Ask Me A Question
(Photography by Gene Weatherley)
I'd love for this blog to become really interactive so that you, the reader, can contribute and tell me what you think and what you'd like to know.
So, I thought I'd create this area for you to ask me a question or tell me what you'd like to read about.
I'm no expert and completely self-taught, but if you'd like to ask me a cooking question please do and I'll do my best to answer, or if you have a dilemma I'll try to help you out.
Just post a comment against this post. Hope to hear from you soon!
40 comments:
I want to know how you get such great pictures.
Oh bless you, thanks for the compliment Ros.
Well I've always loved taking pictures - I have hundreds in my loft taken over the years - and as with anything the more you do something the better you get at it.
I highly recommend the camera I'm using, it's really great, but relatively inexpensive (it's not an SLR).
I think the pictures come out quite well because I get in really close to the subject and look for a good angle. I take many shots of the same thing and then look at them on my computer to choose the best one.
I have to admit to using Adobe Photoshop for some cropping and adjusting the contrast where necessary - and a photographer friend taught me a few tricks for using this software (thanks Gene!). So I certainly can't take all the credit!
Sorry, that link didn't work, try this http://www.canon-store.co.uk/product_details/digital_ixus_iis.htm
By the way, I should add that the picture of the keyboard on this post was taken by Gene and not me, when he was testing out my camera. I loved it so nicked it!
Julia,I love your blog!!This is a silly question I am sure,but I have been veggie for years until earlier this year when I started to eat chicken,I can cook a god roast chicken now-but is there a certain way to carve it,cos I always seem to make a mess of it!Told ya it was a daft question!!
Hi thoughts running through my head. I'm so pleased you like my blog!
That's not a silly question at all, I remember messing it up when I first started cooking my own roast chicken.
I expect there is a certain way to carve it that chefs use but I don't know what that is I'm afraid. Maybe some of my readers do and can let us know? I'll tell you how I do it though.
For me, the key is a very sharp knife. If the knife isn't very sharp I find it just tears the chicken away from the bone in big clumps. Sharpen the knife just before you carve.
To carve the breast I use a fork lightly pressed against it to hold it in place and I start carving downward. Make sure your slices aren't too thin or they'll fall apart as you carve down.
There does come a point where you've taken off all the large, neat slices that you can and you're left with chicken close to the bone. At that point I just start pulling it away with the fork and knife.
I hope this helps and if anyone else has any tips please do post them!
Hi,
of course I meant GOOD chicken,not 'god' chicken,I'm not that good!!!Thanks for the tips,I think I need a better knife,as you say I am tearing it now more than anything,even though my knife is pretty sharp!Well,I'll add it to my xmas list!
Hi Julia!!!
I saw the bit about dilemma's and thought I'd pick your brains if I may?
My blog is all about cakes which I am fine with bar the odd disaster, but I do have to cook real food as well! I am struggling a little at the moment. I am chief cook for my family who are all vegetarian. Mr AG- doesn't eat cheese, Boy (6) - hates mushrooms, Girl (16 months) no pasta or rice!!! Added to that the kids don't like spicy food. I freeze soup in portions for Girl to have on days when we want something else.
What would you do in my case? Feed the little ones seperately? I'd prefer not to, they tend to eat more with company and I'm trying to teach proper manners and encourage them to try new things.
I seem to be caught in a lentil shepherds pie/soup/stew/pizza twilight zone and I don't think I can ever learn how to cook better around everyones likes and dislikes. I would love to be good at cooking, all my stuff seems so flavourless and my experiments have been hit and miss. What could I do to make our diet more interesting?
Sorry it's a long question!
Claire xx
Hi Claire! Goodness, that is a dilemma. It sounds really difficult for you.
I can sympathise about the mushrooms as Rob is the same, and I don’t really like spicy food so that’s off the menu for me too.
What’s the reason your little one doesn’t eat rice or pasta? Does she just not like it or is there another reason? If she doesn’t like it maybe you could try to jazz up the dishes a bit to interest her? Perhaps by including things in with the rice or pasta that she does like?
I think you're totally right to be encouraging your children to eat more things and it's really great that you're wanting them to eat the same things as you so you're having a family meal together. You sound like a great Mum!
Now, other dishes, let me think. How about roasted vegetables? You can put any selection in and serve it as a side dish or a main. Roasted peppers, sweet potato, carrots and red onions all take on an even sweeter flavour when roasted which may appeal to the children.
How about a buffet style dinner where everyone helps themselves to what they like whilst still having the sense of sharing the same meal, so you’re not cooking separately for the little ones? So, you could do a rice dish, roasted vegetables, stuffed mushrooms, etc and everyone tries a bit of what they like. This might even encourage the little ones to try new things.
Baked potatoes with salad is another idea and how about fish – is that off the menu for you all or do you eat it?
I’m going to sleep on this now and try to come back to you tomorrow with some more ideas.
Here are a few more ideas:
Omelettes
Home made veggie burgers
Different salads - bean salads, warm poached egg salad, grilled vegetable salad with parmesan shavings, etc
Grilled asparagus and hollandaise sauce
I hope some of these help.
Thanks Julia, only just got back to this. Been food shopping. I picked up some fresh herbs I will hopefully be able to freeze to add a bit of flavour. I'm never sure what to put with what! I also got a load of veg to do some batch cooking to take the daily pressure off a bit.
I'm not sure why Girl doesn't like pasta. I always give her some and she puts it to her lips then changes her mind and puts it back on her plate, shaking her head. I think it must be the texture or something. Same thing with rice. I suppose I'm lucky she will eat her veg as a lot her age don't.
You have given me some good ideas that I will look into, like the burgers. I think I'm put off making things I have failed at before and need to give them another try. I only know how to make one vegetable stew and my roast veg always end up soggy! I have seen a wire mesh basket you can cook them in in Lakeland so I might put one of those on my Xmas list. Are you cooking for Christmas? I'll be interested in reading about what you make if so.
We don't eat fish btw, I'm actually terrified of them!
Thanks very much!!!
Claire xx
Great, the herbs will really make a big difference! You'll soon start getting used to the different flavours and what's good with what. The BBC food site, which is on my links, has some good info on herbs in the glossery and herbs are on my list to blog about so watch this space!
I've just posted tonight about my Christmas preparations and some of the things I'll be cooking. I'll post more as the days go on.
Good luck with it all and let me know how you get on!
Love the site. Any ideas for great effortlessly brilliant cold dishes - i need to take one to an audition for a cookery show.
Archana
Hi Archana,
Ooh goodness, I'm not sure. Main dish or dessert? Dessert would be much easier of course, something like a cheesecake or fruit tart.
Good luck with it!
Hi Julia,
Do you have any restaurant recommendations for central (ish) London at all? Personal favourites are always the best. Any little known gems? Open to anything food-wise!
Hi Jane,
Over at the A Slice of Cherry Pie forums, we have a whole forum dedicated to eating out in London, and separate forums for the UK and the rest of the world.
http://asliceofcherrypie.forumotion.com/index.htm
Hi the link you provided for the camera does not work, which canon is it? Thank you kindly
Hi anonymous, the camera I originally started with was a canon ixus but now I'm using an SLR; a Canon 400D. :-)
How did you put that Status box on your blog that shows how many people have read your blog? I'd really like to put one on mine.
Hi Vancouver girl, I did it through www.statcounter.com - just register and you'll get a counter tool you can put on your blog. Good luck with it.
hi there :)
just two questions here.
What do you think of Gordon Ramsay's cooking?
How about his personality?
I like him a lot for his passion in cooking. What do you have to say..? Would be nice to hear from you.
Hi EC,
Oh I think Gordon Ramsay is great; he's an excellent chef and I think he has a great personality - he's certainly entertaining to watch!
I agree about his passion for cooking - I love that in anyone.
Thanks for stopping by :-)
Julia
Hey Julia!
I am new at blogging, and I was wondering if you have any tips for me to improve my blog and attract more bloggers/viewers!
Thanks, and your blog rocks my socks!
xoxo
ciara
With such wonderful recipes and time spent in the kitchen what is your secret to maintaining your figure?
Not food related, but - how did you add the "Ask me a question" and Guestbook pages to your Blogger account? I can't find a way to do that from the dashboard.
Thanks,
Ken
Hi Julia,
I've just returned from a trip to Southern England. While in Winchester, I had the most incredible Bread and Butter Pudding at a local pub there. I've seen many recipes on the web, but wonder if you have a special one you might send me.
Thanks, Lynne
Cafe LynnyLu
Hi Ciara - as boring as it may sound I really do think the key to attracting readers is to regularly post interesting content. That's what will keep people coming back.
Obviously people won't be able to read your blog if they don't know it's there so the other thing is to get your blog known and to get yourself out in the blogging community - getting to know other bloggers (have you joined my forum?), reading and commenting on their blogs, get your blog listed on blog rolls.
In the early days of a blog it usually gets only gets a small number of readers but if you keep at it they will increase.
Keep it up!
Hello Fisherette - ah, well I do have my ups and downs just like everyone else but I must admit to being lucky with my genes and inheriting a slim frame. I still have my wobbly bits though, trust me!
Hi Ken - I added these features just be creating a new post with those titles, and then linking to those posts in my sidebar. If you need anymore help do feel free to email me.
Hello Lynne - I'm really sorry, that's one pudding I've never made. You could always ask on my forum to see if anyone has a good recipe. I hope you find one.
are you dateable?
Hi Julia!
I'm cooking a dinner party for my friends and I've picked up a recipe for a pot roast chicken and another recipe for roasted vegetables. My problem is that the pot roast chicken is required to be cooked in the oven on Gas mark 2, whilst the vegetables are suppose to be roasted at Gas mark 6. I'd mix the vegetables straight with the same pot as the roast chicken but one of my friends are vegetarians and so wouldn't be able to eat the vegetables she said if it shared the same pot as the chicken.
So I don't know whether to cook the chicken (1kg) first and the roast the vegetables after, or is there somewhere I could roast it in the middle so that the chicken and vegetable would be cooked at the same time? Sorry, hope I explained it well. =D
Thanks,
Ida
Haha, sorry Bart - I'm a married lady!
Hi Ida, hmm...that's a tricky one. In the past when I've cooked meat at a lower than usual temperature I've put potatoes in at the same time and then just turned the heat up right at the end once the meat has been removed to crisp them up. I have to say I'm not entirely sure if that would work with the vegetables - I guess it depends on which ones you use - but I think it's what I'd try, and just keep an eye on them to see how they go. Sorry that's probably not very much help to you.
Hi Julia, I love your blog! As x'mas is coming, could you share with me how to cook a turkey? The meat always ended up very tough and dry..
Hi Janice, last year I wrote this guide on how I cook the Christmas dinner; I hope it helps:
http://asliceofcherrypie.blogspot.com/2007/12/biggest-gig-of-year.html
Hi Janice,
I love your blog. I am actually from Ohio in America. And I absolutely love your photography. I am anxious to start my own blog, and get more into photography. But I was wondering how do you take the pictures of the food dishes in the restaurants? Do you ask permission? Do they open up the restaurant early just for you? Or do you just take the pictures when there aren't many people around when you yourself are sitting down eating dinner? Thanks for your time. And keep up the great work. :o)
Hi, enjoyed working through your stuff, great content! We're working with a number of foodie clients who I'm sure we could hook up in some way as they move into 21st century (!), blogs etc, New Covent Garden Soup and Tyrrells Chips are a couple. Take a look at sites, be interested to get your feedback http://www.newcoventgardenfood.com/ http://www.tyrrellspotatochips.co.uk/
Cheers, Mark at www.jumpto.co.uk
Hi Lamiller,
To be honest I don't often take photographs in restaurants as I do feel a little self-conscious doing so. The photographs you may have seen of Galvin at Windows weren't taken by myself; I took them from their website. There are some photographs on this blog that I have taken in restaurants though and I've done it in quite a casual way when the waiters aren't looking! To be honest though, I can't imagine they would mind so long as you're discrete and not making a big song and dance about it. And if you're doing a piece on their restaurant I'm sure they would be happy to work with you if you asked and they weren't too busy.
Best of luck with the blog and photography.
Julia
Mark - thanks; I'll take a look.
Julia, I read your blog fairly often and love the photos. Your food always looks so lovely!
Not sure how interesting you'd find this as a "foodie", but a friend of mine recently published an amazing website designed to feed a family of 4 for an incredible £100/month! No processed junk, all homemade and as nutritious as possible. It's amazing how tasty and filling the recipes are for how little they cost. http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/
Hi Julia,
Loving your blog.
I'm new to the blog world and loving every moment of it but I want to link my facebook page to my blog (you've done this on your blog with a great gadget) but I can't find this one... would you mind letting me know how you created it?
I have more followers on my facebook page than my blog, so it would be nice to link the two.
Thanks in advance
Dom
Thanks Emma. The site sounds like a good concept, I'll take a look.
Hi Dom - Sure. I created it from within Facebook; go to edit your page and then you can create it from there.
Hi, what a lovely blog. I have a blog, but no one reads it! It couldn't be that bad! I think mainly because it's not very visible. I'd like for it to be more visible so that I can interact/share notes with other food bloggers. Would you have any suggestions on how to go about that?
thank you! David
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