On a pinhead
Feb. 24th, 2006 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pecuniumI didn't do a lot of cooking when soldiergrrrl was in town, but I did make some hot chocolate.
It was perfect.
Yesterday I made some more.
It was flat.
I sat, reading a Robert Parker novel, drinking my cocoa and wondering what was wrong with it.
I'd made a ganache, put in the cinnamon, added a dash of sugar, the milk, stirred until it was done.
Ah... there is wasn't, no vanilla.
The balance was off.
A lot of my cooking is seat of the pants. A pinch of this, a dash of that, so much time in the hot pan, and then into the simmering pot. It's all about the balance. It smells right, tastes right and I stop messing with it.
Photography is the same way.
Are the lines right, is the light getting to all nooks and crannies (or have I managed to make the shadows dark enough). Sometimes it can be as simple as making sure the bird's eye is in focus. Get that right and the viewer will forgive almost everything else. Losing that balance can be easy too. A stray sprig of grass, or a bit of paper in the background, will ruin an otherwise perfect shot.
Aikido... balance. Catch it and the largest of partners will crash to the ground, and it will seem as if you did nothing. Don't catch it and you may manage it, but it's a lot more work (Photoshop can fix the background too, but it's easier to get it right before hand).
Writing... it's balance. The right word, phrase, idea, is needed. Get an idea, and find the illustrations. Get the illustrations, and find the sequencing of them. String it all together to a culmination. Do it right and it's like Beethoven, or a rollercoaster, once it starts the ending is inevitable, and irresistable.
Practice helps. Food changes as you cook it. Heat changes things (onions get sweeter), and they blend. Sometimes you have to stop when the flavor is wrong, because to add more oregeno to the sauce will make it right; now, but in an hour it will be too strong.
So it takes practice.
Romance... Balance. I was out of town for Valentine's Day. Money was tight this year, so getting Maia a power tool (for us, Valentine's Day means Maia gets a power tool) was out. Yesterday I went to Aikido, and slipped into See's Candy, selected a lb. of chews and creams. Picked her up from her committee meeting, stayed to chat with the Atlee's over a bowl of bean soup, and side dishes of pistachios and pepitas. While she was brushing her teeth I slipped the box out of my bag, onto her pillow and then went to feed the dogs.
She was sitting at the gate of the bed (we have a loft) waiting for me. Not quite teary eyed.
Balance.
Right now I have a cup of chocolate. No cinnamon, but there's some almond to go with the vanilla. It isn't perfect, but it's not flat.
It's got balance.
soldiergrrrl was in town, but I did make some hot chocolate.It was perfect.
Yesterday I made some more.
It was flat.
I sat, reading a Robert Parker novel, drinking my cocoa and wondering what was wrong with it.
I'd made a ganache, put in the cinnamon, added a dash of sugar, the milk, stirred until it was done.
Ah... there is wasn't, no vanilla.
The balance was off.
A lot of my cooking is seat of the pants. A pinch of this, a dash of that, so much time in the hot pan, and then into the simmering pot. It's all about the balance. It smells right, tastes right and I stop messing with it.
Photography is the same way.
Are the lines right, is the light getting to all nooks and crannies (or have I managed to make the shadows dark enough). Sometimes it can be as simple as making sure the bird's eye is in focus. Get that right and the viewer will forgive almost everything else. Losing that balance can be easy too. A stray sprig of grass, or a bit of paper in the background, will ruin an otherwise perfect shot.
Aikido... balance. Catch it and the largest of partners will crash to the ground, and it will seem as if you did nothing. Don't catch it and you may manage it, but it's a lot more work (Photoshop can fix the background too, but it's easier to get it right before hand).
Writing... it's balance. The right word, phrase, idea, is needed. Get an idea, and find the illustrations. Get the illustrations, and find the sequencing of them. String it all together to a culmination. Do it right and it's like Beethoven, or a rollercoaster, once it starts the ending is inevitable, and irresistable.
Practice helps. Food changes as you cook it. Heat changes things (onions get sweeter), and they blend. Sometimes you have to stop when the flavor is wrong, because to add more oregeno to the sauce will make it right; now, but in an hour it will be too strong.
So it takes practice.
Romance... Balance. I was out of town for Valentine's Day. Money was tight this year, so getting Maia a power tool (for us, Valentine's Day means Maia gets a power tool) was out. Yesterday I went to Aikido, and slipped into See's Candy, selected a lb. of chews and creams. Picked her up from her committee meeting, stayed to chat with the Atlee's over a bowl of bean soup, and side dishes of pistachios and pepitas. While she was brushing her teeth I slipped the box out of my bag, onto her pillow and then went to feed the dogs.
She was sitting at the gate of the bed (we have a loft) waiting for me. Not quite teary eyed.
Balance.
Right now I have a cup of chocolate. No cinnamon, but there's some almond to go with the vanilla. It isn't perfect, but it's not flat.
It's got balance.
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-25 05:15 am (UTC)Thanks again
Date: 2006-02-25 07:05 am (UTC)Not that, from what I've seen of them together,
they don't have a balance happening.
A reminder I guess, to keep it that way.
Brought a tear.
peace royeh