Monday, May 12, 2008

I'm Cranky and I Eat

Yeah, I should change the name of this blog.
Cranky has been doing all the cooking lately, even if some of the food we're enjoying hasn't exactly been cooked.
This morning he served little bowls of yogurt cheese with sliced strawberries, sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and a crack of black pepper.
That just made us hungry for lunch, though, so now he's in the kitchen faking his way through some ma po tofu. I love that guy. I sit here noodling on the keyboard, and he's in the kitchen noodling with a sharp knife. (A lot better than knifing with a sharp noodle; believe me, I've tried.)
All his culinary contributions have gone to his head. Now he's art directing the food pictures I take. Where I would ordinarily get in real close and abstract-y, depth of field problems and all, he'd prefer to see representational photos of his dishes. You know, normal focus. Recognizable items. The old fart. But I play along. Pull back, get the long shot. (I've offered to let him take the pictures himself, but so far, I'm Still Mad and I Take the Pictures. His way, sometimes.)
The other day Cranky whipped up a faux salade Niçoise. Keeping in mind that tomatoes aren't in season yet, and that asparagus will be gone from the markets in a couple of weeks, he created a charming and unbelievably tasty version... his way.



PS: I took a bunch of pictures. Here's the one I would have published, but, see, Cranky is in charge. Hm. Maybe he does have better taste than I do.


16 comments:

Dagny said...

I love that he is now the art director as well. Of course, I'd be the type to remind him that he does have his own blog... ;-)

Anna Haight said...

I'm often splt-brained about my photos too.. the whole dish or not the whole dish...

Anita (Married... with dinner) said...

I love that Cranky is branching out into chefliness. And I think both of your photos are nice.

Besides, blog name is "I Eat", not "I Cook". :D

And I feel the same way as Anna. That's why I have the filmstrip at the bottom of each post, so I don't have to choose.

michael, claudia and sierra said...

the egg yolks are so vibrant... and the salad looks and sound wonderful.

but the yogurt cheese with strawberry, balsamic vinegar and blk pepper - drizzle some honey on that and i am so very going to fight you for that bowl...

Heather said...

Why is it faux? Cuz it doesn't have tuna on it? Looks pretty damn good to me.

I need to break my addiction to my macro shots. We don't need to see every muscle fiber on a piece of meat to know it's good, right?

Anonymous said...

Still sitting back? By now you must have that whole backlog of New Yorkers read for the year! I'm kind of with Anna and Anita and Heather (and thus Cranky, sorry) that sometimes macro is not always the way to go to truly convey the image of a meal. Just LOOK at that salad, those eggy eggs. though your shot m'dear really shows off that aspy spear quite well...

Stacie said...

art directing... pfwa! you are still mad and eating, gal! Tho that salad looks amazing, those yokes are no joke!

Kevin said...

CC,
I happen to like the closeups.

Sam said...

so cute!

Greg said...

That's a good looking salad no matter which photo you use.

ilex said...

Holy crap, them's some mighty purty eggs.

kt said...

You have a handsome, talented guy who COOKS! You, CookiecrumbHoneybun, have hit the jackpot! But I'm still worried about that primary thang and who or what we'll be voting for in November. Pineapple chunks didn't do anything to help... Advice, please?

Sophie said...

Hehe your posts are so funny :D, that's what keeps me coming back for more...along with your great pics! I have to admit, I am so stubborn, I wouldn't take anyone's advice as to how I should take pictures for my blog :D.

cookiecrumb said...

Dagny: He has a good excuse for not taking the pictures -- shaky hands. But, oy, so bossy!

Anna: Bingo. Toss a coin, or "every other day," I guess.

Anita: He just made his first rich chicken stock. I couldn't believe he'd never done one before.
Believe me, when I named this blog, I avoided the word "cook"! ;)

ceF: Oh, the eggs. And Cranky is a TOPNOTCH egg cooker. I'm in heaven.
PS, there is honey for the yogurt; c'mon!

Heather: Only faux because no tomatoes, haricots verts or nicoise olives (he used kalamatas). But tuna, yes. It was pretty close to the real thing.
As for breaking our addiction to macro, that just means I'll have to go find the other lens and switch, grump, grump. :D

El: Aspy! That's what I was going for. But, yes. See comment to Heather, above.

Stacie: Soon he'll be picking out the plates and silverware. No problem; I'm reading my magazines.

Kevin: Oh, you snuggleupagus!! Thanks.

Sam: He's very pleased with himself.

Greg: I forgot to emphasize how really great the salad was; thanks.

Ilex: Magic, free-range, local eggs. So pagan. Bliss.

KT: Reminds me of your old kitchen-pro beau, Kimo. Lucky me.
As for primaries and general election, I'm in head-under-pillow mode for a few more months. :(

Sophie: Ha! I was getting all touchy about his meddling until I realized it was his food, fer god's sake, so I let him "win." Wink, wink.

Patricia Scarpin said...

That salad would make anyone's day better. I love hard boiled eggs in my salads.
The photos are great. :)

Adina said...

Those eggs look delicious. What is your method for soft cooking them?