Sunday's Gingerbread Pancakes

Actually it was Sunday before last...but just hadn't posted this. So I'm cheating and rolling back the posting date.

Awhile ago I bought a gingerbread cookbook by Chronicle Books. I LOVE their books...beautiful photography, interesting collections. I've been wanting to make one of the pancake or waffle recipes and last night I was looking through it. The one whole wheat recipe needed to sit overnight, so at about 12:30 I made the batter...whole wheat flour, lots of spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg), I added some crystalized ginger, dark brown sugar (not alot), orange zest. That is one of the few times I've made a breakfast dish ahead. It was SO nice to get up, make some coffee and just heat up the griddle. I had the first plate (with a little pumpkin butter and maple syrup, YUM) and then realized I hadn't taken a pic. But I still needed to make the rest of them...will have to see how they reheat after being frozen. And since it didn't look right without syrup, I had to eat these as well (what I sacrifice for the shot!)...also really good with pecans and more ginger.

And two quick musical notes (ha)...

I had mentioned Steve Taylor before...plays piano (and a whole bunch of other instruments) and can sound like Elton John. Well, he has a new album and preview of songs...really good! Can't wait for the album.

Also, the site his preview is on is great.  Chasing The Moon. The currently featured artist, Kacey Johansing is really interesting. This site does a great job of featuring artists...great filming, great sound quality.

"Being alive is art itself."

I know I promised (both my few random readers, and myself) to follow up on my experience down in Big Sur...and I'm going to. But I really need to dive back into my book and the passages I highlighted and my journal and process it more.

But for now...yesterday I decided it was time for a more cultural experience and decided to go to a matinee of Avatar.  ;-)  I went at 1:15 to the IMAX 3D and it was sold out all day. Again I say...WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE??? In this case it seemed like an entire school (what age? I don't know, I'm too old to tell) was at the Metreon. Uhhh...these lawless youngsters need to make some room for their unemployed elders.

So I walked through the Yerba Buena Gardens (they really did a nice job on this space) and had a pot of green tea at Samovar Tea Lounge. If you like tea at all and haven't been to one their locations, treat yourself sometime soon. They have some nice lighter food; the tea soup is great.

Then I walked by the Yerba Buena Center which I haven't been to in forever. Decided this was the universe telling me it really was time for a more cultural experience and walked through their show, When lives become form: contemporary brazilian art, 1960's to present. My title quote is from Helio Oiticia, from the show. His mural is adorning the front windows of YBC.

Such wonderful colors, and the transparency...some pieces are more translucent and others clearer.

The show is a nice mix of photography, painting, sculpture, mixed media, film, music...ya get the picture. Just a few hightlights...
- sculpture composed of fruits and veggies cast, then I think made of some type of paper-based material painted to look like bronze
- a couple photos by Lucia Koch, one looking up at the sky out of a corrugated light bulb box...I thought it was more of an abstract at first, very cool
- a video of a japanese designer's fashion show who made dresses out of organic paper with intricate laser cutouts, then at the end of the show, all the models shredded their dresses on the runway (they had black leggings and tops on underneath)...caused quite a stir
- a music video of Fernanda Takai (did a couple quick searches and she's not available in the U.S. iTunes store, I'll be trying the latin music store on Mission today)...she's a contemporary singer with a wonderful voice. I've come to the conclusion that if I were straight, I'd be with a brazilian woman (Fernanda's voice inspires me, not especially her looks)...something about their spark, accent... yes, for those of know me I have a proclivity towards latin men as well

For $7 the show was well worth it.

So I had some fun with my iphone camera on the way out down the staircase shown above with the window mural in the general direction of the christmas light swirls I posted before. I think I'm going to work on a series and call it something like Bending Reality...or Bending Light and Form...more to come on that.

 

 

So much fun. I love the spontaneity ...not knowing what will appear. I guess that got me in the mood to wave my iphone around more, so I stopped after I left at the "corrugated" metal wall of the YBC. I was amazed at what came from those 15 minutes "gesturing"...

 

  

   

Liquid Reality? Whatever I call it, I'm loving taking these images. To this point I had only tried lights at night...this opens up a whole new world. Now I need to try printing them larger to see what the 3mp iphone images do when blown up.

I love how true Helio's quote is...life really is art. Happy Saturday everyone!

Creamy Potato, Cauliflower and Leek Soup...and Chet Baker

I've been wanting to make soup...something in the potato and leek direction...but also been craving pureed and/or roasted cauliflower. So to save time and possibly increase the pleasure I decided to combine the two.

If you're interested in the details of the soup keep on reading, if not, just skip the next big chunk...

Here comes my stream-of-consciousness, don't-have-to-think-too-hard list of ingredients and prep steps combined: sauteed chopped 3 leeks, 1 onion, 1 fennel bulb in olive oil and butter until soft, then about a half cup of vermouth and then a carton of low sodium chicken stock...added as I finished chopping them, a carrot, button mushrooms, a small head of cauliflower and four russet potatoes (I was going to add a little more variety here, but didn't like the look of the other potato choices at the corner market, and they didn't have parnips), and three bay leaves (not chopped)...when they were done I added a couple scoops of mascarpone cheese and sour cream (left over from the weekend's mushroom gravy), a few glugs of buttermilk, a few slices of New Zealand grass-fed sharp cheddar I have from Trader Joe's (really good), a little grated parmesan, maybe a teaspoon of thyme, salt and pepper...and then pureed with the new Cuisinart stainless immersion blender I got from my sister for Christmas (thanks Carol!). It works great...I started and then realized I hadn't taken out the bay leaves...only two came out. Oops!, but that last one was totally gone. Then I tasted to figure out what it needed, after opening and sniffing quite a few bottles, I added a decent splash of aged sherry vinegar, maybe a half teaspoon of allspice and another of fresh grated nutmeg, and just a little chopped parsley. Served mine with a sprinkle of truffle salt on top.

OMG...that soup was soooo good...just what I was craving and more! And yes, I actually remembered to take a few pics before my bowl was gone.

While I was cooking, and eating, I was listening to a couple Chet Baker albums I recently got from iTunes. I'd heard his name before, but never really, at least knowingly, listened to him. What an amazing, and belated, jazz discovery! If you don't know him and you like jazz at all, click these links and take a listen to a few previews on Amazon. The first album, Chet Baker Quartet Plays Standards, sooo mellow and relaxing, an awesome album! And the second, My Funny Valentine, is a mix of instrumental and vocals. He had a different voice, pretty high, but nice. Who knew Chet Baker went so well with Potato, Cauliflower and Leek soup on a cold night. Life is good.

Breakfast inspired by mom's country biscuits and gravy

So after my silent retreat and fasting for 36 hours, mom made biscuits, gravy, sausage and eggs for breakfast. That's the official breakfast of Tennessee where my dad is from...and also his sisters who taught my mom how to make it correctly. Of course she sent me home with some extra biscuits...what to do...what to do?

I had some uncured bacon just waiting for me to open in the bottom drawer in my fridge. And I was craving mushrooms, to that blossomed into a gravy of sorts with a couple strips of crisped bacon, sauteed shallot and mushrooms, vermouth (yes, love to use that as a cooking liquid, try it, it isn't just for martini's anymore), baby spinach, little roux (flour and butter cooked together), nonfat milk, little mascarpone cheese, little sour cream, little grating of parmesan cheese, and a little of my new favorite seasoning, Sunny Paris (shallots, chives, green peppercorns, French basil, French tarragon, chervil, bay leaf, and dill weed) from Penzey's Spices. (Back to Penzey's in a moment.) I scrambled a couple eggs, put on top of a warmed up biscuit, and spooned the gravy on top. HEAVEN! Though I'm sure any true-blooded southerner would roll their eyes at my bastardized, California-ized, liberal interpretation. And yes, I ate it all before thinking of taking a pic. Will try to get better at that.

So I first ran across Penzey's years ago on a business trip to Minneapolis. I had to let the locals from the office there know about it. Very clean, simple, wood floors and tons of shelves filled with every spice you've ever heard of and more, all with large testers for you to smell. There wasn't an even remotely close store for quite awhile, so I had to make due with the site. Which you'll know is utilitarian at best, if you've already clicked the link above. I actually linked you in several clicks as they seem to want to dissuade  you from actually getting to the spices themselves. But sign up for a catalog if you're at all interested, they are fairly good, and often have a discount sticker on the cover. Luckily there is one down in Menlo Park now. Another great spice they have is Aleppo Pepper (a Turkish crushed red chili) that Vicky, aka cat lady and one of the previously unknowing locals I mentioned earlier and used to work with, is now completely hooked on.

Can you tell I was watching cooking shows and reading food blogs this am? More ponderings on my reading and time in Big Sur later. Happy Sunday!

What the...?

So I went down to Big Sur for three nights for a silent retreat at a monastery. I'll write more about that this weekend. It is amazing to spend time with yourself and NO other input.

But what happened to me that I'm sitting home on Friday night watching Bill Moyer's Journal on KQED with two journalists from Mother Jones talking about obstacles to financial reform??? OK, so actually what caught my eye is what I thought was the other part of the show, which is a segment with Greg Mortenson ("Three Cups of Tea") about education in Afghanistan...but now that we've reached the end of the hour they tell me that that topic is next week.

I am actually astounded at what these journalists are talking about...all that is happening and not happening in Washington in the financial realm. Basically DC is owned by Wall Street and the major investment banks...they have given more examples of legislation that has been passed in the last 10 years that is SHAMELESS. I'll admit I'm too tired to detail this out...but we (average people) are footing the bill for the financial elite in this country. I know this sounds trite...but much of what I've heard on this in the past has been in the general or abstract. It is much different when you hear about multiple, specific examples of legislation that is written, lobbied for, and funded by Wall Street that benefits Wall Street and no one else. And at this point, there is no one to turn to to affect a change.

This is definitely NOT what I thought my first post back would be about.  :-)  Evolution on many fronts. More to come.

26 Newts...and Susan Sontag

Ok...so the every day posting didn't happen over the holidays. We'll see what the new year brings. One of the first things the new year already brought was a hike around Lake (either Bon Tempe or Lagunitas??) with some good friends and their kids. It was a really nice cloudy, moist day. They told me how they have been seeing and counting newts on their family hikes. So we started counting. Their previous record was 23. We lost count, and think it may have been closer to 30, but 26 was our official number. Counting newts...something new for the new year.

One would think that 26 is an ample number to have gotten at least one photo...but no...no newt photos. Though there is this one of Heidi with Carly and PJ. Sometimes you need your mom and big sis to assure you there are in fact no sharks in the big puddle...contrary to what dad said.

Which is the perfectly unplanned transition to my next topic, mentioned in my last posting...Susan Sontag, On Photography, a collection of her essays. I knew Susan Sontag's name, but I'm not sure if I've ever read anything of hers or not.

Side note which began as in parentheses but was too long for that:

Interesting article recently in the NY Times, How to Train the Aging Brain. Contrary to longheld views, 40% of my brain cells (potentially containing memories of Sontag's writing) are NOT lost! Apparently I'm just lacking the correct stimulus or prodding to bring them back to life. So we're supposed to be stretching our brains in ways we're not used to. "The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns and, as a consequence, see significance and even solutions much faster than a young person can." So there,  youngsters! (And no, I have NO idea why the spacing is off or how to correct it. Apparently copying and pasting from the Times brought along some unwanted code. Just another GORGEOUS, random inconsistency...if you've been reading my previous posts you'll understand my joy in them.)

But I digress, back to Susan and photography. I LOVE her writing. I'm on page 11 and fascinated by her concepts. You can tell that she's incredibly intelligent. Her writing is fairly meaning dense, but she doesn't rub your nose in it. She just makes you want to keep reading. Yes, I had to pause to confirm the definitions of a few words. Her writing is definitely stretching my brain in a way it isn't used to.

"To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge--and, therefore, like power."

"Recently, photography has become almost as widely practiced an amusement as sex and dancing...It is mainly a social rite, a defense against anxiety, and a tool of power." Now this was written sometime in the early 70's and photography is even more prolific now.

"Not to take photos of one's children, particularly when they are small, is a sign of parental indifference...Through photographs, each family constructs a portrait-chronicle of itself--a portable kit of images that bears witness to its connectedness...a rite of family life...to restate symbolically, the imperiled continuity and vanishing extendedness of family life."

"As photographs give people an imaginary possession of a past that is unreal, they also help people to take possession of space in which they are insecure...It seems positively unnatural to travel for pleasure without taking a camera along. Photographs will offer indisputable evidence that the trip was made, theat the program was carried out, that fun was had."

"This...ubiquity--of the photographic record is photography's 'message,' its aggression."

Photography is something aggressive...in its pervasiveness and in the pressure to use it. Wow. Of course we don't have to subscribe to all of her assertions...but what amazing writing to challenge me to think about what I do and why I do it.

In a previous post I wrote about how there can be a universe in a single "shot." And then I shared a photo of some flowers glowing in the winter sun and wrote about that moment. Combine this with thoughts about being present...REALLY being in the moment and enjoying it for all it is worth. I've been thinking about the relationship between photography and presence...and realizing that photography, while in one way can bring me into a particular moment in a much deeper way, can, in another way take me out of being present to the entirety of a moment. By focusing in on one thing I am missing everything else that is going on around me.

Is this a bad thing? As with almost everything else, I think not if done in moderation. Balance between enjoying everything--the sights, sounds, smells, feelings--in a moment and times when I explore the visual and dive into the infinite in a single shot. I love how her writing allowed and challenged me to think about what I've been doing--to make sure I don't let my camera come between me and truly enjoying a moment with my family or friends, or a walk down the street.

All that and I'm only on page 11...and only beginning week four of my new adventure.

Am I seeing a bigger picture (excuse the pun, but that's the word that the NY Times used) now than I would have earlier in my life? Is all this thinking thanks to the incredibly dense network of neural pathways built up over 45 years? A nudge or coincidence from the universe? Maybe some of both.

Wow, life is amazing!