Friday, May 1, 2009

I’ve been adopted!

Posted by Erin Wilburn / 7 comments » / Stuff

I’m so excited to share with you all some very exciting news! There will be some ch-ch-changes coming to Erin’s Food Files! The first bit of news is I have been “adopted” by a more experienced blogger who will be giving me tips & pointers on how to make my blog better. I found out about this opportunity on a blog I read called Dine & Dish. I think it’s a great thing she’s doing, pairing up experienced bloggers with newbies.

I’ve been paired up with I♥food4thought. When I first found this out I was excited, and I checked out her blog. It looked somewhat familiar. She also mentioned she had another blog, i♥cuppycakes! Oh, now THIS was a blog I was familiar with! I’ve even made one of her recipes! I’m thinking this is going to be a good pairing, as she loves cupcakes, and she loves putting alcohol in cupcakes. Something we all know I enjoy, as can be seen in the Caramel Rum Cupcakes, the recent Mint Julep Cupcakes, Bananas Foster Cupcakes, and of course, the ones I made from her blog, Malibu Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes! I think this should be a great learning experience. I have lots to learn, and lots of questions!

The second bit of good news is, I’m about to get an equipment upgrade. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know sometimes you get gorgeous photos of food, like in the Orange Bundt Cake, or the Wasabi Chex Mix, all taken by yours truly. BUT, yours truly is also known to bring you such bad pictures like the ones in my posts about Chocolate Cookies with White Chocolate Chips, or Garlic Rosemary White Bean Dip. The difference here has always been the camera, not the photographer. I own a point and shoot, and it works great for fun trips with my friends & stuff like that. But my dad owns a Canon 40D.
I borrow that as often as I possibly can. I’ve been wanting one for a LONG time. Since before I even had a blog. Pretty much since the day he got it. As it happened, this year I got a tax return, a pretty sizable one. I’ve had my eye on finally taking the plunge and buying the camera. My dad is also a hard-core eBay addict. So I set him to task. I told him to just find me what he thinks is a good deal on the camera, and buy it. Then I’ll pay him for it. We did the same thing when I bought my car (an ’07 Jetta I got in 2007 for a STEAL OF A DEAL). And believe me, I pay my dad for 100% of it. And I think I even pay him a finder’s fee. My dad, he’s a business man, and a cheapskate, so no handouts here! My dad enjoys buying things on eBay in the same crazy manner that I LOOOOOOOOOVE leisurely shopping at Publix, Kroger, or Whole Foods.

I hope to have the camera when I go home for Mother’s Day, and I just can’t wait! I’m thinking I might also finally take the plunge and make or get a lightbox. I have ZERO direct natural light that comes in my apartment. There is a small window of time around 10:30-12:30, where light will bounce off the neighboring brick wall, so I can sometimes get photos then. Either way, it still sucks. And I know I’m capable of more.

I don’t want to write a post without photos, so here are some of my favorite shots of me growing up, involving food!