thursday night dinner



Short ribs from Marcus Samuelsson's New American Table, and another test for my exposure lessons.

milestone


Okay, so this isn't the most exciting picture.  But it's important.  Lately I've been trying to learn as much as I can about exposure; it's the thing I haven't really been able to grasp with my camera.  Thanks to a helpful book and a class at National Camera Exchange, this is the first picture I've taken indoors that hasn't been grainy, out of focus in the wrong places, or too orange all over (at least on purpose).  I used a tabletop tripod and the aperture-priority setting on my camera.  It's an exciting turning point for me...I don't know why I haven't been using aperture priority this whole time and I'll be asking for a tripod for Christmas.  This was definitely a milestone in my relationship with my beloved Nikon.

By the way, the stuff in the jar is homemade ketjap manis, or Indonesian ketchup.  A cousin to American ketchup, ketjap manis is a sweet, thick soy sauce made with spices (anise, ginger, garlic and coriander), molasses and brown sugar.  I couldn't find it at the local Asian market, so I made it for the Marcus Samuelsson short ribs I'm making tonight.  I'll try out some pics of the finished product with my newfound exposure knowledge.