The eve of All Hallows Eve?

I finished reading Possession. Now I'm only possessed by making my blocks. Back to the sweatshop!

Possessed!

I've been finishing Possession, by A. S. Byatt, the selection for our book group get-together tomorrow and between it and these blocks I'm not getting anything else done.

As promised, this is a sneak-preview of a piece I'm trying to finish up. These are 1-inch blocks. What was I thinking?

Seasonal Content

More inspiration from the market.

My friends and those who know me from my guild have heard me say that I am great at starting projects but not so great at finishing. I heard AS Byatt speak on Monday night at City Arts and Lectures in San Francisco. When asked if she shared her manuscripts with her sister (Margaret Drabble), she commented that she shows nothing to anyone until it goes to her publisher. I find that if I show a work in progress I'm discouraged if it doesn't receive positive reviews but I also can resist finishing something if it receives "raves" (fear of failing to live up to expectations?).

I am working on two ancient projects and making good progress. Perhaps a sneak preview in a few days?

Inspiration from the Garden

Alice and I went to the plant sale at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek. It has been years since I saw it (and thought I wasn't interested in cactus and succulents). What an inspiration for making art.

Art in Public Places II

This piece is in the library plaza in Orinda Village.

October 16, 2009

Pan-baked Lemon-Almond Tart: A Dessert Frittata?

I'm still trying to clean up and organize my "studio" (which seems to have proliferated far and wide) but ya gotta eat. I tried this NY Times recipe (there's a cute video--be sure to watch it but use the measurements in the recipe) last week and taste-tested it for dessert with the Wednesday quilters. It was quick and easy.

My first outing was not without its problems: I used a 10-inch pan because for some reason I didn't think I could use a non-stick pan in the oven; and as Kathy said, don't take your eye off it when it is under the broiler... I repeated it for Saturday breakfast with an 8-inch non-stick pan--much better: it makes a thicker tart and much easier to get out of the pan. We both loved it. I think it's a keeper. I toasted the almonds and be sure to use extra sliced almonds on top. A little crunch is a good thing. As Mark Bittman says, it's great for "a decadent breakfast, a new twist on a classic coffee cake, or a last-minute dessert."

The colorful season

Our trip to the farmers' market today was so inspiring. I saw, I shopped, I recorded.

Autumn

I'm in my studio: cleaning up, re-organizing, and fooling around. We were in Half Moon Bay last Friday for Friday Beach Day. Half Moon Bay may be the pumpkin capital of the world.

Art in Public Places

One of my favorites in our little village.

September 18, 2009

A Big Tomato Sandwich

We still have lots of tomatoes in the garden so tonight we had this.

I used a recipe from Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets by Deborah Madison. It is such an inspiration. Each picture just makes you want to try it.

I started with a 1 lb. loaf ciabatta. You want a crusty, strong-textured bread. In the book she shows a round loaf which looks lovely. I sliced off the top third of the loaf and pulled out the inside to make room for the filling. I "painted" the inside of the bottom of the loaf with an herb vinaigrette (1/4 c. basil leaves; 1 T. chopped oregano (she suggests marjoram but I had none in the garden); 1 T. chopped parsley; 1 small clove garlic, minced; 1/3 c. EVOO; 4 t. aged red wine vinegar; 1/4 t. Salt, and freshly ground pepper.)

I alternated layers of sliced tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and 4 oz. fresh sliced mozzarella, on the bottom 2/3 of the loaf. After adding each layer I "painted" the vinaigrette on and seasoned with S&P.

Delicious!

September 11, 2009

Whaler's Cove, Pigeon Point, San Mateo County Coast, California.

Got Tomatoes?

Tonite I made the Pasta Primavera from this cookbook
http://tinyurl.com/lbvjps

The authors indicate that "this is the authentic Italian recipe for Pasta Primavera, which is called spring pasta because it utilizes the first tomatoes that come in." I love this recipe, even though I've been picking tomatoes for several weeks.


Here's the recipe:

4 c. coarsely chopped fresh, garden-ripe, never-been-refrigerated tomatoes
4 T. EVOO
4 T. fresh basil, chopped
1 T. Italian parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped, or more, to taste
S&P (freshly ground P)
1 lb. spaghetti
EVOO, for garnish

In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, oil, basil, parsley, garlic, and S&P to taste; pulse to blend.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook. Drain the pasta and toss it in a serving bowl with the raw sauce. Garnish each portion with a dribble of EVOO and serve immediately. Serves 6.

I made fettucine dough in the food processor this afternoon and let it rest in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. (1 c. unbleached AP flour; good pinch of salt; 1 large egg; 1 t. olive oil; a few drops of water). While the water was coming up to a boil, I cut the pasta with the pasta machine and tossed it with semolina flour to prevent it from sticking together. It was so quick. I made about 7 oz. of fresh pasta for two of us and I halved the above sauce recipe. The fresh pasta takes about a minute to cook. If you have the tomatoes and basil and garlic and parsley chopped, the sauce comes together in a flash.

I wish I would have made a loaf of bread to sop up the leftover sauce. That would have been great! I'll have to get my bread baking back in gear.

I served this with Janine's Bean Salad. I'll post the recipe for that later this week.

Pelicans, and harbor seals, and tide pools, oh my!

I don't know who this guy is but I love the flags lining the walkway to the lighthouse at Pigeon Point.

Wonderful day on the San Mateo Coast: more than 20 brown pelicans working or playing the waters of Whaler's Cove and harbor seals cavorting in groups of threes and fives. Then, we were off to Bean Hollow State Beach and more inquisitive-seeming harbor seals and tide pools. Sunny but breezy.

The view from "my" lane

These are the waning days of summer and this is the big oak at the end of lane 1 on the shady side of the pool.

Farallon Islands

Here's Rick getting ready to board the Salty Lady on Sunday morning. We were about to venture out to the Farallon Islands with Robin and Paul on an Oceanic Society expedition.

Don't you get the idea from this picture that it is going to be a perfect day to see whales and puffins? Let me just say that the trip was so exciting (and eventful) that this is the last picture that I took on the entire trip.

As we left San Francisco harbor we saw over 20 harbor porpoises and 3 miles out, we saw our first whales, humpbacks, a cow and her calf. As we approached North Island, we found ourselves in a "garden" of whales: 5 humpbacks diving for food and 9 humpbacks spouting, diving, breaching, and showing their flukes. We saw one humpback spyhopping: lifting its head about 6 feet out of the water.

We also saw California sea lions, northern sea lions, harbor seals and a variety of sea birds: western grebes, elegant terns, Forsters' terns, northern fulmars, pink-footed shearwaters, sooty shearwaters, western gulls, brown pelicans, red-necked phalaropes, double-crested cormorants, pelagic cormorants, Brandt's cormorants, pigeon guillemots, common murres, Cassins' auklets, and tufted puffins.

It was a never to be forgotten experience.

My new favorite

I'm really excited about this set. I must decide whether to cook or dye.

And now for the semi-neutrals

More pretty colors

Today would have been a perfect day for dyeing. It was hot, hot, hot! Instead I prepared some fabric for my next set and tried to sort out my results.

These are the pieces from using fuchsia, lemon yellow, and turquoise as primaries (I think). I'm not certain because the red doesn't seem right. I didn't repeat the red-orange, orange, or yellow samples because I already had them from the first set. It probably would have been a good idea to at least have swatches of those dyes (the darkest, if not the mediums and lights) from this run. And I messed up on the yellow-greens.

I was trying to get more solid (flat) colors (less "crystallization" of the colors) and I think my results are pretty good. Still, lots to learn.

I used Dharma print cloth (mercerized).