Improvise
The Call: Behind the Scenes — Jessica
Necessity is the mother of invention. So is being broke.
Photography can be a very expensive hobby. Camera bodies, lenses, filters, speedlites, light modifiers, software, etc — the list could go on and on. Is any of it necessary? Yes and no. Sometimes you need all of that stuff to reproduce the picture that is in your head. That’s when I tend to improvise.
I’ll start with a DIY approach but eventually I manage to find a cheaper or second-hand tool to use. Improvising can get you very far and it does produce some nice surprises. But there is always the right tool for the job and it’s nice to be able to use that.
Response: Better Batter — Cheryl
Ten years ago, when I figured out I had celiac disease, I learned to improvise, so I’d have something to eat. Most of my lunches consisted of nachos (Tostitos, Ortega taco sauce and mozzarella cheese), taco “pizzas” (corn tortillas, pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese), maybe a salad. Giving up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches left me feeling like I had nowhere to turn — gluten-free bread back then was nothing to write home about, and I lost ten pounds in a month or less. I tried baking bread, cookies and cakes, but mixing tapioca starch, brown rice flour, potato starch and xanthan gum made for inconsistent results.
In the last few years, life for celiacs has gotten much easier, tastier and filled with more variety. I still need to improvise on a fairly regular basis, like when we’re out of eggs (2 Tbsp. yogurt and 1 tsp. baking powder for every egg called for in a cake or cookie recipe), but now that I know what I’m doing, it’s easy-peasy.
You’re better than me, Jessica. I seldom take the time to reflect and diffuse. It’s either that I’m: a.) pressed for time b.) impatient c.) lazy. You know what? Let’s just say I’m too pressed for time and leave it at that. ;- )
Sounds good to me! ; ) I know, my wax paper diffusion hung on the door for another day…which wouldn’t have been so bad except that it looked very strange from outside.
The better batter stuff sounds so interesting. I must try it one day — I’ve like to experiment with whole grains and older grains ( like spelt and barley) so it would be interesting to see what they are like.