Ruthanna and Plllog...love the look of all your fresh veggies and salads. We've had some warm weather here and it brings on the urge to make some of the same. Lou lovely deer pics. I like the comfort food you prepare, especially that Wedding Soup. Jimster I can imagine your soup tasted good. You asked for tips about photographing soup. I guess I would have more or a stronger light, with a white cardboard reflector on the side closest to the camera, to lighten up the near side. Maybe fill the bowl a little more so the contents aren't so low down and are up closer to the light. Another trick you could try, to keep the solid bits of the soup visible, is to put a small upturned bowl...or even a piece of a hard bread roll...inside the soup bowl, fill up the bowl with liquid to cover the 'platform' and then pile the solid bits on the bread or whatever you used, so the bits are visible over the level of the liquid. Keep green bits as fresh looking as possible. Arrange them so they don't look sad and droopy. Of course that's only when you are wanting to make a showcase photo of the soup, as for a blog or a recipe illustration, not when you're making a quick snapshot of your lunch. Be careful when photographing soup or other liquids not to get too much light reflecting over the surface so it looks like a sheet of white. Move closer and up a little with the camera, or move to another angle, so you are partially looking down into the depth of the bowl and can see the colour and the contents with only a small amount of reflection. Well our meals are in deli mode at the moment as I'm still taking daily road tests for my Spanish driver's licence, and preparing our house for my sister's first visit to our house next month. So until mid July I will be making much use of our local deli, frozen fish, quick salads and lunches out. The other day we had a simple chicken ragout over rice at the tennis club where I go for Pilates. Really inexpensive and fast. They also have the best coffee there, so we never miss out on a cafe cortado afterward. SharonCb

Kathleen, you won't get much light if you use the globes, since they aren't clear, but you might need them if you have much wind. Otherwise, it would look much nicer without them. I used to belong to a camping group that had members who would bring a gazebo and a chandelier to the campsite and hold high tea. Their chandelier was similar to yours, but without the glass. We had Burmese take-out food yesterday because it was too hot to cook - we could have barbecued, but DB has a bad cold/sore throat, and so I thought it wasn't worth the effort. We went to an excellent Halal Burmese market/delicatessen and got curried goat, chicken tikka, egg rolls, samosas, some stuffed bread, tofu salad, and mango drinks. If you need pictures, visit this review. The goat curry was the best I've ever had, and I will go back just for that. It came with jasmine rice, curried vegetables, naan, and a very interesting cole slaw/salad made with cabbage and tiny slices of jalapeño, which really livened it up. While at the market I bought some tamarind paste (since I was out), and some instant fried noodles from Indonesia. I usually get both of those at an Indonesian market (not far away), and so I was surprised to find the same items at a Burmese market. I would like to recreate the salad. I think it had cabbage, onion, jalapeño, lime, and maybe some powdered shrimp. Lars Here is a link that might be useful: Yelp reviews

Here's a couple of great recipes for those cans of tuna fish that may be in your pantry. I think I may have posted them before but they are definitely worth consideration. Mediterranean Tuna Casserole Recipe By : Cooking Enthusiast Catalog Serving Size : 4 Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 6 ounces egg noodles -- cooked al dente 3 tablespoons butter 1/2 red pepper -- diced 1 clove garlic -- peeled and minced 4 ounces baby portobella mushrooms -- sliced 1 7 oz can artichoke hearts -- drained and chopped 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup milk 1 cup heavy cream 2 4 oz cans bonito del norte tuna -- drained 3/4 cup parmesan cheese -- shredded 3 scallions -- thinly sliced 1/2 cup crispy onions 1/4 cup Italian style panko breadcrumbs Melt butter in large saucepot over medium heat. Add red peppers and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add mushrooms and cook until soft, about 4-6 minutes. Stir in artichoke hearts and flour. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in milk and heavy cream and cook until sauce thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 12-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat. In large bowl, combine the egg noodles, tuna, scallions, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and sauce mixture. Grease a 10" round casserole, add noodle mixture and top with crispy onions, remaining 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and panko breadcrumbs. Bake in a 400* oven for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. MY NOTES : I probably used closer to 8 oz of baby portobellas and I used regular panko crumbs. I used the canned French's onion rings (Cooking Enthusiast sells their "crispy onions" but I've never bought them). The French's onion rings were starting to burn after 15 minutes so don't top with them until the last 8 to 10 minutes or leave them off. I do buy my tuna fish from Cooking Enthusiast -- it's packed in olive oil and wonderful but I am sure regular tuna fish packed in olive oil will work fine, too. ---------------------------- This is a Marcella Hazan recipe which is one of our favorites: Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 clove garlic -- finely chopped 14 1/2 ounces diced tomatoes 6 ounces Italian tuna fish in olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons fresh parsley -- chopped salt and pepper 8 ounces penne pasta (boiled for about 10 minutes) Saute the garlic in the olive oil until it turns pale gold. Add the canned tomatoes with their juice, stir, and simmer steadily for around 20 minutes. Drain the tuna and flake it into the tomatoes, stirring to distribute it evenly. No need to cook it - just warm it through. Taste for seasoning and correct for salt if necessary. Add a little freshly ground black pepper, the butter and the parsley, and mix again. Toss with the pasta in the skillet. Makes 2 servings. (My only change is the diced tomatoes -- I buy them with garlic, basil and oregano already added. Also, DH is a big eater but this serves 3 not 2)

So, a fancier version of a "Fish and Chips" dinner, eh? We used to have fish for dinner every friday. We didn't often eat dessert (mostly just special occasions) but if my grandparents came to dinner, there was usually an apple crisp. My recipe is more like a method LOL. Peel, core, and slice enough apples to fill a pyrex pie plate. Toss them with some sugar and cinnamon to taste. I like to use brown sugar because I think it has a better flavour. Some people prefer to keep the colours lighter and use white sugar. Mix 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt. Add some more cinnamon if you like. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until the mixture has lumps the size of peas. Stir in 1/2 cup oats. Sprinkle this mixture over the apples, and pat it down a bit. Bake in a 350-375 oven until the filling is bubbly, the apples are soft, and the top has browned a bit. When I made it with granny smith apples it took almost an hour, with macintosh it was closer to 30 minutes so check often. Allow to cool for a bit. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.