sabrina huang's photo blog

Cuisinart BRK-100 Brick Oven

We entertain at home a lot but we only have one oven with a small cheap toaster.  When the small toaster died on us, it’s time for us to look for a replacement.  We were looking for something that can be a second oven used for baking, toasting and broiling for small size or small amounts of food. When we compared several different brands and types of toaster ovens, we fell in love with Cuisinart Brick Oven.

First, this toaster oven keeps food warm longer because it has bricks built into the side of the toaster; moreover, this toaster comes with a removable pizza baking stone.

Second, it is easy to use.  It has 3 dials to control temperature, cooking function and toast shade level with 2 buttons for start and stop.

Third, it is so beautiful to look at – clean, minimal and simple.  It looks like it fits together with my other stainless appliances.

Fourth, it is much smaller than a regular oven but a lot bigger than a regular toaster; however, it is very powerful - capacity of 0.90 cu. ft. 1700 watts of power and 500 degrees F Brick, you can fit in a 12 inch pizza.  I use this brick oven more often than the big one I have because it does most of the jobs that I need.

The only thing I dislike it that you have to turn the oven around to get the crumb tray out and I am glad I only need to do it once a while.

Continuing Studies

I love to learn new things because it keeps me fresh and happy.  I love California because we have the best environment with the best people around here which provide us with the greatest resources available to everyone.  We have wonderful weather year round to do anything we want at any given time.  Just the sense of that energy makes every day a fantastic day!!

I just received a Continuing Studies catalog from Stanford University for Spring 08 which is from April to June.  I saw a couple of interesting classes and would like to share with you.  I don't know if I have the time to take those classes, but if you do, please take a full advantage of it.  If you do, please come share with us about your experience.

First of all, it's about Photography, of course.  In this Self-Publishing Your Photographic Book (ART 127) course, students will learn to edit and sequence their photos, decide on a title and text, make layout and design decisions, consider production and marketing options—in short, everything necessary to produce a beautiful, professional, hard-cover photo book. Final books will be printed and bound by Edition One Studios. The last class meeting will be a book-signing party at Modernbook Gallery in Palo Alto on June 12.  If you have been shooting for a while, you must have some beautiful photos that you want to make into a photo coffee table book. Don't know how?? This class will surely get you started.

Second of all, it will be Food Writing again.  This Food Writing from Soup to Nuts (EGL 243) course introduces many aspects of food writing: restaurant reviewing, magazine and newspaper articles, recipes, publicity, book proposals, cookbooks, food history, and memoir. Readings include culinary writers from M.F.K. Fisher and Ruth Reichl to Michael Pollan. Assignments are based on real food-writing situations and provide practice in research, writing, and exploring opportunities for publication in various media. Students will receive personalized, detailed feedback on each assignment and will be encouraged to develop a personal voice in relating food to their life experiences.  This is not an online class and the instructor is different than last quarter as well.  If you didn't make it last time, don't miss it again!!

You do like to travel, don't you?  Other than my mom and my brothers, I don't know anyone on earth who doesn't like to travel,  a chance to smell different air, taste different food and doing something that you never get a chance to do back home.  This quarter they offer a Travel Writing (EGL 145 W) online course.  Why is it that we must leave home in order to know ourselves? How does place inform our understanding of ourselves and the world? This online course explores the writing of the traveler—essays of place, exploration, and excavation. But you do not need to go far to write about place; the festival in your hometown, the view from your back porch, or the memory of traveling with your grandmother when you were a child all serve as perfect catalysts. We will use Best American Travel Writing 2006 as our guide, taking cues from its essays on how to structure, organize, and propel a travel piece. But for the most part, this class will function as a workshop. Students will write several short pieces to explore different aspects of technique and approach throughout the term. The course will culminate with every student writing a full-length essay, and receiving thorough critique from the class to help hone it for publication.

I made a wish to myself a few years ago that I want to be a very influential person and use my influence to have a positive impact on society.  I told myself it may take ten, even twenty years to achieve that goal but I know I will be that person one day.  So the next class I found is very interesting - Increasing Your Influencing Skills (WSP 131) Command and control used to be effective for creating change and achieving outcomes across an organization. Today, we are finding ourselves in the midst of a brand new game. Whether you work in a matrix organization or across functional silos, you may face the need to influence without having authority or hierarchical power. It is no longer effective simply to mandate how you need others to perform. This poses a challenge particularly when it comes to aligning interests and creating common goals and objectives. In a supportive environment and through practical activities and exercises, we will refine our influencing skills, hone our capacity to engage other people, and expand our sphere of influence. In the end, we will learn to effectively communicate organizational needs in a way that creates receptivity and engagement.  This is a one-day class, held on 5/17 from 9:30 to 5:00pm.

If you are interested in Real Estate, maybe a homeowner-want-to-be, maybe an investor-want-to-be, or maybe a Real-Estate-Agent-want-to-be, you might want to consider to take this class - Residential Real Estate: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (BUS 76) Mark Twain said, "Buy land; they're not making it anymore." In this course, we will examine the pitfalls and opportunities to watch out for if you are tempted to heed Twain’s call. After providing some general background on real estate and discussing some of the unique aspects of today’s market, we will provide a conceptual framework for use in the purchase or sale of a personal residence or residential investment real estate. This course will help demystify elements of a transaction while highlighting the most critical issues. Topics will include property valuation, financing, investment issues, title reports, title insurance, property inspections, mandatory disclosures, risk management, staging, marketing, Internet marketing, and special issues for seniors. This course is designed for individual investors, homeowners, prospective homeowners, and persons considering a career in real estate sales.  This class has two instructors and their background is impressive.  I am sure you will learn first hand information on Real Estate.   

Illuminating Edibles

I saw a really good article on Studio Photography Magazine on Jan 2008 issue talked about Food Photography.  In the end of the article, they also has a photo that show the set-up of camera, subject, lighting, and reflector which gives you a better idea how everything work. Enjoy it!

Illuminating Edibles . . . Shooting Fine Fare in Its Best Possible Light by Patrick Wadley

All still lifes require considerable lighting expertise and discipline, but food photography has its own special challenges. Unlike jewelry, toasters, or apparel, food moves. It shrinks, expands, shifts, melts, and changes shape and color. On the set, you need to work quickly, and, depending on the type of food, you may need multiple setups to get the perfect shot. Before setting the first light, there are some preliminaries to think about.

The most important aspect of food photography is preparation. There are three essential areas that demand attention: understanding the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) rules about "truth-in-advertising," knowing how to deal with the client or art director, and recognizing the value of a good food stylist.

The FTC regulates advertising and sets policies for the protection of consumers. These policies and rules affect verbal and visual advertising claims. There is a lot of information about truth-in-advertising at www.ftc.gov, but in a nutshell, "Advertising must be truthful and nondeceptive." This means you cannot misrepresent a product in an image or in writing.

. . . . . Keep Reading

The East meets West Married Couple Meetup Group

I am Taiwanese, and my husband is white American.  Since we are an interracial couple, we have many friends who are also interracial couples.  I found that interracial couples over all are a very interesting combination because Eastern culture and values are very different from Westerner’s.  The one thing I found in my marriage is that we don’t make assumptions of things in life because we know we are different – language, values, mentalities, perspectives, eating hobbies, etc.  I also found that those differences gave us interesting interaction toward everyday life.  We are always learning about each other, not only as individuals but also as a country or culture. 

So I started looking around to see if there are other social groups focused on people like us.  I joined two photography groups on Meetup.com but didn’t see any Asian and White couples in the group.  So I am thinking why not starting a group myself and see how many people are interested.  2008 is a good year to start something new so I set up my first meetup group called “The East meets West Married Couple Meetup Group” which has 22 members so far. 

We had our first meetup event today at John’s XLNT Food in downtown Willow Glen for breakfast.  We had five couples show up which was very nice.  We had four American husbands, one Swedish husband with two Chinese wives, one Taiwanese, one Singaporean and one Vietnamese-American wife.  Since this is our fist meetup, we started very gently on conversations.  We start with where people live and where they work, etc.  This didn’t last long because by the end of the breakfast, we have all kinds of subjects and conversations going on, and our voice and laughter was also getting louder.  It was a great time and I am sure next time we meet would be even more fun. 

Building a strong and supportive friendship takes time and effort.  I left my long time friends in Taiwan and start over again in the States.  This is my 8th year in the States and I finally start seeing the fruit of the seeds I planted when I moved to here.  I have started having friends here that I have known for quite some time.  I start to feel belonging. 

I start to feel that here is my home.

As my husband would say, “You have come a loooooong way, baby.”

Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) Designation

Home Staging has become very popular in the real estate industry in recent years.  Thanks to HGTV and other design/decorating TV shows, more and more homeowners recognize the importance of home staging.  In fact, home staging started around the 1970s but it was not until the 1990s when it really grew in popularity.  In today’s market, the homes that have been staged sell faster and for more money than those that have not been staged.  However, not every seller has the budget for Professional Staging but I still want to find a way to help them to get top-dollar for their home.

Home staging is not like the model home in a brand new house or condo community.  Home staging is a marketing tool and a necessary step taken prior to putting a house on the market for sale by de-cluttering, depersonalizing, rearrange furniture, re-accessorizing and making it smell better while homeowners are still living in the house (or by renting furniture for vacant homes).  Staging works, because it helps buyers to visualize what can actually be done with the place.

Therefore, I signed up for an Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) for Realtor class with the intent to serve my clients better.  The class was taught by Barb Schwarz, the creator of Staged Home.  Barb has been featured on 20/20, the Today Show, ABC, CBS, FOX 8, etc and she also written several books on Home Staging.  Many people think staging is about remodeling or re-decorating which is personalizing the home, but it is not.  The key to staging is to de-personalize by taking down family photos, personal collections, awards, certificates, etc, and redefine the purpose of each room by rearranging furniture.

Depending on your budget, sellers can hire a Realtor who has an ASP Designation to provide you with a DIY staging plan to save money or you can hire an ASP Stager to stage your house for you. 

Who doesn’t like to see a house that looks like a model home?  As a Realtor, I love to show staged homes to my clients because it feels good to walk in the house and it helps my clients to see how they can live in the house where each room has a clear function.  Since you don’t get a chance to have a first impression twice, how a house looks is a very important key to getting the house sold.  The National average shows that price reduction range from 5-10% when a house is not selling, so it would be better for a seller to invest that money in staging before the home comes on the market to see it is sold more quickly.   

Home is the biggest investment in most people’s life and a car is the second biggest investment.  Most of us would invest some time and money to detail our car before we put it on the market for sale.  So why wouldn’t we invest some time and money to detail our house before the sale??  Think about this for a second, most of buyers today are looking for houses through the Internet first.  They look at the photos online first to decide if they want to go to see that house.  If the house isn’t staged, and combine that with the fact that most Realtors don’t know much about proper photographic techniques, what do you think the chances are that you’re home is making a good first impression?

If you can’t get buyers in the door, you are not going to sell the house.

(Photo courtesy of StagedHome.com)