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Archive for February, 2009

This has nothing to do with photography, but I still wanted to share some of the fun I had over Valentine’s Day. With the economy being so poor I’m always looking for a way to have a good time but keep the cost down.

Instead of leaving the kids at home and heading out for a $100 evening, we decided to stay home and put together that same dinner for less than $30 and everyone got to enjoy it. For Valentine’s Day we decided to bring out the fondue pot and create our own little feast. It actually turned out exceptionally well with all of us sitting around the table talking and eating for nearly two hours. That alone was worth every penny.

I have a fondue pot which uses Sterno cans to keep it hot. This actually works quite well overall, but I wanted to get the main broth as hot as possible and give it time to simmer. With that in mind I put the broth on the stove while we enjoyed the choose dip.

Beef Broth:

To make the main fondue broth, combine the following in a saucepan:

1 ½ cups red wine (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Burgundy, etc). Brand and vintage aren’t important.
1 cup of water
1 packet French Onion soup mix
1 beef bouillon cube

Bring to a boil and then let simmer until you’re ready for it.

The cheese mixture is just as simple but very tasty. I did this in the fondue pot itself since it probably wouldn’t pour very well and the cheese only takes a few minutes to melt. The actual quantities will vary slightly depending on how many people you have. But here is the base.

Cheese Dip:

In the fondue pot combine the following:

4-8oz of beer (I used Corona)
1 – 1 ½ cups of shredded of cheese – 4 cheese Mexican blend
1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

Pour in some of the beer and stir in the cheese. Keep adding cheese and beer to the desired amount and consistency. It should be smooth and creamy. It should be thin enough to coat the bread when dipped.

For the bread I actually made a loaf of French bread in my bread machine. This works out well because the bread is dense so it holds up well on the skewer and the crust is excellent for dipping on its own. You have to plan ahead though as French bread takes 4 hours from start to finish.

Once the bread it ready simply cut off the crust and cut the inner portion into 1 inch cubes. Don’t toss the crust, it’s great for dipping on its own.

To have a good time with fondue you really only need a couple of things, the broth, a cheese dip, a thick bread and of course your main course ingredients. The main course can be anything you want. I chose chicken breasts, steak strips, salmon filet, russet potato wedges, large whole mushrooms, and broccoli florets. Cut everything into cubes and place them on a platter. Everyone can then take what they like as needed. For the dipping sauces you can use whatever comes to mind. Ranch, honey mustard, bbq sauce, lemon pepper, Louisiana Red Pepper sauce, etc all work very well, are readily available and don’t cost much.

For the main course I cut up the following:

2 8oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 4-6oz salmon filets
2 4-6oz steak strips (pretty much any cut will do)
1 head of fresh broccoli florets
Several large mushrooms
2-3 medium russet potatoes cut into cubes

French Bread Loaf:

2 pound loaf:

1 and 1/3 cups water
2 teaspoons margarine or butter
4 cups bread flour
5 teaspoons sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 and 1/2 teaspoons yeast

And there you have, a very inexpensive way for the whole family to enjoy Valentine’s Day and spend some real quality time with each other. This is a very simple recipe but it’s a great place to get started and it tastes very good. I’m looking forward to the next time we try this one out.

If you have a fondue recipe you would like to share please leave a comment, I would love to hear about it.

One of my new experiments for this year is to work on some macro shots. I did thousands of floral macro shots 2 years ago and the whole process was a great learning experience. Last year was mainly track racing, which again was a great learning experience and I have some spectacular racing photos. I want to do some more “studio” related shots so I have decided to built a lightbox in my basement so I can work on photos whenever I want.

The main source of my quest is from this site:
http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent

The design is very simple and straightforward so I have decided to follow the steps and create my own.

I started off with a trip to Lowe’s to buy the PVC piping and connectors. Getting the pipe itself is no big deal, that comes in 5ft lengths, its finding and matching up all the connectors that will have pulling all the pieces out and building an elaborate replica of your creation right there in the aisle.

When you’re buying all the pieces make sure you get the right pieces to connect the legs and elbow joints with the top frame. Depending on what connectors are available the pieces may slip together, or they may need to be threaded together or you may even need a couple of extra pieces to make the connection. I have to admit I had to make two trips since my elbow joints were the same size as the T-connector and nothing fit together. It’s not tricky by any means, but it’s easy to get the wrong pieces unless you actually put them all together in the store.

You will need to cut the lengths of pipe to your specific length, but with a cheap hacksaw it should only take a few minutes.

The assembly of the box takes mere moments. It literally is building a rectangle and slipping on some legs; once you get all the right connectors that is.

I decided to make mine a little bigger than the original specs from the website above and honestly I think it might be too big. I set the length to be 3ft and the width to be 2ft and another 2ft for the height. It seemed reasonable laying on the table, but when all put together it seems far too long and several inches too high. I think I’ll need to shorten it all the way around. A standard wine bottle is only 13 inches high so it’s got plenty of room for something taller like a vase with the flowers in it, but it all seems a little overpowering. I still have to put a cover over it, put in the background piece and take some photos with it. I haven’t glued anything together so it comes right apart. I need to get stronger bulbs for my lamps, they don’t seem quite bright enough and I think I need some more light for my basement. It’s pretty dark overall which isn’t helping.

I’ve completed stage one, I’ve made the skeleton. The whole structure cost less than $20. Now, I just need to get a backdrop and a cover. I already have some ideas of test photos to see how it works. I might try to fit that in this weekend, if not before.

I also need to decide which lens to use. I have the 105mm macro lens and the 18-200mm, both of which should work quite well. The 105mm is f/2.8 which might be better considering the lighting conditions I might be working with. I want as fast a shutter speed as possible so the background fades out as much as possible.

The first part is done, now to put on the final touches and get some test shots.

It’s been a month since we’ve had Addie the Mangy Dog, so I thought I would show off some pictures of her progress. She has put on some weight and the fur is finally starting to come back in. She’s been through 2 additional treatments for the mange since we’ve had her and it looks like it’s starting to work. The fur on her face is coming in and her legs aren’t nearly as bare as they were previously. A lot more fur needs to come in before she looks like she should, but this is a good sign.

Her coordination is still a little odd and she stumbles quite a bit. It could be her hitting the bottle when no one is looking or this just might be her clumsy baby stage. She’s putting on weight and getting stronger so I’m hopeful she will get more balance as she gets older.

Donna has been training Addie and she is quite good at making noise when she  needs to go outside – Addie, not Donna. She’s still really excitable and makes little puddles on occasion (again, Addie, not Donna). Addie does well with sitting and laying down, at least when she wants to, but she is in to everything and there is very little she won’t eat. Strangely color objects are coming out the hind end of that one (just to make it clear, Addie, not Donna) so we need to make sure she isn’t eating cups, stuffing from toys, yarn, hair bows, basically anything that isn’t moving.

As soon as it starts to get warmer we’ll be spending more time outside with her trying to get more exercise for her. She clearly wants to run. Donna has aspirations of Addie catching the Frisbee. It would be amusing if it worked out, but I have my doubts on that one.