking.  I like to think that by leaving out the cheese, I'm making it healthier....please let me have these small comforts.

Still lazy - this time with roast beef!

My days are long, there are meetings to worry about, laundry, gym, Hoarders, the inevitable post Hoarders cleaning spree, Jersey Shore....well, you get the idea.  So you might be wondering, where does dinner fit into this packed schedule of trashy TV? Well ladies and gents, I present you with my all time favorite kitchen appliance:

That's right, the lowly slow cooker has found a place of honor in this metropolitan kitchen. No joke, if I had a car it would have an I heart crockpots bumper sticker. Because really, who doesn't want to come home to a delicious and healthy dinner after a full day of stuff and things? Plus I found out I can throw frozen protein in there directly from the freezer......genius! I'm not ashamed to admit that I own 4 of  them, viva la slow cooker!

Anyway enough about my unhealthy obsession, let's get down to business with a classic Sunday roast from my childhood adapted for my favorite appliance.  Interesting side note on this one, I hated sandwiches when I was a kid (seriously, what kid hates sandwiches) so my Mom would give me straight up roast beef cubes in a plastic baggie. No bread, no cheese, just plain old roast beef because I was a weird kid.  It's amazing that I ever managed to become a relatively well adjusted adult.  Still working out some kinks on that well adjusted adult thing though so no promises.

Slow cooker Roast Beef
Beef Roast (pretty much anything will do, mine was a frozen 3 1/2 lb top round roast)
1 10.75 oz can mushroom soup
1 14.5 oz can beef broth
1 packet onion soup mix

Place roast directly in slow cooker (frozen is fine, no need to defrost just let it cook a little longer). Whisk together the three soups and pour over the beef.  Cook on low for 10-12 hours.

French Sweet Potatoes
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
3 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp mustard
1 tsp herbs de provence
1 tsp rosemary
Salt & pepper to taste

Mix together mustard, olive oil and seasonings, toss with potatoes to coat. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes, tossing stirring halfway through.

Get In Shape Girl Black Bean Soup

Remember Get In Shape Girl, that wonderful old Hasbro chestnut of the '80s?  I do and I have many fond memories of suiting up in my totally rad leotard and sweatband to rock out with some sweet Michael Jackson tunes on my Get In Shape Girl mat. 



Oh how times have changed, now I rock out to sounds of the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" in a desperate attempt to forget that I am actually pumping away on an elliptical machine instead of sitting on the couch in my pj's, eating fistfuls of Cheetos. Inexplicably, this mental trick has actually worked and now I find myself looking forward to Friday nights at the gym. I know it's kind of lame to spend Friday night at the gym, but if you lived in NY and had to throw an elbow just to get through the crowd of anxious people waiting for a machine on a Monday night you would understand my Friday night enthusiasm.  Plus there's something indulgent about starting the weekend off right, like it gives you a free pass to eat nachos and beer to your heart's content on Saturday and Sunday.

So in the spirit of a healthy Friday night, here's an easy and healthy favorite to help you jumpstart your weekend!

Get In Shape Girl Black Bean Soup

1 15.5 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.5 oz can lowfat chicken broth
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 small onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cajun seasoning
2 tbsp hot wing sauce (more or less to taste)
2 drops liquid smoke (be careful not to add too much, it is powerful stuff)
1 avocado (sliced or diced)
1 6 oz container lowfat Greek yogurt

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add onion and saute until onion is soft. Add jalapeño and cajun seasoning and continue to cook, stirring frequently for about 1 minute.
2. Add beans, chicken broth, hot sauce and liquid smoke.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer over medium low heat (stirring ocasionally) for about 20 minutes or until flavors combine and beans soften.
3. Carefully pour mixture into blender, put the lid on but leave off the middle portion of the lid to allow steam to escape.  Cover the hole by loosely holding a kitchen towl over the opening to avoid spillage. Pulse a few times until desired consistency (i.e. thickening the soup but not so much that it becomes a baby food puree).
4. Serve immediately with avocado and a dallop of Greek yogurt.

Lazy Woman Chicken Skewers

It's been cold here and it's making me extremely laaazzzyyyy.  Seriously,all I want to do is curl up in bed with a book and stay there until the temperature gets a little more reasonable.  Needless to say I was pursuing my dream by reading a magazine in bed last night when I decided it would be a great idea to make the adorable rosemary chicken skewers that I saw in this month's Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine. Excellent use of ingredients I already had, cute dinner, everyone's happy, excellent plan!

Slight problem though, once I got out of my comfort coccoon, I had absolutely zero motivation to spend my night threading chicken cubes onto rosemary sprigs.  Soooooo I took the lazy route by chopping up the rosemary and mixing it in with all the skewer ingredients.  Let me tell you, the end result was delicious....didn't even miss the skewers. Plus I didn't have to worry about accidentally shooting chicken across the kitchen while extracting it from the skewer. Score! I love it when I'm rewarded for laziness. Plus this dinner involves a delicious dipping sauce, seriously, who doesn't love a good dipping sauce?

Lazy Woman Chicken Skewers

½ c. mayo

¼ c. mustard

1 lemon, juiced then sliced

1 shallot, chopped in wedges

1 package chicken, cut in pieces

1 package cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp rosemary, roughly chopped

Ground pepper

1.       Mix together mayo, mustard, juice from the lemon and pepper to taste
2.       Put chicken pieces, shallot wedges, cherry tomatoes, rosemary on a foil lined cookie sheet. Pour half  of mayo mixture over top and mix.
3.       Broil for 15 minutes, stirring a few times during cooking.
4.       Serve with reserved mayo mixture for dipping.

Adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray.

Southwestern Blizzard Stew

Not sure if you've heard, but we've had a blizzard here in NYC.  Luckily, I was able to get back from Florida in time to miss this and this. Whew, what a relief! Poor Mr. Officer though was not so lucky and had to work his emergency response magic in the terrible storm.  The weather was so bad that he had to leave his car at work and walk part of the way home through waist deep snow which made from one grumpy guy.  Well at least he had this soup waiting for him after a hard day's work!

Southwestern Blizzard Stew

·         1 lb ground meat

·         2 carrots, diced

·         2 shallots, diced

·         ¼ c. bourbon

·         1 can fire roasted tomatoes with chiles

·         1 can diced tomatoes

·         1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

·         2 cans corn

·         1 can beef broth

·         1 packet of taco seasoning

·         1 packet of ranch dressing seasoning

·         Salt & Pepper

·         1 tbsp olive oil

·         Shredded cheese (for garnish)

1.       Brown meat in dutch oven over high heat. Remove meat from pan and drain on paper towels.

2.       In same pan, heat oil over high heat and brown carrots & shallots with salt & pepper for about 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with bourbon and continue to cook the veggies 1 – 2 minutes more.

3.       Add both cans of tomatoes and corn (with liquid) as well as the black beans and beef broth.  Stir in the seasonings packets and bring soup to a boil.

4.       Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about an hour, stirring approximately every 20 minutes. Garnish with shredded cheese and serve with crusty bread.

Psst - don't mind the terrible photograph, I'm still getting the hang of this thing and obviously have zero future as a food stylist.