#randy mon

Months ago, long before my new website was even close to completion, I toyed with a concept. If that day ever came, I would send out an announcement made from peas and carrots. A plan of execution evolved quickly and would later be implemented. 6″ stick-on letters that were colored green would be attached to an orange surface, and then with laminated strips of cardboard and hot glue I would painstakingly construct perfect corrals around every letter. These would be surrounded with cooked sliced carrots filled with peas and then carefully removed, and without effort I would have a perfect sign.

I enlisted the support of my friend, Kevin Twomey who in addition to having great vision, is also one of the best technical photographers on the planet.  As that Saturday morning approached, I promised Kevin I would cook and place all of the sliced carrots at home so that once I got to the studio, all we would have to do would be to fill the letters with peas remove the corrals and shoot.  I predicted we would be done in an hour and could go out for an early celebratory lunch. 

Unexpected challenges began even before leaving the house.  With my wife’s help, I peeled, sliced and parboiled nearly 20 pounds of fresh carrots, and still that wasn’t enough to thoroughly cover the entire surface.  Already running late, I needed to stop at a supermarket to buy a few large bags of frozen krinkle-cut carrots to supplement (this turned out to be a good thing). Once at the studio, I found that it wasn’t as easy as I expected to fill the corrals, and worse yet, they were very difficult to detach from the surface and lift cleanly  without disrupting the edges of the letters. Hours of pea coaxing with chop sticks ensued. Hunched over a low set, my shoulders began to burn. I wondered if herding peas could be even worse than herding cats, and still the letters, my message, was busy and difficult to read.  It was approaching 2 in the afternoon, we hadn’t broken for lunch yet, and what I hoped would be a bold unmistakable  ALL NEW ! was still looking weak and confusing, and with the exclamation point was reading more like ALL NEWL.  Suffering from low blood sugar level, still far from happy, I covered the field of carrots and peas with damp paper towels and we finally broke for lunch feeling somewhat resigned and dejected.  At that point I feared my concept might never be fully realized nor be worthy of sharing despite the hours I had invested.

Back at the studio following our late deli lunch, with a corned beef on rye in our bellies and fresh eyes, the image on the monitor didn’t look so bad.  On Kevin’s suggestion, I decided it was best to concede the exclamation point.  We prodded peas for another hour or so and came away with an image that I believe was worthy of showing.

I was grateful to be part of a fine crew, working on a special Ben and Jerry's 4.20 video. Here is my big scene which came at the very end of the shoot day. With the help of the prop master, I had to figure out how to make an ice cream "Brrrito" appear as if it was flying through the air end over end.

HOW TO MAKE PERFECT SCRAMBLED EGGS

Recently my 11-year-old son had to write a "how to" for his English class. I suggested he advise on something very simple that he knows how to do well, like scrambling an egg.  

In researching for his paper (both he and I), we discovered some extremely valuable tips that, even I hadn't been entirely aware of.  See anyone can scramble an egg, but mastering the art requires great nuance.

Combine the freshest possible raw eggs with a bit of milk or half and half, salt and, if possible, white pepper.

Wisk the raw eggs, thoroughly and vigorously; the more air you can wisk into the the egg the fluffier they will be.

Melt a generous amount of butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat, and add your eggs just as the butter begins to sizzle.  If the butter begins to smoke or brown you have let it go too far.

Leave the eggs undisturbed for a minute or so, time enough to wash out your mixing bowl. 

With a heat resistant rubber spatula, gently fold the sides of the set egg up on to itself and tilt the pan to allow the liquid egg to run onto the bottom of the pan.  The key here is to lift and fold gently so the fluffy egg is allowed to  remain as large curds.  Using a rubber spatula, encourages the proper execution while using your regular old fry pan spatula, might influence you to break and chop up the curds.

When the eggs are mostly set but still quite moist, pull them from the heat and serve since they will continue to cook after being plated and the last thing you want are dry eggs.  

I’m thrilled to have my work represented in this Fall’s promotion in Starbucks stores EVERYWHERE!

COOKIE COMMERCIAL

In February I was fortunate to work with a wonderful crew on this sweet T.V. commercial.  "Peek Freans" is a division of "Nabisco" sold in Canada.  If you haven't already, also check out some previous posts a ways back, to see what went on behind the scenes.