Here are a couple of photos of Bentley, our Pomeranian puppy http://www.pbase.com/tgdusty/puppy  taken a few weeks ago, he will be 2 years old in May, we picked him up at 8 weeks old, he weighted 10 oz ,he now weighs 5.5 lbs, he is a joy to have around but some times can be a pain in the you know what (just kidding)
I was in a conference out of town at the beginning of February and met Roy Timm  http://www.roytimmphotography.com a professional photographer hired to shoot the conference, as we where exchanging info I noticed he was shooting with an older flash (a Vivitar i think) attached to his Nikon D3  http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond3. Well lo and behold, I do have a Sunpack 4205G, that I had thought was absolute. Due to the nature of the power output and thanks to Roy ,I did follow up with Nikon and Sunpak and was told that it was safe to use it providing TTL was not used.
So here are a couple of the first photos taken with the Sunpak bouncing off the ceiling

Here are a few more photos of the cod dish. All photos were photographed in Raw mode and edited in Cs3.
Levels and Curves adjustment ,Saturation and Unsharp mask. As you can see different effects on each photograph with a little adjustment here and there .
Hope you enjoy

Dried  cod is one of those Portuguese staples no home can live without. Here is a simple recipe for a quick and easy Cod dish for 2.
12-oz of boneless salt cod, that has been soaking in water for two days changing the water 3 to 4 times a day,this will reconstitute the cod and will wash away all the  salt
3 medium Yukon gold potatoes
1-medium onion peeled and sliced
4-garlic cloves chopped
6 oz of olive oil
1 oz pimenta moida (pepper paste,found in any portuguese grocery store,we make our own at home)

1-bunch of collard greens
1/4-teaspoon of chili flakes

Step 1
Cut the cod in four portions and set aside two ,the other two place in a pot with cold water and bring to boil ,reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes ,remove and set aside to cool
In the mean time place the potatoes in an other pot ,cover with water, bring to boil and simmer until fork tender,let cool a room temperature ,peel and slice thin
Step 2
In a frying pan sautee the onion with 2 oz of the olive oil till translucent,add 1/2 of the garlic and the pepper paste stirring well, add cod that has been previously simmered and flaked and mix well .The cod needs to asorb the flavours for a couple of minutes then add the potatoes and mix in well,season with salt and pepper,add alitle more olive oil or pepper paste if necessary .Keep in mind that the potatoes will absorb some of the olive oil,you might need to add a little more .
Step 3
The 2 portions of cod left are to be dredged in flour  that has previously been seasoned with salt and pepper and pan seared  in olive oil and finished in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. At this point you can also put the cod and potato mixture in the oven for about 10 minutes
Step 4
On another frying pan sautee the other 2 oz of olive oil, the rest of the garlic and the chili flakes and the collard greens that have previously been washed and dried ( they will splash if not dried ),stir well till they are limp, you might need to add a couple of ounces of water and cover the pan if they seem tough to chew, season with salt and pepper 
Step 5
Once the collard greens are ready ,place then in the bottom of two plates,add the cod and potato mixture and the cod portions on top, as per the photograph .Itossed some baby arugula with olive oil and a slash of white balsamic vinegar and  placed it on top of the cod, then drizzled some more olive oil around the plate and garnished it with kalamata olives that can also be added to the cod and potato mixture if you like hot olives. And i like it!  Enjoy
I hope you try the recipe and let me know how it turned out

Here is another batch of the culinary high school challenge
All images are processed in cs3 using levels and curve adjustments and then resized to 600x800
Hope you enjoy

The wife left this morning( Monday) to her granny's funeral (God bless her soul) in Ontario and I am left to babysit Bentley and Baily,,,http://www.pbase.com/tgdusty/puppy   ....... so much for having a nice family day LOL.....

Anyway ,after editing the photos for the previous post I figured that eventually one needs some nutrition
Pulled a couple of pork medallions and a half chicken from the freezer,,,, really not to much inspiration there but what the heck, food is food and one has to eat,,turns out it was a great meal 
Here is the recipe:
1-1/2 chicken deboned and flattened skin side down
In a food processor add the  following ingredients and pule until you have a smooth mixture
6-oz of pork loin cubed
2-slices of bacon
2-garlic cloves
2-green onions
2-oz of coffee cream
1-egg whit
1-.25 teaspoon of salt
crushed black pepper
Keep in mind that you can spice it up a bit with some hot pepper (smoked chippolte in adobe would be ideal)
Place the mixture in the center of the stretched chicken and roll,tie it with butchers twine ,sear on all sides in a hot pan, (the removed bones can be used to set the chicken roll on when placed in the oven and left on the pan to make the gravy) season the outside with salt and pepper and place in a 350 oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until the thermometer registers 165 F. remove from oven and let rest.
In the mean time add chopped dates to the pan the chicken was roasting deglaze the pan with .5 cup of white wine, reduce till half,add1 cup of chicken stock and  bring to boil .In a small bowl add .5 table spoon of flour to 3 table spoons of water and mix well  and mix into the stock,bring to boil and simmer 6/8 minutes to cook the flour ,season with salt and pepper

The photos bellow where taken with the SB800 wireless off camera

Here is batch 2
As you can see these kids are really in to it, the concentration ,the team work, just amazing what these kids can do nowadays.

Hope you enjoy the photos ,batch 3 should be posted soon

It was a blast seeing these kids cooking on a professional stage (NAIT kitchens), although there where a few miscues, what a feeling it is to look at these future chefs for the first time in this environment . Kudos to Chef Simon Smotkowicz  of the Shaw Conference Center  and Chef Stan Townsend from NAIT, for organizing this wonderful event.

More to come....stay tuned

Looks like the flu is gone....clean bill of health from the doctor this morning
Will be posting the  photos from the High School challenge soon
It was great to see these 15/16 year olds create some amazing food, unfortunately I had to leave early to help out the wife...her car 's fan belt blew in a parking lot away from NAIT...Thank God I got there before the panic sets in LOL..... 

The flu is on the way out, the website is running ,not at 100% yet,but will get there soon .
Off to the 3rd High School cooking challenge at NAIT this morning.
Of all the competitions i judge this is the most exciting, the kids these days are way ahead of the game, some of the product is just incredible. Although I have coached a previous team before ,i just did not have the time this year.Last years winner was coached by me the year before
These are teams of 3 students and they will compete 13 other teams for a chance to work a full year under top notch chefs in the city, can't wait to get to NAIT
Will be posting photos in the next few days......
Here are a couple of links to the previous competitions

http://www.pbase.com/tgdusty/high_school__2
http://www.pbase.com/tgdusty/high_school_competition