2009/365/8 Oatmeal as Experimentation
This is my 2009/265 photo for the January theme of "breakfast"-- the good thing about this one is you get your photo done early (for one day).
I've always added something to my oatmeal to dress it up. This goes back to a childhood memory of staying over at a friend's house, and his mom serving us all bowls of plain Cream of Wheat.
No butter.
No sugar.
Nothing but dry Cream of Wheat.
So I always add stuff to my oatmeal, just whatever I can grab. This morning, the oats were enhanced by frozen cranberries, banana chips, margarine, walnuts, and some Sweet 'n Lo.
The coffee always comes first, a must. A Must. Life does not start without it.
I am shying away lately from the Big Can of Cheap Grind to buying beans and grinding them per brew. Today was Don Francisco's Colombia Supremo.
Comments and faves
carlaarena (41 months ago | reply)
You must try authentic Brazilian coffee, Alan! Well, if you send me a Flickr mail with your address, I'll send you some, my every morning-favorite, before I head back to Brazil.
arvindgrover (41 months ago | reply)
Now that's a good offer, better take her up on it! I buy whole-bean, and grind before each brew. Definitely worth it. But it's easy for me, because I only make coffee at home on the weekends (read: when I'm not waking up at 6:15am). At school, we have a variety of Seattle's Best, so pretty decent coffee for free!
Kinds I really like include coffees from : Costa Rica, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and sometimes India.
Small photo suggestion: I tell my students to only crop things out of pictures if you mean for them to be cropped. I would have liked to see the top of your spoon! What can I say, I like silverware :)
cogdogblog (41 months ago | reply)
Thanks Arvind- I too like sampling the exotic international coffess- Mm Sumatra. And I leaped at Carla's offer! Stopped what I was doing.
Actually some though went into the cropping- and it something I play with off and on, pushing things off the frame. I wanted to emphasize the symmetry of the round shapes, including the entire spoon introduced too much empty background. I like to play with the mystery part, of making the viewer have to fill in what the rest of the spoon is (actually it is super plain!)
carlaarena (41 months ago | reply)
Well, soon you'll get two different Brazilian coffee bags to see which one you prefer. Then, I'll tell you which one my favorite is!
arvindgrover (41 months ago | reply)
the concentric circles of the mug and bowl are perfectly framed, and create lovely negative space, so seems like you definitely nailed the crop. Maybe as a fan pleaser, we'll see a shot of that spoon in the coming 365 year ;) That, and some photos of carlaarena's coffee!
carlaarena (41 months ago | reply)
Oh, yes, my coffee photos will come soon!
cogdogblog (41 months ago | reply)
Yay! Carla's coffee is here, in my cup!
and a bit more reflection on a spontaneous act of coffee goodness.
carlaarena (41 months ago | reply)
All because of your breakfast photo! See the power of an image? I'll upload the El Salvadorian breakfast I had this morning soon! Glad you enjoyed it. It's strong and I don't feel many Americans would really appreciate it...By the way, I've done it in many different ways. The best taste I get?! Making it in an Italian Coffee Maker, that one that you heat up, the water boils and goes up. It's the best taste ever!
Perigee-Syzygy added this photo to their favorites. (19 months ago)