Cooking - That's creative right?

[ImprobableJoe]

Awesome, thanks guys. I might give those a try soon.

Dinner party was a success, and everything turned out exactly as I'd hoped. I'm so glad I went with the simple wine poached pears as we were all pretty full still by the time coffee dessert was served.

No pictures unfortunately.

But I went online and ordered a nice little camera for myself last night.
a Canon EOS Rebel T3 12.2MP Digital SLR Camera With 18-55 IS with a EF 75-300mm USM Lens Kit
I ordered it in red cuz I've never owned a red camera before.
It should be here in about 10 days.

Wow... I'm just using my iPhone. :lol:

 

[Nom_de_Plume]

Wow... I'm just using my iPhone. :lol:

Nice, I've tried taking pics with my blackberry and I can't do it.
It always turns into a fuzzy mess, could be I don't have a steady enough hand *shrug*

A new camera was on my list of things I wanted anyhow.
With more people interested in my farm and chickens I need to create a photofull website to promote that stuff.

The husband has been wanting one as well so I was going to get us one for our birthday in August (yes same day - freaky hey?)

Playing on here sharing food pics was a good way to justify it in my head for needing it now.

 

[Your Funny Uncle]

That shot was with my phone, but I do have an SLR too (actually its an SLT now. Newfangled Sony technology...) I'm a bit of an amateur photographer. I've rarely used it to shoot food, though...

 

[WarK]

That shot was with my phone, but I do have an SLR too (actually its an SLT now. Newfangled Sony technology...) I'm a bit of an amateur photographer. I've rarely used it to shoot food, though...

Some time ago I was considering buying Sony alpha, back when they were actual DSLRs, mainly for builtin stabilisation. How do you like the new one?
I have an old Sony-Ericosson mobile phone which is not bad as a camera, especially that I'm clueless about photography

ps. I realise this is an offtopic, perhaps this could be split into a separate topic?

 

[Your Funny Uncle]

That shot was with my phone, but I do have an SLR too (actually its an SLT now. Newfangled Sony technology...) I'm a bit of an amateur photographer. I've rarely used it to shoot food, though...

Some time ago I was considering buying Sony alpha, back when they were actual DSLRs, mainly for builtin stabilisation. How do you like the new one?
I have an old Sony-Ericosson mobile phone which is not bad as a camera, especially that I'm clueless about photography

ps. I realise this is an offtopic, perhaps this could be split into a separate topic?

I like it very much. I have an A77 which is the most expensive SLT currently available, and I can't speak for the other models. The electronic viewfinder had drawbacks (you can't always make out detail in dark areas that you'd be able to see in an optical VF but the ability to see the exposure you're going to get with the current settings is great, especially in cases where the lighting is uneven and you don't want to overexpose. The focus peaking function means that you can get focus bang on in manual focus and it's often better to use than autofocus. Another very useful thing is the HUD which shows you when you have your camera level! Finally the viewfinder is very big and clear compared to the optical ones on many cheaper SLRs, although it can look a bit noisy in low light.

All this may not mean that much to you if you're "clueless" but I've certainly not regretted my purchase.

 

[WarK]

All this may not mean that much to you if you're "clueless" but I've certainly not regretted my purchase.

It does make a fair amount of sense Thanx.

 

[Nom_de_Plume]

And sometimes cooking is not creative, it's just a lot of bloody work.

So yesterday I made up 24 litres of spaghetti sauce and canned10 litres of it.
with the remainder...
Made two lasagnas and froze those.

Cooked two turkeys and turned it all into turkey salad sandwich prep (everything but the mayo) and froze that too.
Then finally made 8 litres of mayonnaise.
Then.....
Planted 13sqm of red peppers in my kitchen garden and 2.5sqm of basil.

Why did I do all that?
Aside from being a masochist?? Well, my day job is a bit physically demanding and by the end of the day my dogs are totally barking (for anyone who doesn't get that slang, it means my feet are killing me and I can't stand on them anymore)
Anyhow all that work will, in theory, make it really easy to have lunches and dinner (along with other stuff I still have left from last weekends blitz) for the week.
Yay!

Oh and I found a couple of online places that gave me some good hints on how to make up flour tortillas ahead of time without them getting wrecked in storage.
I'll try that next weekend and see if it works and let ya know.

 

[Your Funny Uncle]

We don't do anything quite so extreme but whenever we make up pasta/rice sauces or stews we tend to make enough to feed us three times over: One serving for that night, one for the fridge to eat in a few days time and one for the freezer. Means we can eat nice stuff every day without having to be cooking every night. The side benefit is that they tend to taste even nicer later when all the flavours have had the time to properly blend.

 

[ImprobableJoe]

For me it is soups and stews. I don't know how to make 3 cups of soup at a time, I usually end up making several quarts.

I'm actually sort of drunk right now. Should I try to make chicken and dumplings for dinner tonight? I'm going from scratch for everything from the dumplings to the chicken stock and chopping fresh veggies.

Maybe not a great idea?

 

[Nom_de_Plume]

sure.... why not. you'd be surprised what can come out of a drunk cooking session.

I can't wait til I go away on my working holiday I always score a wack of fresh milk.
woo hoo make mozzarella time.

 

[Nom_de_Plume]

Woo hoo, farming is over for another season, so I'm back on the forum making a general nuisance of myself.
Ok so friday we "offed" 3 piggies, so I spent all day saturday rendering leaf lard (it's the fat from around the kidney) and it makes the most fantabulous piecrust.
So that's the plan for today. Make a wack of pies (savoury ones - steak and onion, cheese and onion etc)
One thing I miss about living in the UK is the pie and chip shops.