Oberlin Blogs

A Soup-a-Day Keeps the Winter at Bay

January 9, 2010

Ma'ayan Plaut ’10

If there's anything I love more than Oberlin, it's Oberlin covered in snow. Especially if it's covered in snow with more snow coming down and I'm watching this as I make delicious soup inside my toasty house. If you're not here, you should wish you were.

This is the terrifyingly gorgeous view out of my upstairs window. This photograph is not in black and white, it was really that stark outside today. (Click on it to see it larger!)

What am I doing for Winter Term? I'm officially done with my required three projects, of which I spanned many a fun and educational project. I spent my first year being trained as a docent at the Allen Art Museum, my sophomore year I made a short documentary about the production of Steel Magnolias, and last year, if you recall, I spent a fabulous month as a photodocumentary intern with the Striking Viking Story Pirates.

I am taking this month of no assigned obligation to get lots and lots of work done on my senior cinema project, which is making a stop-motion animation of a variety of soup recipes. I love photos and movies and food (especially soup), but I also love detail, organization, process and problem solving, and this project covers all of them.

Over the last two days, I have:

- inventoried my entire kitchen (to know what I have and what I need to cook this month)

- reorganized and categorized all my cabinets (because taking on a big project like this needs a start on the most organized of right and left feet)

- wrote multiple itemized lists for shopping and future cooking (because a kitchen can only be so stocked after a two-week break, and we only go shopping once a week)

- set up a studio in my kitchen (my vegetables never looked so pretty)

- made French onion soup (because it's classic, and I have limited ingredients for now, but I do have staples)

- made chili (because it's cold)

- played with the big huge animation tripod (so I can take photographs above a table, with complete stability, perfect for stop-motion work)

- learned how to tether my camera to my computer (so I can take pictures and see them on my computer immediately, like a giant version of my camera's LCD screen, which is AWESOME)

- started writing in my food blog again (oh glory be!)

Remember my food blog? I barely do, but since this whole month revolves around cooking (I'm making food to accompany my soups and sharing meals with friends), a blog is a very good way to document it. It also reminds me to show my parents what's going on in my life... which is the whole reason I started blogging in the first place. Thank you, family. :)

If you're around this month and are craving some soup and company, get in touch. I want to share this project with friendly folks... and you're my testing group. Help me improve!

Responses to this Entry

THANK YOU for organizing the kitchen! Is my being there going to mess you up, studio-wise?

Posted by: Chris on January 9, 2010 2:02 AM

Nope! I'm just taking over the kitchen table right now (though I also might try the dining room too), but you can still get around and work in the kitchen, just with a few things in the way.

The lights also make the kitchen warm :P

And it's not like there's actors or anything, or things you'd interrupt. It'll be cool to have you back (and you can eat soup, too :D)

Posted by: Ma'ayan on January 9, 2010 8:18 AM

Ma'ayan,
It's a good thing you mention that the photograph is not black and white, because it is nearly impossible to tell! I'm sure many are missing the warmer days of summer!
By the way, you may already know this, but your name means "spring" in Hebrew.

Posted by: easy recipes baker on January 16, 2010 4:04 PM

Hi Ma'ayan,

I stumbled across this blog by chance and just looked at that French Onion Soup recipe? I'm gonna try that one and see if I can improve upon it, thanks!

Hope your project goes well, seems like a good excuse to clean stuff up! Will you be uploading the finished project?

Thanks

- Tom

Posted by: Tom @ Vegetable Soup Recipes on January 29, 2010 9:11 AM

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