Tortilla S'mores

I have been making chocolate burritos for a while, but I decided to up the ante, and so I searched Recipezaar for tortilla desserts, and found this:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Kids-Love-em-South-of-the-Border-Smores-121031

This particular photo didn't turn out so well, so I am going to show the original version (from the camera) and the improved version from a graphics manipulation tool:

Original:

Improved:

I am not an image manipulation guru, so I'll just list the basic steps that I took:

Adjusted histogram levels to maximize dynamic range
Adjusted white balance and saturation
Sharpened the whole image
Created a false shallow depth-of-field using a blur tool
Removed some distracting background stuff in upper left corner


Most of the images on this blog are not modified much. I'll only spend a few minutes working on the image, if it's especially bad from the camera. Usually all of the problems are caused by hand-holding the camera and shooting under "warm" compact fluorescent light.

Chocolate chip muffins

http://www.recipezaar.com/Chocolate-Chip-Muffins-9326

I doubled the recipe, and used less than double the amount of chocolate chips -- probably close to the original amount.

I also used dark brown sugar because light brown sugar is for weenies.

Whoopie Pies

OK, I didn't choose the name "whoopie pie" -- that is really what this treat is called.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Wicked-Whoopie-Pies-162298?scaleto=6

I made a half-recipe, which yielded 6 pies. Make 12 equally-sized "shells" (looks like a cookie) with the batter, and they will be sized correctly.

Also, this was the first time I tried baking with shortening. In the past, I have always used butter, but the shortening has a higher melting point, and is also flavorless (sometimes helpful).


http://www.wickedwhoopies.com/