SparkyFizz

Lunch idea...

I'm listening to Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders singing 'Stop Your Sobbing' - wonderful song.  Robert Elms on Radio London points out, however, that it's actually a Kinks (Ray Davies) original.  I do prefer Chrissie's version though. Meanwhile I'm eating lunch, actually I've eaten this twice this week.  It's my favourite sandwich at the moment.  

I first came across the combination of beetroot and avocado at a beach cafe on the Costa del Sol many years ago, and the idea has stayed with me.  This is delicious with hummus, smoked paprika and rocket.  I can't help feeling that all these ingredients have that 'Marmite' thing about them though, you know, love them or hate them...   

Camera happy...

My other soon to be 15 years old daughter is desperate to learn photography (they both are actually), and likes to take pictures of all sorts of things.  My main problem is restraining her, insisting on radical pruning of her pictures, otherwise I would have hundreds on my computer!  This is, of course, a perpetual problem with digital images.  She loves the Fuji Finepix camera, and wants one of her own for her birthday.  

She took this in Canterbury, and I can't believe it's possible to open that door.

I love this photo, just wish there was one more human leg in the procession.

My girls outside the Primrose Bakery, with their friend (centre), who spends a huge amount of her time taking photos.  Perhaps it's something about the current teenage generation who've grown up with cameras on mobile phones.  

The produce of the Primrose Bakery...

...and the aftermath!

Lunch...

This is my favourite  lunch, at the moment.  I'm so fed up with tuna mayonnaise sandwiches, usually made with far too much mayonnaise, so this is a lovely alternative for tuna lovers...

Cut a bagel in half.  Mix a tin of tuna, some chopped fresh parsley and a small tin of butter beans together - mash with a fork.  Add some natural yogurt to desired consistency.  Spread on bagel and top with a little grated cheese.  Grill and add black pepper.  Delicious!

Carrot soup is another favourite of mine, (but I don't like carrot and orange soup). Cook onion, garlic and a lump of grated ginger in some olive oil for a few minutes. Add 1kg of roughly chopped carrots, 4 sticks of chopped celery, 4 small potatoes - peeled and chopped, cook for few more minutes.  Add 3 litres of hot chicken stock (3 Knorr stock cubes for speed).  Tie some fresh herbs together with string, whatever you have in the fridge eg parsley, thyme, sage etc.  Tie one end to pan handle and dangle the other in the soup.  Bring to the boil and cook for 30 to 40 minutes.  Remove herbs and blend until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste and a slug of cream, single or double.  Eat with good crusty bread (and cheese if you're starving).  

I also make a mixed vegetable soup, made in much the same way.  I start with the same base of onion, garlic and ginger.  Only use 3 carrots for this one and 3 celery sticks, all chopped.  Add 1 chopped red chilli, including the seeds.  Peel and chop 1 swede, 2 parsnips, 2 potatoes (and possibly a couple of turnips).  Add 3 litres of chicken stock and proceed as above. 

Physalises...

Also called Cape Gooseberries, I think they are delicious, both sweet and tart and resembling tomatoes in texture.  They also have a lovely perfume.

I have been concentrating on developing some still life images this week.

The teenager is coming home next weekend, having completed his first term at university!  It's gone very quickly.  I'm so looking forward to having him home, but I haven't pined over him as I thought I would.  My other children have two weeks holiday, but he will have six weeks!  He also has to bring all his things home with him which is a drag... and means we have to take him to college and pick him up every term.

Egg obsession...

I seem to have found a new obsession to replace the hydrangeas...

If you're as old as me, you may remember the wonderful advertising campaign on TV in the 1950's/60's starring Tony Hancock and the slogan 'Go to work on an egg'.  The slogan was allegedly created by Fay Weldon.

Autumnal Figs...

Autumnal fruits such as figs, pomegranates, apples and pears are plentiful now. Figs are particularly  delicious with air cured hams and soft goat's cheeses...

Delicious Chocolate Brownies...

I'm not normally a fan of the chocolate brownie, but these are an exception...

These are Nigella Lawson's chocolate brownies from 'How to be a Domestic Goddess', and are far removed from the dry and crumbly brownies you buy in the supermarket.  These are squidgy and yummy and very calorific!  Half of one of my squares above is enough, I promise...  

The important thing to remember is not to overcook.  I cook mine, religiously, for 21 mins, Nigella suggests up to 25 mins, but I suppose it depends on the oven.  I usually put dried cherries in mine, not the sour type, and the addition of salt is important, I think.  I usually make these for my daughters' birthdays.  I agree with Nigella that these are far more impressive than most birthday cakes, especially when piled roughly on a beautiful old plate and festooned with lighted candles and edible glitter - heaven!

Copying Photographic Images...

Homework this week was to copy a photographic image, any published and printed image, with an emphasis on re-creating the original lighting.  I chose to copy David Loftus, the photographer who works on all the Jamie Oliver books.  I love lifestyle photography, so it seemed a good place to start...

I can't upload the original image, but you'll find it here under 'genres' and 'tastes'. It took me forever.  I spent a lot of time worrying about setting it up.  I wanted to copy it as closely as possible, and was very indecisive about angles, props and lenses.  I thought it would be simple... don't you think it looks simple?  

Trying to get the lens to capture this frame was hard work, but the tripod, (with which I'm a novice) nearly killed me!  This set-up ended up on the floor in front of a large window. Then I had to consider lighting, which was the main point of the exercise, I needed to get the shadows and highlights in the correct places -  almost impossible.  I managed to get the shadows almost in the right place, although they weren't deep enough, but I couldn't get the highlight on the cheese topped bread.

The depth of field was difficult to get with the angle of the photo, as for the colour of the soup... yeuk!  His was a sprightly bright green, he had more pea soup in his bowl than I did, and  bread floating just in the middle.  Mine looked like sludge pouring into the Danube, with an off-centre floating bread.  Actually my soup looked much more verdant before I took it to Photoshop to give the whole thing a 'blue hue' which seemed to exist in the original.  This was a mistake.  The chives were the easiest and I do like the reflections on the side of the bowl.

I ended up using a long 300mm lens, which weighs a lot, on a tripod.  I was convinced the tripod was going to fall over and smash my new expensive lens, so cushions everywhere and weights hanging on centre of tripod.  Also used my new remote control for the shutter which should have been easy, but wasn't.  No one has ever explained to me how to use all this equipment, so it's very much trial and error and lots of tantrums! Keeping the cats away from the soup was hard work too.  I thought my bread was going to sink...

Despite the frustration, it was a good assignment.  I think I learnt something and it squashed my idea that I might be able to do some decent lifestyle photography in the near future!  So much to learn...

So, I take my hat off to Mr Loftus, I think the simplest photography is possibly the hardest to copy accurately, and my plagiaristic tendencies endeth here!  My tutor told me that food photography was difficult to do well.  Although David Loftus tends to shoot his food pics naturally, probably no food dye for example, he may well have had his bread propped up on something, which I didn't even think of. 

By the time I'd finished I was very hungry.  The home made pea soup was delicious in reality (and much greener), as was the goat cheese toasted bread.  Of course for my photo the soup was cold and I didn't eat that particular piece of bread... just in case you were wondering about me!

Now, if I'd just moved that bowl a tad to the right.... 

Summer Fruits...

Strawberries should be eaten every day at this time of year...

 

Gooseberries, I love... stewed for 5 or 10 mins with yogurt and a trickle of honey. Why are gooseberries so under rated?  Same with rhubarb, which I also love.