My photos on the web - without my permission

Not a happy post today I’m afraid.

It has come to my attention that my photos are being stolen and used around the web without my knowledge or approval.

Don't ever think that the photos you take are not good enough. One day you will find your pictures on othe websites, just like I did. And it hurts.

Images are an important aspect of blogging. If you're placing your photographs on the Internet, you'll want to make sure you protect your rights to those images. I learned my lesson. Unfortunately we learn from our mistakes. I will copyright my photos, I will watermark them I will do whatever it takes. I am not a pro, but I love to take pictures and I don’t want anybody to use them without my permission.

I have 3 blogs, one of them is Scarsdale Diet Recipes. Pictures from my blog are on different sites.

Here is my post: http://scarsdaledietrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/06/tuna-salad.html

Here is one website that used my photo: http://www.de-slabit.com/2012/04/dieta-scarsdale.html
Another website is http://cieloalatierra.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/viernes-de-dietas-dieta-scarsdale/

It is easy to steal a photo to rotate it to crop it and to post it on your blog. That doesn't make it yours. 

Another one: http://www.guidaconsumatore.com/diete/dieta-scarsdale.html

Another one: http://www.dietascardale.net/3/menu-semanal-de-la-dieta-scarsdale

Another one: http://it.paperblog.com/la-dieta-scarsdale-927010/
 

I took those photos and it drives me crazy to see them on somebody elses site.

 

So I now need to rethink what I’m doing, and whether to keep doing the blog or not. I didn’t post anything for a while because I was sad and upset. I am sure many of you are working hard to prepare the material for a blog. Me too. I prepare all the food, I take the photos, I spend time writing the recipes and when I find my photos on websites or blogs without my permission, well it hurts. And they don’t even bother to give me credit for my work with a link to my blog.

I don’t mind that my photos be shared as long as I am credited, but I have not been credited.

I will contact everyone and I will ask for the photos to be taken down or to mention my blog by posting a link with my blog.

 

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

Thanks. Anita

Hungarian Chicken Soup

OK. I promised you my Hungarian chicken soup recipe.  This is my mom's recipe. I think every family has its own recipe.

Growing up my family used food as a way to share stories, memories and love. Even now, when I eat certain foods I feel like I am that little girl sitting at the table with my brother and my paretnts. It is such a great feeling. 
In winter this was the soup I wanted. Nothing beats the winter chill like a steaming bowl of chicken soup.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lb Stewing Hen (Mature Chicken)

5 quarts water

1 onion, unpeeled

3-4 cloves garlic

3 large carrots

3 parsley roots

1 small celery root

1 small kohlrabi

 small savoy cabbage

1 green pepper

1 teaspoon peppercorns

1 tbsp salt

 

Directions:

Fill up your stock pot with water (about 5 qt).  Just make sure there's enough room to add all of the ingredients.

Cut up the hen and place cleaned pieces into the cold water (I used chicken breast and neck). Add salt, peppercorns and bring to a simmer.

Don't let it boil. If you want a nice and clear soup you need to simmer it not to boil it. Skim foam from top with a spoon as soon as it appears. Let it simmer for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile clean the vegetables and cut them in large pieces.

Add all the vegetables and continue to simmer for another 2 hours on the lowest heat.

Adjust the seasoning, add chicken bulion if wanted to enhace the flavor.

 

Remove the meat and carrots into a bowl and strain the soup through a fine sieve. The soup should be clear and golden. Semolina dumplings, thin noodles or small dumplings are also added to the soup.

 

Serve soup hot with fresh ground pepper.

 

Notes:

An unpeeled yellow onion will make the soup golden.

Never boil the soup, just simmer. Don't put a lid on the pot, cook it uncovered.

Cook the dumplings or noodles in water and add it to the soup. If you cook them in the soup, you will end up with cloudy soup.

 Tags: hungarian chicken soup recipe with pictures, clear chicken soup recipe, hungarian soup recipe, hungarian recipes, chicken soup recipes, husleves recipe, csirke leves recipe

Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto and Puff Pastry

Ingredients:



asparagus spears, washed, dried and trimmed
paper thin prosciutto cut in half lengthwise
thawed puff pastry
olive oil

Directions:

Remove puff pastry from freezer and allow to sit for 10 minsPreheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchement paper.

Wrap half sloce of prosciutto around each asparagus spear.
With a pizza cutter, slice the puff pastry into 1/2 wide strips.
Wrap puff pastry around the asparagus.
Arrange wrapped spears in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Bake for about 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until asparagus is tender, prosciutto is crisp and puff pastry is golden brown. Serve immediately.


Note: Prosciutto is salty enough, so you don't need to season with salt.
You can brush the puff pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with garlic powder and parmesan cheese.

Tags: asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and puff pastryrecipe, puff pastry prosciutto wrapped asparagus, asparagus prosciutto recipe, asparagus prosciutto appetizer

Liebster Blog Award nr. 2

This is unbelievable: another Liebster Blog award from Prathibha - http://cook-ezee.blogspot.com/

What can be better than one Liebster award??? the correct answer is 2 Liebster awards. Yes I got two in a week.

Actually this was the first award I got, but I didn't see it on Prathibha's blog, only after a few days.

So I have to nominate another 5 blogs. I will choose 5 bloggers with no Liebster blog awards. This is what I did yesterday when I got the first award.

'Liebster' means favourite or dearest in German. Rules for accepting the award:
- Thank the person who gave the award and link back to their blog.
- Copy and paste the award to your blog.
- Reveal the 5 blogs you have chosen to award and let them know by commenting on their blog.
- Hope they pass it forward by accepting and awarding it to bloggers they would like to honour

Here are the 5 blogs I follow and recommend to everybody:

Travelling and Cooking - http://helengrtravelling.blogspot.com/

My Food Affair - http://myfoodaffair.blogspot.com/

Tested and Tasted - http://testedandtasted.blogspot.com/

Holly goes Lightly - http://www.goeslightly.com/

Cooking Manu - http://cookingmanu.blogspot.com/

Prathibha  thank you again for the nomination.

Liebster Blog Award

Yesterday I received a wonderful surprise from Stephanie http://www.rodeobucket.com/.

First of all I want to thank you for including my blog in your favorites.

This is my first nomination and award and it really made my day. Thank you so much.

Liebster is German and translates to the English word“dearest”or” favorite”.

 It’s meant for up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers.”

Here are the rules
•Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
•Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you.
•Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.
•Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve
to be noticed. (Some say just 3 or more blogs of less than 200 followers each).
•Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.

  

One of the responsibilities that goes with accepting the Liebster Blog Award is an amazingly difficult one, that of choosing five blogs to nominate for the Award, in turn.

After much head-scratching, I finally narrowed it down to five blogs to pass the honors on to. In no particular order:

Discovering in the Kitchen - http://my-greek-cooking.blogspot.com/

The Saucy Gourmet - http://www.thesaucygourmet.net/

Una Semplice Passione - http://unasemplicepassione.blogspot.com/

Simple Cookery - http://simplecookery.blogspot.com/

Mumsfilibaba - http://mumsfilibaba-mumsfilibaba.blogspot.com/

The hardest part was to choose only 5!


Please visit Stephanie's blog http://www.rodeobucket.com/.

Thank you for the award!

Manitou's Cake - Caramel Cake

We had an Alaskan Malamute and every time my mom made this cake Manitou was present. When she caramelized the sugar he showed up and he didn’t leave the kitchen until the cake was done. He knew that smell, he knew something good is cooking, and I think he knew the recipe J. He watched my mom making this cake, he wouldn’t leave the kitchen for a second. This was his favorite dessert, and because we don’t know the name of this cake, we named it Manitou’s cake. Now he is watching us from heaven, and every time I make this cake I know he is there with me, waiting for a little piece. I loved him with all my heart.

You can make icing for this cake, we like it with a cup of milk and this is how Manitou would like it too ;-)

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 cup water (to stop the caramelization process)

Put sugar in a small saucepan, with tall sides, and cook over medium heat until it is dark amber.
When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water.

Whisk over medium heat, for about 10 minutes, until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky.

Set aside, let it cool.

1 cup sugar

100 g oil (I used sun flower oil)

2 cups flour

5 eggs

He is Manitou. Look at that big smile :-)
He loved to play in the snow.

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup walnuts + 1 teaspoon flour

Preheat oven at 350F.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add the sugar and the egg yolks, and mix until thick, fluffy and forms a ribbon. Add caramel syrup, flour, oil and the baking powder to the egg yolk mixture, little by little mixing well.

Beat egg whites in a separate bowl and then fold it in very gently in the mixture.

Pour it in a lined baking sheet. In a small bowl add the walnuts and 1 teaspoon of flour, and shake it well until the walnuts are coated. Shake off excess flour. This will keep the walnuts on top of the cake.

Bake it in a preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes (when cooked a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean).

Note: If you want the cake to be super moist, reserve about 3-4 tablespoon of syrup and when the cake is baked make some holes in the cake with a toothpick, and pour the caramel syrup with a spoon over the cake.

Tags: Caramel Cake recipe, Caramelized Sugar Cake recipe, prajitura cu zahar ars recipe

Creamed Spinach

I could eat this every day, it is one of my favorites. If I don't have time to cook I just take a box of frozen spinach from the freezer and in 10 minutes I have a great lunch or dinner. I always have frozen spinach, eggs and milk at home. You can use cream or milk for this recipe, I usually make it with milk.

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh spinach cooked, well drained and chopped or 1 box frozen spinach

2 tablespoons oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

3/4 cup milk

Directions:

Heat oil in a small saucepan over low heat; add the crushed garlic and sauté garlic in butter for about 1 minute. Do not let garlic burn or it will be bitter.

Add the flour to make a roux.

Add salt and pepper and heat until mixture bubbles, stirring constantly.

Gradually add the milk stirring constantly until the mixture is smooth and thick.

Add the chopped spinach into sauce and season with extra salt or pepper if needed, or add more crushed garlic.

Serve with eggs and fresh bread.

Tags: creamed spinach recipe, hungarian creamed spinach recipe, spenot recipe, spenot recipes, spanac recipe

Mushroom Stew - Hungarian

We love mushroom stew over polenta or mashed potatoes. So easy to make and super cheap, you have to try it. You can make it without sour cream, but I think that the sour cream makes the sauce super creamy and tasty. This is a hungarian recipe my mom used to make a lot.

Ingredients:

2 lb mushrooms, sliced

1 large onion

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2 teaspoon paprika

4 tablespoon oil

2-3 cloves garlic

1 cup sour cream

salt

black pepper

2 tablespoon flour

chopped parsley

Directions:

Pour oil into a large pan and sautee onions on a low heat until soft and translucent.

Add paprika and chopped tomatoes and stir well.

Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes.

Season with salt and black pepper and than cover the mushrooms with water.

Cook on low heat with cover for about 30 minutes.

In a small bowl mix the flour with a little water, until smooth, add the sour cream and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the mushroom stew, add the crushed garlic and cook for a few minutes.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with mashed potatoes and meat, or with polenta.

Tags: Mushroom Stew, hungarian Mushroom Stew recipe, Mushroom Stew recipe, gombaporkolt recipe, tocanita de ciuperci recipe, tejfolos gombaporkolt recipe

Arugula Apple Pomegranate Salad

This salad is super easy to make and it's ready in no time. Sometimes I put all the ingredients on the table and we make our own salad at the table, it's a lot of fun.
Delicious and refreshing salad, and soooo pretty.

Ingredients:

1 apple, thinly sliced (Gala, Jonagold, etc)

baby arugula

pomegranate seeds
feta cheese or blue cheese

roasted almonds

raspberry vinaigrette

Directions:

Arrange baby arugula on a large plate, transfer the apple slices on the plate, sprinkle pomegranate seeds on top, crumble feta or blue cheese on top and drizzle with raspberry vinaigrette. Toss to combine.

Enjoy it.

Tags: Arugula Apple Pomegranate Salad recipe, Arugula Apple Pomegranate Salad recipes, Baby Arugula Apple Pomegranate Salad with almonds and cheese, arugula salad with pomegranate, apple, feta and almonds

Hungarian Cabbage Salad

My mama used to make this salad for us a lot. It goes well with any meat and potato dish. I love it and it's a very simple and cheap salad.
This makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

1 medium cabbage, shredded

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoon white vinegar

pinch of caraway seeds, (optional)

salt, black pepper to taste

Directions:

Put shredded cabbage in a large strainer, sprinkle salt, let stand. When cabbage softens drain out the liquid.
In a large salad bowl add the water, vinegar, sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix until sugar is dissolved and put the cabbage in the salad bowl over the vinegar mixture. Add black pepper and caraway seeds
Mix well, taste for seasoning, and leave it in the fridge for a few hours before tossing again and serving.

Note:
You can add more or less vinegar, or more sugar, make your dressing tangy or sweet, add garlic to it, go crazy. Perfect salad to go with meat and mashed potatoes.

Tags: hungarian cabbage salad recipe, cabbage salad with vinegar recipe, white cabbage salad recipe