About Dawn

My love of cooking started at an early age. I never had an Easy Bake Oven, because my parents felt it was not a safe toy. Instead, I was allowed to use the real oven…with adult supervision, of course!

My father was – and still is – my biggest fan. (Ok, my husband might be edging him out a bit!) Even the most bizarre concoctions I’d come up with my dad would eat with great relish! Now, of course, he doesn’t have to spit his food into a napkin before telling me how delicious it is.

I’ve often been told I missed my calling. I should have been a chef, not an electrical engineer. I don’t know what that says about my skills as an engineer! Well, I’m sure it’s meant as a compliment. :)

About the Site

I’ve had a recipe site for years, though it’s only been in its current form since May 2007.  I started with a single page of recipes on my “personal” web page.  It was just something I did for my own amusement.  It soon grew to the point where I decided to have each recipe on a separate page.  It got to be too much coding, and I decided a blog format would be more efficient.  I’ve imported all the old recipes to this site.  You’ll notice if you view the posts from that first month how boring they look…almost no pictures and no commentary.  (I’m updating them, though, as I find the time!)

Often times I’d modify the recipe to suit my tastes.  Eventually I started coming up with my own original recipes as well, although I still like to share great recipes when I come across them!  Now and then I come across a recipe I like so much, I don’t change a thing! I mention where each recipe comes from in its post.

Nutritional information, when available, is calculated using the Nutrition feature in Mariner Software’s MacGourmet Deluxe software and should only be considered an estimate.

Equipment Used

All the photography on this site is my original work. I have no training in this department, but I think I’m getting better with practice…and, of course, there’s always Photoshop. I recently purchased a DSLR camera and a micro lens. It’s the first SLR camera I’ve ever used, so there’s a bit of a learning curve for me. I’ve finally figured out how to use the manual settings, though!  Here’s a list of the hardware used for the photos:

Computers Used:

• 17″ iMac, 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo, 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
• 15″ MacBook Pro, 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

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Camera and Equipment:

• Nikon D80 D-SLR, 10.2 MP DX-Format CCD
• Lenses:
  • AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
  • AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
• Filters:
  • Quantaray Pro-Digital UV Filter
  • Quantaray Circular Polarizer Filter
• Lighting:
  • Nikon SB-800 AF Speedlight
  • A pair of Lowel EGO Digital Imaging, Tabletop Fluorescent Light Units
  • American Recorder SIB-101CS Classic Photo Studio-in-a-Box
  • Sunlight, whenever possible

• Sunpak Pro 523PX Carbon Fiber Tripod with 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head
• Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control

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Favorite Recipes

My father’s favorites include Perfect Apple Pie, Carrabba’s Style Herb Mix for Bread Oil, and Bread Pudding.

My pepere raves about the Boston Baked Beans.

I have too many favorites to list, but I hooked my husband with the Chicken Marsala! At least, that’s my version of the story. ;)