Blake Makes

Hello, dear Blake Makers. I’m in love. Not with my wife, my poodle, or the food I’m cooking, although it is all perfectly lovable. I’m in love with the new light kit I got last week. Even in the dead of night, I can bathe my food in glorious, luxurious light. I’ll be blogging a full report soon, but for now, let’s eat.

We eat zucchini fries quite a bit. They’re a great alternative to dishes requiring sides of fried potatoes. I normally slice the zucchini into thin coins, spray them with Pam and cook them quickly in a hot oven. I went a different way this time.

I cut the ends off the zucchini, and then in half leaving me with two cylinders. I cut those in half, and then turned them on their curved sides. Slice those into long, wedge-shaped segments.

Next, I whisked an egg white until frothy, and then added 1/4 cup skim milk. Set aside. I took two Wasa crackers, and pulverized them with my mortar and pestle. I dipped the zucchini slices in the egg whites and milk, and arranged them on a baking sheet. Finally, I sprinkled them with the cracker dust.

Bake them in a 425 oven for 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle them with salt, and serve them immediately. We like to dip them marinara.

You might be asking yourself why I titled this post “clever”. Well, you see, eating healthy doesn’t always mean going without. Fool yourself with food that looks like the original, crunches like the original, is salty like the original, but isn’t.

-bk

Hello, dear Blake Makers. This isn’t a food post, but you’re my friends, so I must share. It’s all in the video below.

Big Brother exists. But, Big Business also exists. All the operator had to do was direct me to the video online to prove they got me. After I saw it, I paid. No questions asked. The fine was $130, btw. I wonder how many of those they process in a day? I wonder how many of me’s are born every minute?

Scary. Hold me!

Here’s some raw footage of the effervescent time I had last night at Savvy Gourmet. I participated in one of their cooking classes, and if you’ve never done it, do it. If you ever visit New Orleans, do it. We made three different types of gumbo, two of which I had never heard of before (I can’t wait to tell you what they were).

I wish I could live at Savvy Gourmet. I can’t wait for you to see the show! Give us a week or so to get it out of post. Stay tuned! BTW, the footage below was shot on my crappy, little handheld. The main footage will be coming to you in brilliant HD (Thanks to Steve).

You’ll have to visit Blake Takes to watch it.

When you get there, pay attention to what we’re talking about in the video. I was very lucky to stumble upon this interview. He’s a very big deal, and the event he’s talking about is, too. You’ll have to watch the video to learn all about it, but here’s a link.

I want you guys to also pay attention to the show’s intro, and (overall) where I’m going with this. Keep an eye on me, and stay tuned. I’ve got a lot of tricks up my sleeve (”Blake Makes Me A Blogger” and “Blake Takes Five”).

This video will live forever on BlakeTakes.com.

Ok. I don’t have time tonight to write all the winner’s name here, and link to their blogs. Instead, I sent them all an e-mail (check your spam folders!) telling them they’ve won. If you were one of the lucky winners, congrats!

I want to try something a little differently this time. If you are a winner, take a picture of your trays when they arrive (they mail out next week). E-mail your photo to trays@picwing.com. In the subject line, copy the URL of your site. The subject line will be the caption on your photo, and since it will be your blog’s URL, people will see your site because it’s on my site.

Include nothing else in the e-mail. Just e-mail to trays@picwing.com. In the subject line, copy the URL of your blog. Finally, simply attach the photo(s) to the e-mail and send.

You can practice on this previous post.

Hello, Sooper Heroes. I’ve selected all the tray winners, but I’m not quite ready to announce them. I have to get them into a spreadsheet to send to the manufacturer to fulfill. The winners should be up on Monday or Tuesday. Stay tuned!

Comment on this post for a chance to win a set of these trays. If you prefer letter trays over number trays, tell me in your comment! The drawing will be mostly random, but I love how creative you guys get. Tell me what you’ll do with them, make me laugh or just say hi. I’ll pick 24 Letter Tray winners, and 24 Number Tray winners. Good luck! I’ll announce the winners on Sunday.

DIY Lightbox (For Foodies) from Blake Killian on Vimeo.

A few months ago, I connected with an insanely creative guy (via the Spoon Sisters) who created really fun letter and number trays. You can get a sneak peek at them below, but here’s how they describe themselves on their site:

It’s a mold that’s colorful, educational, flexible and non-stick. Make ice, sidewalk chalk, Jello-o, butter, soap, shortbread cookies, chocolate, muffins, candles… oven safe to 550F and freezer safe to -50F.

Don’t want to wait for the giveaway? Go buy them now from the Spoon Sisters!

I’m interested to see what you Blake Makers can do with these. This is NOT the giveaway post. That post comes on Friday. I’m sending out a not-so-sooper-secret e-mail tonight with the details. If you haven’t joined SOOPZ, get to it!

Let’s see if this thing works. The slideshow below displays photos that are emailed to a specified e-mail address. E-mail any photo you want (keep it clean) to blakekillian@picwing.com, and it will appear below. If this works, I’ve got any idea. Several ideas, actually. bk