Yep to flinging it around, but based on the poo more goes down than appearances suggest!
My LO seemed to prefer real food from the off - as in sticks of cucumber, peach, pear, etc and veg like pepper, carrot, broccoli (boiled until soft).
She seemed marginally more interested in fruit puree than jars of baby main-meal puree, but then having tried both I can see her point. I did make some home made puree (sweet potato, butternut squash, nectars, pear) and although she tried it, she seems to prefer stuff she can do herself.
She also likes rusks, bread sticks, houmous, tzatziki, strips of pita, pasta twirls, bits of cheese cut off a block.
When I say 'likes' I actually mean pick up, chew with gums and spit back out. She slurps stuff off a spoon for me if she thinks it is really worth it, custard for instance and Wellkid vitamin stuff. Less impressed with my specially home-made baby cottage pie made with no-salt stock and blended to a fine smooth texture 
. Strangely my DH thought it was quite nice though! Oh and currently refuses anything cereal based (turns her head and scrunches her face up.
Good luck, and make sure you take lots of photo's! The first fromage frais made an impressive mess in my house!