Let's introduce ourselves, shall we?

I've noticed from my Feedjit counter lately that I've been getting a lot of readers from all over the United States and quite a few international readers as well. Yay! What a great feeling to know that I've somehow touched the life of someone from a different place. I installed the feedjit to my blog because I was curios to know if anyone other than me was actually looking at my blog. To my surprise, people were actually viewing it. So, thank you so much for visiting my blog. Oftentimes, I feel like the only audience I have is me, myself, and I. And occasionally, I get a few hits from hubby.

I've always said that the intent of this blog was to chronicle recipes I've made for my daughter to refer back to when she's old enough to understand. But this blog has grown to be more than that. And now I can honestly say that its also grown to be a way to meet people from different places.

A few people I know in real life (IRL) have told me that they've tried some recipes from this blog and wanted to leave comments on the post but found it difficult to.  I have since fixed that problem and it is now much easier to leave comments. I would really love to hear from all of you, so please feel free to leave a comment on any of my previous posts or leave a comment here, even to just introduce yourself. Otherwise, I'm probably still just talking to myself again :)

Happy Valentine's Day to me with my new toy

We had an early Valentine's Day this year because 1) We were out of town this weekend, and 2) Hubby had to work and has class until late tonight. So we decided to give each other's Valentine's Day gift last week. I gave hubby tickets to a LA Clippers game - his favorite basketball team. Then he surprised me with this new kitchen tool.

I've been wanting this stand mixer for so long. Don't get me wrong. I have a hand mixer. It was a gift off of my bridal registry we got 8 years ago. And its gotten me through a lot of mixing. However, I didn't use my mixer much back then as often as I use it now. And there were times when I wished I had four hands, because while mixing, I had to add this ingredient and that ingredient. I would have to be forced to shut off the mixer first in order to add ingredients. When I want to whip cream or egg whites, I have to stand there, mixer in hand, for 10 minutes at a time. Very tiring.

This stand mixer has different attachments, unlike the hand mixer which only has one attachment. So I can use it to make dough, regular cake batter, or even to whip cream and egg whites. It also has more speed than a regular hand mixer. I'm really excited to have this new kitchen tool. You know it'll be put to great use. Thanks boo!

Early Christmas gift - a new kitchen tool

.....well, it isn't really a new kitchen tool, but its going to definitely be used in the kitchen when I photograph all my yummy dishes with it.

Hubby and I finally succumbed to the masses and bought a D-SLR camera as a Christmas present for each other this year. I've been dying to get one since forever (well, at least since my daughter was born and I started this blog 2 years ago). I look at so many blogs everyday that have photographs using a SLR camera and am always amazed at how alive they look. They definitely make a food photo look even more delicious.

This will definitely help me showcase my food even better. Because, honestly, I always struggle with the lighting in my house. I always try to find creative ways to give the dish better lighting. Especially since most of my cooking is done after work when I cook dinner and there is no longer any natural light from the sun. This will also be useful when taking our family portraits or shooting photographs of my daughter. We normally have my sister (who has a Nikon D90) be our family photographer. She has all the bells and whistles with her camera: Fisheye lens, heavy duty flash, etc. But its not always convenient for her to take time out of her busy schedule to photograph us.

This camera is a very basic SLR camera. Its not a D90 by any means. But its a good camera for beginners and amateurs such as myself. Hubby and I are still testing it out and trying to figure out what kinds of tricks it can do. One things for sure, though - we're definitely very excited to have this new addition to our tech gadgets and are looking forward to viewing the outcome.