food and presentation!

fwan

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I love cooking and I love pleasing my guests, and I especially love to present food so it is more appealing.

so while i have been on a very tight shopping spree i keep buying different kind of cups, glasses, plates and little dipping sauces like you would have in a restaurant.

I will need a bigish kitchen when we get our place


Anyone else obsessed with it? for me its very important, even sandwiches i will make them look gourmet!

Don't you agree when it looks nice it tastes nicer? oo
 

emy4cats

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Want to come cook for me?


I don't mind cooking I just have a limited amout of things I know how to cook. I do want it to look good, but lets face it. I am just happy if I didnt burn it
 

swampwitch

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I agree with you completely! I never serve food or drinks in/on plastic. I've collected stoneware and handmade pottery for years, most of it from resale stores. It doesn't all match but it goes together since I collect those that are off-white, brown, or blue, or any combination of those colors. Food tastes better on real plates with real flatware!

I have 27 wine glasses that don't match, yet they are all nice glass or crystal, again mostly from resale stores. (I went to a party at Christmas and the hosts don't drink - it was BYOB - and they had these tiny little plastic glasses out for the wine, it was awful, lol.)

I singlehandedly served 34 people dinner at our house this past summer. It took five days of preparation. I was able to sit down and have appetizers and a glass a wine an hour before our guests arrived because everything was ready by then.
 
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fwan

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Emy4cats - sure why not! ill be right over


Monaxlisa - ill post some pics when I can


Swampwich - i sooo cant stand if there is just the one glass that is odd, everything has to be in pairs, or in sets of 4 atleast! It makes me feel like a freak though how obsessed i get if one breaks then i have to go and find a replacement! hehe
 

dragoriana

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Originally Posted by fwan

I love cooking and I love pleasing my guests, and I especially love to present food so it is more appealing.

so while i have been on a very tight shopping spree i keep buying different kind of cups, glasses, plates and little dipping sauces like you would have in a restaurant.

I will need a bigish kitchen when we get our place


Anyone else obsessed with it? for me its very important, even sandwiches i will make them look gourmet!

Don't you agree when it looks nice it tastes nicer? oo
I certainly think if you put effort into presentation that you will enjoy the food more, and take longer to eat it rather than scarf it down. When i make simple things like fruit salads or cakes etc i'm really fussy about eveness and numbers lmao. So help me if the icing is running down one side and not the other!!
 

emy4cats

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Originally Posted by fwan

Emy4cats - sure why not! ill be right over


Monaxlisa - ill post some pics when I can


Swampwich - i sooo cant stand if there is just the one glass that is odd, everything has to be in pairs, or in sets of 4 atleast! It makes me feel like a freak though how obsessed i get if one breaks then i have to go and find a replacement! hehe
What ya bringing?


I think its great that you like what you make to look good. Cooking is an art. If you want it to look a certian way then go for it! You took the time and effort to make it you should get to enjoy it.

I am always suprised at what I am able to burn.... did you know that if you boil water and forget about it the water will evarapet and burn the pot...... Pasta can ceatch on fire alot eaiser then one would think
burnt rice smells alot like burnt pop corn......


I wish I was a good cook. Poor Eric will eat whatever I make no matter haw bad it tastes.
 

swampwitch

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Originally Posted by fwan

Swampwich - i sooo cant stand if there is just the one glass that is odd, everything has to be in pairs, or in sets of 4 atleast! It makes me feel like a freak though how obsessed i get if one breaks then i have to go and find a replacement! hehe
LOL! But as soon as you get the glasses paired in an even number, a glass will surely get broken, so that is a losing battle!

I look at it this way, after our next big dinner party, we most likely will have an even number of glasses again!



edit: I should mention that I can seat a maximum of six people for dinner (with matching settings) since our house is small. Usually we have more than six so dinner is served buffet-style, and we open the double french doors on to the deck and the garden, and the guests can go outside or inside to eat, sitting or standing; very informal. Our last dinner party went on until 1:30 a.m.
 
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fwan

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Originally Posted by Emy4cats

What ya bringing?


I think its great that you like what you make to look good. Cooking is an art. If you want it to look a certian way then go for it! You took the time and effort to make it you should get to enjoy it.

I am always suprised at what I am able to burn.... did you know that if you boil water and forget about it the water will evarapet and burn the pot...... Pasta can ceatch on fire alot eaiser then one would think
burnt rice smells alot like burnt pop corn......


I wish I was a good cook. Poor Eric will eat whatever I make no matter haw bad it tastes.
haha, just dont have the gas or electric on so high then you wont burn it, for me pasta takes about 7 - 10 minutes and i always manage to get it aldente!

I have once forgotten about the boiling water in the kitchen it didnt burn though but the whole kitchen was steamy!


just dont cook on high you'll be right
 
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fwan

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Originally Posted by SwampWitch

LOL! But as soon as you get the glasses paired in an even number, a glass will surely get broken, so that is a losing battle!

I look at it this way, after our next big dinner party, we most likely will have an even number of glasses again!



edit: I should mention that I can seat a maximum of six people for dinner (with matching settings) since our house is small. Usually we have more than six so dinner is served buffet-style, and we open the double french doors on to the deck and the garden, and the guests can go outside or inside to eat, sitting or standing; very informal. Our last dinner party went on until 1:30 a.m.
If you remember about my engagement party last year i was so angry that i had to use plastic wine glasses, but i wasnt hosting it at home so it had to do, 45 people attended, my collegue told me i cooked far too much and id have lots of left overs! She was so wrong, everything was gone even the cake! I felt so proud!


For our wedding, MIL didnt let me cook. Which was fair enough but if she had taken my advice all of the food would have been eaten, instead all the selected food they ordered wasnt that great and a lot had to be thrown in the bin!
 

gailc

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I have lots of glassware and dishes too. Red wine/white wine/champagne and sherry glasses as well as martini and margarita glasses!!
I have china that I can only use in the fall as its has leaves on it!!
Bought outdoor dishes and flatware for when we dine outside and have tableclothes, napkins, placemats etc!!!!
Odds and end bowls and dishes for serving food too!!
 

carolpetunia

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Originally Posted by SwampWitch

...I have 27 wine glasses that don't match, yet they are all nice glass or crystal, again mostly from resale stores....
Ooohh! That sounds so beautiful! And it eliminates the need for those wineglass charms to identify whose drink is whose, too.

I saw a table setting once that was all mismatched pieces of old china and silver, wonderful old-fashioned florals on a washed-soft dark brocade cloth, with a whole collection of one-of-a-kind candleholders as the centerpiece. It was just perfectly "shabby chic!" I love that look.
 

carolpetunia

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Originally Posted by Emy4cats

.... did you know that if you boil water and forget about it the water will evarapet and burn the pot......
Ummm... yes, actually, I did find that out. Twice.
 

natalie_ca

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When I'm entertaining I go for food presentation.

In the past I used to go to the odd garage sale but mostly I go to second hand stores now and look for serving dishes and platters. I have a nice stash now so I don't do that often anymore.

When I have company I pretty up the food, but when it's just me I don't bother.
 

pami

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Originally Posted by SwampWitch

I've collected stoneware and handmade pottery for years, most of it from resale stores. It doesn't all match but it goes together since I collect those that are off-white, brown, or blue, or any combination of those colors.

I have 27 wine glasses that don't match, yet they are all nice glass or crystal, again mostly from resale stores.
I bet that makes a gorgeous table setting!
 
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