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Food Blogging 2

The recipe I have chose to make is pumpkin muffins. I decided to make this recipe because I was limited as to what I had in the house and my only resource left was baking. I thought I would try to make one of my moms famous recipes, pumpkin spice muffins! There is in fact a story behind this recipe. Usually in the fall or winter my mom would make these muffins when my siblings and I were at school, she surprised us every time and we were always so excited! These muffins are one of my sisters favourite special treats and because her birthday is coming up I had decided to make these for her. However, I made some changes to the recipe to make them more cupcake and party like. Usually this recipe only includes making the muffins but I decided to add some cinnamon icing and crumb topping to the top to make them even more flavourful! I was unsure how they were going to taste as I have never added anything to the recipe but they turned out even better than the original muffins! I have also learnt a new skill which is how to coat the muffins in the icing and sprinkle the crumb topping on top so it would stick. It took me a couple of tries to get the right amount of topping and icing but they turned out exactly how I expected… great! My mom and dad loved them. They said they were delicious and the icing was a perfect cinnamon flavour. I am also very happy with how these turned out. My sister has not yet tried them because they are a surprise but I am sure she will love the changes I made to the recipe.

Recipe:

Pumpkin Muffins

  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cup of quick bread mix
  • 2 tablespoons of pecans

Crumb Topping

  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (melted)
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Cinnamon Icing

  • 5 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1-2 teaspoons milk (more, if needed)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Below is pumpkin muffin batter

Next is the muffins before they are out into the oven

Lastly is the final product! In the picture below you will see the muffins coated in crumb topping and cinnamon icing!

Food blogging

The recipe I have chosen to make is sweet and savoury pretzels. I chose to make this dish because I saw it while scrolling through social media and it looked delicious. My sister had previously tried to make it but it didn’t turn out as planned. They were very plain and puffy so I thought I would try the recipe to see if I could fix them. I had to make some changes to the recipe including drizzling them in butter after they came out of the oven, adding more salt, dipping some of the pretzels in brown sugar and cinnamon. I found they came out less puffy and even more flavourful the second time! When they first came out of the oven my mom had to told me they tasted plain so I used what I had available to me and added butter and Himalayan pink salt which totally changed the flavour in a good way. Everyone’s favourite was the brown sugar and cinnamon and they all said the same thing, a definite make again! It was my first time making pretzels and I am very happy with how they turned out.

Recipe:  

  • 1.5 cups flour (little bit extra for the surface)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 heaping teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • a pinch of salt (extra salt for top of pretzels)
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • brown sugar
  • cinnamon
  • 1 egg

Below is the rolled out dough

Next is the pretzels before they are baked

Below is the final product!

Foods photography assignment

These are some of the props I chose for my pictures. While I was looking around my house I had tried to pick different items so that you can use certain items for cooking and certain items for baking. I had found some flowers and other coloured utensils to bring some colourful elements into the next food pictures. The theme of my props was mostly white, grey and tan. These colours together merge as one and create a beautiful picture. With most of my props you are able to bake. As you can see there are liquid and dry measures, a spatula, a Wisk, rolling pin and sifter. My picture does not tell a story but I tried using different angles and lighting to create a vintage looking picture.

This is the first picture of the photoshoot and preferably my favourite. In this picture you can see I have used the cutting board, spatula and flowers from my props. I was mainly focused on the contrast and colour in this picture. While trying to figure out a theme, I wanted to add colour and saw that there were two green props. The theme I came up with was green and red fruits and vegetables. I used cucumber, broccoli, watermelon & strawberries. I used the cutting board as a prop to try and capture these foods to look like a small platter. The colours compliment each other which makes the picture look more vibrant. I was also focused on the display and arrangement of the foods to make them look neat and nice. The simple white background also makes the fruits and veggies more eye catching. The light is hitting the white flowers beautifully making the picture look like it was taken on a sunny vacation spot. The thing I like most about this photo is the colourful fruits and vegetables and the way the light is hitting the display of food. The picture makes me feel all happy and warm.

This is the second picture of the photoshoot. In this picture you can see I have used the rolling pin, bowl and dry measures from my props. I was mainly focused on the angle as I changed it to more of a birds eye view. I wanted to capture as much of the food as I could and to do so I tested different angles and chose this one as the best. The theme of this picture was also coloured fruits and vegetables but have changed the colours to compliment each other. There are red, orange and yellow foods in this picture. I used apples, oranges, a lemon, peppers and a tomato. The apples, oranges and lemon stand out because they are displayed against a white bowl making the colours ‘pop’ and eye catching. The light was also hitting the dry measures in a circular motion which i thought was cool. The thing i like most about this picture is the bright colours and circular lighting.

This is the third picture of the photoshoot. In this picture you can see I have used the hand towels and small cappuccino glass. In this picture I was mainly focused on the different textures and lighting. I wanted to incorporate texture in my final picture so I added apple chips and coconut rolls against the smooth towels to clearly show the roughness and crispiness of these foods. Also, it was starting to get dark outside so to get light I had to be creative! I took my liquid measure (which was also used in props) and a flashlight. I put the flashlight inside the glass so the light was facing towards the bottom. This gave an interesting sun like lighting including different lines and shapes! I was happy the way it turned out. The theme of this photo was different shades of brown with a hint of red. I used maple syrup, apple pie, pumpkin pie and cinnamon spices, apple chips and coconut rolls, each a different shade of brown. Something I liked most about this picture is the layout of how the foods were put together to form one beautiful photo. 

 

Microbit: Our idea

Elyse and i’s idea was to code a device where when the music or sound in a room gets too loud, a buzzer will go off to let us know. Our reasoning behind it was that people who listen to music at a loud/dangerous volume, it could cause long term damage to their ears. Most teenagers use earbuds and listen to music at a very high volume without realizing what could happen. Older people, band teachers and musicians are exposed to loud music on a daily. The sensor will be attached to the speaker so when the volume is over 70%, it will buzz. To improve our idea we need to find a song with a loud bass and make sure the volume on the buzzer is the same as the volume on the speaker.

About me

Introduction:

Hi my name is Makayla and I am a 14 year old girl. I enjoy spending time playing soccer and hanging out with family and friends. I am half Italian and I love learning new languages and traveling. My dream vacation is Italy but I’ve always wanted to visit most European countries because they look beautiful.

Quote:

I love quotes that make me remind of life and that you can refer to in all situations. My favourite quote is by Pele and it is “Success is no accident, it is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do”. This is one of my favourite quotes because it tells you that you have to work hard to be successful in school, sports and especially life. It explains how the road to success will be bumpy but in the end if you love what you do or are learning to do it will be worth it.

Video Clip:

I don’t really watch videos from Youtube but I love to listen to music so here is one of my favourite throwback songs.

I chose “I gotta feeling” by Black Eyed Peas. I chose this song because it was one of the very many songs I learnt as a kid and it has been one of my very many throwback favourites. I like the way the group sings the song in an upbeat way and it will bring out the happy side of you on any day.

Picture:

Related image

This is the picture I chose/like because it relates to me in a couple different ways.

I relate to this picture because for the past 8 years I have been lucky enough to travel to Hawaii with my family and best friends just after and for Christmas. It has always been amazing to go at that time and since seasons are opposite there, it is winter here but summer there which is nice to stay in a tropical place for Christmas.

Favourite Website:

My favourite website is Netflix because I love how you are able to watch a variety of old and new TV shows and movies. I definitely use Netflix a lot because it is an easy way to escape for a little bit, especially after a long day of school/homework and long soccer practices in the hot or cold weather. Netflix also gives me something to do when I’m bored.