Art will save us all

Here's a stitching made by someone, sorry I've misplaced the reference,  with a quotation from a brave writer 

Hessel should know. He spent years in a Nazi concentration camp and lived to write the tale.

An iPod-assisted  work, emailed from the only email iPod will load, sent to my preferred email account, then uploaded here, arriving out of breath, with a bit, not much, resolution lost.

But then, photography as art is about composition more than about image resolution.  Photography as recording and reporting needs great resolution. As does the photographer, come to think of it.

Physical therapy today, quite rigorous, along with discussions of art, high school soccer, resistance bands (the physical therapy kind!), obscure New Jersey towns, we roam all over. Emil believes in conversation while we work,  to keep the atmosphere light. 

Happy day everyone, I made the rest of that cookie dough into a batch, not the best recipe, though I improved it this time with some aqua faba. Edible.

Do good, enjoy your day 

Ted sez 

Naan, and pt

Yesterday I made a salad of tuna, chickpeas and the chickpea mayo which didn't thicken but tastes fine. And I made half a dozen naan. 

Supper, another similar meal for lunch today.

The naan rolls nicely and you could do it like a wrap with this salad but I'm too clumsy to avoid decorating my sweater with the contents, so I warm it briefly, then roll it.

I made a yogurt dough, so it tastes tangy. I halved the recipe and still got six naan out of it. 

You mix all the ingredients, and knead till the dough comes together and the flour is incorporated, then leave it covered about ten minutes while you dance around the kitchen or do your stretches to amuse the neighbors.

Then separate into about golf-ball sized pieces, roll them out into more or less circles, then cook. This is where cast iron is great, oiled pan, hot, and watch the bread bubble up, just a couple of minutes per side, so you get that beautiful browning effect. 

I stacked as I cooked and the next day it's fine. I saved three breads uncooked so as to have fresh bread again tomorrow.

Today was a PT day. Great workout and massage, leaving me stretched and relaxed and tired and very glad I didn't have to drive home.  

Home PT is fine. He brings his table and various bits of equipment such as resistance bands, and loads of good advice as well as general chat. 

He believes in friendly chatting as part of the treatment and convo ranged over gardening, TV, batteries, Gary -- they remembered each other from when HP was the patient -- marriage, kids, and more.

This afternoon is yet another Hamish, sugar cookies from the batch I made last week where I froze half the dough, and a pot of tea. Unless I suddenly decide on some enterprise I haven't thought of yet. Stay tuned.

And here's some information to answer a question from yesterday's post:

Happy day everyone, online with friends tonight, unless there's a tariff on internet chatting before then..

Good things also happen

 Here's the latest repatriation of stolen art

There was wholesale looting of art from Benin during the colonial period, so it's good to see some items returned. Late is better than never.

And in anticipation of Handsome Son's visit this afternoon I made sugar cookies. It was another trial of using aqua faba instead of an egg. 

Right, cookies ready to bake, left, extra dough to freeze for a later batch 

As usual I put them too close, so there are interesting shapes there. That squashed one on the right became the cook's privilege, and it was good.

Enough to give some to Gary, some to freeze, some to other neighbors. 

Thanks, Nicole, for the idea.

And today Senator Kim got back thanking me for my encouragement about the House budget proposal vote, where all Democrats voted in unison against it, plus one GOP. It went down but it's only step one. 

Meanwhile we can push to support Democrats in upcoming House elections, some special ones. The House is so close it's possible to reclaim it. Florida voters, you've got a chance here. 

Happy day everyone! I'm feeling more hopeful in some ways, less in others but I'm not about to flag or stop. 

I'm very grateful to Trudeau for his Ukraine speech recently and for Macron's White House press conference where he repeatedly corrected the lies T***p was telling. It was great. It told regular Americans they understand our passion to overcome that person's destruction, and are undismayed by him.  Edited to fix earlier mistake, thank you Jeanie, for the tactful name correction.

We're fighting for our lives here, as well as for Ukraine,  and they get it. 

 

Misfits and unity

Yesterday's Misfits box arrived and the confirming picture, cropped to eliminate my house number, shows all the way through the house to the street behind! And there's a partial selfie of the driver,  as well as confusing reflections.

Small order this week, and the best apples in years, perfectly sweet and crunchy.

I love the brown eggs, which continue to arrive safely. And the almonds and honey will be in the next batch of granola. I wasn't so impressed with the last,  walnut,  batch, too oily.

Yesterday, departing from healthy food, I felt like a sugar cookie or two, so I made a batch. 

I won't share the recipe because it was terrible. I had to make all kinds of adjustments to make it work. Note to self: recipes that claim to use only three ingredients and are still great? Great Big Lie. Unless it's shortbread, which this ended up being like after I changed it up a bit. 

Anyway they're edible, but not neighbor worthy. 

A nice graphic, preaching to the choir in here anyway

Happy day everyone, knitting group today all being well. It's Friday, let's fly all the support flags 

The Crown, Sugar Cookies Redux, and Libe Case in Point

Today being wildly cold, and since I was coughing, probably cold and dry atmosphere,  I stayed home and warm, with the cats, and watched more of Season One of The Crown, now on dvd at the libe.  PIcked it up yesterday, good timing.

Since I remember a lot of the era it covers, and the footage from then, it was interesting to see it from now, if you follow me.

Claire Foy plays the Queen, and does a terrific job of doing the weird accent she used to speak in, which always sounded like a parody voice.  She's moderated it a lot in recent years, and now sounds just like a horsey countrywoman, which I think she'd like to be anyway.   But back then, when poor old Margaret wanted to marry, shock, horror, a divorced man, pearl clutch, Elizabeth says, yooo went to meddy Petah?  Yes, yes, Margaret says, I doo went to meddy heem!

There are some scenes of the King's surgery which I had to not watch, tmi for me, lung cancer.  But other than that, no big scares.

I remember watching the coronation, I think I was about 12, up the street at one of the few houses with a tv in those days, kids all over the floor invited over to watch the endless doings, and falling asleep halfway through.  

The best part is definitely the Zadok the Priest passage, wonderful music.  Funny that I, a staunch anti-monarchist, should like the soap opera aspect of their lives.  But in my family much more significant was that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing climbed Everest, a big first.  And, an even bigger first, Gordon Richards, famous jockey, won the Derby!  all in the same few days.  Great mood of jubilation about the latter two, but, not being Londoners, but Northerners, fairly modified interest in the coronation.  

We did like Queen Salote of Tonga, refusing to use an umbrella in the usual English downpour, insisting on riding all the way in the procession in an open car, through the streets waving to the crowds, soaking wet, and very gracious about the whole weather thing.

Anyway, when I was picking up, at the library, I saw the usual kid's collection exhibit. Kids get to put their legos and teeny erasers and stuff like that in the glass cases, for a time, usually very young kids, doing their own labels proudly and getting all sorts of praise.  

So the legal notice made me fall down laughing, but I see it's one size fits all.  I didn't notice it on the case in a different part of the libe where I exhibited my artist books, come to think of it.  Maybe it's only little kids who are likely to have subversive finger puppets and dangerous keyrings.

And this afternoon, a pot of tea and a couple of sugar cookies seemed like a Good Thing. 

It's the rest of the Martha recipe, which I froze, and I am here to tell you that it works just fine.  Last minute sprinkle of sugar and lemon zest. Cookies came out lovely, and I have some frozen now again, but cooked, ready to take out next time I have a guest to tea.

Westminster preparation is under way..

Today and tomorrow is the Westminster AKC Dog Show, biggest there is, except for Crufts, in Manhattan, and despite the deep freeze and lack of roads and transportation, amazingly it seems all the canines and their attendants are there and trotting around like anything.

NameMe, being the Dolliver Kennel wrangler, has started campaigning for one of those too tight skirt suits with a too short jacket you have to tug down all the time, just like the handlers at Westminster, the women ones, anyway.  We'll see.  

But she's got the residents of the Kennels all excited and ready to party tomorrow, no matter who wins.  Their money is on an Afghan hound, a King Charles spaniel, an Irish setter, a whippet or a wirehaired terrier, except he won last year.  That way if one of these breeds wins, it's a big win for Dolliver Kennels. Of course no matter who wins, the shaggy dog and her puppy will point out that they have the blood of practically all breeds in them.. And if some other breed has the nerve to win, NameMe is planning to get the winning dog knitted by guess who, to add to the kennel lineup.

So, maybe there'll be a little suit, but there will definitely be cookies. Note the feline touch in the picture, just making sure cats are Not Forgotten in the Excitement.

Martha Stewart Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies, to be exact.  This is the first time I tried this recipe, and it's very hard work mixing in the flour, very stiff dough, no wonder she says you have to have a food processor, which I don't. 

But they look nice, and taste fine, even the ones which got a bit crumpled in a contretemps with the oven timer which I forgot was hanging in there and which trails down, hitting whatever's in its path when you pull out the tray. Doesn't affect the taste, but the aesthetic is a bit dented.