A parting, lasting memory...

Hello, darlings. I know its been a long while. I have neglected this blog completely. It has been a journey of creating and re-creating myself. Last July 22nd, it was my birthday and it had been the first in three years that I was able to celebrate. It was memorable, sharing with family. It held such importance to myself as a growing individual as it was the day I knew what were important to me, and where I should go from there.

I started this blog out of love for food, and a means to learn and meet other people. In the end, it was within myself to learn, to grow and realize what I want to be, who I should be and what path to take in life.

I thank the Lord that I was given such wonderful people to lift me up, and tell me that they believe in me. It has been long that I have not prayed, out of pain and anger and in the short span of time that I've welcomed Him in my life again, He has showered me already with such wonderful blessings and simple memories.

 We ate dinner at Racks, it held memories as a child that I could hardly remember. It was simply something that I knew, my father used to bring us to Racks to eat. And now, we made new memories as it was my beau's first time there. 

And then we had sweet crepes, something that I knew I had to have during my birthday. I woke up, and I said to myself "I want crepes for my birthday" and sure enough, we had to make a way for it to happen so beau and I, and our little angel shared one.

And with that, I am here to tell you that I have moved from Dessert Darling, to somewhere I can call "home". My sister has agreed to share the journey with me. You will witness, not only my journey as a home baker, but also my older sister's growth as an artist. I thank everyone who has shared their thoughts and appreciation, their time to read my thoughts in these pages. I hope to see you all again in my new home.

In the few days after this memorable and great day, I have immersed myself already with work. Let me leave you with a few photos from the Bakery Menu for Sweet Mnemonic.

Let me invite you to Sweet Mnemonic. Although it yet to be established, I hope you will be there once it opens its doors to your eyes. You will be able to follow our updates from our new Facebook page, please help us by sharing as well!

Product Images are Sweet Mnemonic's intellectual property, using them without permission is prohibited. You are free to share them, with credits. To do so: please email me at winter.melora@gmail.com.

Light and Warmth, and Love.

Taking a break from the usual food posts. Here is a more personal one for you darlings. 

My little one. The reason why I wake up every morning, the reason why I continue to smile and hope and thrive to find myself. Often times it is difficult as she is slightly impatient as toddlers usually are... But my little one is so loving, that each warm hug and gentle kiss melts my heart.

It is a challenge, a challenge to be a better mother... a challenge to nurture her, help her gain weight when she is so picky with food, to teach her in every way that I can... to simply be a mother that I would look up to, if it weren't me in that position.

She is the light of my life. Perhaps even the heart of my craft and this blog. She scoots herself up a chair beside me while I weigh out the ingredients and she says "Mommy, tulong ako" (Mommy, I'll help). Her favorite chore is to mix anything she sees that has a fork or a mixing utensil with it. It can be messy, and most of the time, especially when it is a paid job, I ask her to play or ask Mr. DD to carry her away to eat or play or watch Princess movies that she loves. She cries, asking for me... And comes back when she smells the sweet aroma from the oven envelop the house. She takes a peek in the oven door, careful not to get too close. I ask her for a kiss and tell her that I love her, she always answers.

When it is done, and I take the baked cupcakes out of the oven, she approaches and says "Mommy, cupcake?" and I say, "Yes, baby."

She eats what I bake, sometimes she doesn't. But when she shows so much interest with the things that I love, watching with me while I play baking videos on my phone... it touches my heart, knowing that maybe one day she'll be a great cook or baker or pastry chef in the future.

Or she'll be running Dessert Darling with me.

Whatever the future holds, I know that I will love her for the rest of my life.

April Memories

Mr. DD and I had spent half our day with the children of Cribs Foundation. It was a very touching and emotional day for me, having a soft spot for babies and children. The company he works for had given help to them. I wish I had brought food for them, but I don't know if this is possible since I had only volunteered. The toddlers were adorable and sweet, and I had emotionally attached myself to a plump little boy. I still think of him on a daily basis, hoping he is well.

Here is a little info about Cribs:

C.R.I.B.S. (Create Responsive Infants By Sharing) was started in 1974 in Manila by two Lutheran missionary wives who took home five sick babies from the Reception and Study Center for Children of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. This was the beginning of a Foster Care Program by a non-government organization in the Philippines. From its humble beginnings, CRIBS has grown into a leading child-caring agency licensed by the DSWD.

Programs and Services

The RECEIVING HOME PROGRAM provides an alternative home environment for abandoned, surrendered and neglected children aged days old to 2 ½ years old. The program is staffed with professional, compassionate and competent caregivers to ensure optimum health care, nutrition and age-appropriate stimulation for early detection of developmental delays and prevention of illness. In CRIBS, each child is uniquely loved.

The PLACEMENT PROGRAM focuses on the placement of children into loving homes whether of biological, foster or adoptive families.

FOSTER CARE provides temporary family care for children awaiting completion of adoption procedures. Through family life experiences, children recognize the idea of having parents and siblings, which is an important transition before final adoption.

The NEW BEGINNINGS PROGRAM is a residential home for young female survivors of sexual abuse aged 7-17 years. It provides a nurturing and therapeutic environment for the healing and recovery of each child. The program utilizes a multidisciplinary team approach in meeting the physical, emotional, educational and spiritual needs of the children. In CRIBS, healing through the arts is an important part of the recovery process.

To address the urgent needs of the girls with no families to go home to, RIBS recently opened a GROUP HOME PROGRAM to provide continuous schooling and skills capacity building to prepare them for independent living.

For those girls who have families and who have completed the phases of healing, CRIBS provides AFTER-CARE SERVICE which includes counseling, educational aid and referrals for livelihood assistance.

The VOLUNTEER & RESOURCE GENERATION PROGRAM ensures that there is a dynamic pool of volunteers to help deliver optimum service. The interests, talents, expertise and resources of CRIBS volunteers are mobilized to serve the interest of the children and to support program needs

You may find their website here for more information about how to help these children, and also their facebook page. I am hoping to come back to Cribs and spend another day caring for the children.

Spent some quality time with the family, eating Pho for the first time. And drinking our favorite favorite Milk tea (for me, yakultea now) from Serenitea.

My first official order for a dozen Red Velvet Cupcakes (P520)!

...And a few orders for Revel Bar (P320 for 9"x9")!

I am incredibly thankful for the increase in orders. I am hoping for a better month in May!

How about you? How was April for you?

Yogurt Popsicles

Yogurt. It is starting to become one of my most favorite things. I have to admit, I only do enjoy my yogurt when it is flavored with fruit sweetness. But I am slowly opening up to trying out plain yogurt... probably with a touch of honey. My daughter loves yogurt, too! It is the only way I get her to eat berries, since it is much too expensive over here. 

I am unsure whether this is a failure, or simply that our refrigerator sucks. It cannot even freeze damn ice cubes. Maybe because my in-laws store their water bottles at the freezer. I still do not understand why. So in the end, they have ice water... and we have watery ice cubes.

It was still yummy though. And I think I have to mash the bananas more thoroughly. Little DD loved it! More fruit for her, secretly. You may substitute a cup of the yogurt for pureed fruit. Berries.

Yogurt Popsicles

1 cup Very Ripe Bananas, mashed

2 cups Fruit Yogurt - or - 1 cup plain yogurt + 1 cup pureed fruit

Mix the ingredients together and place it on a popsicle mold. Freeze until firm.

Banana Yum Pancakes

So. After I made my own Homemade Instant Pancake Mix, I proceeded to plan to make pancakes from it. Of course, of course! It was our midnight snack, while Mr. DD and I were at my sister's.

No fancy photos here, just real life and real yummy food. With pictures taken by my sister and her Ipod touch. Techy girl.

You might have noticed that I'm a chocolate girl. Oh yeah, I'm a total chocolate pancake kind of girl as well. But after I had a taste of this! Oh man, move over chocolate pancakes... I LOVE this stuff!

It was embarrassing as I stormed through my batch muttering "Mmm!" and "yum!" repeatedly. Well, what can I say? GOOD. STUFF.

So go ahead, make them! It doesn't matter if make them in the afternoon, or at night... Or at 2 in the morning. All day, breakfast day!

Banana Yum Pancakes

1 cup of my magic mix

1/2 cup mashed very ripe bananas

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup Buttermilk or plain milk

Throw in a cup of the instant pancake mix in a bowl along with the mashed banana goodness. Measure a cup of buttermilk or milk, crack an egg and give it a little whisking. Add milk to the dry ingredients. Add in melted butter and mix until incorporated. Do not overmix, as always.

Buttery Sweet Yummy Syrup

1 cup Brown Sugar

2 tablespoons regular Sugar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and have it melt, bubble and pop for five-seven minutes, stirring the pan occasionally. Let it cool a bit before serving along with pancakes.

It hasn't been going well personally, I've been sick with a cold for almost a week and I've been sleeping most of the time. I think I'll be making these again soon!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes. Its about time.

These were some of the cupcakes that I've given away a couple of days ago... I had been collecting numerous recipes, deciding which to bake. I am still unsure whether I liked them. I had high hopes for them, and keep on feeding them to people around me to judge. I think I'll have to tweak the recipe a bit in the future. I found them lacking sweetness. But they were soft and moist, and that is one of the things that are important when finding the perfect recipes for Red Velvet. I am hoping that Ms. Joy enjoyed hers, along with the Chocolate Cupcakes.

It was such a long daaaay, when I met her, I was running on a few hours of sleep because I was baking all night long! I had to make sure that they were fresh, moist and soft when I gave them away.

Am I getting better at taking photos? I hope so. I still have a long way to go in decorating cupcakes though! Its a bit embarrassing. I should really get some piping bags... but I wanted to learn how to make swirls using a simple palette knife.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

from Pinch My Salt

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour*

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.  In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go.  Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.

4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda.  Yes, it will fizz!  Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake cups with cake batter (they should be 2/3 – 3/4 full).  You may not fill all the cups, I ended up with 20 cupcakes.  Place muffin tins on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven.  Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check early and don’t overbake!

5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Homemade Instant Pancake Mix

April has arrived, and I find myself searching for answers yet again. I've entered the new year with high hopes of a shiny, positive year, full of baking at its best... but it seems that I can never really ask for anything and have it immediately.

March has been quite an eventful month, problems arise as soon as you think they disappear in your thoughts. I've made decisions that I believe would only be for the better. People don't always respond positively.

This does not mean I am quitting. In fact, I am stepping up. This might mean going back to things I should be doing, like what usual adults do. Blog posts might end up shorter, or longer, or less... But someday, I'll finally come to a point in my life where I can bake and photograph and have complete control of my environment.

There are things that I have no control of -- friends forgetting, people getting sick, problems. But there is one thing I know that is constant, baking.

I'm growing. I'm not hiding under the covers with a bowl of store-bought ice cream and depressed.

Pancakes are one of the things I try to do for breakfast as much as I can. Pancakes are what normal happy families eat for breakfast. But I know some of us are more lazy than others to get our sleepy butts in the kitchen, so here is a part solution for that -- an Instant Pancake Mix! It subtracts the time you need to measure the dry ingredients. Just crack some eggs depending how many you're about to do, add some milk and melted butter and cook them on your stovetop! Top some fruit syrup, warmed nutella or maple syrup and viola! Pancake Heaven.

Instant Pancake Mix

Yields: 40+ pancakes

4 cups All Purpose Flour (You may substitute half or a fourth of the flour for whole wheat)

1/2 cup (You may add a few more for a sweeter pancake) sugar

4 teaspoons Baking Powder

2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1 teaspoon salt

Measure and dump all ingredients into a large container. Shake, shake, shake it to mix and incorporate all ingredients thoroughly together. You may double this recipe for longer safekeeping without running out easily. Or halve it.

For Chocolate Pancakes: Add 1/3 cup of cocoa for every cup of flour.

To make cupcakes, simply substitute this instant pancake mix for the powdered ingredients in your favorite pancake recipes.

Enjoy!

We'll be making Banana Split Pancakes later... Breakfast any time, any day! Haha!

Red Velvet Brownies & Subic Outing

Two days ago, I tagged along my beau's company outing for his department. We went to Subic, still a part of the Philippines. I had enjoyed the road trip immensely, looking out the window of the car, seeing buildings turn into miles of land and trees. A part of me wish the city had more trees and parks. I want to live somewhere peaceful like that, green bushes stretching on for miles, with countless trees and flowers around. It was still hot there, and I wished I was in a different country entirely. The heat was never something I liked, I love the rain and the coolness it brings along with it.

They had planned to ride an Ultralight a sort of mini plane, giving them a tour around the scenery for either ten or twenty minutes. Many of them proudly stated that they can finally scratch it off their bucket list, not me. I have a great fear of heights. I was happy not to be a part of the team expected to fly in the air in this tiny plane with my hair whipping about like crazy. I was shocked that in the end, I was sitting on this plane of theirs with a FREE ride offered by them. It was only to circle the vicinity, so that I would not leave the place empty. They are good at what they do, because I ended up on the ground in one peace, not having any panic attacks at all. It is quite an experience, so if you would like to give it a try... You can see their webpage here.

I brought Red Velvet Brownies and Chocolate Chip Cookies to the trip. The brownies were my first try at them, they were yummy but I find them a bit sweet. I ended up adding a tablespoon of cocoa to them for a bit more chocolatey flavor, I was glad I did. They had just a hint of chocolate, just as Red Velvets usually are. Ofcourse you have to lessen the flour a tablespoon if you do this. They were a nice red color as well, despite the fact that I had run out of red food coloring and had only added a tablespoon and less than a half to it. Maybe next time I would just have to lessen the sugar a bit. The white chocolate buttercream, I expected them to be too sweet to be added along with the brownies.. but they went a long great with it. Perhaps next time cream cheese would hit the spot, and would tame the sweetness to it.

Edit: My hubby bought what was left to his office, and it was a hit! They ate it aaaall. 

Red Velvet Brownies

from HowSweetEats

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons red food coloring

2/3 cups chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter and flour an 8 x 8 cake pan.

In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, red food coloring, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to create a paste.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then add remaining teaspoon of vanilla. With the mixer on medium speed, add in cocoa powder mixture. Beat until batter is completely red. (If at this time your batter is NOT red, you can add a little more food coloring if desired. Color will depend on brand.) Add flour and salt, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread in the 8 x 8 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

White Chocolate Frosting

1 stick of butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ounces white chocolate, melted (I used Lindt)

1-2 tablespoons milk (or more if needed)

Cream butter in an electric mixer until fluffy, then add vanilla. Slowly add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer on low speed. Add in melted white chocolate and beat until incorporated. To reach desired consistency, add in milk 1 teaspoon at a time with mixer on low speed. If frosting becomes too liquidy, simple add additional sugar.

I am looking forward to coming back to Subic, to let my sister try out ultralight flying and have a swim. Here are some pictures from the trip!

Double Chocolate Cake Pops

Cake Pops, what a marvel. A cake seem all to difficult to make for you? Cake pops is the one to make. It is messy, delicious but takes a bit of time... but when you pop these little cakelets into your mouth, you'll forget how long you've made them and might even eat all of them so quickly!

The process is to bake a cake, shred it all to crumbs, dump your favorite frosting in there, mix it all up then roll it into balls. You just have to chill the balls a bit for easy dipping.

I had used a one-bowl recipe for Chocolate Cake from Sweetapolita, and also her Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream. My cake pops ended up light, and velvety with the crunch of the chocolate coating. You could probably pop three of them in your mouth and not get sick of chocolate yet.

Double Chocolate Cake Pops

1 9x9" Chocolate Fudge Cake (recipe found below)
1 cup Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream (recipe found below)
Chocolate bar/Chocolate chips (for coating)
Shortening

1. Cut your cake in half and rub the two of them together until everything has turned into crumbs.
2. Dump your frosting with your cake and mix it well.
3. Take some of the frosted cake into your (well cleaned) hands and roll them into a bowl. Place your rolled balls into a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
4. Chill them for atleast 30 minutes.
5. Chop your chocolate bar, and melt them along with a teaspoon or two of shortening over a bain marie. When melted, cool it a bit before dipping your cake pops.
6. Take your pops out of the fridge, and drop them into the slightly cooled chocolate. Use a spoon and fork to balance the cake pops in, and let the excess chocolate drip. Drop the now chocolate covered cake pops into the baking sheet.
7. When done, you may place them in the refrigerator to prolong their shelf-life. Or eat them right then and there after the chocolate coating has set. Don't forget to share!




Recipes from Sweetapolita

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (180 g/6 oz) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups (300 g/ 10 oz) sugar

3/4 cup (90 g/3 oz) dark unsweetened cocoa powder (I just used Hershey's unsweetened Cocoa Powder)

1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 mL/6 g) baking soda

1 teaspoon (5 mL/4 g) baking powder

1 teaspoon (5 mL/5 g) salt

1/4 cup (60 mL/2 liquid oz) vegetable oil

3/4 cup (190 mL/6 liquid oz) buttermilk

3/4 cup (190 mL/6 liquid oz) hot brewed coffee (I just added more milk/buttermilk, I don't drink coffee)

2 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons (10 mL) vanilla

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (180°C). Prepare one 9x9" cake pan.

2. In bowl of electric mixer, sift all dry ingredients and add all remaining ingredients to bowl with the dry ingredients and with paddle attachment on mixer, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed (you may need the plastic splash-guard that comes with mixer) and pour into prepared pans. If possible, use a digital kitchen scale and weigh divided batter in pans for even layers. Batter will be liquidy.

3. Bake for 20 minutes and rotate pans in oven. Cakes are done when toothpick or skewer comes clean–approximately 30 minutes. Try not to over bake.

4. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes, then loosen edges with a small palette knife and gently invert onto racks until completely cool.




Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Yield: ~5 cups

Ingredients

300 grams (10 oz) chopped semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted, and cooled

5 large, fresh egg whites (150 g/5 oz)

1 1/4 cups (250 g/9 oz) sugar

3/4 lb (3 sticks/340 g/12 oz) butter, cut into cubes and cool, but not cold

2 teaspoons (10 mL) pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Method

1. Melt chocolate in heatproof bowl over pot of simmering water, or in a microwave-safe bowl in 25 second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. Set aside to cool (you can scrape it out into a new container to speed up cooling).

2. Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer with paper towel and lemon juice, to remove any trace of grease.

3. Add egg whites and sugar, and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently, until temperature reaches 150°F, or if you don’t have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.

4. With whisk attachment of mixer, begin to whip until the meringue is thick, glossy, and the bottom of the bowl feels neutral to the touch (this can take up to 10 minutes or so). *Don’t begin adding butter until the bottom of the bowl feels neutral, and not warm.

5. Switch over to paddle attachment and, with mixer on low speed, add butter cubes, one at a time, until incorporated, and mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture (if curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth). *If mixture is too runny, refrigerate for about 15 minutes and continue mixing with paddle attachment until it comes together.

6. Add vanilla and salt, continuing to beat on low speed until well combined.

7. Add melted chocolate and mix on medium-low speed until combined.

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Doubts

There's a silent comfort that I feel while baking, also while eating cookies. Cookies remind me of what it used to feel like being a kid, it reminds me of my mom.

There are days when I wonder if I have enough skill to pursue my love for baking... I have been looking around blogs to see that many are more knowledgeable in melding flavors, many have the funds, the capabilities and the background to dream big. I felt stuck, unable to do anything for some time. The heat was also an addition. How can anyone have a hot oven running at this temperature? But mostly, I am just in doubt. I shrug my shoulders and say to myself, don't overthink it. In fact, don't think about it. Just bake when you feel like it. Bake to make yourself happy. That's what your good at. And here I am.

The chocolate chip cookies I have to share with you are not exactly the type I prefer.. but they are delicious regardless. Think of biting into the crisp cookie, and discover its chewy center. It is easy to overcook them, and you might lose that chewiness that I enjoy in them. Some of them ended up cooking in twelve to thirteen minutes, my oven rising up to 400 degrees. I regulate the temperature by opening the oven door a bit for less than a minute.

I've kept mine in a large glass cookie jar Hubby and I have bought at a thrift store less than a year ago. You may store yours in a zip-lock bag.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Jacque Torres

2 Cups minus 2 tablespoons Cake Flour

1 2/3 Cups Bread Flour

1 1/4 teaspoons Baking Soda

1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 1/2 teaspoons Salt

2 1/2 sticks Unsalted Butter

1 1/4 Cups Light Brown Sugar

1 Cup plus 2 tablespoons Granulated Sugar

2 large eggs, 1 egg  yolk

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1 1/4 pounds Bittersweet or Semi-sweet chocolate feves or chips

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about five minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

3. Drop chocolate chips/pieces in and fold into batter.

4. Roll cookie dough and wrap with plastic wrap/cling wrap. Chill for atleast 3 hours, preferrably a day to three days. The dough develops flavor while sitting on the refrigerator. Dough may be used in batches.

5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

6. Scoops and roll the dough into balls and place on baking sheet, making sure to leave space in between each cookies as it will flatten and spread during baking. You may add a sprinkle of good quality sea salt on top prior to baking. You may also just cut the rolled cookie dough and do not have to roll them into balls. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown but still soft. Mine had baked less than 15 minutes, time may differ. Be sure to check once in a while after the 10 minute mark.

7. Enjoy!

I am starting to dislike how small my photos are. I edit them big, and they end up almost half its size and loses some detail. They also seem to get darker when I post them here. Hm, what do you think? I'm making more of an effort to improve my photos. The lighting inside the house is underwhelming, and I can't always shoot outside. Any tips?