Art Chick Shtick

The Original Orange, Curry & Cardamom Smart Cookie's cookie recipe

What a nice, cozy, rainy day.

I'm so thankful the kids are finally back in school.  I mean really--I'm being honest here.  David, Jacob and Sophia are back with their friends, Tasie is in Utah figuring out how to look good while snowboarding, and Adam is home from Seattle...and back to ignoring me as per usual.

Today I have decided I am immoderately fond of anything with cardamom so let's bake cookies!  The cardamom thing hits me about once a year then after that forget it--the smell really becomes nauseatingly sweet and bitter like old perfume.  The cardamom thing has something to do with sweater-weather.  Sweaters have somehow mysteriously scattered themselves everywhere while the cookies are baking. My serger is on the kitchen table and I'm making black cashmere leg warmers for Tasie--extra long.  She says she's freezing but has learned to make a new Chinese soup so she's happy...and cozy, too.

I don’t want to make any rash generalizations, but it seems that every time I eat cardamom I feel different--like I'm in a psychadelic cardamom-influenced creativity abyss.  Has anyone else experience this phenomenon?  I think I'll call this one into Art Bell...

The Original ORANGE, CURRY & CARDAMOM SMART COOKIE's cookie recipe

2 c unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 c baker's sugar
1 tsp curry powder and a pinch of salt
3 tsp cardamom
3 1/2 c flour
1 orange-worth of grated orange peel 
1 c chopped pecans...or almonds but I like pecans
1 c confectioner's sugar to roll the cookies in

Cream butter and 1 1/2 c sugar and spices in a small bowl. Sift flour and salt. Slowly add dry ingredients to mixing bowl.Stir in nuts and orange peel.

Form 1 tablespoon of the cookie dough into a ball.  Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for at least 15 minutes but no more than 17.  Let them cool a couple minutes then roll the warm cookies in the powdered sugar.

If you can't find baker's sugar just use confectioner's sugar.

<<<My good friend and fellow artist chick, Bonnie Taylor Talbot, owns the original one and only SMART COOKIE painting. 

FOLLOW UP TO POST:  I, uh, didn't make dinner because I ate so many cookies!!!  (everyone survived)

the heART of WinTer

It could happen to you: Learning the Graceful Art of Balancing in High Heels

This painting's title was something about entertaining the neighborhood kids but I think everyone knew it was about a lot more than that.  Part of my job is of course entertaining the kids, if not the neighborhood, but what I'm constantly working on is the little issue of priorities and balancing eveything that's going on in my life.

I was going over my game plan for 2008--I mean that's what we're supposed to do while the football games are on, right?  Dick Blick always has a big sale on canvases in January so I was looking at how many I bought in 2007 so I could come up with a rough idea of how many I should buy.  Since Sephora also has a way to check your past online purchases I checked there and found that I had bought more at Sephora than at Dick Blick!  Of course I feel I had to since I really can't paint without that Urban Decay glitter liner!  That's gotta be a priority, right?

My number one favorite purchase from 2007 was the pair of brown velveteen Betsey Johnson platforms with the 6 inch heels. (From the Betsey Johnson outlet--not paying retail makes them even better) I wore them to the NY International Gift Fair so I was taller than Debbee Thibault--but she's still thinner and so cute!

So my questions is, Do things from Sephora and the Betsey Outlet count as art supplies?  I don't mean for tax purposes because I'm not talking dollar ammounts but in terms of balancing things in my mind I'm wondering how much these things affect the kind of art we do.  What are art supplies?  What would happen if I bought my studio shoes at oh, say L.L.Bean for example?  How would my work be affected?

Think of where you do your work--I have two really fabulous studios (one in Woodstock, NY and the other here in Ohio) but I spend more time painting in bed in my "chamber of inspiration" ( I had to think of someway to convince Bob that it would be a good idea for me to paint in the bedroom). 

Do you work at the kitchen table?  I LOVE painting on the kitchen table with all the kids running in and out--but my paintings get really BIG and chaotic-looking.  My work is seriously affected by the decision to make my painting comfyness more of a priority than how much paint I get on the bedding.  Painting in a big studio or in the kitchen of chaos versus painting in my bedroom is like the difference between shouting and pillowtalk or between singing loud and out of tune versus telling secret little stories.  I honestly like doing both, not that everyone appreciates the singing nor the occassional wad of gesso on their stockings, but the effect on my work is tremendous so it had to be a priority.

I'm not sure when and how this all started but it works so in terms of priorities and balance I think for now I'm going to stick with my current routine:  get up early, pour a glass of ruby red grapefruit juice followed by a red bull, spend way too much time in the bathtub and even more time putting on my makeup (applying mascara is like my time to meditate--it really centers me).  Get dressed like Miss Mary Mack and grab the high heels.  Take the kids to school, make a pot of tea and get to work.

If I don't do these things I don't feel like myself.  I end up taking a nap and wearing bunny slippers.

True story--what's yours?

Serge-O-Mania!

It's sweater weather in Ohio and I have to say, I really have great sweaters. Well, let me rephrase that. I have fantastic recycled cashmere sweater things. About .5% were actually purchased at retail, the rest were rather surreptitiously "acquired."

I'm a fiend about finding cashmere at thrift stores--and Columbus, Ohio has some of the best thrift stores ever for cashmere sweaters.  January is the prime month for new cashmere sweaters--you wouldn't believe how many people get them as holiday presents and then donate them--totally cool by me.

So I've been trying to use up my stash so I'll be ready for the onslaught of new old sweaters. I'm terrifically OCD (Obsessive Creativity Disorder) about sorting and storing them--I kinda think I like the hunting and gathering more than the actual sewing.

Last year I was all about felting which is, of course, now so-ho-hum-so-last-year. And the felting thing can be rather disgusting if you start with raw fleece.  Please don't send me hate-mail if you're a member of some national sheep herding association--there is no denying that picking "natural material" ( aka poo) out of a fleece is anything buy tedious  and time-consuming.  It's just gross--sorry.

Alright, so now it's time for Serge-O-Mania! 

I (finally) got a new Husqvarna overlock machine for my birthday--and I was completely enthralled until I found out that this company that prides itself in high quality Swedish manufacturing and engineering was actually importing their overlock machines from China.  I mean that really, really wasn't what was represented when we went to purchase it so after a week of complaining I gave up and sat down to sew.  Even if you don't know how to sew you can make things with a serger--they're so fast and fun!

(I'll post the pics  and finish the tutorial as soon as I get my camera to function properly--or maybe they just look better in person.  Or maybe I just think they do...)

Penmanship and Spenerican Script

Since I did not take opera singing lessons like I wanted to this year I'm going to try something a little more practical for my new year's goal--I'm learning to learn to control my handwriting (it's HUGE!) and learn Spencerian Script!

(and as soon as I master my new camera I will insert some examples of my work...)

Aromatic Bitters recipe

Aromatic bitters are on my list of great passions--preferably sprinkled into a glass of iced sparkling water. 

As something of an elixir junkie from childhood, my taste for bitters can probably be attributed to my mother's affinity for gin.  It began with the ever-present, funky, forbidden little bottle that lived in the refrigerator...that of course I, being a somewhat mischievous child, couldn't resist.  Campari came later and the true love affair blossomed. 

Making homemade bitters is a good signal to the start of the holiday season--it's right up there with making fruit cake but smells better. Let's start with the bitters since they take at least a month to brew...

1/2 pound Seville orange peels--chopped

2 cups vodka (something decent)

2 tsp Cardamom

2 tsp Caraway

2 tsp Coriander

Plus any assortment of herbs/spices you want to try--I've tried peppercorns, lavender, cinnamon and ginger

Basically you just put it all in a jar and let it seep for a month--shake it every day or so.

Strain the alcohol into jar and put the orange peel etc. into a saucepan.  Crush the seeds and cover with about 1 cup of water.  Simmer for a few minutes.  Pour this stuff into a jar and let it sit for a couple days.  Strain the liquid into the alcohol jar and discard the peel etc.

Let me know if you try this, especially if you try any interesting herb combinations.

If this all too complicated you can buy some interesting flavors at Fee Brothers.

"Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.”--voltaire

"Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.”

–Voltaire’s Dictionnaire Philosophique (1764)

(literally "the best is the enemy of good")

Maria Muldaur--"must-know" info

My sister, Amy, told me I was wrong about the Maria Muldaur post and that I should mention that I was not the only one involved with tantalizing the school with our dance routine.  I was actually in 6th grade--noted because one of my dance partners, Rosemarie Bommarito, had real boobs.

Maria Muldaur, along with Rhoda Morgenstern, had a serious impact on my personal development.  My father still considers it somewhat a personal miracle that I didn't try to catch a Yugoslavian freighter to Morocco when I was in high school.

I still think I look like her--if you kinda squint and don't think about it too much.

Here's the lyrics to Midnight at the Oasis:

Midnight at the oasis
Send your camel to bed
Shadows paintin' our faces
Traces of romance in our heads
Heaven's holdin' a half-moon
Shinin' just for us
Let's slip off to a sand dune, real soon
And kick up a little dust
Come on, Cactus is our friend
He'll point out the way
Come on, till the evenin' ends
Till the evenin' ends
You don't have to answer
There's no need to speak
I'll be your belly dancer, prancer
And you can be my sheik

Tagine cooking: Roasted winter vegetables & Fried lemons (recipe)

I'm in love with a material object and it's not what you think-it's my tagine.  A Le Creuset Kiwi Tagine--it's terrifically lovely and a classic design albeit not terrifically authentic but I don't care.  It's just beautiful and I feel like Maria Muldaur when I use it. 

(She's the chick who recorded "Midnight at the Oasis" when I was in 5th grade.)

(and PS I can still do the dance routine I performed at our school's talent show...circa 1974.  True story.)

Let's get cooking...

1/2 c olive oil

8 cloves garlic kinda smashed

8 shallots cut in half

3 bulbs fennel quartered

1 smallish pumpkin--cleaned and cut into large-bite-sized chunks

2 eggplants--also cleaned and cut into large-bite-sized chunks

1 T chili pepper flakes

1 handful dried apricots

1 handful golden raisins

1 can organic chick peas

a good pinch of saffron

2 T cumin

2 T paprika

2 cans or 1 box chicken stock

1 large handful parsley &/or cilantro--chopped

course sea salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 375.  Sprinkle the pumpkin, fennel, shallots, garlic and eggplant with olive oil.  Put the fennel in the oven first and roast for 10 minutes.  Add the pumpkin and eggplant and roast for an additional 10 minutes.  Next add the shallots and garlic and roast for another 10 minutes.

Heat a large saucepan and add olive oil and spices to make a paste. 

Add the stock slowly to the paste to make a sauce and cook down until it thickens.

Next add the chickpeas, apricots and raisins to the sauce.

Put the roasted vegetables in the tagine and pour the spicy chickpea sauce over it.

Cook over a slow heat for 10 -15 minutes

Adjust the salt and pepper. Add the chopped parsley and coriander just before serving.

Serve with chermoula and fried lemons.

Fried Lemons:  Slice lemons into 1/4 inch slices and dust with cornstarch and flour (mixed 1:1).  Pan fry in olive oil.  Throw some fine salt and chopped parsley on top.  Yum.

On my list of not-quite-must-haves:  an aqua tagine

Moroccan salt-preserved lemons recipe

Salt-cured lemons...

First wash the lemons--actually, you really should scrub them well if they came from a store.

Cut into quarters, but don't all the way through so they're still connected.

Pack coarse salt into the cuts, close up the lemons and put them in a large jar.

Pack more salt around them as you put them in the jar. 

Check them in a few days to see how much juice has been released--it should cover the lemons so if not squeeze more fresh lemon juice onto them to cover.  Set the jar in a sunny spot.  Every day you should turn the jar upside down to redistribute the juice.

They should be ready to use in about a month.

PS don't throw the juice out!!! You can use it for marinades and vinaigrette.

And speaking of salty lemons, Martha's salty lemon/ salty buttercream cake is supposed to be sublime...