Hi, everyone! Loralee, here. I hope that you are all having a GREAT holiday weekend! I have had such fun being on Amuse Bouche this week. I love my job, I love meeting the people that I do and I love that I get to see so many beautiful images of food on a daily basis.

Today, as you know, is our post that focuses on photography. I have been dreading it as I am NOT a great photographer by any stretch of the imagination.

But, I am a good example of someone who took really horrible food photos but wanted to do better. I have come a LONG way.

For example, this is a bunch of photographs I posted in 2006 from “French Food Day” with my brother, Rhett. (He’s the one that is cooking with me in my feature in the magazine. And yes, we tend to land square on the ‘dork’ side.)

HORRIBLE, no?

But.

I read and realized that natural light is my FRIEND while flash and killing a photo with saturation is MINE ENEMY. And I started playing around with my camera and faffing about with plating food. I haven’t put a ton of time into it but I have put enough in to improve. And now while I am still not great at it by a long shot, I take photos like this:

Again, still not spectacular or at even an avid amature level, but so much better than I was! If you want to take a better photograph, you CAN and there are so many resources online to help you do so.

Now on to the recipes that I made for today’s photography post. I felt strongly that since my feature in Where Women Cook is all about all the cooking adventures that I’ve had over the years with my brother, Rhett, I wanted to think up a really great recipe for us to post on Amuse Bouche. He couldn’t get up here to cook with me until this weekend, so forgive the lateness of this post but I hope you’ll think the wait was worth it~

xo, Loralee

This recipe can serve 24. You can alter as needed.

3 KINDS OF SLIDERS ON MULTIGRAIN “BUNS”

3 lbs. ground meat (I used garlic and rosemary lamb sausage, lamb and apple sausage and Angus beef.)
24 wholegrain rolls

Form into 6 burgers about 3/4 in. thick. Put on a plate, cover, and refrigerate 2 hours.
With a silicone brush or oiled paper towels, lightly oil a charcoal grill over a solid bed of hot coals or a gas grill on high heat

4. Lay burgers on grill; close lid on gas grill. Cook burgers, turning once, until they’re done the way you like, about 6 minutes for medium-rare. Set each burger on a foll that has been cut in half. Top with with relishes and serve.

Place on a sliced multigrain roll. (You can toast them on the grill if desired.)

GARLIC AND ROSEMARY LAMBURGER SLIDERS WITH SPICY MINT PEA RELISH AND TZATZIKI SAUCE

Cook lamb sausage slider and place on a multigrain roll and top with the following:

SPICY MINT PEA RELISH
1 cup frozen baby peas
2 tablespoons packed fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil1
1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put peas in a food processor to finely chop. Then add mint, chile, olive oil, and lemon juice. Pulse until finely chopped. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 3/4 cup

TZATZIKI SAUCE
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz. plain (non-fat) yogurt
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tablespoon chopped chives or scallion

Finely chop cucumber into colander or strainer, add salt and let stand 15 minutes. Press out liquid with back of spoon or put in a paper towel and squeeze to drain excess liquid. Place in bowl with rest of ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 1 cup

BLUE CHEESE CRUMBLED ANGUS SLIDERS WITH BATTERED ONION STRINGS

Make your Angus sliders, place on a multigrain roll and top with the following:

1/4 teaspoon blue cheese crumbles
1 teaspoon tempura fried onion rings

TEMPURA BATTERED ONION STRINGS

1 large sweet onion, sliced into very fine rings and cut in half
1 cup flour
1 cup cold club soda
1 egg
Salt to taste
Oil, for frying

Whisk ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Add onions. Fry in oil. Drain on a paper towel covered plate.

LAMB AND APPLE SAUSAGE SLIDERS WITH FETA AND SWEET AND SOUR APPLE BEET RELISH

Make your lamb sliders, place on a multigrain roll and top with the following:

SWEET AND SOUR APPLE BEET RELISH

1 jar pickled beets, julianned
1 small Granny Smith or greening apple, peeled, cored and shredded (largest setting)
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt (coarse)
Freshly ground black pepper
Feta cheese, crumbled

LIME CHILI FRUIT AND JICAMA SUMMER SALAD

Chop and julianne vegetables. Combine in a bowl and toss until thoroughly incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste. Add to slider and top with feta crumbles.

2 cups each:
Julienne jicama
Cubed watermelon
Cubed mango
1 cup sliced cucumber
Juice of two fresh limes and
Tajin lime chili powder and salt to taste

Put jicama, watermelon, mango and cucumber in a bowl. Toss with lime juice and add salt and Tajin Lime Chili Powder to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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