On the subject of Fine Dining and Dinosaur Pasta

“When life is hard and the day has been long, the ideal dinner is not four perfect courses, each in a lovely pool of sauce whose ambrosial flavors are like nothing ever before tasted, but rather something comforting and savory, easy on the digestion – something that makes one feel, if even for only a minute, that one is safe.”  ~Laurie Colwin

My friend Kay Crane posted this quote at the bottom of her recent post on her blog, Big Fat Art Cloth. She wrote on the occasion of her birthday, which, as I notice the clock ticking over as I write this, is today. 

Enjoying one of many lovely meals in Italy with Kay. Grappa Limone!!

As you may read on her blog, we've known each other a good while and yes I used to really have a thing for Tupperware. We've shared many a meal, and many of them quite spectacular in composition and quantity. But our beginnings were much more humble, and in truth, I was always a bit surprised at how impressed and grateful Kay was to have me offer her up dinosaur pasta with butter and cheese. That was my go-to meal on the go when we were in that short rest between our day jobs and our evenings working on a production of "The Miracle Worker". I thought she was just happy someone else was cooking, and that it wasn't peanut butter crackers from the gas station, but I do believe more it was good midwest manners that her Mama Ceil instilled from an early age. 

When I read that quote by Laurie Colwin, the last line really rang true for those experiences we shared and the vast amount of dinosaur pasta we ingested. It's no wonder they're extinct, but in those moments, we were safe. Safe from the crazy of the day behind us, safe from hunger, safe to take our day, part two, well into the evening. That alone would make me want to read more of Laurie Colwin's writing, and now I won't have to wait as Kay has sent me one of her books and I know I'm going to love it. 

So in honor of my good friend's birthday, I have re-invented our dinosaur pasta. If you've read my blogs and 'recipes', you know I am challenged to follow a recipe to its word. That goes for my own recipes, too. I regret I no longer keep dino-pasta stocked in the pantry, but I did have some rice penne. And the cow dairy products don't sit too well with me anymore, but I did have some goat butter and odds and ends of lovely sheep's milk cheese. And the basil - well, one does want a touch of color!

What Dinosaur Pasta Looks Like almost 20 Years Later (ok, gotta work on the name for this one):

Rice Penne (I use Tinkyada - the only rice pasta I've found that doesn't go all mushy)
Goat Butter, a couple of knobs
Mangego Cheese, finely grated
Pecorino Romano, finely grated
Salt - a sprinkle in the water while boiling the pasta
3-4 leaves of Basil, julienned

Quantities: start with how much pasta you're cooking, and use an amount of the other ingredients that fits the amount of pasta. No, I didn't measure, I was too busy being nostalgic, but I have great faith that you can work this out. Boil the pasta, drain it and put it in a bowl that already has the butter, which is close to room temp. Melt the butter on the pasta, then add the basil, then the cheese and combine. 

In honor of Kay's birthday, I ate this out of the bowl with the wooden spoon sitting cross-legged on the couch. There's no real relationship to Kay or her birthday and this style of eating, I just thought I should do something special.

Happy Birthday, Kay!

Love Letter to a Summer Tomato

Reprinted with permission from Big Fat Art Cloth:

Oh big honkin' red juicy Kentucky tomato, how I love thee. Your shape and size are no matter.  I care only about your true color, what is inside.

I wait all year for you, shunning the pale pink comparisons.  I pick off the imitation tomato slices served to me the rest of the year - those posers - with stubborn, silent contempt.

My love for you is true.  Small town gossip and petty grandstanding over this melon or that eggplant will not distract me or tear us apart.

K. Crane
Part of love letter found on Ravenswood Ave. #3, Oct. 2006
Textile ink on cloth

No matter where I travel, I carry on my love for you.

K. Crane
Romas from the Brussels Market August 2005
Oil bar and wax on paper

This is our time.  These are the dog days of summer.  If these are my last, then let them be spent with you.

K. Crane
Venetian Night on Lake Michigan - Work In Progress
Custom screen print on hand-dyed cloth

I'm in love with your sweet juicy flesh and I don't care who knows it.

Summer 2008:  a bumper crop

Heirloom Tomatoes

Re-posted with permission from Big Fat Art Cloth. A definite 'sexy of the season' nominee.

heirloom tomatoes

I've got bushels of this heirloom tomato right now.  I'm busy making velvety tomato sauce to freeze for the winter.  I mean look at these beauties.

They glow with orange-red tomato goodness.  They look like little pumpkins.  They are called Costoluto, a traditional Italian heirloom known for it's deep red color, lobes, and for being heavy with juice.  I can attest to all of that.  They are sweet and mild.  I've been eating one cut up on top of a toasted pimiento cheese sandwich about every other day.

I also have a few acorn squash coming.  I'll bake them with butter and brown sugar.  Of course.

My other heirlooms are just starting to ripen so I'll keep you posted.  They are large, smooth, and a swirly pink chocolate color.


Dear Lord I love tomatoes.

my 'big fat art' interview and...

You've heard me talk about my friend Karen, who is a textile artist, painter, art therapist ... well she's an artist and that will encompass these and her many other talents.

Big Fat Art Cloth blog

Her blog, Big Fat Art Cloth, which I have encouraged you to read and follow, has started a series of artist interviews, and she's ventured away from her own medium to pick l'il ol' me for her first subject. Questionable as that sounds, it was a very nice experience for me and I look forward to reading what other artists have to say in future interviews.

Interestingly for me, while I've received many lovely comments from friends and family about the interview, it seems one of the most interesting things mentioned was the fact that I appeared in a Freddie Mercury video. Anyone who has seen my work should not be surprised, the influence and effect are still resounding in my current body of work (and anyone who doesn't know I'm kidding...).

So here's the story, just so I can refer people to this post when I get asked again:

20-somethin' years ago, I visited my friend Anne in London, where she was getting one of her many degrees and teaching Australians how to play quarters with home-brewed beer (ok, so I helped on that). An opportunity came for local students to be a part of a video shoot at a West End theater, and she couldn't go but arranged for me to go. At the time, when a West End musical was a hit, the soundtrack was often covered by pop artists. For this show, "Time", Freddie Mercury was recording the title track, and shooting the video in the theater. At that time, I was working in theater so it was a huge thrill to get an on-stage look at such a production, and it was the 80's ... who didn't love Queen?! So there I was along with several dozen students from one of the local performing academies. We spent the day learning the lyrics, then got onstage and Freddie Mercury joined us for the shoot. When he arrived, we may have made even bigger news as a good portion of our chorus, perched on hastily assembled risers, started stomping and clapping the beat to "We Will Rock You", sending the techies and producers into a frenzy trying to stop the motion before we collapsed. But we all survived and lived to rock another day.

Another big bonus was a free ticket to the show after we ran over a couple of hours. The show never made it to the US as it was based on the existence of the Cold War, and before it could move across the pond, the Berlin Wall came down. The show was a lot of fun, and the highlight for me beyond seeing the stage effects in action was the projection of Sir Laurence Olivier's head on a sculpted form inside a giant planet that opened up for his appearance (yes, he was the Big Giant Head). It was a memorable experience all around.

For years it never occurred to me to look for the video, as I figured it was lost on some obscure collection only available in England. But now we know that if it's been filmed or taped, it's bound to be on YouTube! So here it is - I'm part of the blur in the back somewhere.

I get by...

...with a lotta help from my friends.  So I've been away from the blog lately and I have a long list that could follow 'because...'

But I think more than a few of us are going through a whole lotta that, and really while I'd love to rant it just doesn't feel like it'll accomplish much.  I'd rather say that in spite of seeing a lot of other people going through a lot of other struggles - many like my own, many not so hard, many so much harder it makes me want to cry ... what I see, hear and feel far more are the smiles, words and hugs of support.  I certainly have a wealth of it in my life, and I see it in and for other people too, and it's not that other people are 'going through a rough time' too that makes it easier.  It's the other people who are there to help, whether it's by packing up a box or just being that friendly voice on the phone. 

I do have many things to catch up with on the blog, and they all involve some of these incredible people - pictures of the move, of the new studio, of the work finally getting made.  And an incredible weekend with the 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Candle Wax' ... as soon as I figure out how to get the pictures off the phone ...

For now, I just wanted to share that my return to enthusiasm for the blog is fueled by my friend Karen.

 She goes by K., but I'm one of the few allowed to stick with 

Karen as that's how I met her and I'm just stubborn that way.  

Karen and I go back to the days of yore, and she's been a big source of inspiration to me through my own artistic travels and continues to do so with her own fearless exploration.

 This is a link to her blog, Big Fat Art Cloth.  

She's entered a challenge with artists she knows to create art and blog every day.  This is a great motivation for me as I've been stupid busy without getting much done lately and needed goals with the right motivation.  That being said, for now my big commitment is to read her blog every day.  Maybe I'll just blog about what I read in her blog. I've been planning this post for two days myself, so that's a good first step.

I'm looking forward to finally seeing more of Karen's work 'out there', but more so I'm excited to be able to hear her voice in these posts.  Her perspective comes from a great depth of experience - personal, professional, academic and artistic.  It's about her art, but you'll get a lot of who she is (and isn't that what we get with any of our art?), and if you follow this blog you'll get to know one of the best people around.  But don't call her Karen unless she says it's ok.

And if you need more motivation in your own studio, check out my blog links and read some cool blogs. Then check out the links list on those blogs - some of the best summer reading, and you never now where the next burst of new inspiration will find you!