The Recipes
So you want to know how I come up with all these recipes? Really it’s nothing special. I don’t have a system or anything. For someone who is organized, calculated, and methodical my kitchen sees none of that. The above photo is how I jot down my notes, putting to use those free notepads you get in the mail from people who want your money.
I’ve never been a good note taker, I usually rely on memory. Therefore, my notes are often incomplete and sometimes confusing. It takes me a while to remember what each slip was for because I don’t put a title on them most of the time. Honestly, it’s a miracle any of this makes it on here!
Roughly 85% of my recipes are a result of random ideas that pop into my head. Either because I haven’t experienced certain foods together and want to give it a try or I’m craving a certain food and can’t find a recipe for it so I make one up.
About 10% of my recipes are created out of inspiration from intriguing photos I find around the web or some dish I see and what to veganize.
The last 5% of my recipes happen from a mash-up of several different recipes. That’s mostly due to research using the internet and the books I have because I’ve never made something before and I want to make sure I don’t screw it up.
100% of these recipes are made because I love to challenge myself.
I very rarely make a recipe more than once before posting it. If I like it the first time around, I turn to papa tummy and ask if I should post it. If he says yes, then I do. There are a few recipes that I have made multiple times before typing it up because I think it’s worth it to be perfect and it wouldn’t be a great hassle. Recipes that I don’t like and I don’t think are worth trying to save get thrown in the never-do-that-again pile.
The Photos
What about the photos? You got something to say about them? Yeah, I know they’re not the greatest. I have excuses for that…
There’s only one place in my house that works for taking photos. I have no lighting equipment and the source of light in my kitchen stinks. Most of my recipe makings happen at night or the sun is on the wrong side of the house so natural lighting is not an option.
I’m sorry if you don’t like my close-up shots. There’s a reason for that. I don’t want you to see any part of my kitchen. We purchased a very old home and haven’t been able to remodel any part of it.
I don’t believe in Photoshop. One of the many old-fashioned convictions I have. All the great photographers managed to produce beautiful shots without the need of technology so why can’t I? You want to know how they did it? Through lots of practice, training of the eye, trial and error, and taking tons of photos of one subject to get one good one. I think that’s apparent if you compare my recent posts to older ones. They’re slowly getting better.
A short stint of my career as a student was focused on Photojournalism because I truly love taking photographs. My goal was actually to work for a food or architecture magazine, my two long-standing interests. I changed my major from that the semester after I started it because it turned out to not be what I thought it was going to be. That and one teacher has the ability to change your life goals for being a complete ass.
Before I changed my major I did acquire a very nice camera. The camera I use for all of these photos is the Nikon D3100. The lens I use is the one it came with, the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR. I also have a tripod, but I prefer to hold the camera myself unless I need both hands to demonstrate something. In which case I utilize the timer.
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