Food Photography, Advertising and Blogging (FAB module) workshop

Date : 19 June 2009, 9 to 5pm
Venue : NIE
Presented by AHES, in partnership with Canon


About 25 teachers signed up for the workshop. Ms Shirley Wong welcomed all of them and highlighted some of the advantages of attending the workshop :-

1. to connect with students! Food photography and food blogging is exciting and current.
2. to change the way your school and colleagues look at home economics.
3. allows for interdisciplinary partnerships with other departments.
4. it is an excellent module to launch for "white space" in the curriculum; creating a food photography portfolio is highly creative, and this is in line with the I&E intiatives.
5. can be introduced as an optional post exam activity.

Shirley covered the module outline and conducted theory lessons with the teachers in the morning session.

There were plenty of opportunities for teachers to do hands-on session. Practice makes perfect!!!

Any camera we have, DSLR with long lens, point and shoot... LET'S TAKE PHOTOS.

And teachers shared the shots, discussed the colours, lighting and most importantly had lots of fun!

These are the colourful and yummy objects for phototaking. Smile, 123, Cheese!!!

A quick blogging session sharing was conducted by Pooi Pooi and Shirley Goh.

After lunch, everybody was excited to meet the Dr Leslie Tay who is the famous blogger of ieatishootipost.sg. He shared with us lots of great tips on food photography. We were encouraged to think out of the box and unleashed our creativity.

Mr Russel from Canon brought along few sets of DSLR for the teachers to practice taking photos. Before that he explained the functions of a DSLR camera to the teachers. He also shared what are the differences between capturing photos with a DSLR camera and a simple "point and shoot" camera.

Some teachers were tempted to purchase their own DSLR after having the oppportunity to try the cameras.

Overall it was a fun and enriching workshop for all the participants.

Special thanks go to our partners, Canon and Dr Leslie Tay for your time and valuable sharing on food photography:)

Updates

On the 5 June 2009, at Evergreen Secondary School, we were honoured to present the AHES past, current and upcoming events to about 150 teachers during the Home Economics Seminar 2009 organised by CPDD, MOE

Jasmine and Weiqi, our executive committee members from Publication and Personal Development presented the talk.



After the talk, there were many teachers dropped by at the AHES booth to enquire and sign up for our events. Some teachers also renewed their AHES membership. The response was very good and most of the workshops were fully booked on that day.




Group photo taken at AHES booth

Workshop 3 with Chef Eric Low

Date: 25 May 2009
Venue: NIE Foods Lab
Three Dishes : Crepes Au Breton, Chilli Crab Spaghetti and Molten Lava Chocolate Cake


The Workshop 3 was a blast. The participants had the opportunity to make their own savoury crepes served with homemade sour cream. The fillings are smoked salmon, caper, garlic and onion condiments.



Next we cooked the Chili Crab Spaghetti. The Singapore's unique champion seafood dish is transformed to a sensational pasta with chili crab style sauce with fresh crabmeat, tomatoes and a lip smacking chili paste, enriched with beated egg and garnished with lots of fresh coriander.



Last but not least, the long awaiting famous dessert, Molten Lava Chocolate Cake. As they say, death by chocolate, this sensational sinful warm lava oozing chocolate cake sent all of us to heaven. So heavenly eaten with the yummy vanilla ice cream and strawberries!!!



Let's see the making of the lava cake demostrated by Chef Eric...


Thank you everyone who signed up for the workshop and joined in the fun. Do look out for the events coming up in future!

Workshop 2 - Thai Cuisine

Date: 20 May 2009
Venue: Henderson Secondary School

3 Famous Thai Dishes
a) Green Mango Salad with Fresh Shrimps
b) Pan Roasted Chicken with "Son-in Law’s Eggs" and Spicy Sweet Soya Sauce
c) Stir Fried Glass Noodles with Assorted Seafood and Garlic Chives

Common Thai ingredients



President of AHES and one of the participants busy preparing and chopping ingredients for the mango salad.



Hands on experiences during the workshop



Final product served with garnishes.



"Say Cheese" Phototaking session.

An Italian Culinary Evening and More

On the evening of Monday 6th April, a full class of AHES members and guests were treated to an Italian evening with Chef Eric, hosted at Henderson Secondary School.

The evening started off with an introduction by Chef Eric, and we were quickly divided into groups for our hands-on preparation of some classic Italian dishes. Eager for some action (and being fair hungry), participants were guided by Chef Eric in each of our assigned dishes. For many, the most rewarding part of being taught by Chef Eric was not because of his accolades (Chef Eric gradudated from SHATEC and the Culinary Institue of America, was a member of Team Singapore at the bid for Presidium of the World Association of Chefs Societies in 2008, and is a member of jury for Awards of Excellence for World Gourmet Summit Singapore 2009, and the list goes on!), but partcipants were really struck by Chef's generous and affable nature in the way he teaches and shares his knowledge and skills with us.

The evening progressed with much sharing about specific recipes, methods of preparation, unusual ingredients such as Fennel and Truffle Oil, discussion of interesting flavour profiles (use of spices with desserts), plating of dishes, stories of Italian "Mamas" and chefs, and ended with the class happily tucking into our culinary creations and even "ta-pauing" home for loved ones.

Chef surprised us all with a yummy birthday cake for Samantha, who chose to spend her birthday with us! For a hands on class with 3 great dishes, food tasting and invaluable sharing by a professional Chef, this workshop is seriously value for money at $40! It is our honour to team up with Chef Eric to bring these culinary workshops to AHES members and guests. We are eagerly awaiting the next workshop on Thai Cuisine (20 April)!

By Shirley Wong

Photos taken by Pooi Pooi

Snapshots of some ingredients and finished product.


Chef's working...




The Participants: AHES Secretary and Prof Low Guat Tin from NIE.


The 'Shirleys' are happily tucking in the food.


Our DIP HEED students, from the FCS club benefited and enjoyed the workshop very much.


SEE YOU ON 20 APRIL 2009!!!

AHES NEWSLETTER

From the editor's note, Ms Jasmine Kaur;
"It is that time of the year again. Setting scheme of work and brainstorming on new assignments for students. Take a tip or two from Anglican High School with their project for students on convenience food and the effects of its consumption.

Make eating healthy your New Year's resolution! Ms Yeong Li Yuin Director, Business Development for the Nutrition Place shares the 'joy' of soy with us.

Also, in this issue are details on the Citi-NIE Financial Literacy conference. Be sure to mark a date on your calendar for the IFHE Annual Leadership Meeting 2009 which will be held in Kingston."

Read more about it ...

Please download the DEC 2008 Newsletter HERE!

AIMS

In 1966, a handful of forward-looking Domestic Science teachers came up with the idea of forming an Association for Teachers of Domestic Science (ATDS). By 1967, they had formulated their aims and drawn up a constitution.

The aims of the Association were:

1. to bring together teachers of Domestic Science;
2. to forge a closer link between Domestic Science teachers and the Ministry of Education;
3. to provide opportunities to share and exchange ideas for the improvement of the teaching of Domestic Science;
4. to help organize functions related to the teaching of Domestic Science.

At the inaugural meeting in 1967, there were 28 members. Following which, in April 1970, the Association’s name was changed to Home Economics Teachers’ Association (HETA). This was done in accordance with the move to change the name of the subject from ”Domestic Science” to “Home Economics” by the Ministry of Education.

Some of its major achievements have been:

1. quarterly Newsletters since 1970;
2. affiliation to the International Federation of Home Economics (1973);
3. the first HETA seminar on “Home Economics Serving the Community”;
   a booklet on “Popular Local Dishes in Metric” in four languages in conjunction with the Metrication Board.

A variety of programmes have been organized over the years such as seminars, competitions, fashion shows for teenagers and children, cookery competitions, community work, talks and demonstrations, radio and TV programmes, educational tours, vegetable carving classes and cookery courses conducted by members and chefs from leading hotels.