What to Include?

My homepage  will include a brief description of who I am as well as the goal of my site.  I plan on having a few photos, but envision remaining as uncluttered as possible.  I want any visitors to be able to find the links to my sub-pages as quickly as possible.

I have been giving a lot of thought to what I would like the topics of my sub-pages to be.  Based on the advice of my classmates I believe I have come up with some likely ideas.

1. Recipes: Cookies, cakes, bars and pies!  I will include six or more recipes selected by Trinity and Atticus.  These are easy to make ideas that will deliver the desired sugar rush with the dessert is completed.

2. Tips page: You want to bake with kids, but are afraid your kitchen will wind up looking like a war zone or you child's exuberance will frustrate you to no end.  I will include tips that have worked for me and helped to avoid the drama.  For example

•  Set out everything you will need before you start
  
•  Explain kitchen rules
•  Before each step explain what you will be doing and why
  
•  Assign each child small tasks they can take turns doing
  
•  Clean as you go!
  
•  Taste along the way

3. Substitutions: Ok you are baking and suddenly realize you are almost out of flour.  Do you want to drop everything you are doing and run to the store?  Yeah, I didn't think so.  I will include a page that will list items you can use as substitutions for certain ingredients.  For example using apple sauce or yogurt instead of oil or using granulated sugar and molasses in place of Dark Brown Sugar.  I frequent the Land O'Lakes site for this type of information.

4. Conversion Table and Definitions:  Somehow all your measuring cups of disappeared.  You last saw them in the kids sandbox, but they are now denying all knowledge.  Or say you are staring frustrated at a recipe and wondering what in God's name they mean by a "dash of salt."  Seriously how much is a dash anyway?  I would like to include a conversion table of measurements similar to the one found on  e-CookBooks.

Cake Making Mischief

For my project I will be enlisting the culinary skills of Trinity (6) and Atticus (4).  I have baked with them several times, so they know all of my ground rules in the kitchen.  

Because they are not my children, I felt it was appropriate to ask their parents if they had any special concerns or qualms about using their images on my website.  Their mother asked that I not show Trinity and Atticus' face in any pictures and videos I used.  This poses an interesting problem.  

Ideally I would have liked to have shown their faces to demonstrate that they are in fact having a good time, and not being tortured for my own nefarious purposes.   Really the only solution is to take pictures from the neck down and include videos of giggling.  I experimented this weekend, making a chocolate fudge cake with ganache. 

These are some of the pictures and videos I took while baking the cake.  I think they will work for my purposes, but I would be interested to hear anyone else's thoughts or ideas.

 

The almost finished Product...

Am I Violating Copyright?

Let's Hope Not!

Copyright is one of the major issues I had to consider for my final project.  There are several tasty recipes I would like to include on my site.  The problem is most of them come from a magazine, cookbook, or on-line source.  I was worried that if I posted these recipes to my site I would be violating copyright.

I consulted the U.S. Copyright Office's website, which stated, "Mere listings of ingredients as in recipes, formulas, compounds, or prescriptions are not subject to copyright protection. However, when a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection."

If I understand this correctly, I can use the list of items that are provided in the various cookbooks and magazines, but the actual description of how they are mixed together and baked will be in my own words.  I will also be sure to state what source the recipe has been adapted from.  Hopefully this will ensure I am operating within the confines of copyright law.

And Now For Something

... pretty much the same... and not really all that different...

I think I might have actually found the perspective I would like to take for my final project.  As I was explaining to my housemates that I wanted my web page to center around baking, their two children promptly began begging me to let them:

a) Pick the recipes
b) Help me prepare the desserts
c) Help eat the food

I have never been able to resist the cute wheedling of kids so of course I agreed, but it gave me an idea.  My final project can be devoted to baking with kids.  

Anyone with kids can tell you that, while having them help in the kitchen can be fun for them, it can be a nightmare for the adult; eggs dropped on the floor, flour spilled all over the counter, hot stoves, dirty fingers, extra ingredients thrown in while your back is turned, and (although they deny it to this day) chocolate fed to dogs.  

A lot of sites offer "kid's recipes," but few actually discuss ways to avoid the chaos kids bring when they 'help' in the kitchen.  I thought I could create a site that offers useful advice on how to bake with kids while avoiding most of the messy scenes and short-tempered outbursts that can only take away from the joy of cooking and eating chocolate.   I can incorporate many of the suggestions given to me by my classmates; have videos, definitions of cooking terms, lists of substitutions, as well as recipes selected and approved by kids.

Oh, and the answer is yes, I am sure I could bring some cookies for people to sample at some point during the quarter…

In Search of Inspiration

Like everyone else I have been trying to figure out what I would like to do for my final project.  Since I am going to be spending a lot of time on the project I would like to do something fun. One idea immediately jumps to mind...

Baking!

I can't really cook to save my life, but I love baking.  Ask me to make a lasagna and you would wind up with a dish that was burned on the top, frozen in the middle, and soggy at the bottom.   However, if you ask, me to bake a cake, tart, cookie, pie, etc. I can create perfection.  For my final project I could create a how-to-guide for baking.  I suspect this is not an original idea, but I am sure I can find a novel way of approaching it.  

At moment I envision my final project can include a recipe and a tips page that could easily include pictures of the finished desserts.