PHOTOGRAPHY
What camera/equipment do you use?
I use a Nikon D3100 SLR, a 35mm f1.8 lens, and a dingy old white foam board for light reflection purposes. I recently bought an external flash, but haven’t learned how to use it yet…
Do you edit your photos?
Absolutely, all the time. Generally I have to tweak the color balance, brightness, and clarity of all my photos.
What software do you use to edit your photos?
Lightroom and Photoshop, but mostly Lightroom. It’s so much more intuitive/easier to figure out than Photoshop.
Any tips for taking better food photos?
I’m not sure I’m qualified to offer any tips, but these bloggers certainly can:
- For a great step-by-step tutorial on the basics of food photography, check out The Way the Cookie Crumbles blog.
- For an amazingly detailed but very easy to understand tutorial on everything you possibly ever want to know about food photography and photo editing, head over to the 6 Bittersweets blog.
- For great tutorials on lighting, ISO, aperture and shutter speed, check out the Sunshine and Smile blog.
COOKING/KITCHEN
I made one of your recipes and it didn’t turn out! What did I do wrong?
Unfortunately, I really can’t be sure! I’m not in your kitchen with you so I can’t guarantee anything 100% — there are a billion things that can go wrong in the kitchen, and it would be impossible for me to say what exactly caused your recipe to turn out differently than mine. Our oven temperatures could be different, we could be using different brands/qualities of ingredients, etc. To learn more about out the science behind cooking, and get a better idea of the reasons recipes do what they do, check out the Scientifically Sweet blog.
What piping tip do you use to get your cupcake swirls to look like that?
Thanks to the Novice Chef, I now pipe exclusively with the super huge tips from the Bake Me Pretty’s Best Ever Cupcake Icing Kit. They are perfect for getting those perfect, fat swirls you see in the pro bakeries.
Where can I find the nutritional info for each of your recipes?
Not on my blog, sorry! I wish I could be like one of those super awesome food bloggers that breaks everything down for you guys, but…I just don’t have time! If you want to know how many calories, etc. there are per serving in any of my recipes, you can input all the ingredients into this site, and then divide by however many portions you made.
If I have a question about one of your recipes, how do I get in touch with you?
Leave me a comment, and I’ll respond within a couple hours (sometimes minutes!). Or, you can email me.
ADVERTISING, REVIEWS AND SPONSORSHIPS
Do you accept sponsors for your posts and/or review products?
Sure. If a company wants to send me a product to test out, I’m happy to do it. Who doesn’t love free stuff? But, all opinions on this blog are 100% my own, and I will not accept offers from sponsors to write posts for me.
Can we advertise on your blog?
Maybe! Shoot me an email, and we’ll talk. But, please note that I do not allow in-text/in-line ads, or ads for gambling/adult content.
REQUESTS FOR CONTENT/COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
Can I use one of your pictures on my blog/website?
All text and photographs in this website are the copyrighted property of Just Putzing Around the Kitchen, all rights reserved. If you want to use my pictures for any purpose, please contact me first to avoid copyright violation. If permission is granted, please link back to the recipe on my blog, and/or give me photo credit. Thanks!
Can I pin/FB/tweet your posts?
Sure! Just be sure to link back to my blog.
If I make one of your recipes, can I re-post it on my blog?
Of course! But, please do not just copy/paste my post word for word into your blog entry — rewrite the instructions and narrative and post your own pictures. And, link backs are appreciated!
GENERAL/PERSONAL
Why does your blog look so weird on Internet Explorer?
Apparently my blog is not compatible with some of the newer versions of IE, so everything looks weird — random borders around everything, screwed up layout, etc. Sorry about that! I’m trying to figure out how to fix it, so hopefully that will go away soon…
Do you know what “putzing” means?
Yes, I know what “putz” means (even the gross definition). No, I’m not a Jewish grandmother. ”Putzing” is pretty much the perfect word to describe what I do in the kitchen. Any cooking “skills” I may or may not have were gained entirely through trial and error. And I’m lazy. So generally, if a recipe looks too long or involves too many fancy pants ingredients, I skip right over it. If corners can be cut, I cut them; if I don’t have the right ingredients, I just don’t use them…or substitute them at random. I experiment, I sample, I putter.
How do you decide what to cook everyday?
First of all, I don’t cook everyday. Everyone thinks Dan is so lucky because surely living with me means he is eating like a king. Ha…ha…ha…I wish I had the energy to work all day and then come home and throw together a feast. But, I’m only human, so unfortunately Dan only really eats good food on the weekends. Sometimes. And on those special days, I usually get all my ideas from other food blogs. The list of recipes I have bookmarked to try is longer than the Great Wall.
How do you have time to cook/blog?
Oh, you know…magic. Just kidding. I make time! I try to plan ahead whenever possible, but I get tired and fall into a delivery/take-out/dining out rut sometimes. Thankfully I like cooking and blogging so much that I try to do it as much as I can. These days I really only have the time and energy to cook/blog on weekends, but I’m going to keep at it. I won’t abandon you, faithful readers!
Was copying Chocolate Gooey Butter cake with peanut butter chips and in the bottom part there is a stick of butter and in the top there is a stick of butter but in the discription it does not say to add it so did not know if it was a mistake and there are too many goodies involved here to make a mistake.
Thanks for your email! Yes, you’re right — I forgot to add butter in the steps/directions for the top layer. This has been corrected in the recipe now.