Return of the illustrations

Click for full photos.

An impulsive but mostly practical purchase–between the need to record home improvements, the wish to document Door’s infancy, and the desire to photograph stuff for work and pleasure more cheaply, it was time to make a camera purchase. I didn’t have a lot of spare cash, so I did some research and was pleased to find that mid-range digitals (not SLRs but not point-and-shoots either) had come down significantly, enough to put a fairly nice one in my price range. Enter the Canon PowerShot A620. Good reputation–Consumer Reports recommends it highly, as do several friends. So far, it’s a great flexible little camera for a really good price. (With careful searching, it can be found for $250 or less.)

So what am I doing with this new-found freedom? Mostly, taking pictures of the cats. Door is getting his early adventures recorded, and I can now provide proof-positive to the world that the two little monsters do indeed play vigorously together. As they are doing right this minute.

Check out the Doorman in mid-pounce. There are so many settings on the camera, that there is one labelled “Kids/Pets.” For action shots. And it actually seems to do all right.

Door of course has been gifted by his many admirers with toys and playthings. Out of all the goods, however, he seems to get the most joy out of some tissue paper and ribbon from a housewarming present. Here he’s studying it with great concentration. Ah, kittens.

And also you see Door and AllCats in full wrestling mode. They roll around and tussle, no growling, just clinches. They chase each other up and down the hall–he chases her one way, and she chases him back the other. They break apart and then tease each other, one lying flat on his or her back and batting at the chin or tail of the other until another kitty ball forms. Once they’ve run from room to room, wrestled a few times, and taken breaks for snacks and people-time… they often curl up together somewhere and take a nap.

I think it might work out as hoped. I got Door for my other cat, to keep her company. She’s adjusted well to other feline roommates, for the most part, and seems to miss having another animal around. (She and Kitty, an older male cat, didn’t like each other too much, but she enjoyed playing with younger male cats and, in some ways, a small dog.) In the ’silver lining’ department, Door’s mysterious illness gave her a chance to check him out without his exuberance getting in the way. It was horrible that he was so quiet and un-kitten-like, but the very fact that he was sick was obvious to AllCats, and she treated him less warily and more worriedly. She was at his side almost every minute, and that really hasn’t changed.

They’ve returned from their chase games and piled together in the window seat. AllCats is cleaning Door’s head.

The household is preoccupied with cats at the moment, but the camera offers more than that (thankfully).

Woot! A return to recording new recipes with pictures.

This one might not look too crazy exciting, but since I totally made it up on the fly from crap leftover in the fridge, AND I made it with two ingredients I often flub, I consider it a grand success. I didn’t overcook the chicken and the rice was fluffy and soft, but didn’t stick to the pot. Go me.

It’s heavily mushroomy, which I like. It’s pretty much a marsala, only without the tomato. I suppose you could get fancy and make it with white wine or cream and serve it over pasta, or marinate the chicken, but as a quick meal, this worked out great.

I had it with green beans and some Sprite Zero. YMMV.


Chicken with mushrooms and onions

  • 2 T butter
  • 1/4 of an onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 - 2 T flour
  • dozen or so button mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 t chopped fresh garlic or some garlic powder if you must
  • chicken stock, about 2-3 c depending on how long you let it boil
  • bay leaf or parsley or sage (whatever herbs you like with chicken)
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
  • rice, cooked, about 2/3 cup
  1. Sautee the onions in the butter. Add mushrooms, then the flour. Add the garlic and sautee until the onion and flour brown just a bit.
  2. Add the stock and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any stuck bits. Add the spices and let it simmer on a back burner while you prep the meat.
  3. Brown the chicken in the olive oil, then drop them directly into the sauce. Simmer on low for 15-20 minutes more. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve over rice.

And it wouldn’t be a new toy post without the obligitory feature-showcasing set. One of the most exciting things for me is a digital with high enough resolution to do some macro work–detailed photos of tiny things.

As one might expect, the camera hasn’t left my side since it arrived Monday afternoon. Today at work, we took a jaunt to Armadillo Grill for lunch, and while I was waiting for my tacos, I snapped a few pictures of my friends and their dinners. Then I started playing with the macro setting to take close-up shots.

The new camera will be perfect for food-blogging. This appetizing ensemble is G’s taco salad and beans. Mmmm. The tacos were fantastic, but you’ll have to ask him about the beans. I had rice.

This rice, to be exact. And the close-up just slays me. Each little grain! Aieee!

And, last but not least, everyone’s favorite–some ironwork. The KJ-esqueness of it appealed to me. And, hey, every little nubbin of the paintjob. Impressive. This will come in handy for taking pictures of jewelry.

Ah, hobbies.


One response to “Return of the illustrations”

  1. Robust McManlyPants on Average Display » A Whole Bunch of Things Says:

    […] Have you seen Bascha’s pictures of Dorian? Holy. Cow. My brain just blew a cuteness fuse. […]

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