Monday

Well, that’s two “Sunday Suppers” down. Almost.

Our second “Sunday Supper” has come and gone and well, not everything went according to plan. Example, the mic on my phone used to film everything up until now is really go which is fantastic. Except that my Offspring was really, terrifyingly loud in the in the videos from the first Sunday Supper and his breathing was a little creepy, even for us.

So like anyone in this consumer based economy, I went straight to Amazon and got these wireless mics for my phone and gave it a go. Honestly, the sound just sucks balls. Not sure what I’m going to do about that. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why I sound muffled and really loud at the same time. They also quit halfway through the “Oh, shit! I need a side for my pot pie! I know! I’ll use that leftover cabbage I have in the fridge.” video, so yeah.

While the pear cake did turn out, the video did not. I’ll be re-shooting that this week and get the recipe posted. I don’t expect to have the videos posted of anything until next week.

Tuesday

The Biscuits and Gravy video is in the can. The final cut is damned near 20 minutes long and I had to cut a lot of the banter between the Offspring and myself to focus on the food. Some totally needed to go, but other bits were heartbreaking to cut for time. I totally get the whole “director’s cut” thing.

I do have a word about my recipes and how we shoot in general. My recipes always seem to take me by surprise and I believe an explanation is in order. When I’m putting these things together, I’m mostly pooping them out from memory in the middle of the night. My philosophy on recipes is, unless food cost is a factor or I’m baking, they are more of a guideline than hard and fast rules. As I mentioned in previous posts, I rely on a list of ingredients and the technique involved. It is rare I formalize my recipes in written form, which is kinda the whole point of this venture; to have a good time while documenting my stuff for the Offspring in the hopes that one day, he’ll be in a position to recreate my work, remember me and share it with someone he loves.

Nonetheless, because of the way I write these things; pulling in memories, doing some research to fill in the gaps, suppressing the urge to modify, planning how we’re going to shoot them in such a way to get the point across while still having something good to eat at the end coupled with my growing absent mindedness, I get blindsided by my own work. That I just looked at days before.

I’m very good in the moment, but once the moment has passed, it might as well have never happened. It’s a triage kind of mindset I picked up long ago that I can’t seem to shake.

Next up I have to edit the pot pie video into something useful. I do hope that’s possible considering the sound degradation as the day went on. Gonna re-shoot the pear cake tomorrow with the wife.

For future Sunday Suppers, I may break things up like I would if I were working. Have a Mise en Place section, skipping the scaling scenes and then focus on all the cooking and assembly. Ideally, I’d like a shot of all the food on the table together. Family style presentation. You know, like a Sunday Dinner.

Wednesday

I was all set for re-shooting the Pear Cake this evening, but the way I pay my bills asserted itself like it does. Seriously. Got all my production notes together, my shot list since MrsDamnCook would be operating the camera, plans to pick up dinner and some more pears all ready to go and suddenly, I get an extra 4 hours added to my work day. Why? A whole lot of reasons. I’ll try to keep it generic.

First, this project requires me to travel more than 30 years in my past to remember how things used to be done. There’s a different way of thinking required.

Second, everything was due yesterday, a fact my PM neglected to tell me until 30 minutes before quitting time. It’s not the first time its happened and honestly, I should have asked.

Third, the PM had me looking at the incorrect reference data, having specifically told me to ignore the actual data I need. Again, it’s not the first time. I should have known.

Fourth, I don’t think the customer adequately communicated the scope of the work to the PM and it was assumed to be one thing instead of another.

Here’s the thing about this sort of work. People lie. All the time. Sometimes they know they are lying. Sometimes they don’t realize it. Navigating gently around the lies to determine the truth without exposing the lies is no easy feat.

Oh, well. That’s how I make my sausage. For now.

Point is, last night got derailed, I got stressed, I had nothing to serve for dinner so after I procured a calm the fuck down six pack, takeout dim sum was necessary. Dim sum and beer are very restorative. I would eat at a place called “Dim Sum and Beer” without hesitation.

The next opportunity to re-shoot is Saturday.

Saturday

Whoa! Busy-ass, satisfying day today!

I got the Pot Pie video edited and posted this morning. I got the reshoot on the pear cake done. I made chicken stock and threw down some celebratory chicken and sausage gumbo all at the same time. Look at me, Captain Multitask!

The only issue I had with the shoot today is I didn’t wait long enough for the cake to cool before glazing, so it soaked in a bit, which honestly made for a really nice, almost crispy texture on the outside.

I think next Sunday Supper is going to be Memorial Day weekend, so barbecue will be happening, probably brisket. Just not sure how I’m going film 14 hours of us sitting around, drinking beer. Oh, well. I’ll figure something out.

Cheers, ya’ll..