Something still want to test is that have really thin tracing paper here that want to try putting on something like a TV or LCD display and then try taking a photo of it to carry out OCR on it using either my KNFB reader, beyo CBS reader or software on my actual computer, but could also try something relatively simple like using the vOICe to try recognise some shapes, like an 8 and a 0 if they were displayed large enough, and there would do something like block out surrounding shapes/forms using a piece of paper with the right shape cut out of it, but would still need to make a plan for the LCD type display.
Stay well Jacob Kruger Blind Biker Skype: BlindZA '...fate had broken his body, but not his spirit...'----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl de Campos" <carldc@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 7:11 PM Subject: [blindza] Re: Minor food preparation/serving issues/irritations
Hi Jacob, are there any ways of reading lcd displays for totally blind people.Would come in handy if I can read lcd displays on say electronics, gadgets, etc.Thanks / Regards Carl de Campos E-Mail: carldc@xxxxxxxxxx Cell: 078 750 0307 Skype: carl.de.campos Personal Web Site: http://carldc.net----- Original Message ----- From: "Jacob Kruger" <jacobk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: "BlindZA" <blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: "NAPSA Blind" <blind@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 10:56 PM Subject: [blindza] Re: Minor food preparation/serving issues/irritationsHow big is the display on the thermometer fork thingy?Might be able to make a plan with something else to either read it or at least try to confirm it was reading the relevant temperature, or worst comes to the worst, could have a sighted person on standby somewhere and send them a form of MMS from my cellphone's camera or something.For pseudo braaiing, I use one of those counter top grills, with a small folding grid that fits perfectly on it, and, yes for boerewors, bending it is also my test method, and if think it's done will break a small piece off the end and taste it to make sure.I do also have a weber gas skottel braai, but things like lighting the gas would put me off it a bit.Unrelated, but there's also a form of old school traditional drum thing that apparently looks like a copper version of a skottel braai, and it's called a hang (pronounced as hung due to german heritage) drum, and you play it with different fingers all over it for different sounds, tempos, etc. etc. - my one friend has one, and he sort of lives either here or in argentina on and off.In terms of butter and margarine, will also just say that generally rather just use either mayonnaise, or melrose (you don't want to know the alternative nickname for that one - LOL!), but anyway.Don't really like bread too much to be honest anyway, and would rather go for things like mexican wraps, or pseudo baked baby potatoes, or smash, with sauces etc., and those are sauces I sort of cook in bulk generally so they last a few days and go on everything...In terms of testing chops etc., you also just stick a fork through and when the texture is the same all the way through, then they're done, and for things like bacon, it also just comes down to when the fat goes a bit crispy, then it's done.Lastly, in terms of eggs etc., although generally just sort of scramble them in the microwave, if I actually want them fried, I use something like a plastic medicine spoon to check the yolks texture/density to see when they're cooked, whereas the guys from cooking in the dark say you should stick your finger in a glass of ice water for around 5-10 seconds and then feel like that, but I wouldn't want to take that chance too much, and, think mentioned it before, but I mos use motorcycle summer gloves sometimes when cooking since they're thin enough leather to let me feel textures etc., but they let you touch/feel some things without worrying about burning yourself, as long as you don't let them get soaked with hot fat/oil, or hold them against something a bit too long, and for things like mince etc., my somewhat smaller plastic lifter lets me feel the textures etc. as well as using it to stir and mix things up somewhat.Stay well Jacob Kruger Blind Biker Skype: BlindZA '...fate had broken his body, but not his spirit...'----- Original Message ----- From: "Carel Ewald" <cewald@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 7:58 AM Subject: [blindza] Re: Minor food preparation/serving issues/irritationsHi J,Best way I found to check if boerewors is cooked but still moist inside, is to bend the wors at a angle of 90 degrees, if it bursts open it is good. Ihave however found that the synthetic sleeves (calling it a sleeve as intestine sounds no good) does not always adhere to this rule, so I make sure I get the original thing always.As for roasting in the weber, one sets the temperature with the top airflow module and I would check it once a hour with one of the forks which shows temperature. Going slowly to ensure soft and juicy meat, 80 degrees next tothe bone is wonderfully juicy but not brown. I have to however ask asighted person what the temperature is since the temperature fork is not aspeaking one. I do not do butter or margerine, so spreading and frying in butter is no problem for me. Vegies are normally steamed, which goes a long way insolving many issues, and it is a lot faster. Same applies to weber, where all is placed in the weber. Things like pumkin, sweet patato and mushroomsare GS. Thanks, Carel Ewald -----Original Message----- From: Jacob Kruger [mailto:jacobk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 7:40 AM To: BlindZA Cc: NAPSA Blind Subject: [blindza] Re: Minor food preparation/serving issues/irritationsI'be got an electric frying pan, but it's a bit big to generally fit on the counter, so do most of my stuff in combinations of the microwave and eitherbaking in oven itsself, or in a normal frying pan, and I have different sizes thereof for different things.I will also be honest, and I call myself a cheese junkie, so I don't worry too much about it lasting long enough - just make sure I have enough of itto last... Other thing is that for cooking, I definitely prefer mature cheddar, ordecent feta cheeses, along with parmesan etc. since any bland cheese willjust lose it's flavour when cooked therewith.In terms of actual spices, sort of my top 3 are still paprika, which goes inand on almost everything, garlic and origanum, but it really comes down to preparation processes, and I have a few dishes I still call my specialities,like chicken curry, and my mince that I made this week that can be used onpasta, mashed potatoes, in mexican wraps etc. etc., and in that one the flavour just varies depending on what I plan it for, and it really comesdown to me taking quite a while to really cook these things since although Ido also start them off on high to get things like onions started off fryingfirst in butter and garlic, and to brown/seal meat, I generally end upcooking these things quite slowly to merge flavours to a certain extent, andthen generally use the various textures to see when they're actually cooked,so in chicken curry, when meat falls off the bones, it's ready, and when themince really seperates apart, then it's basically ready, but I do also use this as an excuse to sample my food during the cooking process to make sureit's cooked properly.Along the lines of that one, for things like boerewors, I just try bendingit and when it seems to have firmed up all the way through, it's then definitely ready. Another slightly funny one was went looking for a recipe to cook mieliepap/maize meal porridge in a microwave, and it seems to almostquadruple in size when you cook it this way, but comes out nice enough, andyou just have to make sure you prepare the right sauce/sous for it. Stay well Jacob Kruger Blind Biker Skype: BlindZA '...fate had broken his body, but not his spirit...'----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl de Campos" <carldc@xxxxxxxxxx>To: <blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 12:36 AM Subject: [blindza] Re: Minor food preparation/serving issues/irritationsHi Jacob, very interesting observations. I've never been any serious cook, but I find I get to know more or less how long various cuts of meats are ment to cook at what temperatures.What I find very tasty and blind friendly, is I have an old slow cooker. I also don't have problems cutting veges and thing into various sizes, andwith the slow cooker you literally quickly on high "brown" the meat andonions, etc. +-3 min on high, and then bash it on slow and later moer inthe veges and wait until fairly soft. I experiment with spices etc.Spreading bread becomes an issue if the spread is hard and the bread soft.I use a cheese grater to make cheese last longer, I don't know if I'mimagining it, but I find using greated cheese instead of slicing it can gofurther, that's mentally. Thanks / Regards Carl de Campos E-Mail: carldc@xxxxxxxxxx Cell: 078 750 0307 Skype: carl.de.campos Personal Web Site: http://carldc.net----- Original Message ----- From: "Jacob Kruger" <jacobk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: "BlindZA" <blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: "NAPSA Blind" <blind@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 4:06 AM Subject: [blindza] Minor food preparation/serving issues/irritationsJust had these thoughts in my head and was just wondering if anyoneshares these, has workarounds for them, or if you have other minor thingsthat bother/irritate you.Firstly, while it's not really an issue, I get irritated when spreadingbutter and other spreads on bread. Basically I will use the spreadingknife to put whatever in the middle of the slice, and then turn it aroundat right angles, basically spreading outwards towards the outer edges ofthe bread, using my right hand, and I suppose sort of feeling with myleft hand that's holding the slice in place if get close enough to edgeetc. Apart from this one, while when baking things like lamb and pork chopswill sort of time their sessions in oven at around 15 minutes each time, and then while turning them over, just check their pliability etc. to seewhen I know they're cooked through etc., but the one thing I sort of refuse to try cooking is an actual roast since I'm one of those whoalways prefers to roast meat a bit slower at lower temperatures, and alsorefuse to time it as such near the end since in the old days I would literally cut relatively deep slits into the meat and knew it wasproperly cooked when no more blood collected therein as such, and I know that in places like america, there's a form of internal thermometer that you can place inside the meat and when that reaches a certain temperaturethey reckon the meat is cooked through, but suppose would have to test something like this before even considering getting hold of something wouldn't use all that often. Apart from all of the above, I now got hold of one of those twister slicing things that you can easily use to very quickly and effectively slice up/dice vegetables, and it is quite impressive, and only minorthing is you have to make sure you get all the prepared contents out onceyou have used it and I suppose you need to be careful when fiddling withblades etc., and while will definitely be making use of it, I've never really had any issues with chopping up things like vegetables myself -but suppose that could also be to do with the fact that was always a bit of a knife collector in old days, so made sure knives were sharp, decent quality/balance, and was never really a problem making sure to be carefuleven though can't 'see' what am doing with them now. Also, sometimes prefer to cut vegetables etc. into varying shapes depending on cooking method, combined ingredients, end result desiredetc, and this is something would definitely do with the right knife etc.Another one sort of related to this is don't know if would want to make use of a traditional cheese grater for various reasons including I reckonyou'd literally have to check each and every hold in it to make sureyou'd gotten hold of all the cheese out of it, and to be honest, I preferto do a form of cheese shaving if I just want a coating, or cut larger blocks if I want to them to maintain a form of flavour nucleus, or if related to end result texture etc.Suppose could also get around to listening to all the cooking in the darkpodcasts already have here to see how they handle some of these things,but don't really get around to all content have collected here, and already get enough emails daily to sort of put me off joining their cooking in the dark mailing list as of yet. Stay well Jacob Kruger Blind Biker Skype: BlindZA '...fate had broken his body, but not his spirit...' __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4750 (20100107) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com ----------To send a message to the list, send any message to blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx---------- To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to blindza-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line --- The 'homepage' for this list is at http://www.blindza.co.za----------To send a message to the list, send any message to blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx---------- To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to blindza-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line --- The 'homepage' for this list is at http://www.blindza.co.za __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4750 (20100107) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signaturedatabase 4752 (20100107) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com ---------- To send a message to the list, send any message to blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ---------- To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to blindza-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line --- The 'homepage' for this list is at http://www.blindza.co.za No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.comVersion: 9.0.725 / Virus Database: 270.14.128/2604 - Release Date: 01/07/1021:35:00 ---------- To send a message to the list, send any message to blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to blindza-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line--- The 'homepage' for this list is at http://www.blindza.co.za__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4752 (20100107) __________The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4752 (20100107) __________The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com ---------- To send a message to the list, send any message to blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to blindza-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line--- The 'homepage' for this list is at http://www.blindza.co.za---------- To send a message to the list, send any message to blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to blindza-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line--- The 'homepage' for this list is at http://www.blindza.co.za__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4752 (20100107) __________The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4752 (20100107) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com ---------- To send a message to the list, send any message to blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ---------- To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to blindza-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line --- The 'homepage' for this list is at http://www.blindza.co.za
