Does it ever seem like, if there weren’t any pictures taken, it didn’t happen?
Last weekend zp and I made dinner for my mom’s birthday, and invited his parents to join us. It was the kind of meal you prepare for by planning out the prep and oven schedule in an excel spreadsheet (what, people do that, right?). Pizza dough from scratch, plus a gluten-free personal pan version for a certain father-in-law.. Appetizers involving bacon and potatoes, blue cheese and roasted garlic.. For dessert, mini cheesecakes with raspberry sauce…
Not a single photo!! Not even a grainy cell phone pic, of the prep, the final product, the guests.. not even the dog. This was like a week ago and I’m still pretty upset about it. For whatever reason, it really feels like, if there were no pictures taken, what’s the point? Is this the facebook effect? I never used to care that much about photo evidence of a good meal. Although, back when there was no facebook, I was not much of a cook. So, who knows.
Anyway I can at least share some of the recipes:
Bacon wrapped potato bites, with a spicy dipping sauce (recipe called for sour cream and hot sauce for the dipping sauce – I used a mixture of greek yogurt and cream cheese, and sriracha for the hot sauce). FIVE STARS delicious. holy crap.
Roasted garlic and bleu cheese stuffed peppadews
Homemade pizza (dough recipe coming soon on the blog!) – half pear and bleu cheese, half peppers, mushrooms and fresh basil
Garbonzo Flour gluten-free pizza (I wasn’t sure what to expect with this, but it wasn’t half bad, for being gluten-free)
Mini cheesecakes (some with a graham cracker crust for the gluten eaters), with raspberry sauce
We had a lovely evening, and I think my mom enjoyed her birthday. I guess that’s more important than pictures (I guess).
Bananas, continued 
You *think* your mother enjoyed her birthday??? I suppose the squeals of delight and groans of pure gastronomic pleasure were inadequate communications.
…
It was indeed a thoroughly delightful evening, but I, too, am shocked and appalled that there is no photographic evidence! As we all know, presentation is part of the fine dining experience, and the visual impact of all these incredible tasty bites was not something to be taken lightly.
Haha, I’m the same way. About photo-less events, and about excel spreadsheets. :)
Wow, sounds like a delicious meal! I’m also a believer in the Excel spreadsheet. And I attribute my need to photograph food to this whole blogging thing. Case in point: my wife mentioned in a blog post yesterday that we made cinnamon rolls and I was like, “But you didn’t post the pictures?! I took all those before/after pictures and you didn’t post them?” They were delicious, even if the gooey pictures didn’t make it on the interwebs.
i think it’s probably better that there were no pictures or i may have tried to take a bite out of my computer monitor. sounds unbelievable. and, you know, feel free to post the spreadsheet, cause uh, that is exactly the kind of cooking help we need.
haha on top of not taking photos, I also didn’t save the spreadsheet. I thought I could explain it to you in words, but I’m pretty sure the following makes no sense. Do with it what you will:
– in Column A, I listed all the steps (start prep; in oven (each needed oven temp I listed out on a different line); out of oven; stovetop time; and finish time
– Columns B thru whatever, I named a column per item I needed to make, and then filled in the info for each one.
It helps to think backward from “dinner time,” so things you need to serve hot need to be finished last. Appetizers will have a different end time than main dishes..
Sounds more complicated than it is. It did take me a bit o time to wrap my brain around the timings, but once it was all in the spreadsheet I was able to follow it really well and stay on track.
Hahaha, I’d’ve guessed someone OCD enough to make a spreadsheet would be OCD enough to save it. But you are clearly a special lady! Thanks, I think I can figure out the spreadsheet thing the next time I actually cook a meal – I mean, I use them for everything else, and any organization has got to be better than haphazard guessing!
You’ve captured this perlectfy. Thanks for taking the time!
It was the kind of meal you prepare for by planning out the prep and oven schedule in an excel spreadsheet (what, people do that, right?).
If I wasn’t a total disaster in the kitchen, I would.
(Hmmm … maybe that would help me be less of a disaster?)
(You’re my hero.)