Cooking TNL Part II

[Drewbacca]

Food photography is disgusting if you see how they do it. We had to take pictures of sandwiches once for a client. I didn't realize there was a photoshoot in progress and actually picked up one of the delicious looking subs and bit it. It had so much fake oil, disgusting vinegar and pits in it. Serves me right for just picking up a sandwiches and eating it on the spot. But good god they really put a lot of shit on there. The food lady and my creative director wouldn't stop laughing at me. Took awhile to live that down around the studio.

[Rtificial]

Food photography is disgusting if you see how they do it. We had to take pictures of sandwiches once for a client. I didn't realize there was a photoshoot in progress and actually picked up one of the delicious looking subs and bit it. It had so much fake oil, disgusting vinegar and pits in it. Serves me right for just picking up a sandwiches and eating it on the spot. But good god they really put a lot of shit on there. The food lady and my creative director wouldn't stop laughing at me. Took awhile to live that down around the studio.

We had an elective class for that in culinary school called "food Styling". It pretty much showed you how to dress up a variety of foods for pics and stuff.

I did some lemon and raspberry mousse today at work. I'll turn em out tomorrow at work and get some pics of em. Hopefully they'll sell well so I can start using up a lot of extra lemons and raspberry puree'.

[icarusfall]

Laws were enacted about photography of food. Years ago they used prop food that you could never expect to get at a restaurant which led to cries of false advertising. The rules now are that the food must be edible using the ingredients it will contain at the restaurant.

This was mostly about fast food, since they'd doll it up in advertising and then it would be horrifying when you went in.

[youandwhosearmy]

Yeah, he was and not just about food. An example:

I made two egg-nog flavored cheesecakes from scratch. It was Christmas and what the hell, I really love egg-nog. I take them to work (we worked at the same place) and set them on the table for everybody. My boyfriend cuts the first piece takes one bite and spits it back onto the plate in front of everybody. "Why can't you just make regular food instead of always trying to add extra shit? This is horrible!" he says. He throws the slice away in the garbage. I am upset for the rest of the day. I'm thinking to myself maybe my cooking does suck. The next day several co-workers come up to me raving about the cheese cakes and they had eaten both of them, like scraped the dishes clean. I had at least five requests to make cheesecakes for Christmas parties and get togethers that month. It was after that I decided that he was a prick and I wasn't a horrible cook. I broke up with him before I left for Iraq and it was the best descision ever. Sorry for the E/N derail though.

You can cook for me any day animegirl. I promise I'll lie if it sucks.

Just promise me you'll check better for warning signs before this happens again. You are so completely and utterly undeserving of that shit.



And P.S. anyone who has the patience to do something like a homemade cheesecake, is not a bad cook by any stretch of the imagination.

Just look at Josh.

[Tones]

While the picture looks revolting, I love Tones' enthusiasm for cooking.

Do you have any plans to pursue it, or is it just something you like to do?

Yeah, I knew it looked gross, but I figured I'd try anyway. Cooking is just something I like to do. I never learned how to play sports or instruments or anything so it kind of became my way of entertaining/performing for people. I also find it therapeutic. It also doesn't help that I've worked at a grocery store for six years... being around food all the time means I'm thinking about food all the time.

You know how kids, when they're really young, often talk about what they want to do when they grow up? I remember pretending to make shishkebobs when I was about five, and declaring that I would work at the grocery store my dad works for as soon as I could (and I did, I started at 14).

[animegirl]

Wanting to try something different tonight, I decided that I would try my own hand at shepherd's pie; my own way, of course.

First, I took care of the bottom layer. This is typically ground beef with onions, etc. I had pork roast left over, so that's what it was for me. I then topped it with some corn from the fridge. I thinly sliced an onion, and laid them out on top of the corn, drizzling them with a really light coating of olive oil. I set this under the broiler for about 6-7 minutes, and then kept it in the oven at 350 or so to make sure that everything was warm.

For the mashed potatoes, I partially peeled 6 red potatoes and cut them into large cubes. I then stuck a partial head of garlic in the oven with the meat to roast. I let the potatoes boil until they were done, drained, and mashed them. The only milk I had was buttermilk, so I added enough to make the potatoes spreadable. I added the whole cloves of roasted garlic, mashed them with the potatoes, and salted and peppered to taste. The buttermilk made the potatoes delicious; a nice tang to it, and likely less fat than milk + butter or sour cream.

Wow, that looks amazing. I make Shepard's pie a lot and it's always tasty and a good way to use up leftovers. I always use garlic and buttermilk in my potatoes it's great. Sometimes I use fat free condensed milk, it makes them creamy with less fat. I also use a smidge of celery salt it adds a nice flavor. I feel your pain with the pics, I bought a nice camera so hopefully I can take more appealing pictures of my dinners from now on.

[Rtificial]

Here's pics of the tropical mousse I did.





The bottom layer is frangipane cake with lemon mousse on top, then raspberry mousse on top of that. Then I piped a simpled white chocolate design and added a strawberry. I think next time If I make this again I'll add more raspberry puree' and maybe change how I decorate em.

[Drewbacca]

Laws were enacted about photography of food. Years ago they used prop food that you could never expect to get at a restaurant which led to cries of false advertising. The rules now are that the food must be edible using the ingredients it will contain at the restaurant.

This was mostly about fast food, since they'd doll it up in advertising and then it would be horrifying when you went in.

Yeah. That lady hand fried the bacon and monitored it very slowly, and then finished off the edges with hand torch. She did about 40 strips and only used 3. Same with the onions and the tomato (well, she didn't torch them or anything but she had a bunch and only used the prime slices.

In the old days companies used to use soap for the cheese on burger commercials. But, like you said, they can't do that anymore. You actually have to put cheese on the sandwich. I don't know too much about it since we only had one photo shoot involving food on-site. But it was interesting.

Here's pics of the tropical mousse I did.

It's really cool that you make amazing pastries and all. But when I come in to this thread and see delicious looking shit like this and realize I have no way of actually eating it I get very angry. Describe the layers on the cake. I guess the mousse is on top, then white cake, and then what is that on the bottom?

[Rtificial]

It's really cool that you make amazing pastries and all. But when I come in to this thread and see delicious looking shit like this and realize I have no way of actually eating it I get very angry. Describe the layers on the cake. I guess the mousse is on top, then white cake, and then what is that on the bottom?

I put a description at the bottom of the second picture.

"The bottom layer is frangipane cake with lemon mousse on top, then raspberry mousse on top of that. Then I piped a simpled white chocolate design and added a strawberry. I think next time If I make this again I'll add more raspberry puree' and maybe change how I decorate em. "

[Tones]

Rtificial, you're in Georgia aren't you? I may be heading up to Athens next month to visit a friend of mine, and if your bakery (school?) is up there, I'd love to swing by if possible.

Icarusfal, you're up there too, right?