Fried flaky pastries stuffed with tuna

Although it was more than 2 weeks late, I want to greet all Muslims "Ramadhan Mubarak". May Allah accept our deeds and forgive our sins. Aamiin. Ramadhan is like home and it's good to be home again. I'm sure all Muslims feel the same way as I do.

I've been busy recently and has left me with limited time for updating my blog, Facebook and twitter but I checked my mail couple of times everyday. But due to the hectic schedule, guess my tiring days, weeks or probably months are not over yet at least until the end of this year ! Yes, my life is like a roller coaster at the moment.

Do you remember my posts of Chinese flaky pastry ? The first is Green tea flaky pastry and second is Chocolate flaky pastry. This time I made fried flaky pastry, no bake ! This kind of snack is something we usually call pastel in Indonesia. The filling can be varied from vegetables, fish, chicken, egg or beef.

The original pastel (fried pastry) skin is made from thin pastry with half-moon shape and crimped edges. I remember when I was a kid I learned to make pastel crimp with play-dough and look, it helped me a lot when I make the real ones.:D

Enjoy....

The winners of DMBLGiT July 2012 are....

Big thank to all who participated in DMBLGiT July 2012. I had so much time going through each and every photo in the gallery. We had 33 entries come in from all around the world. Yes, I was mesmerized by all of them and made me want to jump in and lick my computer screen. Another huge thank to the judges (Ira, Thorsten, Kulsum, Xiaolu) who helped me scoring photos. You all have done an incredible job ! My sincerest thank to Andrew for the opportunity to host again and to Shari for making the badges and sent them to me early last month ! :)


Now, let's get to the winners !

OVERALL WINNER

(the highest scoring photos)

First Place Winner
Pamela Rodriguez from Uno de dos with Pancakes

Second Place Winner

Kankana Saxena from Sunshine and Smile with Mango sweetened yogurt

Third Place Winner 
 So happy we have a tie here

Yelena Strokin from Cooking Melangery with Minty sweet pea and zucchini soup

Lisa H from From my Lemony kitchen with Mushroom and barley soup

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES WINNER

(the highest scoring photos for each category, after excluding the overall winners.)

Edibility Winner
Karolina from Dine & Dash with Lemon strawberry cake

Originality Winner
Bean Panda from Beanpanda cooking diary with Steamed coconut with egg white

Aesthetics Winner

Soma Rathore from eCurry with Red Lentils with Pearl Onion

Congratulation to all winners !

Please check out DMBLGiT August announcement on A Wandering Ladle. If you're interested to be the host, there are still plenty of vacant place ! All you have to do is  send your mail to Andrew with "DMBLGiT Host" as subject.

See you....

Meet the judges of DMBLGiT July 2012

 

33 photos have been submitted to DMBLGiT July 2012 Edition and all of them are available to be viewed in the gallery. First of all, as the host, I want to thank everyone who has sent their food/drink photos to this event. Second, as one of the judges, I need 4 more judges to help me score all entries. Therefore, I gathered them together to get the final result. I'm sure it's not an easy job to do. Here, we have a panel of incredible judges from different countries, with their own style and sense in food photography. Let's meet the judges !

Ira Rodrigues

This beautiful lady lives in the island of God, Bali, Indonesia. She has strong earthy style in her food photos. Cooking Tackle is the place where she keeps her recipes, story and her beautifully styled photographs. Reach her on Flickr, Twitter or Facebook.

Food photography tips : 

Photographing food need your honesty. If you are honest, the styling and creativity that you are trying to frame would truly show your heart and art. Try to run a bit loose in styling to make the picture look natural or not overly organized.

Thorsten Kraska

I love his professional looking food photography since the first time I learned food photography. He is a food photographer based in Bonn, Germany, the man behind My2Penn'orth  and he also started Food Photography Club on Flickr.

Food photography tips :

The light is the tool we use to realize our ideas in food photography. And depending on your ideas and what you want to achive you will choose the light source. Experiment, practice, learn by try and error. Take a look at more photos and learn from them. To read more of food photography tips, please read  Photography

Kulsum Kunwa

I'm falling hard for her food photography lately. A Kuwait based freelance food photographer, a wife of one, the owner and contributor of Journey Kitchen and a Master's Degree Student. She determined to cook Indian home cooking and producing beautiful and breathtaking pictures. Keep in touch with her on Flickr, twitter and Facebook.

Food photography tips :

Your camera is your friend. Start loving it and exploring it. Carry it wherever you go, even if the photos are not going to make it to your blog or else where. Let it be your creative outlet and fuel your sense of imagination. Apart from getting light, focus and other technical aspects right, its even more important to be having fun. Learn the rules and don't be afraid to break them. 

Xiaolu Hu

A Chinese-American girl living in USA, talented baker, food photographer, food stylist and has won several DMBLGiT awards. Her passion for food and photography can be seen in her blog 6bittersweets. She is pursuing her dream to have a career in nutrition. Don't hesitate to ask about her recipes or her food photography, because she will help you instantly. Get her updates on twitter and Flickr.

Food photography tips :
First, you want to be careful in preparing/presenting the food to make sure it looks appealing.  Many factors big and small can enhance the look of the food.  For example, if using veggies, make sure they're fresh.  Spritz a little water on things if they should look moist but are drying up.  If photographing something cooked, pick the best pieces and make sure they're positioned at an angle that's attractive.  At the same time, it's often best not to make the food look too "pretty" or "perfect".  A little messiness or anything that adds a human touch (a bite taken, crumpled napkin, etc.) often makes the shot more relate able and mouthwatering.  Lastly, I encourage budding photographers to have a mood and look (a "story" so to speak) in mind when preparing to photograph. And to include something of themselves in their photography.  Whether it's propping, composition, light etc. Don't be afraid to play around and develop your own unique style. 

Hope the best ones win !

Coffee cream cupcakes

Are you a food blogger and love food photography ? It's about time to learn and grow together with food bloggers and food photographers around the world in a monthly food photography event called "Does My Blog Look good in This ?" or DMBLGiT. Since I'm the host of DMBLGiT July 2012, I'm officially invite you to join with us. It's not only about winning, but far beyond that. Making new friends that will guide you to new beautiful blogs. Just click here to read the details. I'll be here waiting to your lovely entry !

These cuppies were made a year ago. How could I forget to make a post for this recipe ?! It's quite simple and easy to try and you will get beautiful shape of dark cuppies. 

I'm not really fond of coffee, but *silly me* I drank too much coffee in the last two days. It has caused me insomniac last night ! The effect is still affecting me now. So, no more rambling. Enjoy the pictures !

Nadif, my nephew, I can feel his enthusiasm for cooking

makes 18 cupcakes

Enjoy....

Announcing "Does My Blog Look Good in This ?" (DMBLGiT) July 2012

 

One year ago, I was hosting DMBLGiT July 2011 Edition. Today for the second time, I feel honored to announce that I'm hosting DMBLGiT July 2012 Edition. My biggest thanks goes to Andrew for allowing me to host this event again. "Does My Blog Look Good in This ?" (DMBLGiT) is a monthly food photography event administered by Andrew Barrow of Spittoon Extra. This event is open to all food bloggers around the globe by submitting your best food/drink photos.

For this month edition, I'm supported by 4 gifted and talented food bloggers and food photographers (soon to be announced later this month) on the panel of judges. You can find the rules and submission below. I also invite you to be the future host of DMBLGiT by sending mail to Andrew with "DMBLGiT Host" as subject. Read the detail here.

Don't forget to check lovely photos from the winners of DMBLGiT June 2012 Edition on Sunshine and Smile. Now, let's get to the details.


Rules : 

- Only one entry per person (a single photograph and no diptychs !)
- All pictures must be text free
- The photograph must have been taken by you
- The photograph must have been appeared on your blog in June 2012
- Entry must be received by July 20, 2012

Judging :

Photograph are reviewed by a panel of judges, who score them in three categories : Edibility, Aesthetics and Originality. The host then compiles the score to determine the winners. The specific things the judges will be looking for are as follow :

- Edibility : "does the photo make us want to dive in and eat the food ?"
- Aesthetics : composition, food styling, lighting, focus, etc
- Originality : the photograph that catches our attention and makes us want to say "wow!", displaying something we might not have seen before

There are three overall winners of photographs with highest point totals in three categories combined, and one winner in each of the three individual categories.
I will announce the winners on August 1, 2012.

How to enter to contest ?

Send your entry (must be food or drink related) to t_hapsari_rn {at} yahoo {dot} com with DMBLGiT as the subject. Please include the following :
- Your name (required)
- Your location
- Your blog's name and URL
- Your photograph's title
- The URL of the post containing the photograph
- Type of the camera used, lens if you wish

Please send photos in an attachment to your email in a jpeg format, of no more than 500 pixels in width.

By submitting a photo, entrants agree to their photo being redisplayed and altered in size on my blog and on the Spittoon Extra DMBLGiT ? page.

Gallery

All submissions will be posted to the July 2012 DMBLGIT gallery, which will be updated as I receive entries. Please give me a few days to update the gallery with your submission. And make sure yours is included once I start publishing them. I look forward to your entries.

Good luck!