To clear a few things up-

I am not on a gluten free, wheat free, corn free, vegetarian or vegan diet. As such, most of the foods you see on here are not gluten free, wheat free, corn free, vegetarian or vegan.

Here is a photo of me as a baby attempting to eat a plastic owl. Yep, still not vegan.

Don’t get me wrong, I have eaten and enjoyed plenty of delicious gluten free, vegan and vegetarian food. I don’t think there is anything wrong with vegan food, or people who eat vegan food for whatever reason it is that they choose, whether it be moral reasons or health reasons.

I try to be as accomodating as possible, but honestly, its not my job to provide a vegan, gluten free or other special diet alternative for the foods I present or the recipes I write. In most cases you can do an easy google search for what you are looking for, and although I do my best to answer any questions you might have, it might be a better idea to do the research yourself instead of relying on me to hunt down a recipe that I probably haven’t actually made myself.

If you have a request for something that IS vegan, vegetarian, gluten free or falls under any special dietary restrictions, contact me and maybe I can come up with something for you. I’m not all evil, I promise.

Also- I am not a locavore (that plastic owl up there? Yep. Made in Taiwan) While I do my best to purchase local, healthy and natural products and ingredients, its just not always possible. I won’t make excuses, sometimes I just don’t care.

Anyways, onto the F.A.Q!

I really believe that there is no such thing as a stupid question, only missed opportunities to use common sense. In an effort to preempt any such occasions, I’ve come up with a list of questions I find people frequently ask me in my past food blogging experiences. As more questions arise, they will undoubtably be recorded here, so check back often.

My list of frequently asked questions-

Q. What type of camera do you use?

A. I currently use a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ5. I’ve only had this particular camera for a little over a year, so I’m still learning how to use it. In the past, I’ve used Medium and large format cameras as well as 35mm with all sorts of lenses. I used to work at a digital photography studio, and while I don’t have any sort of college degree in photography, I have taken a few classes that really didn’t do much for me other than making it possible for me to say “Yeah, I’ve taken a few photography classes”.

Q. How long have you been photographing food?

A. I’ve really only been photographing food since early 2007, when I began a food blog on Livejournal called A_Muffin_Story. If you go back to the first entries of that blog, you’ll see a lot of things have changed, style wise as well as technical skill. I’m fairly happy with my progression.

Q. I’d like to link to your blog/ use one of your photos/ use part of one of your stories or recipes, can I?

A. contact me, and we’ll talk. For the most part I don’t mind people using one of my photos so long as they provide a direct link back to my actual blog, but there are some things I’d rather not see my photos used for. Same goes for story and recipe content. I don’t mind so long as there is a link to my blog displayed. Who knows, if you let me know you plan to use it, I may just link back to you!

Q. What does “Never Bashful with Butter” mean? Where did the phrase come from?

A. Never Bashful with Butter is taken from a direct quote spoken aloud by Phil Donohue about Julia Child. The full quote is “Miss Child is never bashful with butter”, and while I’m not sure of the exact context in which it was spoke, I can imagine he’s referring to her predilection towards using mass quantities of butter in her cooking, as much French cooking is quite the same, as far as butter usage is concerned. He said this about her on her own cooking show, broadcast on NBC TV, on November18th, 1985. Personally, while I’m not anywhere near the cook that Julia Child was, I do have a fondness of butter (I won’t even touch margarine other than Earth Balance, and even then, only when making vegan goods), and when I was a child, I would sit and watch her show, amazed and enthralled. I believe that if there was any bond that I might share with Ms. Child, it would be that we both could be considered Never Bashful with Butter.

Q. How long have you been cooking/a cook/baking/a baker?

A. I’ve been baking since childhood. My mom was a very avid baker and cook when I was young, mostly because we couldn’t afford much else. My dad was the breakfast man, and occasionally he would make lunch or dinner, but that was mostly my mom’s domain. As a child, I would make breakfast with my dad, and watch and learn from my mom when she would bake and cook. My dream at 7 years old was to someday own my own bakery. As I got older I was a bit too messy for the kitchen, and I wasn’t allowed to do any baking or cooking. I was thrust into the world of taking care of myself when I first left home, and by the time I was 23, I’d gone from not knowing anything but the basics, to creating my own recipes and meal plans. I’ve worked at various grocery store bakery departments as well as independent bakeries as both a line/production baker and a cake decorator and loved every moment of it (except maybe a few co-workers) . Now I am a 26 year old illustrator and housewife. I’m lucky because my husband lets me test out my many food experiments on him, just so long as I make something delicious from time to time to even it all out. So to answer this question, I’ve been a cook and a baker my entire life, I’ve just gotten better at it in the past few years.

Q. I see that you sometimes use strange ingredients that I haven’t heard of or am not sure of where to find them at my grocery store, where do you shop?

A. Most of my ingredients are purchased at the local supermarket. Here is a list of places where I typically find specific ingredients. Safeway- This is where I do the majority of my shopping. I find that the “health food” department is a great place to find gluten-free or organic baking ingredients. Also, some of my strange flavouring extracts can be found here.

I also do bulk shopping from time to time at Haggen’s, Fred Meyer, Albertsons, Thriftway, WinCo and WalMart. Yes, I’ve shopped at WalMart, I’m no snob.

For more specialty items, I’ve shopped at Uwajimaya, which is an Asian supermarket, and although they only have three locations in Oregon and Washington, I’m sure that they carry similar items as just about any other Asian supermarket. Don’t forget about the hidden gems we’ve all found at Whole foods or Wild Oats.

Also, I’ve picked up things at Ma ‘n Pa grocery stores through my travels, and when I see something that catches my eye, I buy it.

Farmers markets are great for all sorts of specialty produce, and if it comes down to it, I’ll order something online. If there is an item that I’ve used in one of my projects that you are wondering about, call your local grocery store and say “I was wondering if you carry (product x) and if you do, how much it costs” Most times they’ll send someone to go and look, unless they’re extremely busy.

Wild Oats and Whole foods both are really good about helping with this. Unfortunately, asking me where an item is located is kind of pointless, since every grocery store is different from location to location. Calling them is a much better idea.

Also, you can look on google for substitute ingredients, if you don’t want to buy something you don’t know if you’ll be using again. If all else fails, comment and ask. I’ll do my best to answer as quickly and as throughly as possible.

Q. I asked you a question and you didn’t answer/ you gave me a rude answer. What’s your problem?

A. You may have noticed that I’m not able to directly comment in response to your comments, so you might just need to check the comments again for my answer. From time to time, I like to leave the house, so I’m not always home or at the computer, and it might be a few days before I’m able to answer, keep checking back for my response, or email me directly if you feel you’re being ignored.

Keep in mind, emailing me directly and repeatedly may not speed up my answering, as I might just not be able to get to the computer. As far as “rudeness” goes, consider that communicating over the internet is different than in real life, as there is no tone or inflection while speaking. What you may consider rude might just be me trying to be as thorough as possible. From time to time I have been known to be a bit snarky, but not without merit.

Before you ask a question, it might be a good idea to google it or ask someone you know in real life, first. It may be best answered by common sense, rather than some lady who posts recipes and stories and food stuff on the internet.

Q. I commented on one of your posts over at the syndicated feed for this blog on Livejournal, why didn’t you answer?

A. I don’t recieve email prompts about the comments left there, and while I try my best to respond, sometimes I forget to check. Leaving a comment on the original blog is always a better idea, as I’ll get back to you quicker that way.

Q. Why do you moderate comments?

A. I have only started moderating comments recently, since receiving comments of questionable content and relevance that were of a personally insulting nature after making the Bacon chocolate chip cookies. Since then, I started moderating comments. I accept nearly all of them, with the exception of non-relevant comments (if the comment has nothing to do with the post, I assume it is spam) and if the comment is extremely rude or what I would consider not work safe (calling me names and cussing). Otherwise, say what you want, just keep in mind anyone who wants to read it can and will.

Q. Is Never Bashful with Butter a community or a personal blog?

A. I’m not so sure if I would consider it a personal blog, but it is definitely not a community. All of the photos I have taken personally (with a few exceptions in which I’ve made sure to credit the photographer) and all of the stories and content are mine and written by me.

Q. Why do you call yourself Muffin? Why do you sign off your posts with “-A.”?

A. I’ve had many nicknames throughout my life, the longest lasting and most common one being “Muffin”. Shortened from “Psychedelic Muffin” which was given to me in high school by my group of friends who knew of my obsession with Poppyseed muffins, and would jokingly question my ability to pass drug tests due to over consumption. In the early days of random drug testing for high school sports this was known to happen, but now a days it is nearly impossible. I sign my posts off with -A. because A. is my signature. It is my first initial. My real name is Andrea, though I’ve been known to answer to Andrea, Andie, Dre, Drea, A, D or Muffin. It all depends on which circle I’m running with.

Q. What is Rodney? Where can I buy one of him?

A. Rodney is a Stikfa. I call him a robot, although he’s not so much a robot as he is a featureless action figure. Stikfas are pretty damn cool, and you can find them on www.thinkgeek.com in the geek toys section, or in various other nerd shops and comic book stores.

Capt’n Sprinkle is one of many Stifkas and robots that reside here.

Oh, also, in addition to Rodney, I have a whole slew of Stikfas that I photograph with various foods. They all have different names, but they pretty much all get called Rodney from time to time.

Q. How long do you plan on keeping up with Never Bashful with Butter?

A. As long as I can. Its been almost a year, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

Q. I made one of your recipes and I followed the instructions exactly, but it didn’t end up looking like yours, what did I do wrong?

A. This is a good question, but one that is really hard to answer. Its quite possible you didn’t do anything wrong at all. Sometimes the environment in which the recipe is made has a lot to do with things going “wrong”. For example, I live in a cold, damp environment. Where we live is sandwiched between two very large lakes, and we live at a very low elevation. Sometimes what I make in my kitchen will end up being too dry or cakey in other, less wet/cold environments.

Sometimes its the quality of the ingredients that makes the difference, or simple substitutions that cause an issue. Sometimes its just a matter of taste, as well. I may enjoy a sweeter cookie than you do, so something sweet would taste great to me, whereas it wouldn’t be very appealing to you, if you’re not a fan of sweets. All I can say is that its all about trial and error.

Learn from your attempts and do what you have to to correct them. If my recipe for oatmeal cookies doesn’t work for you, find another one and compare the two, see what the difference is and create your own hybrid. I am sorry though, when I hear one of my recipes didn’t work out for someone. I’m only one person though, so a lot of my recipes aren’t “tried and true” ones, but rather something I made that just so happened to work out.

Just a note, 99% of the people who’ve contacted me about the outcome of their attempts at my recipes have been positive. The majority of the people who have issues are people who have made substitutions, and the substitutions are the cause of the issue. Only about three people have told me that they’ve hated a recipe of mine, and that was all bacon cookie related. Cest la vie.

Q. How can I contact you directly?

A. You could try sending up smoke signals, but your best bet would be to just email me at muffin@neverbashfulwithbutter.com or leave me a comment on my livejournal- A_Rockett. It still might take me a little while to get back to you, but I’ll get back to you.