Fee, Fie, Foe, Friday: Beautiful Food & Some Not So Much

I read a lot of other blogs; these people who crank them out daily, shoot wonderful food photos, produce books and just generally sound like they're my helpful friends, are my heroes. It's astounding how beautiful and consistent their blogs are, if, like me, they're juggling a full time job, a home, garden, family and some sort of a social life. I know some of them make their livings writing and blogging, but  they still amaze me daily. I so often end up running late (and skipping my daily run) because I've spent too much time on Google Reader catching up each day. They often present a perfection I don't think I'll ever reach.

Today, Marisa over at Food in Jars wrote about cutting yourself some slack. She wrote: "My very best advice is to try to learn to adapt, be flexible and exhibit some kindness to yourself, your preserves and the recipe writers who live in the same changeable world that you do." Boy, is she ever right. I spent a 45 minutes trying to make some rather burned overcooked chicken thighs look presentable enough to shoot, since it was just a superficial burn--just the skin. But too much Photoshopping is a bad thing, and I ended up writing about something else and just ate the damned chicken thighs. It's so hard to cut myself some slack in the kitchen. But that's just what I want you to do.  If you have some sort of cooking disaster, salvage it if you can, laugh about it and move on. And go read what Marisa wrote. She's spot on.

The day I overcooked those chicken thighs, I also picked a baby zucchini with the most beautiful blossom I've ever seen on anything. It makes a perfect picture, with no help from me. No cooking, no pretty plates, no dragging the tripod out to the patio to get the light right for a shot. It was a gift, a reminder that, control freak that I am, I can't control it all. 

No matter how good I get at shooting food,
Mother Nature make a much better looking product.

I'm pretty new to this blogging thing, and I'm learning post by post, shot by shot. I really want to share what I've learned largely by cooking, teaching and making some real doozy mistakes that I'll NEVER make again (although there are so many other things I haven't tried  yet that I can screw up). Blogging it all is the best way I can do it. This way, you will end up with some great stuff on your table and at least avoid MY mistakes. You can make your own mistakes this way...mwahahaha! So if you see a little ugly food here on occasion, bear with me. I promise to take a food photography class as soon as I can. And not to turn the broiler on high and then walk out of the room.

Instead of a blog post, they became work lunches...ouch!