ABOUT ME
I am a native Washingtonian, back in my home town after stints in Manhattan and Jerusalem. I live in a charming loft with a pink wall and a great fireplace alas, our pink-walled apartment no longer is ours; we bought a condo! It has an even better fireplace, a super-open kitchen area, and a deck – yes, a deck. I’ve been grilling up a storm. Food is “merely” a hobby — I’m a consultant during the day — but I could spend hours talking about (and eating) food without ever getting bored.
I’m a grammar fiend, a lover of homemade ice cream, and a proud builder of two pretty rockin’ spice racks. When that’s not enough to keep me busy, I like to blog about food.
ABOUT NDP
Not Derby Pie was a dessert my mom has made ever since I can remember. It’s named after Derby Pie, the Kern’s Kitchen original that has been trademarked. Picture flaky pie crust, a thick layer of chocolate, and a light, nutty nougat with a thin crust, and you’ll understand why I chose the simple yet decadent NDP as the blog’s namesake. Recipe? Sure thing; glad you asked.
ABOUT THE BLOG
I’ve been cooking as long as I’ve been able to make a mess, and blogging has nudged my cooking to the next level. It’s also been a great opportunity to fiddle with camera settings and take great pictures. As with anything, NDP is a work in progress. I encourage you (plug!) to leave comments, especially if you try out a recipe and have some tweaks or questions. I’m really good about answering people’s inquiries in a timely manner… so the more, the merrier.
ABOUT THE MATERIALS
These days, I shoot almost exclusively with my Nikon D80 and a 50mm/1.4 lens. Every once in a while I’ll switch to my only other lens, the 18-200 (totally not a food photography lens) just to see things differently and shake that feeling that every shot I take has been seen and seen before. I’m currently saving for a 100mm macro and a speed light, but they’ll have to wait.
When I first started the blog, I shot with a Pentax iST DL and the 18-55 lens that came with the camera.
NDP uses the Thesis theme for WordPress, from Chris Pearson. It’s a fantastic theme with plenty of customization possibilities. That said, NDP wouldn’t look the way it does without tons of modification and a host of plugins. I’m living proof that it’s possible to teach yourself basic html and css. It may have taken hundreds of hours, but it’s well worth the final product.
POLICIES
Recipes that state no source are of my own creation (unless I’ve made a terrible slip-up). If a recipe says it is “adapted” from another source, that generally means that at least one ingredient has been added, removed, or altered in quantity, and that the instructions (mixing order, baking time, clarity, etc) have been adjusted.
From time to time, I am contacted by publishers or vendors and offered free products. I never accept any products in exchange for either endorsements or publicity, and I explicitly communicate that accepting a product does not mean I will write about it. My general policy is that I will only write positively about a product if I have purchased – or plan on purchasing – it with my own money. That’s what I expect from the bloggers whose blogs I read, and it’s what I assume my readers expect of me.
Above all, NDP is 100% a labor of love (and chocolate). So read, eat, and get cooking!