Thanks

Thanks for yesterday's six-word comments! We had a lovely variety there. Speaking of thanks, when I unbox my Misfits food, I thank aloud the farmworkers who picked, the packers who packed, and the cheerful people who deliver. 

When I use an egg, I thank the hen, likewise fish and chicken. I think this is part of cooking. I was happy when I received my copy of the Together cookbook, that the women who contributed recipes often mentioned working prayerfully and thoughtfully. I suspect it's good for digestion, too. To me, prayer has nothing to do with religion or kneeling around. It's the action of living and noticing and just being glad about it. 

So above is the food I made yesterday, on the way to the  shakshuka page, when I noticed this spicy red lentil recipe, and went for it. It was a lovely meditative time in the kitchen, and I added in a couple of those plant based sausages, no meat, and was very happy with my resulting three meals.

a handful of cilantro fitted right in

 The flatbread is to ensure nothing is left on the plate. This is originally an Ethiopian food,  where bread sometimes acts as a plate, or to scoop up the food. 

I'll soon need to make a new batch of berbere, the spice mix you need for this dish. It also uses plenty of ginger and garlic, with an onion base, and is definitely, as is a lot of Ethiopian food, a dish for spice lovers.

The other thing going on is a jigsaw puzzle. This is a Springbok a make I like because it has some weird and interesting shapes, beyond the usual peg and gap type puzzle pieces. 

I finished The Plot, and it turned out to be about theft that was so much more profound than plagiarizing a plot idea, really good. It had shades of the old Christie short story In a Lordly Dish, which itself is a shade of an Old Testament story. Good provenance. I really recommend this writer, but in book form, so you can read at your own pace.

Speaking of doing things a bit differently, I fancy trying knitted or woven lettering, probably blanket square, this kind of thing, this one being from a lovely current knitalong mitten kit from Tatters, but the idea is ancient.

This one incorporates a poem, and I'm wondering if a tiny and powerful Basho poem might work. Anyway, we'll see (!)

Happy day,  everyone, and I hope to hear soon from the people in the storm, which just brushed by us, not as severe as feared. 

Hard realization, decision and Misfits

Two more unsuccessful attempts to thread the loom and wind on the warp have made me realize I simply don't have the cognition for this task. 

It's frightening but I suspect true. Something I managed fine a few years ago is evidently now beyond me. I simply can't consistently repeat the movements correctly despite all the counting and the reminders I've put in place. The last attempt was better, but not usable. 

I wonder if it's the same thing that stopped my Arabic study after that virus.  I couldn't retain the learning as I went well enough to progress.

I suspect now there was some left brain cognitive loss, though it didn't seem like a serious virus at the time. And there's a chance it will lift. 

Meanwhile I decided today's winnowing is -- a loom! I expect someone will like it and get pleasure from it.  There's no point in keeping it lying unused. I can do other forms of weaving, and probably will.

Here it is on Freecycle.

I had a lovely day otherwise, making Shakshuka, from the Meghan's Together cookbook.

As you see

 

You poach the eggs on top

Till they're done however you like them.

I didn't have green peppers the recipe used, but I used onions, garlic, scallions and leeks, which worked out very well. Served with flatbread, and they also suggest yogurt but I didn't have any left today. The flat bread is to mop up the sauce, vital.

This is supposed to be a breakfast dish, but I think it's a great lunch. Could be brunch, too.

And the Misfits box came

The fettuccine will go great with some of the extra Shakshuka, instead of flatbread. I have other plans for the sausage, probably relating to soup since we continue to have soup weather.

So this is where we are. Beautiful sunshine but cold, in 40s with a wind, so I'm back to a warm coat, scarf and hat for walking today.

I'll mention the cognition thoughts next time I see my doctor, just to alert her.

Meanwhile how about a puzzle?

This will probably leap out at you. Or not!

Happy day everyone,   Struggle on!

Art has its downs, and Together helps

Yesterday was a mixture of struggling and temporary defeat on the art work.  Art is about coming face to face with yourself, among other things.

It's a journey and yesterday yielded some learning. The materials I have aren't going to work as hoped. I may have started in the wrong place by making the head, I may need to start over. differently.  I may need to use the head in a different artwork. 

Some scenes from yesterday

These are the sorts of disappointing things that happen. Art is not a straight line activity. So I have to explore yet more different materials in my search for this elusive big figure I've had in mind for so many years. And maybe the black robe with all the embroidery isn't a good match to the concept.. 

Meanwhile I may make other works using the materials I have, while Big Figure is in temporary abeyance. Not sure yet.

So that's where I am, tired,  disappointed, ready to continue though. I feel a bit like the heartbroken guy in Death of a Salesman, who says heartbreak is okay because you know you're still alive! 

Meanwhile Together gave me the guidelines for a terrific couple of meals.

Spicy lentils, greens and pita. A lot of ginger, garlic and berbere, and it's great. The recipe also made a tomato salad, but I didn't have tomatoes. It's a good cooling note with the hot lentils though. They used spinach which I didn't have, so I used cilantro, parsley and scallions, which worked fine. 

This is a kind of modular recipe. You can cook the lentils to go with other foods, greens likewise.  The greens, using fried onions then garlic and ginger, were especially good.

I used up the last of the berbere mix, so I'll make more,  from the Together recipe, which looks milder than the Marcus Samuelsson version I had made before. I think they may have adapted to what's available when you don't have an Ethiopian grocery. 

And here's the scene from the kitchen window of my early childhood, as of yesterday. Probably from the other side though.

Happy day everyone, hoping for a better one than yesterday! I mean, it's 3.14. Pi Day!

ArtShaped moving again, and Together food happening

Today I took a look at ArtShaped for better ideas on constructing the body, since my own are more elaborate than I think will work. 

Here's the principle I think I'll go with 

So today I'll be constructing large tubes. Thanks to the paper winnowing, I have folders that I can work with. Stay tuned!

And I've been studying the Together cookbook for ideas. Here's what I'll adapt today

This is Ethiopian, where the bread is the plate as well as a utensil. Pita will work. I have the lentils and the berbere mix, and for greens I'll use scallions, parsley and cilantro. No tomatoes till Misfits delivers, but never mind.  

I use recipes as a framework of ideas, not a legal document. Likewise playing early music.

The sheet music you see for Renaissance works is largely the labor of later editors trying to bring the music to their own audience. 

In actual Renaissance times, composers would give only the opening and closing measures with general instructions to follow this pattern in the middle.  I think this is exactly the right approach for music and food.

For people who make exactly what's in the recipe instructions and play exactly what's printed on the page, go for it, you're the person it's intended for.  No criticism here. But I have been criticized for my free adaptations in both food and music. Not that it's stopped me, as you may have noticed.

About puzzles, here's the current jigsaw puzzle, a wild cartoon about a sailing ship and crew

And the next word in the Haggard Hawks puzzle is

PYRAMID

The pattern is that the letters MID move one place to the right each time. Easy when you spot it, baffling when you don't.

My adaptation to the clock change is a bit hilly this time. Awake at five, ready to go, took morning meds, then knocked the half full glass off the night table with my sleeve. 

Ended up crawling around with a dustpan and brush, finding broken glass and water all over. Then realized it was only four am to my put-upon body. I don't seem to know when to sleep. This will take a few days. 

Today and probably tomorrow are nor'easter days, if the weatherfolk are right, high winds, heavy rain. Good for staying home.

Happy day everyone. Adapt your day to suit you, never mind the instructions.

Salute to women quilters of color, Together lunch, next stage planning for Art Shaped piece

 Today since handsome Son is visiting I probably won't get to see Textiles and Tea.

So I thought,  before February's gone, I'd do a salute to a wonderful quilter, historian, writer, teacher , retired aerospace engineer, yes, that's the field she got her doctorate in, African American woman.

This is all on YouTube. Go there. She's brilliant.

Meanwhile in a humbler context, I found myself in mid-winnow doing what you'd expect when a lover of fiber finds roving she'd forgotten, which goes nicely with the new sari silk roving

On the spindle is the new sari silk, spun. 

And today's winnowing is yet to happen but it's decided on.

Meanwhile, the Together cookbook is in action. Page 77, Baked fish with tahini and pomegranate.

As usual, substitutions happened. Tilapia was the only available fish, and no tahini in the house. I don't like tahini, some sweet edge to it. (I pretended not to see the pomegranate seeds, but they're just a garnish.)

I also don't like peanut butter, but it's okay as a substitute for tahini in my hummus. 

So i figured why not here, too. And I have no pine nuts, but since they're just about a bit of crunch, the peanut butter being crunchy, that worked. I did have actual parsley, you'll be glad to know I didn't sub hairy bittercress, though it's growing and I could.

The book has started acquiring notes

 And here's the theater of cooking

This makes two meals and a whole fillet leftover for kedgeree or fishcakes or something.

And the sauce -- whoa Nelly, was that good. I ended up spooning a bit over the broccoli, too.  Definitely making that again. Good over salmon, I'd guess, and green vegetables.

So, all fed and ready, I got to work on the artwork head. What looked like a mask yesterday is in fact the face, and it will be attached to a head as soon as I build one.

I woke this morning wondering how to do it. I don't have paper suitable to make a head shape, never get newspapers, recycled all the packing paper, what to do.. then I remembered messing about in the roving, noting some not good for spinning, could use that. 

Then another thought smote me -- duh, batting. Lightweight, could work. I have the stuffing insides of a sofa cushion which collapsed years ago, to use. But how to make it hold up as I build..yet another thought, use tissue box found in recent winnowing. Yes! 

Plenty of thoughts, so I've started.

Measuring, head needs to be bigger

Getting there. Tomorrow I'll figure out the next bit and maybe adjust and paint the face. The head will need some sort of armature, as will  the  rest of the figure. We'll get to that.

Meanwhile happy day everyone, keep having thoughts, they're useful.

Photo AC