Fancy Soup

BookScapes

2011-12-22T19:51:00.002-05:00

Check this out,

Carved Book Landscapes by Guy Laramee

I really think art made of books is beautiful.

Theres a few artists working in this medium lately, one i guess sneaks into the lirary in the middle of the night and leaves these marvelous little statues made of books, like whats the opposite of a theif? oh yeah santa :) like a pink panther style santa ..? whatever it is i approve :)

Nancy's Fancy Pecan Pie

2011-11-25T08:57:00.003-05:00

A lot of recipes out there have corn syrup in it, i think thats gross so mine doesn't. Also a lot of recipes don't include liquor or honey, so i fixed that too :)

ingredients:

pastry shell (homemade) 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 sticks of butter, dash of salt, + several tablespoons of ice water, rest in the fridge before you roll it out

Pie belly:
2 cups pecans (its that much when they are still whole)
3 small-medium eggs
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tblespoons honey
1/2 a shot of brandy
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 a stick of butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

preheat to 350

ok so use your favorite pastry dough and prebake the shell (15 minutes-ish)

take half the pecans a food process them so they are nice and chopped
set the other half aside

in a bowl mix eggs, sugar, and lightly melted butter (stir quick when the butter goes in so the eggs dont get fried) then mix in everything else, add the cream last

pour the mixture into the prebaked shell *

top with the remaining whole pecans (set them down carefully one by one so they cover the top in a spiral or concentric circles all pretty)

* when i make the pastry i make a little extra so that if the walls slump when i'm prebaking I can patch the missing spots with fresh dough before filling with the yummy stuff, I also put a little fresh pastry in the center of the top for style in the shape of a heart, leaves are also a good shape or a star or initials or whatever.

stick in a 350 oven for about 45 mins or til done, it kinda puffed up when it was done and the crust looked golden brown

Mom's Broccoli Casserole

2011-11-21T15:32:00.000-05:00

2 heads broccoli
1 beaten egg
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 chopped onion
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
1/4 lb butter
1/2 pkg pepperage farm seasoned stuffing

Steam broccoli (til is almost cooked) drain well
mix egg with onion and soup and then mix them with brocoli
put in a caserole dish
put cheese on top
melt butter, mix with crumbs and place on top of casserole

bake for 45 mins at 350

Mom's Cranberry Chutney

2011-11-21T15:26:00.001-05:00

2 tsp fresh ginger
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
2 cups fresh cranberries
10 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
coarse salt
pepper

Makes 1 cup

In a small pan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over heat

Cook ginger and garlic til softened (about 3 minutes)

Add cranberries, sugar, orange juice, and cider vinegar

Cook over medium heat until most of the berries have burst and mixture has thickened, about 8 minutes

Season with coarse salt and pepper

Refrigerate covered up to 2 weeks

Mom's Pumpin Bread

2011-11-21T15:18:00.001-05:00

1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups cooked pumpkin
2/3 cup water
2 tsp baking soda
3 1/2 cups sifted flour
Optional: 1 cup chopped walnuts

With just a bowl and spoon combine and blend nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, oil, eggs, and salt

Stir in pumpkin and water

Add soda sifted with flour and stir until blended

Spread in two very well greased loaf pans

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour

Eat!

i like to toast the slices with a little butter and tea :)

Mom's Cranberry Nut Bread

2011-11-21T15:11:00.000-05:00

2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp double acting baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter(shortening)
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt; cut in shortening, until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Combine orange juice and rind with egg

Pour all at once into dry ingredients, mixing just enough to dampen

Carefully fold in nuts and cranberries

Spoon into greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan

Spread corners and sides slightly higher than center

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about one hour or until crust is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

remove from pan

cool and store overnight for easy slicing

Lobster Fest!!

2011-08-20T01:47:00.007-04:00

Tonight was Lobster Fest Night!
Lobster is festive, and live lobster is for high energy adventures, but for the joy of lobster without the price of restaurants or the stamina of live critter interaction the best option is frozen lobster tails. They are lovely. This recipe is for 2 people, each gets two small lobster tails and 2 mini crab cakes, plus basmati ric, asparagus and a dipping bowl with drawn butter. It sounds mighty expensive but its not if you do it yourself, and it sounds hard but it cooks up in no time, its so good i'm obsessed :)

4 small frozen lobster tails
fresh rosemary
1/4 stick of butter
olive oil
parsley
salt and pepper
4 teasoons horseradish
dash of chili pepper
juice of half a lemon

Gently slowly defrost the lobster.
Take the tails and use a strong kitchen scissor to trim the underside of the lobster tail shell. Remove the underside shell entirely including the little flipper legs. Next slice a line down the middle of the lobster meat not all the way though but the whole length of it. Do a final snip with the scissors of the first inch of the other side of the shell (the colored hard side). Give this a real good rinse.

I used my toaster oven, it came with a little pan that fits in it. My oven doesn't have a broiler so the toaster oven was the way to go. On the little pan i layed out all four and put a tab of butter, a teaspoon of horseradish and and a swig of olive oil in each. Then i added the spices listed above and squeezed half a lemon over he whole thing. So then they're ready. Let the toaster get good and hot before putting them in for about 15 minutes or until shell is red and fish is sizzling.

I served this with basmati rice, steamed asparagus, some lemon wedges, and a dipping dish of drawn butter

Drawn Butter
3/4 a stick of butter plus parsley, pepper, and a clove of garlic. when its simmered to clear add the juice of half a lemon

Dip everything in this, its the right thing to do.

And serve with 2 mini crab cakes; i bought these premade and cooked them in the oven

Oh and a side of cherry tomatos (cut in half) with fresh basil, top with pepper, parley, lemon, and very good olive oil.

Drink Prosecco with this - I like mionetto

Fresh Blueberries for dessert

Yum Enjoy!!

oreo pancake cake

2011-08-19T02:27:00.005-04:00

so have you ever had to make a birthday cake and not have a box on hand? here's a great alternative. For those of you who have pancake mix and oreos in the cubboard try this:

1 cup pancake mix
3/4 cup half and half
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
about 2 rows or 20 cookies of oreos (when food processed into dust crumble its about a cup).

1/4bag of chocolate chips on top

mix all that together, in a cake pan, put the chocolate chips on top Preheat to 350 , cook about 20 - 30 mins

Serve warm with mint chocolate chip ice cream
:)
yum

Fancy Bay Gumbo :)

2011-08-19T02:22:00.004-04:00

So gumbo is only loosely what i'm calling this, its a savory gumbo inspired stew. Served on top of plain cous cous, this dish has a combination of meats and beans a little heat a tomato based broth and some vegetables, but lacking hot peppers or ocra some sticklers might call this a cocktail sassafrass. The gumbo mixed meat approach is a great way to handle a myriad of leftovers, this time round I got lucky with the ingredients on hand and the dish came out super yummy so here is the ingredients as it went down.

1 1/2 cups frozen shrimp
3/4 cup frozen shelled edamame
1 cup frozen brussel sprouts

4 cloves garlic
1/2 an onion
dollup of olive oil
1 leftovered bbqd pork chop (deboned and cubed)
1/2 cup cubes of leftover bbq'd filet mignon
1/2 of a bbq'd sweet italian sausage link cubed

1 little can of tomato juice
2 peaches (peeled pitted cutup)
1/2 cup salsa
salt and pepper
1/4 cup of beer
3 teaspoons of horseradish
parsley

Ok so in a pot fry the garlic and onions, toss in the meats and brown them. defrost all the frozen stuff. when meat is well sizzled toss in the liquids and the the beans and sprouts, let it all simmer together for 20 minutes then toss in the shrimp cover and take off the heat. let stand 20 minutes before rescalding to serve.

Lima Bean Pesto Encrusted Tilapia :)

2011-08-17T23:55:00.004-04:00

Hi

Here's a new fish recipe I made tonight and loved. It is a kindof hummus pesto using some original ingredients, spread on a couple of pieces of fish. On the side there is a carrot dish that rocks and goes well with the fish. That plus some basmati rice and roasted tomato makes for a super yummy dinner. I use a bbq to make all of this though you could just as easily cook it inside.. soooo here's the recipe :)

Pesto:
The pesto I used is a mix of two kinds of pesto, some that i had on hand (made by G) and some that i made just then, so i'm going to include the ingredients of both, to be true to what i made, but if you are low on ingredients you can use regular pesto..

mint, basil, gruyere, parmesian, pistachios, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic,

put all that in a food processor and grind it to a pesto paste.

Plus Lima Bean Puree:

Add in lima beans.
I used fresh lima beans from shells, I shucked them, and unshelled there was about 1 cup of them which i boiled til they were vegetable soft. *Drain them. And add them to the food processor (that has the pesto in it). The result should be a flavorful paste :)

- Last thing to add to the pesto paste is 1 egg yolk. Toss that in the processor right before you are ready to use it and give it a spin

*I strained the lima bean water onto the already cleaned and cut up carrot slices to blanch them. (using the bean water adds some vitamins. )

Carrots:
I took four pretty carrots and sliced them at an angle so they are long ovals almost penne shaped, and put them in a bbq friendly pan (no plastic handles!) Drop on the lima bean water, should be about a cup or two, then add 1/ 3rd a stick of butter, parsley, fresh rosemary, a cup of wine, and a dash of salt and pepper. (its ready for the bbq)

Next!
Take 4 tilapia filets:
In a round cake pan put four pieces of tilapia, first put down two. Add the *paste as a center layer then put ontop the other two like 2 fish sandwiches. Add some fresh basil leaves.

Put the two top fish pieces on and cover them with a thick paste. Top with a dash of parmesian and a couple basil leaves. The thick coating locks in the steam so the fish cooks to be very tender.

Important: In the same pan as the fish take a medium / large tomato and cut it in half, put the two halves face down in the pan

To Grill:
Put the carrots in first on the bottom with the heat on pretty low, put the fish on the top to cook slower. cook for about 20 mins, when the carrots sizzle and most of their water has gone, raise the heat to medium and cook til ready, the carrots are ready when they are tender, the fish is ready when the tomato on the pan is stewy, if you can poke into it with your finger then the fish is likely done.

serve carrots with a tab of butter on top and serve with a side of basmati rice

:)
Soo Yum :)

Pictures to come

Fancy Potatos Au Gratin

2011-08-10T23:08:00.001-04:00

Hi Again

Time for another recipe :) this time a side dish, but a hearty one which is a good thing to have around in case any relatives or friends surprise ya by being a vegetarian :)

Soo Potato Au gratin is a pretty standard recipe, but i like to put my own spin on traditional dishes, so without any further ado, fancy's potatos au gratin

6 or 7 med / large red potatos, clean peeled and blinded (eyes removed) then slice them in 3mm round slices, like the thinner the better, make like you are doing potato chips ( use a big knife so you keep yer fingers)

Then get a small casserole dish (mines shallow an oval about 7by12

mix together:
1cup half and half
3 tbsp thick greek plain yogurt
toss the potato circles in the cream and put in casserole dish making sure the potatos are all layed flat so it looks like layers

put ontop 1/4 a stick of butter,
ground pepper
parsley
dash of salt

then make a topping crust out of:
about 1/4 cup fine chopped gruyere
about 1/4 cup fine chopped white sharp cheddar
2 tbsp seasoned bread crumbs,
3 tbsp finely chopped walnuts
a bit of olive oil

stick in the oven for about an hour at 375

totally easy
(you may want to put a cookie tray under so that nothing drips in your oven)

:) & eat yum!!

hearty, vegetarian and soomething different to do with your potatos

I served this as a side dish for baked salmon seared scallops (in a lemon garlic butter) and steamed fresh spinach,

for side salad just a few cut up vine ripened fresh tomatos (with oregano, parsley, olive oil, salt, balsamic vinegar)

I wrote my congressman!! (Try it its fun!!)

2011-08-04T23:41:00.001-04:00

Hello,

I have never contacted my representative before but I feel compelled to do so regarding a very important piece of legislation which is coming up. I am concerned about the way the government's policies effect farming in our country. The restructuring of the 2012 farm bill has the potential to make our food, soil, economy, animals and humans much healthier. All this talk on the news about obesity as an epidemic rarely discusses the government's role in food prices, the corrupt agricultural subsidies favor corporate farmers and big companies like monsanto and make unhealthy food less expensive than vegetables, fruits, humanely treated livestock and organically grown varieties of crops. The consumer, especially the economically disadvantaged americans, are the victims in this situation. With diabetes and heart disease rates soaring I think it is time we finally made government funding and farm aid available to the farmers who are making quality products.

As my representative I hope that you will fight for my health, and the health of the population and the planet. When the 2012 farm bill is restructured please make sure you speak up and fight for the farm money to be distributed wisely to the people who need it. Organic farmers, small and medium farm owners, diverse crops, grassfed cattle, and ecologically beneficial farming practices.

It is the right thing to do.

Here are some links regarding the upcoming bill and the importance of restructuring it to protect farmers and thereby our own health:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/12/farm-bill-2012-innovative-farming_n_860069.html

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/blog_post/2012_farm_bill_up_date

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fopinionator.blogs.nytimes.com%2F2011%2F03%2F01%2Fdont-end-agricultural-subsidies-fix-them%2F&h=YAQBKHz8EAQDqdEBJaf0unRKV3SLN2WMF6aWvKQQLFmje6g

Also read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen for a more thorough introduction to this vital issue

Thank you for your time
Nancy Lozupone

Buttery Sea Scallops (scallop squash piccata)

2011-06-30T23:47:00.001-04:00

So I used to hate scallops.. My folks are great cooks but we never got scallops right. We'd get frozen ones, or sometimes fresh, then add them to dishes which had varieties of shellfish, and they were always the least tasty member of the frutta del mare party. I have suffered through meal after meal, either at a restaurant or in my own kitchen adventures, where scallops are rubbery and tough with a metallic or sour flavor, once even i had it soaked in balsamic and wow that did not work. So why on earth would I be suggesting a scallop dish?? Cause ... pause for drumroll... I FINALLY managed to cook them right. And they were a completely different thing altogether. I feel like I really accomplished something. I made a dish of scallops that I'd actually want to eat :) In fact I'd want to eat it all the time!! Here's how it happened...

I did a little research and the word is that scallops are only good when they are fresh, I know that you can say that of any edible thing, but with scallops its serious. Treat like sushi. If you cant get them super fresh, don't bother. So I went to a fish market in Cape May, where the boats are parked out back moored to the back door's dock. Next the scallops don't like to be cooked so much. They can stand a sear, but leaving them to cook through is like serving filet mignon well done, there's nothing well about it done so well. So with that as the rule I made some mashed potatoes (plain just some milk and butter inside) and steamed some broccoli for a side dish and both were nearly ready when heat hit my frying pan.

1 pound big fresh sea scallops
half a stick of butter
two tablespoons of olive oil
pepper
parsley
the juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons of capers (the balsamic kind)
1 cup of white wine
7 cloves of garlic chopped up
1 yellow squash

Take the squash, cut off the ends and then slice in about half inch thick slices so the circles are resembling the size and shape of the scallops.
Put in a frying pan the oil butter pepper and garlic, and get it nice and hot. dry the scallops with a paper towel and gently put them in the pot, work your way in a circle when you put them down, when you finish the circle go around flipping along the circle and when they've all been flipped 1 by 1 take them out into a bowl and put in the next circle of dudes etc. They shouldn't be in there for more than a minute on each side, like seriously you'd cook an egg longer. When they are all done and out toss in the squash pieces, the pan is still frying hot, lightly brown both sides of the squashes, then add the capers, wine, lemon and parsley. The squashes are kinda thick so let them sizzle in there til they are of a good consistency, 5-10 minutes on medium. When they look about ready plate the mashed potatos and brocoli and toss the scallops back in the pan remove fro heat and stir around some, then in plating put the scallop squash piccata right on top of the mashed potatos so the juice dribbles down.

I like how with this dish the squash is masquerading as the scallops. Also when serving scallops alone you can really pay attention to the not overcooking thing, It worked out really well, the scallops melted like butter in our mouths (feeds 2)

HAPPY EATING!!

BourbonButter Peach PotPies

2011-06-28T11:47:00.006-04:00

So my new obsession is with pies, i have been making them to sell at the local produce farm stand, Gary the groceryman gives me his overripe fruits and I make them into pies. I had made a chocolate bottomed raspberry pie and a blueberry crumbletop, both of which were serious tasty and sold out ( i saved one for myself of each cause i couldn't resist. Anyway I was thinking if I were at a farm stand I'd be looking for a mini pie or a cute little personal pie, a big pie is a lot of comitment and only really gets bought by big families or big pie affecionatos ... so i tried to find little pie tins... i tried 5 stores... no luck. What I did find was a baking tray that makes a dozen cupcakes. So when I got a bunch of peaches from the market I had been working on a foil frame for a suncatcher and it occured to me that I could just build my own pie tins. Peaches fit perfect in a cupcake tin, except they are a bit too tall and also there needs to be room for the pie crust, so I got a plastic cup that fit in the cupcake tin (one of those cocktail fancy plastic cups) And I used it as the template for the foil, forming it around the outside of the cup being sure to include a lip at the top and making sure the bottom fit comfy into the cupcake tin. Since the result is larger then a cupcake would be I made 6 of these filling every other cupcake spot on the tray.

OK so that being done pie crust is next
I used the equivalent of three pie bottoms of homemade pastry
3 cups flour
3 sticks of butter (1 1/2 cups)
15 shakes of a salt shaker (like almost a teaspoon)
1 or 2 tablespoons of white granulated sugar (optional)
ice water

The thing about pie crust is the flakiest tastiest pies are prolly made near the artic circle.. all the ingredients like to be cold during the process and you should take breaks to ensure that the butter has not melted! I keep my flour in the freezer and the butter in the fridge up til the moment of use. Ok so combine all the dry stuff, then take a little bowl and fill it with filtered water an a few ice cubes. then take the butter out of the fridge and use two knives to cut it into the flour, when the pieces are small get your hands in there and quickly bust up the larger pieces so that it looks all crumbly in there. Now get a tablespoon and add about 7 tablespoons of very cold water, add it slowly while gathering all the crumbles together into a ball, as soon as it will form a ball you have enough water. don't knead it or work it as a ball just separate the ball into 3 pieces and smoosh them into 3 round flat balls and stick immediately into fridge ( or freezer) and let it chill and relax for at least a couple hours, on a hot day or if you only have an hour instead of several you might want to put in the freezer...

Roll out the dough on a clean floured surface til its like half a centimeter thick, (leave the other 2 dough balls in the fridge til you are out of the first) put them in the tins and gently press and pinch them into the shape of the bottom and sides, take a fork and score them onto the lip of the cup (this acts as an achor so the walls don't slide down in the oven) 2 balls should fit all 6 cup bottoms and the last one can hang out in the fridge for when you are making the lattice tops
When all 6 bottoms are formed stick the whole tray in the freezer for at least half and hour maybe an hour...

Now you can think about the middle...
8 peaches
a handful of rasberries (optional)
half a cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons dark honey
4-5 shots of Bourbon ( i used makers mark)
3/4 stick of butter
3 heaping tablespoons of flour
cinnamon

Ok so 6 of the peaches will remain whole and fit neatly in the middle of the pies. Get a knife and carefully cut out the pit, I've done this before without cutting all the way through but this time the pits were good and stuck in there so I just cut to the bottom and took out the middle cylinder core and left the rest of the peach whole and unharmed, skin on. The recipe calls for 8 so you have two chances for messing up.. Set the best 6 aside.

In a pot throw in the sugars and honey and butter, whatever peach bits you were able to get off the pits, and cut up the remaining two peaches, plus raspberries if you got them. cook on medium. Depending on how much you like flames you can either throw the bourbon in at the beginning to simmer its spirits off, or you can wait til its nice and bubbly in there to toss it in and ignite. Either way there is a lot of it in this recipe so it would be safer to wait a couple minutes after you throw it in before igniting (just so you get to keep yer eyebrows ;) I let all this simmer for 15 minutes til it was a bit thicker and bubbly. Then add the flour, stirring inbetween tablespoons so its worked in well, the result should have about the consistency of melted chocolate. Remove from heat.

Prebaking the shells helps them get flaky like the top and stops them from being soggy bottomed pies as is all too often the problem with fruit pies. You don't need them to brown but you will see they get a little puff going and look like they are adjusting to their shape even getting a little bit of crisp. When that happens take them out and let them cool a couple minutes, then its time to fill them.

While they are cooling roll out the last of the dough and stick it back in the fridge as a sheet.

Each little pie gets one peach, the center pit hole gets filled with the happy syrupy goodness, and top it with cinnamon. Pretty.

The last of the dough gets cut into strips that you criss cross over the tops (4 strips per pie) and whatever is left I formed into hearts for the middles (though you could put initials or stars or leaves or whatever looks good to you)

Your oven should be preheated to 350 now - Stick them in there for about an hour or til the room fills with the smell and the pie tops brown (no oven door opening no peaking, watch through the oven window if you want to drool)

Thats it - serve warm with ice cream :)

1 feeds 2

YUM!!

Pesce Pouches

2011-06-13T22:30:00.007-04:00

This is an americanized version of the fish dish the three marias made me and my family when we visited my uncle minguccio's house in Rutigliano Italy. It's fish prepared in a pouch made of aluminum foil. It's typically served with a whole fish, head on tail on skins on bones in... a whole fish. It's gutted and the belly filled with good things. It's delicious but I don't really care for the dangerous picking through pin bone skeletons all that much, and the head on makes me feel like i'm being stared at, and think of mortality. And the skin isn't too fun either. So usually*... now, I make mine with boneless skinless tilapia fillets. :)

*cept that one time :D I was feeling nostalgic for italy and living in tarrytown and there was an old fish market by my office, a kind of westchester import grocery that is full of little old foreign ladies, getting great deals on obscure cheeses and vegetables. So I decided to make pesce pouches with whole fish, the monger offered to gut them for me, but fearing he'd take the head and tail i declined, but when I got home I noticed he hadn't cut the center either. My kitchen was white and i had no sharp knives, so the big knife i had could barely pierce the skin lol I made such a ridiculous mess lol ... After how gruesome cutting open the middle had been i decided serving them head on was not going to be appealing afterall, so I tried to cut off the head.. but every time i pushed down on the knife the head would bend toward me and the mouth would open slightly, it was pretty hysterical, my friend was there making the fish talk saying "oww quit it!" whenever the mouth opened... like it was definitely dead but the pressure from that stick of a knife not going into the neck made him kinda look up at me funny :/ lol, ... when my roomate got home we were rolling on the floor in tears of laughter and dinner was so not made... sharp knives make the hugest difference!

Anyway This is how I make this recipe these days, american style.
This is a one serving recipe! (five people = five pouches)

PESCE POUCHES

Grab a big piece of heavy duty aluminum foil, one pouch per person.
Put it in a bowl or rectangle tupperware so half the foil is kinda encouraged and pressed into a bowl shape, and there's a flap left of enough foil to seal off the top, the pouch has gotta hold juice and close well enough to seal in the steam, and be reopenable for emergency checking.

So yeah make a pouch, toss in olive oil, and stick in two pieces of tilapia, stacked on top of eachother like a sammich, or like the two sides of a big fish would be, in between add some good stuff, such as:
olive oil
juice of half a lemon (no pits)
three round slices of lemon
three round slices of lime,
pepper,
parsley,
two or three fresh basil leaves,
five or six good marinated olives (depitted - cut up),
four or five cloves of garlic cut up,

Put a lil oil and parsley on the top of the sammich and close up the pouch, steam tight, and stick on the BBQ on low for about 15 minutes, no flipping - no peaking! (I put my pouches in an aluminum foil pan for easier carrying). The Fish is done when its flaky, don't open the pouch til its done, it can open on the plate.

Serve with rice :) and a side vege like string beans or asparagus or whatever n stuff :)

YUMMY
enjoy!

Pearfect Pancakes!

2011-06-11T22:44:00.006-04:00

Oh Brunch How I love you

Today's Special:
Perfect Pancakes With hot strawberry sauce, easyover eggs, and bacon

Make regular pancakes from box
add one cut up ripe pear to batter
butter skillet
flip when bubbly
go golden brown :)

Hot strawberry sauce:
4-5 cut up strawberrys
tablespoons strawberry preserves
tablespoons of honey, and a teaspoon of sugar
shots of bourbon
one teaspoonn of butter
heat that all up and let boil til the spirits fly away

drizzle

lick munch munch nom nom nom

Brunch for 2!

+ mimosa and coffee
+ another mimosa
= :) !!

Take THAT Street Dog!

2011-06-11T22:01:00.004-04:00

Ok So this is a dinner I made tonight, Its my take on the nyc street hot dog - its basically what I wish a hot dog tasted like (but i they are always disappointing so i don't eat them) But in a perfect world...

Need a BBQ Grill
Serves 2 or three

In a medium frying pan toss in a swig of olive oil, 6 cut up cloves of garlic, and one big yellow onion, cut it on the equator, then with parallel lines to make the semi circles that separate into shoestrings. Fry up til they soften, then add: three tablespoons of ketchup, salt pepper, five or six shakes of tobasco sauce and about a cup of pineapple chunks (mine were leftover grilled ones from the night before, fresh ones can go in at the same time as the onions) Stir and saute that up til its all warm and the onions are soft, that's yer slaw for on top, serve as a hot condiment for on your dog.

Next Get 5 or six sweet italian sausage links fresh. put them in a pan of water on the stove top on medium, let them boil for about 5-10 minutes, you want them almost cooked through. Then turn the grill on high outside and brown them on the bbq. Serve on grill toasted regular hot dog buns. with mustard and ketchup on the plate.

For a side dish I made mixed fried vegetables.

I usually really don't like frying things, but the night before I made a spice boil of vegetables to accompany some live crabs I was cooking up, so I have left over veggies. They were really good the first time around but would be too soft to just warm up again so I opted to fry them for some more crunch, mostly cause I never had a fried brussel sprout before. Anyway, so I will give you the veggie boil recipe in case you want to try that too...

I Filled a pot with two beers lots of seasoned salt, lots of pepper, parsley, garlic, about a cup of water, and brought it to a boil, tossed in three or 4 red potatoes cut into hunks (skin on - eyes off) When they were nearly there, I put in a can of corn (including can juice), frozen brussel sprouts, some chopped up radish greens. When it was all a good consistency, I removed them from the boil and tossed in the live crabs... So the veggies remained veggie and made a nice side dish... After a night in the fridge they, plus some zuchini slices, were made into a side dish for this meal

To fry up mixed veggies, I dipped them in egg then rolled them in a flour mixture and fried them in a pan of hot canola oil. The Flour Mixture goes like this: a cup and a half of flour, half a cup of parmesian, salt and pepper, some parsley and some seasoned salt. After they fry up put them on a paper towel and squeeze on some lemon juice.

Served with a Saladless Salad. One Cucumber peeled and cut, one tomato, some olives, and that's it, dress with oregano, olive oil, and lemon juice.

YUM! You will never go papaya doggin again. :)

Fancy's Shrimp Scampi

2011-06-11T22:00:00.005-04:00

stay tuned for more yum!

Dinner was good tonight :) - here's the recipe:

ingredients:

1/2 - 1 lb shrimp

half a bunch of fresh cilantro

2 lemons

1/2 cup grape tomatos

5 cloves garlic

7-8 scallions

1 cup dry basmati rice

1 cup coconut water

1/4 cup almond milk

olive oil

1/2 stick butter

gently defrost a bit more than a half a pound of frozen raw shrimp (pealed and deveined tail on)

in a medium saucepan with a lid boil 1 cup coconut water with 1/4 cup almond milk and 1/4 cup water and a dollop of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Let come to a boil add a cup of white basmati rice, bring to a boil and simmer covered for about a half an hour. fluff and keep the lid on when done

in a big skillet melt half a stick of butter into a quarter cup of olive oil, crack in some pepper and add 5 cloves of minced garlic, 7-8 scallions white parts chopped small green parts chopped to like an inch. drain and toss in the shrimp, let them each lay on the pan so they turn pink (add in also the peels of the lemon to brown with the shrimp yellow side down) Flip the shrimps and when they're done the remove the scallions and shrimp into a bowl so they dont overcook (toss the lemon peels - they are dead to you now). Into the sauce left still in the pan, throw in half a cup of grape tomatos (whole / not cut up), squeeze on a lemon and a half, and a cup of minced fresh cilantro. splash on a little white wine, You want the tomatos to burst in your mouth not in the pan so be careful with them and when they are about cooked reintroduce the shrimpys and you're done :) - mix with the rice and serve with a lemon slice.

serves 2 hungry people 3 regular people or about 5 models :)

---------

for dessert i made a pie with strawberries blueberries nutella bourbon brown sugar and butter :) in a premade crust with home made whipped cream n haagendaas vanilla ice cream mmmmmm

ok pie goes like this, the pie crusts give you 2 shells, leave one in the fridge fill the other one with about two cups of fresh sliced up strawrberries and maybe half a cup of blueberries, in a little sauce pan put 1/4 stick of butter and a shot of walnut oil, toss in 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 big tablespoons of nutella and three shots of bourbon, light on fire - say ooo ahhh, stir a little when the fire goes out, toss on the pie, then put about four or five tablespoon of jam on top ( i used stacey and stephen's wedding jam made from sweet plum and pomegranate - but you can use you're favorite) Next get the other pie shell out of the fridge cut it into strips and criss cross it on top, oven at 350 for about a half an hour (put a cookie tray under so you woon't have to wash your oven :)

let cool and serve with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream

serves 1 ;)

version 2 for the spice lovers

2011-06-11T22:00:00.003-04:00

OK fancy shrimp scampi take 2 - spice

do everything the same as last recipe except..

after you take out the shrimp and scallions and are working on the sauce mince up a little orange habanero and also add a cup of coconut water and three tbsps of tikki masala sauce

do everything else the same :)

Just Peachy :) n Fancy Salmonay

2011-06-11T22:00:00.001-04:00

Yay I like to talk about food - here's what i'm up to today :)

Fancy Salmone fo dinna :)

Ok soooooo I really like to cook - and i rarely do it, but gosh so fun

today's recipe go's like this:

rice:)

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup white basmati rice

dollup of olive oil

make rice - boil broth toss in rice back to a boil lower heat let simmer covered 30 mins, fluff before serving)

-----------------

fishys:)

1.2 lbs salmone cut into two big fillets

8 scallions cut 1/2 inch diagonals

4 plum tomatoes chopped into thick circles

4 lemons, 2 cut in thick circles and depitted, 2 depitted for juice

pepper (from a grinder)

fresh basil (most of a bunch, chopped coarsely it'd be about a cup)

olive oil

1/4 cup of mixed marinated (depitted) olives (like from the grocery olive bar) mixed in are some marinated mushrooms and marinated hot peppers

So in a casserole dish (mine's deep and oval) toss in a shot of olive oil to slick the bottom, put down the nice salmon filets, put a little olive oil on top, crack on a bunch of pepper, toss ontop the scallions, chopup the marinated olives and mushrooms and peppers and Make sure there's no Pits! take all the tomato slices and circle the sides, Cut 2 of the lemons into pretty depitted thick circles, toss the ends etc, lay them on top, squeeze the other two lemons' juice on there, and you are all set, stick in the oven at 350 for 30-45 mins, when the juice starts to boil you are ready

In the meantime if you are interested in a side dish i'd suggest baby bok choy

Steam* gently for 5 mins, drain pan. When ready to serve sear them in a skillet and top with a drizzle of olive oil or a couple pats of butter

*Small kitchen trick - Sooo I don't have a bamboo steamer or a metal grate thing for steaming properly so i just took a regular pan with a lid and stuck 5 or 6 chop sticks at the bottom to raise the greens mostly above the waterline :)

put it all together its fancy salmonay :)

serves 3-4

----------

AND FOR DESSERT

Peachy Delight :)

i got 4 ripe peaches and cut out their pits from the top (like stuffed pepper style) then in a sauce pan put 3/4 cup brown sugar and a teaspoon or 2 of cinnamon , and 3/4 a stick of butter, then heated them, stirred them up to make like a syrup (use a medium heat to not burn) toss in 3 shots of bourbon and carefully set it on fire :) - wait til flames are almost out before stirring (*note - when using this recipe, do not spill syrup while its on fire - its ok later :P ) soooo then its done and you fill the peaches with it and drizzle a bunch on their outsides (this is in a pie pan or casserole dish, they prolly shouldn't be touching if possible) throw in the oven at 350 when the fish comes out... for about half an hour, though longer works too its softer that way :)

Serves 4, 8, or 1 :)

Top with vanilla ice cream and homemade whipped cream :)

whipped cream is the easiest thing to make, get heavy whipping cream and a little sugar and a wisk (you need a wisk) and stir it together til its whipped cream. most recipe's call for confectioner sugar cause its the lightest and makes the fluffyest cream but I went with soft brown sugar cause i dig the flavor :)

ok so put it all together and a dash of cinnamon and serve while peaches are still warm/hot

smile a lot

The End.

..YUM! :)

PS - peaches part 2:

"roasted peach buttery bourbon bowls with pancakes a la mode"

Put peaches back in oven till the juice boils to reheat, serve with a pancakes and ice cream

Mama's Chicken Francese

2011-06-11T21:59:00.001-04:00

Ok I know its an old classic and everyone already knows how to make it so why bother mentioning, but I made a nice dinner tonight and just in case you're interested in a nod to a classic, here's a recipe for chicken francese... I ate this a lot growing up and am very very fond of it, this is my take on my mom's recipe

Mama's Chicken Francese:

4 cutlets of chicken

2 lemons

2 sprigs of fresh basil

1 cup pinot grigio

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

pepper from a grinder

a package of fresh mushrooms, baby bella or the white ones

3/4 stick of salted butter

extra virgin olive oil

5 cloves garlic

ok soooo

In the skillet:

-add 1/3 a stick of butter with 2 shots of oil, the chopped up garlic, and the peels of one of the lemons (yellow sides down)

-Get the chicken dip it in flour first then dip in the eggs and put in the hot pan, brown both sides and remove, then do the other 2 cutlets and remove, (they should be browned but not entirely cooked through) discard the lemon peels, clean pan

-In new skillet put in the rest of the butter and cup by cup fry up the mushrooms in the butter and remove to a bowl leaving the butter sauce in the pan, to the sauce add half a cup of wine and the juice of a lemon, let simmer 5 mins, put half the mushrooms in and turn off. Scald when ready to serve.

In the Chicken casserole dish add the following things:

-slick the bottom of a casserole dish with olive oil, put in the cutlets , Coarsely chop up the fresh basil and add to the dish. Toss about half of the mushrooms into the casserole dish ontop of the chicken, then add the juice of 1 lemon and half a cup of wine.

-Put the chicken in the oven at 350 for 20 mins or until ready (when juices boil)

contorti :) serve with aldente egg noodles (with olive oil drizzled on) and steamed string beans (olive oil drizzled, plus 1 clove raw garlic sliced thin), oven heated baguette, small plate of olive oil and cracked black pepper, and a plate of peeled and sliced cucumbers :)

Citrus Chicken fo my B

2011-06-11T21:58:00.001-04:00

Citrus Chicken

Hey me again with another recipe, I'm at Bettina's place touching up the mural in her bedroom, so this is the thing we whipped up it a super jiffy:

2 big chicken cutlets

2 big yellow peppers cut to large french fry size

half a mango cut to large french fry size

5 cloves garlic

8 or 9 scallions

2 fresh jalepeno peppers

salt n pepper

lemon juice

1/3 cup wine

honey

extra virgin olive oil

Make Some Thai Jasmine Rice,

1 cup rice

2 cups vegetable broth

dollup of olive oil

splash of coconut water

Citrus chicken:

In a skillet heat up 2 shots of olive oil and the cut up garlic and cracked pepper

Cut the chicken into slices, brown them then flip them, then toss in the scallions and peppers, put on the lid for a couple minutes to steam.

Then toss in the mangos, wine, about 2 shots of lemon juice, and the jalepenos chopped up, let steam with the lid on for 5 minutes, then toss in about 10 mint leaves (just ripped in half). Add two pinches of kosher salt and half a teaspoon of honey. simmer for 5 mins and you're done

Serves 3 happy peoples

Shrimp dumplings in mango sauce

2011-06-11T21:57:00.000-04:00

Ok recipe time :)

Shrimp dumplings in mango sauce

served with string beans and garlic bread

thai shrimp gyoza: bag of frozen dumplings ( i got mine at trader joe's - this works with any kinda frozen dumpling, shout out to you -itarians)

1 ripe mango

1 cup butternut squash soup

quarter cup pinot grigio

1 bouillion cube

half a big yellow onion

4 cloves garlic

olive oil

plum pomegranate jam (or cherry would work)

fresh black pepper

1 bunch of cilantro (maybe cuts coarsely down to 1 cup (without most of the stems)

Ok so it goes like this, put three shots of olive oil in a skillet with all the garlic cut up, get it nice and hot, toss in the dumplings while they're still not entirely defrosted, brown the outsides kinda well, toasted brown wins and remove

next toss in to the hot garlic butter half an onion cut up. When you cut it in half go from north to south pole and when you slice it go in along the longitude lines toward the core, so you have kinda grass blade shaped ribbons, fry them til they soften a little but you want them aldente so don't go crazy, remove and set aside with the dumplings.

toss in to the garlicy buttery pan half a cup of butternut squash soup, 2 thirds a cup apple sauce, two or three tablespoons of jam, a crumbled bouillion cube, pepper, three shots of pinot grigio. let simmer about 10 minutes.

cut up a mango into bite sized pieces toss in the sauce, sautee five minutes, add half the cilantro, sautee five minutes

reunite with the onions and dumplings, get it all hot

the other half of the fresh cilantro is to garnish main and individual dishes with

serves three or four

Contorti:

Serve with string beans

in a separate pan steam up about 2 cups of fresh string beans, serve aldente with a shot of olive oil and a clove of garlic cut up

serve also with garlic bread

bread olive oil garlic oven toasty eat

yummmmmmmm enjoy :)

Fancy's Chunky Gumbo Stew

2011-06-11T21:56:00.002-04:00

Hi, Soooo - This rocked my world

sharing is caring :)

Fancy's Chunky Gumbo Stew

INGREDIENTS:

2 fresh chorizo sausages

4 cloves of garlic

extra virgin olive oil

three red potatoes cubed medium skin on (scrubbed)

half a big yellow onion cubed medium

4 peppers, i used a variety - 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 orange, 1 large poblano (medium size pieces)

10 okras cut into thick circles, seeds included - ends not

4 jalepenios cut into thick circles, seeds included - ends not

1 can of white beans rinsed

1 little can of tomato paste

most of a beer (corona)

tobasco

basil

fresh cracked black pepper

1 big portabello mushroom cubed medium

1 lb fresh shrimp peeled deveined and tail off

half a bunch of cilantro, mostly leaves barely chopped

Ok Soooo:

put a shot of olive oil in the bottom of a big soup pan

put in the 2 chorizo sausages

brown them thoroughly in a very hot pan, take them off before they're cooked put them in a side dish and then chop up the veggies, when the sausage is less hot slice it into circles

toss in the garlic heat the pan, throw in sausage slices, onions, potatos, and peppers. fry them up a bit.

add the beans and the jalepenios and half a beer, plus 5 shakes of tabasco, lower heat and slap on the lid (try to keep the lid on from now til serving)

put in the tomato paste, pepper, basil, the rest of the beer and stir it up real good - simmer

add the okra and mushrooms, stir

rinse out the shrimp real good toss in, stir in well , and add the cilantro (save about a quarter of the cilantro for a garnish) the shrimp cooks quick so as soon as its in you are about ready to serve. turn off heat and make a side quesidilla :)

for a side i made a pepperjack quesidilla, just 2 big flour tortillas with pepperjack melted in between (frying pan and flip)- cut like a pizza n drop a dollup of sour cream on top :)

And that's about it :) Spoon into a big bowl and top with a little pepperjack cheese and a dollup of sour cream and some fresh cilantro on top

yummy :)

serves 5-6

Mom's Bday Shrimp BBQ Recipe

2011-06-11T21:56:00.001-04:00

So me and my family had a yummy dinner the other night and i thought I might write down the recipe

Sorry no photo, it went gone too fast to document :)

feeds 5 grown ups and 2 tiny tots :)

So super simple,

you need a bbq and two alumininum pans that fit in there,

in one tray put peppers, i used about 4 or 5 cut up in medium sized pieces, I used a variety, two light green ones, two green bells and a red, but yknow whatever ya got, ad a few swigs of olive oil and some parsley and black pepper, and a dash of oregano

in the other tray do the shrimp, grab a two pound bag of frozen uncooked, take off their shells and tails and devein them, rinse well. toss them in the tray with 6 cloves garlic all cut up, a few swigs of olive oil, a stick of butter, parsley, pepper, some montreal steak seasoning, and the juice of two fresh lemons.

put them on the bbq, the pepper tray take about 10 minutes and the shrimp about five so stagger putting them in. Don't overcool the shrimp, when they are pink they are done so look out. Make a whole box of bow tie pasta and when everythings done combine it all in one big yummy bowl, and serve :)

follow it up with a salad

Good Times!!

Happy 70th MOM!!

BBQ Bourbon Tilapia on rice

2011-06-11T21:54:00.000-04:00

Ok here's another fun recipe, super simple super summery

serves 2

boil some water and make some plain white rice on the stovetop, drop in a dollop of oil and make about 2 cups (directions on bag)

Get 5 or 6 pieces of tilapia, grease up a bbq friendly tray with some canola oil spray and put the fish in. In a saucepan make some bbq sauce.

BBQ sauce goes like this: cut up 6 cloves garlic and sautee in olive oil, throw in about a third of a cup of bbq sauce ( I used hunts honey hickory bbq sauce), add about 5 tablespoons of honey and some seasoned salt and pepper, the juice from about a quarter of a lemon, and 5 or 6 shakes of tobasco, stir it up and throw in two shots of bourbon, let that bubble a minute and set on fire to burn off the rest of the booze. Taste and make sure its a potent flavorful yummy thing, then cover the fish in it.

Take a second aluminum tray and cut up 2 zucchinis like french fry shape. Toss them in with olive oil. Add parsley and salt and pepper.

Cut up a pineapple into big flat centimeter thick slices ( minus ends skin and core of course)

So when the rice is done and everything prepped head out to the grill, put the tin of zuchs on medium and the tin of fish on low and the pineapples on low directly on the grates.It should all take about 10 -15 mins

Serve in glass bowls, a cup of rice on the bottom and the fish, zuchs, and a big slice of grilled pineapple sittin pretty on the rice bed :) YUM!

Arrr Pirates Poised to Plunder EU - Parlay?? or Partay?

2009-06-12T00:49:00.002-04:00

here is a manifesto of the 'pirate party' whom i have just heard about due to their winning a seat in some election in europe. here is what they're about, I am so on board 100% with their right to privacy stuff, but their main agenda is freedom of information and reform of copyright laws. I'm a little unsure of how people who create things, like music or software or novels or medicines, would be paid/funded if their creations become public domain. but this group believes pretty strongly that everything would work better that way... or maybe they all agree they like free shit? lemme know if you have any wisdom on this piracy topic. I'm inclined to supporting them since i've 'stolen' music etc, that and i like bottles of rum. But should i be concerned about the credit where credit is due? Will their radical ideas on revamping copyright laws infringe on people's rights to profit from their inventions?

Help strawberry find her way home!

2009-06-12T00:44:00.001-04:00

do you consider classic strawberry shortcake as boho chic, a homespun fashion disaster, or a tokyo amiyumi harajuku techno punk poppet ???

hmmmmm

its like a game! what if she got amnesia and we needed to figure out where she belonged based on her alfit!

so check it out i made a lil road map, which way should strawberry go, to the right she can wear her baggy floral print dress with ruffles and pattern mixing and crocheted bag to some posh soho martini party, or she can stay home and watch tv with her grandmother who made her the patchwork smock and poofy hat by hand, or she could rock those hot colors striped socks pompom details and eyelit trimmed lace bloomers out to some hot techno rave in tokyo!

Which do you think our lil miss shortcake was going for when she got dressed this morning??

CrackBook

2009-03-17T00:34:00.003-04:00

I have to admit i'm a computer junky, this is an image i found on my italian cousin's fb page, and it pretty much sums up how i'm feeling, absolutely chronically addicted to facbook, and coffee and my big headphones. Its such an interesting social phenomenon, all this virtual life, penpaling made so easy that its trumped actual physical interactions. i har social netwrking sites are actually out scoring porn and are the internets new primary usage - which is Huge.

i kinda miss real life socializing, but then again i can do this from anywhere and its free. I can't wait to hear people talk about this as the decade when facebook happened to the world... should make for some interesting history books, or i guess by then it'll be history blogs... :)

Recipe Interlude II : Chicken Pot Pie

2009-02-20T18:52:00.007-05:00

Chicken Pot Pie

This is the leftover vege special since you can pretty much use anything you have in your vege drawer, here's how i made it today

take about a pound or two of chicken, like 2 big cutlets, trim off anything ewwy and cube it up, lightly brown it in a pan then remove into a bowl and clean the pan of the fat. (don't worry about it being cooked all the way cause its going in the oven, just brown it

Cut up small and fry up a pile of veggies
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
a hand full of string beans cut up
1 potato cut small
1 big portobello mushroom
1 carrot
1 celery stick
some left over broccoli
pepper, salt, thyme, bay seasoning, parsley
i fried all these in olive oil, then tossed in half a cup of chicken broth and let them steam up a bit
take off the heat
ok now mix in the chicken, the mushrooms, the precooked broccoli and add a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup in a casserole dish
wait patiently for people to come home for the last step
make some guac to snack on as an appetizer and open a bottle of wine
20-25 minutes before eating do he last step
top the dish with hungry jack biscuits from a popping canister, and bake til golden brown

:)

Yummy

Recipe Interlude I : Mahi Mahi with Quinoa Tapenade

2009-02-20T10:54:00.007-05:00

Mahi Mahi with Quinoa

The Fish:

Lay out four or so pieces of Mahi Mahi in a baking pan
Drizzle olive oil ontop
Open a bottle of white wine, pour one glass on the fish and pour one for yourself
play music
add lemon juice, maybe a quarter of a cup?
Cut up about 15 pitted spanish olives, like 2 hand fulls and toss on top
do the same with 5 cherry tomatoes
Dice up a few sprigs of fresh dill and basil leaves (must be fresh) toss on top
add pepper
Top each fish piece with a lemon slice
Put in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, or til the fish is done (dont over cook!)

Quinoa Tapenade:
Is made just like rice, so it soaks up the goodness you put instead of water
1 cup quinoa (dry, rinsed)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
a dozen snow peas (pea pods) chopped up to bean sized
pepper
a table spoon of olive oil
chopped up roasted peppers (2 big ones)
An 8 oz jar of Artichoke Caper Tapenade (trader joe's sells this as does Braswell's Select)
put all this in a pot, bring to a boil, cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes, remove from heat for 5 minutes keep covered then fluff and serve

Serve with Steamed Asparagus aldente, topped with butter and diced fresh dill

(I totally forgot to take a picture- but it was so tasty that i am passing on the recipe but please note - it will look nothing like the above photo lol)

MoistProduction.com

2009-02-19T15:34:00.002-05:00

I found these drawings online today and love them, I had never given adequate thought to the anatomy of mickey mouse, gummy bears, balloon animals, and lego men... thank goodness for Jason Freeny of Moist Productions - friggin brilliant.

Vegas Baby Vegas!

2009-02-19T05:27:00.010-05:00

I went to vegas for the first time this weekend It was an interesting experience what can i say...

Vegas is pretty cool, its kinda like times square, plus a high end mall, plus Disney world, plus some kindof sculpture museum. People smoke everywhere, and there seems to be two main styles of dress, either overly manicured, like miniskirt straightened hair total hotness on the slutty side, or the exact opposite, some god awful track suit pajama kinda thing that’s I guess popular in the Midwest perhaps? There were far too few people styled in between those two extremes.

i arrived with some stereotypes in my head of what Vegas would be like, it was my first time, so going in cheap was the main image in my head. I thought it’d be all elvis impersonators and chincy crappy places full of yuck, but I was pretty wrong about that. The hotels were beautifull!! Everything was crafted with such skill and such quality materials, every detail was inspiring, mosaics and marble everywhere , reproductions of sculptures from antiquity and new sculptures as well, I was expecting it to look more motel-like but however obnoxious you may find the excessive signage and lighting, the vegas strip is pretty gorgeous and anything but cheap. When you go into the casinos there is that element with all the slot machines, like a huge arcade for adults, all blinging and flashing with loud often lame music, but there were cool clubs you could go in to avoid all that. After a while I found the slot machines pretty hypnotizing, I thought it’d be overwhelming and sometimes it was, but the odds are such that there are as many winners running around as people who are down so its hard not to fall into the hope of being one of the lucky folks who make money while they’re there. It’s a little overwhelming sometimes but taking a walk around outside reminded me of times square sortof, which made me feel at home in a way. I found also that the art all over makes the overall effect tolerable by counter acting the casino bred anxiety.

I showed up expecting amazing buffets, the stuff of legends, everyone raves about food in vegas as never ending piles of amazingness, I found them to be very good but not all that, they were a bit better than penn state commons buffets, but I was not nearly as blown away as everyone claimed I’d be, I’d rather just have one plate of food off a menu than all you can eat, generally speaking, but in the case of piles of lobster etc I thought I ‘d feel differently, but the buffets I saw were kinda regular, and buffet just isn’t my thing.
Since it’s a desert I was expecting it to be hot and dry, but it was chilly and even rained one day. I totally didn’t pack enough warm clothes, so was unprepared. Luckily I have simon’s good luck hoody with me or I would have just frozen.

There’s a rollercoaster! Its ontop of the new york newyork casino. I’ve always thought they should build a rollercoaster in manhattan, whenever there’s a crane up over a bldg I always tell people that’s what they’re making but sadly its always a joke, How cool would it be to actually have a rollercoaster high above in the tops of the skyscrapers of manhattn – brilliant! It was awesome.

They have oxygen for sale. You sit at a bar with the nose tube on you’d get in a hospital, only its in public, at a bar… They kinda filter the water bong style through aromatic waters. So the deep breathing smelled like rosemary lavendar eucalyptis etc. And while you sit there they massage you with several nifty gadgets. They were simultaneously trying to sell me lots of stuff but aside from that it felt awesome. There were a bunch of O bars all over town, I picked the one with a view of opera singing gondoliers taking tourists for rides in the indoor canal at the venetian, pretty awesome. My cousins were surprised we don’t have this in manhattan cause apparently its not that uncommon, I said new yorkers are too street smart to pay for air lol. I don’t know if breathing the oxygen did all the awesome things they were saying it would, I didn’t feel dramatically different, but they also pump it into the casinos, and I think I may have felt the effects there??? I was rather perky for the late hours and beer didn’t effect me as strongly as It normally would, may need to investigate more….

As for the whole gambling thing, I was gonna not gamble at all, but I’m apparently way less stubborn/ disciplined than I thought I was cause that plan didn’t last… it was just too tempting and I figure I’m probably not going back there much in my life so I wanted to try stuff. So first day I tried craps and roulet and slots… lost at each and quit immediately vowing to never play again. So the next day I went to the arcade with my little cousins to actually have fun while loosing my money to the flashy machines, in a significantly less expensive way. I finally played that silly dance game, which is way funner than a slot machine. Later that night I lost more inti the slots and opted to no longer let myself carry cash as I clearly can’t be trusted. I was supposed to leave the next day (yesterday) but I missed the bus (which turns out was canceled due to snow in the mountains) So I stayed another night.
I wandered around town and wound up at the “Paris” casino, I had figured out late the night before that buying drinks in vegas is silly. I was paying cash for beers, but if you sit by the gamblers drinks are free, especially if you appear to be participating. So I figured if I played slowly on a penny slot machine I would actually just be paying for my beers in a way that had the slight potential to win me lots of cash, but if I lost all my pennies it’d be just like getting the beer from the bar. I just had to keep aware of passing waitresses and play slowly on cheap machines… I am pretty good at texas hold em poker, but only the kind where you play against people not just against the cards, cause its all about reading people etc, so I met up with my cousins at treasure island and we headed to MGM and I watched poker for a while before I heard the line "No Guts No Glory" and finally caved and bought in at $40, which soon became 100, then i needed more cash but the atms were offline so I got it from the cashier who finger prints people to prove they really wanted more cash since its clearly a regrettable move. I got up to 140 in the hole, and I was down to some small amount like under 30 in chips, but then just as all seemed lost and I was kicking myself for playing at all, luck showed up. I went all in on a hand, and so did two other people, there was rubbish on the table with a king high, each of the two other people had a pocket pair of Aces, and I had a pocket pair of kings, which made three of a kind so I won. I won about $300 on that hand, it was around 6am, what a great feeling, I was so proud and Relieved. I should have run away at that moment, but instead I quickly widdled that back down to 180 and so the last day i was in vegas I broke even, everything I put into poker, plus everything I put into slots that day, came back to me. But I played for about 12 hours and drank about a dozen free beers. It was such a rush. I get it now. I really really like poker, everyone at the table was funny and friendly in a poker way, and there were a lot of laughs, like when the irish guy passed out in his seat and got escorted out by five security guards, but not before falling on his ass a few times and slurring out some hysterical irishy gibberish.. it was an Awesome time.

Driven Green

2009-02-18T20:21:00.003-05:00

I have not read this book yet but it is now officially on my must read list, I just watched an interview on Daniel Sperling on Jon Stewart and am impressed that he doesn't believe that corn is a good alternative fuel source, which i agree with, so I'm excited to see what else he has to say about transforming the auto industry to be green.

Art Catalog

2009-02-04T18:23:00.009-05:00

Original Artwork by me for you.

Stepbrothers

2009-01-26T13:01:00.010-05:00

I found stepbrothers to be a beautifully inspirational family comedy. It was motivational in a very cool way, similar to 'run fat boy run' it poked fun at the loser, the down and out underacheiver and encouraged them to get it together. The Underdog anti heros are loveable and tragically flawed and just need some encouragement to be the best they could be. The movie simultaneously pokes fun at the 40 year old virgin who failed to launch, but also portrays the charaters very lovingly, the victims of classroom bullying and divorced parent post traumatical induced lazyness. Like the 'just shoot me' brother who feigned retardation to never work. Or the will ferrel bit part in wedding crashers, the 2 main characters in step brothers are an archetype of percentage of adults who could use some encouragement. This movie holds a mirror up to your fat ass and dares you to give trying a chance. Cause we can all in this world apply ourselves just a little more it is inspirational to even employed successful adults. Its an off beat comedy of dysfunctional families and my favorite is how the parent characters are so human, torn between wanting to take care of and nuture their kids and wanting to not enable nor endure their behavior anymore. And there was a few subtle hints about the benefits of going to therapy and taking meds which i thought was very subtley and tastfully thrown in there, cause to overdo that would have not been good, but a couple very subtle advocacies of psychiatric assistance for those in real need was good. Whats great about this movie is that it covers deep and relevant subject matter while remaining a comedy and an upbeat one at that. The two main characters the step brothers are hilarious and just so fun to watch. I totally laughed my ass off. Its one of those live your dream and fly your flag and try to be successful cause that would be cool kinda things.

The other funny thing is that i am friends with will ferrel's brother, who is a phd student in ny, such a nice guy (not at all like the movie character generally speaking, very much like will in humor)... Anyway he does happen to have a big booming voice that you can hear a city block away. I had never thought of it before but i bet it would be a pretty good singing voice if he were so inclined.

Zee Ink

2009-01-26T12:59:00.008-05:00

I recently went to Jules Jazz Bistro to drink wine hear music and read a book at the bar (one of my favorite ways to spend an evening) After a while I got to talking to the guy next to me named Zee. He offered me a ink temp tattoo for a dollar, which got me so excited. In college I used to draw on people a lot and on myself a lot. I used to go to parties and decorate my friends. It brought back memories for me and made me very happy, he did very col work, which sadly i didn't photograph so i put some cool ink above to illustrate my love of body art. Though the permanence of actual tattoos is prohibative, drawing on yourself or your friends with a pen is a great way to express your inner punk for a couple days. The discussion of what sort of ink or paint to work with is a whole other story but here's a nod to Zee.

Incidentally Zee actually went to high school in Iran with the author of the novel and subject of the movie Persepolis, he's mentioned in the book as well. If you get a chance i reccomend this film, don't be fooled by the fact that its animated, this is an autobiography of a girl who grew up in Iran, its an inde film thats very informative and politically relevant, as well as entertaining.

Vorcan

2009-01-17T03:53:00.003-05:00

One of my dearest friends ever is my little chris. He and i went to art school together, and painted this magical attic, and he taught me how draw with lit matches. And thats how i paid for forr in paris, exchanging lit match drawings for cash and edibles... well that and watercolors. Anyway Chris has formed an aliance with this dude Vort who is also pretty damn cool. The two of them collaborate on paintings, typically vort does the background and chris the foreground, though they mix it up and are experimental. Anyway they fun part is they are live artists. Which is to say they paint at music venues during the performance, their drawings are based on the music, and painted during the set. They make several a night and they are for sale, pretty affordably for original artwork. And since they accompany bands they tour from city to city as a music group would. They are living off painting this way.

Their advice is paint PAINT Paint everyday. Paint quickly and pass out cards, paint Everyday. What are you doing tomorrow?? Answer: PAINTING

Pep talk received. Thank you sir may i have another.

Kersplaaash instead of Kerbang!

2009-01-16T03:20:00.002-05:00

Dear Pilot
I LOVE YOU!!!!

I want to thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for choosing to crsh land in hypothermia waters instead on on my apartment. I live at 47th and 9th, its a little unclear of where exactly you touched down but some people are saying 57thst on the hudson., That means that if you did land on the island it was highly likely you would have hit one of us in hells kitchen. You landed in the water right by the circle line too so the boats were esily able to swoop in and rescue everyone on board. I am so impressed and so grateful to you for saving so many lives possibly including my own.

I owe you one man.

xoxo
nancy
hells kitchen

Cardboard Furniture

2009-01-13T07:17:00.008-05:00

Welcome one and all to the recession - its like college only we're kinda older. So just to refresh your memory if you want furniture you best use materials which are readily available instead of begging visa for overpriced nonsense. So welcome back to found materials. The its not what you got its how you use it mentality.

Y'know whats so less creepy than a preowned couch, a cardboard one. I know it sounds unsturdy but trust me if you build them right they're actually quite durable. the trick is to stack the cardboard, and to use a band saw or equivalent to create a consistent edge. You could even use a sander on these to create an almost velvety texture. I suggest covering them in a layer of cotton and fabric. You can make very intriquing shapes. Cheap recyclable materials like these can truly take the edge off the price of moving. And most of these designs you could make yourself.
Glens Miller and Frank Gehry are just a few of the designers shown here.
oh and ps wouldn't your cat just love this!

Bird Mobile

2009-01-13T05:33:00.002-05:00

I once layed under a magnificent mobile, it was birds. I used to see my ceiling and imagine sky and even painted sky on my ceiling but years later layed under a birds mobile and felt the 3dimensionality of the ceiling space even better. Have since been searching for the right bird mobile to buy or make. material has been the biggest debate in making them, was thinking aluminim, then paper mache, then clay then plaster gauze, poster board, wood, and then back to aluminum. So i'm always interested in finding one that's already made and meets my mental image.. these are some pictures of what i like.

Protest Art

2009-01-12T18:52:00.002-05:00

The history of art has many star moments of protesting political events. Below Picasso protests a massacre in 1937, above is some contemporary examples of this very important and passionate genre.

Party Idea: Game time - How to play "i never"

2009-01-12T04:58:00.011-05:00

Its a drinking game and it goes like this:
- Everybody get a drink and sit relatively in a circle
- Go around the circle each person taking a turn
- When its your turn you finish the sentence "I never....."
- Anyone in the game who has done the thing that is named has to drink

for instance if the person who's turn it is says "I have never had sex" anyone who is not a virgin has to drink, this may include the person who's turn it is.

examples
I have never been to paris
I have never written a blog
I have never painted my toe nails
I have never had sex in a bed

i would have had to drink four times so far...

-----------------------------

An alternate way of playing is to mix it with strip or spin, so the person who's turn it is has the option of saying "i never...", stripping off a pieces of clothing, or spinning the bottle and kissing whoever it points to.

(Though that's a fun combination its maybe a bit too complicated an alternative as so many choices causes some chaos among the drunken- just sayin)

Bye Bye Bush!

2009-01-12T04:58:00.008-05:00

Hey Ladies! Bliss Spa is having a Halarious sale, 20% off brazilians on inauguration weekend. I think we should all do our part to celebrate W's departure from the white house by saying goodbye to Bush :)

LOL pass it on!

Hindu God Statues

2009-01-12T04:55:00.006-05:00

I am collecting a series of sculptures of Hindu Gods. Because they are absolutely beautiful. I enjoy hearing the stories about the various elements and themes they represent. Each deity has different interests, creation, destruction, partying, wisdom, vitality etc. They are made with such attention to detail, carved beaded bracelets, complicated clothing and head pieces, swords, multiple hands, defeated enemies, ornate pedestals etc. I hope to one day have a larger collection i could display on shelves on an exposed brick wall with candles. It'd also be neat to sculpt a reproduction of one, an exercise in extreme detail. A reverent homage to allegory and the sacred forces of nature.

wishlist me a natraz and a bigger apartment with exposed brick and candles

Wigtastic

2009-01-12T04:54:00.009-05:00

My crush on wigs goes back to my obsession with movies. Actors get to change their look dramatically from project to project. Having grown up with that as the backdrop to my life I desire to be a shape shifter too. Its funny how your look defines you and how dressing differently for a night can be like walking in someone else's shoes for a bit. Plus I am always fantasizing about doing permanent things to my hair like cutting it short or straightening it or dying it some crazy color. So to preserve the integrety of my curly reddish locks, i have a few wigs. I wore one to a party this weekend, and find its a great accessory in the winter since its pretty warm. Its like wearing a hat kinda, only has the potential to look so much cooler. Above are some hot moments in wigs, there are so many weaves and extensions and wigs in hollywood. Totally fun.

Chocolate

2009-01-12T04:54:00.008-05:00

While i'm making a list of my favorite things, lets get one thing straight - I friggin love chocolate!
I had a chocolate fiend moment yesterday. First i had a kitkat, which is always a good idea. But I decided i could do better. I was craving a crepe, but as it was 3am my options were limited, so I got the ingredients together and made chocolate chip pancakes and smothered them in nutella, served with oj eggs and BACON, it was Such a good time. I highly recommene, the salt from the bacon played well with the decadent pancakes. I'm surprised after the invention of chocolate that people still cook and eat other things. Chocolate mmmmmmm!

Just Sayin

The Origin of Pigment

2009-01-12T04:53:00.009-05:00

My newest pet research project is about pigment's origin. I've always been interested in how the old masters procured colors and how much trouble it was for artists in various regions to get the different colors. Before the invention of paint companies and art stores each painter had to hunt down each color's raw material and grind, boil, burn and stew up their ingredients. For a good description of the tedious and all consuming nature of creating a palette to paint with you could check out the book Girl with Pearl Earring (skip the movie though lol)
So I bought a book on the it, 'the origin of pigment,' but was disappointed when the author meandered off topic and talked instead mostly about the anthropology of autrailian aboriginal society and their socio economic structure's reliance on the color ochre etc, Sooo now i'm compiling research on the topic from the internet etc, seeking out the book i'd supposedly already purchased, though said purchase was mislabeled.

Color is such an intriguing story, a story i'll share with you once i've gathered all the pieces.

Painting Update 2

2009-01-12T04:53:00.007-05:00

So here's a progress report on my new piece, i worked on it last night. I discovered something very important actually, as it turns out i need a chaperone to paint land. OK I don't Need one, but I found myself much more motivated to continue when I had someone to chat with. I am going to make a habit of asking people over and providing them with art supplies and even instruction in exchange for company while I work. I'd get so much more done if I didn't feel the need to wander into the tv room to chat with peoples. Its also an inexpensive way to hang all happily. This piece is about 5 feet tall so i imagine i can use 6 - 12 more sessions with it to get the detail i'm hoping for, though we'll see, sometimes on the way from abstract to realistic i find a midway point intriguing and opt to leave it as such, so we'll see where this one goes. Times Square in too much detail is all business logos, and i know i'm not going there with it, so we'll see. For now I'm hoping to focus on the light and forms...

Mini Me

2009-01-12T04:52:00.005-05:00

OK Put this on my wishlist - Yknow those miniature liquor bottles, it'd be so neat to have a whole collection of a variety of them on my wall in my room. The last several bottles of liquor I bought were consumed by my roomates and i only got to taste about as much as is in one of these adorable little bottles anyway, so it'd be neat to keep a variety of them on a little pretty rack to flavor coffee or whatever, if you drink them straight from the bottle it'll be like being that chick in Romancing the Stone, that was her move and it was cute :)

Happy New Year

2009-01-05T18:11:00.003-05:00

Right after posting about feathers and masks i showed up to the new years party to find everyone wearing feather masks, and there was even one for me :) Thanks Simon!

Happy New Year!

Masquerade

2008-12-31T02:07:00.002-05:00

Its hard to find a good mask. There's a lot of masquerade balls for new years eve and I would love to have a bad ass beautiful mask. The most popular is the venetian style, but I find that is hard to find one of those that actually look good on, and while its cute to carry one around on a stick the ones that are kept on tend to be too clunky and stifelling plus they mask too much, its hard to communicate without seeing eachother's facial expressions. So my favorite masks are light and airy. They are more pretty and flattering because they show your face while still masking you technically. To take a look at modern fashion icons rocking light masks check out Kirstin Dunst as Marie aintoinette, and that chick from gossip girl in a metalic cut paper looking lacey thing that kinda blends in with her hair in a way. Paris has on a lighter venetian half face mask that plays more like a feathery hat. I may make myself something like the gold one when i get a chance.

Feathery

2008-12-30T20:00:00.004-05:00

Am having a fascination with feathers today am wondering what a feather costume might look like... not wings but a dress which uses feathers in order like a wing would... or perhaps a million tiny blue feathers applied to the skin like if humans came that way... it could be quite elegant if done right. i don't tend to like the way feather masks are made, i'd want something more integrated so it can be delicate, like putting on fake eyelashes... but everywhere and feathers
:)

Under the Sea

2008-12-29T07:10:00.005-05:00

Speaking of fish out of water.. So the sailors would be at sea for years and see women so infrequently, that there became the legend of the mermaid, the beautiful women of the sea, drawn to shiny things, half woman half fish, able to breath air and yet have a fish tail and frolic in the water. The sailors also often suffered from illnesses, malnutrition, madness. But the common belief is that the stories refer to the manatees that the sailors had 'mistaken' for women. Most mermaid images tend to represent the offspring of such a crass coupling. Poor manatees...
Thanks for the myths guys but hands off the aquatic life
... i wonder why mermaids are never bald ...

Ode to my inhaler

2008-12-29T06:21:00.003-05:00

Dearest inhaler I will never loose you again. I know i only want to see you like less than once a year, and that may make you think your not important to me, i admit i'd almost forgotten about yknow the you and me thing...i know it was me who put you in a bag inside a box at the bottom of a overfilled drawer... you certainly made your point and thanks for saving my ass anyway. If you weren't an inanimate object and i could make out with you right now i so would. I will never loose you again, I promise. xoxoxo

This Just In

2008-12-24T05:18:00.002-05:00

I'm working on a new painting, of times square , its in progress, it will not look like this, but i've begun it and it will evolve and here's an exclusive sneak peak :) I'll update you as we make progress (with my fuzzy cell phone camera shots)

I want a fireplace

2008-12-23T02:43:00.002-05:00

I want a fireplace.
I'd light it every night, I'd cook on it, i'd dry grapes over it and make tea, snuggle up with cocoa and watch the flames, dry off by it after a hot bath with a velvety blanket. roast marshmellows, charcoal drawings...

dear santa - i want a fireplace.

Babies for Obama!

2008-12-18T21:40:00.000-05:00

this is a drawing of my niece Kiara

Critique

2008-12-18T12:18:00.002-05:00

i went to a modern art museum with my father recently there in the presence of glowing greatness spectacles of the art world’s pretention i stood in front of a famous white canvas with my dad. The stories about the evolution of art and the artist’s statement, the protest of modern painters against craft and tradition, the bravery it took for that dude to sell a white canvas for thousands of dollars. From the viewpoint of the unpretentious, its pretty unimpressive. I like to take long complicated background stories that accompany paintings with a grain of salt, they are often interesting stories but if the art doesn’t strike a chord with you down deep, when you look at it, its nothing but a story. Though on the other hand, there’s those crotchety old farts from the muppet show who are pretty funny as they unsanctimoniously wreck on even the most impressive acts. Critics are another thing to take with a grain of salt.

Having Issues

2008-12-18T12:13:00.004-05:00

This is a striking painting by Phillippe Pinel called “Releasing Lunatics from their chains at the Salpetiere Asylum in Paris. ”

Look at her eyes

We like to think that mental institutions have come so far because they are no longer called asylums and because the metal chains have been replaced with fabric straight jackets. The illnesses however have not changed and often are untreatable. This painting speaks to the heart of the matter. If this was your family your mother your sister or daughter, what would you do?

Irisistable

2008-12-18T12:04:00.004-05:00

Have you ever had a crush on someone who is bad for you? Someone so beautiful, that they are irresistable even though to succumb to that desire is gonna cause you nothing but trouble. Drunk Dialing, seranadeing and various ways people make fools of themselves are nothing new. Odyssius happened to have a wife at home which helped him resist the sirens but the other sailors who were not as strong willed sailed toward their song and crashed upon the rocks and were destroyed. I have a fondness for images of this metaphor, its a kind of buyer beware story to warn us against going for that bad idea lover, the succulent mirage that looks so good til you get close and discover its nothing but sand. A stronger person would resist, a hero would tie himself to a tree before falling for the tempation. Hero stories are constructed to teach ideals, what kindof man should one try to be. Homer thinks that you should delete that beautiful asshole’s number.

Ophelia

2008-12-18T11:45:00.009-05:00

I used to have a mild obsession with the character Ophelia. She’s beautifully tragic. I used to identify with her in a lot of ways.

Hamlet, her bf, started to have some family problems. His father was murdered and his throne taken by his uncle who married his mother, even though Hamlet was of age to take the throne himself, despite his mother’s remarriage and despite his uncle’s blood relation to the king, it is hamlet who was next in line though somehow skipped over by his father’s murderer. But that’s only periphery to Ophelia’s story. She is a young beautiful lady who is dating the prince. But as part of his plot to uncover real evidence of the dark truth Hamlet decides to convince everyone he’s crazy, basically so everyone involved will put down their guard and let information slip out, so with any luck they’ll hang themselves. Anyway Ophelia has this hottie bf and he goes all crazy at her, her father is an advisor to the king so he doesn’t break character for her, quite the opposite, he hams it up knowing she’ll be watched by the right eyes. So basically one day her bf goes nutty on her, tells her off, with bs ranging from sexual innuendos to emploring her to join a convent. She’s pretty upset over it. She totally loved him and was thinking she was going to be wed to him, then suddenly he’s a total ass to her, and worse than that he appears brain affected. Then the unspeakable happens, one night hamlet kills her dad and they send him off that night to england to be hung for the crime. It was an accident and he escapes execution, but Ophelia never finds that out cause unlike hamlet who’s father’s death caused him to feign madness, Ophelia’s father’s death coupled with the idea of who did it and his subsequent death, made her actually go mad. The poetic description of this madness is a large part of my love for her. She bugs out in the royal court passing out flowers to the various people there, each symbolic of what she thought of them Then she darts off to run around in the woods, singing bits of old songs while she barefooted adorns herself with vines and flowers. She climbs out onto a branch and falls into the lake, and lays on the water singing and recounting little verses, unaware of her peril, then her dress soaks up the water and drags her down to her watery grave. I often wonder why i love this character so much. I used to have a fascination with mental illness, that was before i met anyone who actually had mental problems. I used to hear the word crazy applied as a description of most of my favorite things so her mental break to me was completely romantic. Her mind after all is lost because of a broken heart. Having had my own fair share of broken hearts I sympathize completely with her inability to recover from such a mortal wound. And the way she goes wild is like a child in the woods. I am in love with nature and when i am in a forest i collect pretty leaves and flowers and put them in my hair, i love mud on my feet and climb onto high branches and swim in the lakes and rivers, and i sing. I have sense enough not to drown. But hers wasn’t a suicide, she was a casualty of love. Her passion and love for her man and for her father were so strong that when they died she could no longer function, when they died she died too.

I see her level of passion as a good thing. I want to love with every morsel of my being I want to give every piece of myself to love. I admire the kind of people who would die for passion who love completely.

BUT Lately, the past few years, i am less interested in this character, because i have come to admire people who will not die for love. Who love completely, but have the fortitude of spirit to weather the storms that life will inevitably throw your way. I admire the people who don’t have to loose their shit to spend a day out playing in the woods covered in mud. I admire the people who do that just cause they want to and don’t care what people think. I also no longer romanticise the word ‘crazy’ its too often used wrong. There is such a thing as mental illness and it should not be confused with people being original individuals. Originality is beautiful, mental illness is sad. I like the idea that she was able to make cunning observations of the roles that the various people in the court played in the unfolding tragedy, and that she said these things to their faces (people in that time period would have known the meanings of the flowers she passed to them) However these observations would have been more powerful if they were just said outright instead of masked in metaphors, and they would have been more useful if voiced before her father’s murder. When i was in love with Ophelia I was heartbroken and I saw her as a martyr of love. I saw her death heroic, she personified how i felt, almost justified my refusal to get over it and move on. But life has many heartaches along the road and many things will not go as planned, and the prince can become the villian, and your heart can be betrayed. But allowing the bad things to destroy you is not heroic, its pathetic. You can love someone intensely and passionately and it could not last or they can turn out to be not worthy, but that doesn’t make the love you felt at the time any less important relevant passionate or real. Not everything is forever. It is not a betrayal of love to let it end. And the extent of your love and the fierceness of your passion is not proved by how devastated you become in the aftermath. Love is beautiful. In a perfect world it lasts for forever, in this one you gotta cherish it when it comes your way, for as long as its around, and i try to not tarnish its joyful places in my memory, regardless of the aftermath.

>>> Fancy Soup's Itty Bitty Designs <<<

2008-12-12T03:33:00.004-05:00

Announcing My New Store!

I am selling a new line of infantwear, apparel, gifts and more on my new website!

I plan to expand to include a wide variety of original designs so check often and spread the word!

:)

Set Design Me a Dream

2008-12-11T04:01:00.008-05:00

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events featured images of this kindof fantasy architecture. Its victorian only more so and its focusing on the most peculiar examples, exaggerating the forms into almost surreal proportions. There is also a current of fine craftsmanship. Stone work, wood work like art nouveau cabnitry, huge fireplaces and chimneys, Towers, round windows, Gothic arches. See also harry potter, casper, adam's family, moulan rouge, lord of the rings (especially hobbiton)... if only this trend would be more prevalant in real life. Set designers get an opportunity to be much more expressive and creative with their architecture and interior designs. I would like to see more victorian charicatures in the real world. for now i'll thank hollywood for making so many of my dream spaces

note - usually in film victorian spaces are depicted as dilapidated haunted disorienting and dangerous, its all modernist propaganda, hobbiton is the best example of the glowy warm belly rub smiles one gets from stained wood, vistas, arches and windowsills

Outside the Box

2008-12-11T02:40:00.006-05:00

Incorporating Solar panel glass into architecture as a focal point could be well expressed in geometric designs and vaulting. Traditionally architecture tried to maximize natural light flow with large vaulted public spaces and atriums. NeoGeoGothic... NeoGeoClassical... NeoGeoVictorian ... NeoGeoArtNoveau ... hey ya never know :)

(paid for by citizens against the javitz center)

Breakfast at Tiffany's

2008-12-11T01:56:00.007-05:00

Good morning Obama generation, green people who've heard the unfortunate truth, and see in the economy potential for a green revolution, I bring you our future - eco friendly products are our new bling bling. And this guy and his peeps are bring sexy back! They are inventing solar panels which are translucent, they get the energy from a pigment not unlike leaves. And so building glass could be solar panels, and solar panels can be colored glass. I see solar glass usage as the new hot artistic and architectural medium. I see a future of glass rooftops for those who don't want to be grassy, I see the rebirth of buildings with light wells. I see more public spaces mirroring works like the apple cube or the louvre pyramid. They have solar panels shaped like roof tiles for regular houses, I see the hot christmas item being intricately designed stained glass solar panels. The aesthetic of a new emphasis on having quantities of glass, and since eco consciousness is fashionable, I'd say a slightly ostentatious presentation of the glass's usefulness, is a new element which will change the way new buildings look. The times square ticket booth is the first of many ecogreen public uses of glass. From a design perspective its exciting to think of the aesthetic possibilities and what styles may prevail.

Roof Gardening

2008-12-09T17:26:00.009-05:00

I have this vision of New York City gone green. There are so many reasons for it. The tar roofs that the majority of buildings are sporting collect and hold heat in the summer, which makes air conditioning a necessity for most apartments to support life, especially the top floors. Covering the roofs instead with green plants would moderate the temperature while cleaning the air. It would also provide better roosting spots for birds of prey so we wouldn't have as bad of a rodent infestation, little birds also eat bugs which would be helpful. There are some roof gardens around town but they are mostly patios for the rich. I feel that a tax rebate for roof gardeners is the only way to get property owners to invest in the quality of air in the city. Not to mention the quality of life which would vastly improve if more buildings were romantically draped in ivy. Hearty low maintanence plants like beach grass or clover are also good options. There is also the idea of actually growing food which would reduce the amount of gasoline used in food delivery. Below is a view of Rome's vast array of roof gardens, the italians being a culture of gardeners have a bit of a headstart on us.

For more information on the benefits of Roof gardens and how to construct them click here Where they'll tell you all about how cool this book is:

My Undies :)

2008-12-07T02:45:00.009-05:00

Mass Market Intimate Apparel

These are some of the images me and my department created over the last year or two at AGE Group, all rights reserved.

This is what i meant all those times i said i make cartoon panties, its licensed and generic junior intimates.

Time Warping

2008-12-07T02:44:00.007-05:00

Me and my friend Simon found a fun series of videos last night on youtube, they're called time warping, Here's a compilation. They have these very accurate cameras which they use to study movement. In this clip my favorite is punching the red balloon. I like how the water just stays there for a second then his hand soars through the form. Its amazing how much more you can tell about matter and physics by slowing down and contemplating movement.

Kinetic Sculpture

2008-12-06T09:05:00.012-05:00

There is a school of thought which believes art should be interactive, museums where people are encouraged to touch things. I am not into that. I like to get close to art, nose right up to the paintings examining every detail, but i feel like an alarm is gonna or should go off in the case of touching in a museum. I do however love when art interacts with wind. Kinetic sculptures are fascinating. Like wind chimes, but for the eyes instead. They sell some beautiful ones at the psu arts fest every year and i love to gaze at them and think of wind, my invisible friend waving hi.

In searching for examples of this craft i found the art of Theo Jansen of which i can only manage to say Holy Shit!

American Beauty

2008-12-06T02:47:00.004-05:00

American Beauty the plastic bag moment

You wanna see the most beautiful thing i've ever filmed?
it was one of those days where its a minute away from snowing and there's this almost electricity in the air - you can almost hear it... right?
and this bag was just ... dancing, with me
like a little kid begging with me to play with it
for 15 minutes
that's the day i realized that there's this entire Life behind things
and this incredibly benevolent force who wanted me to know that there was no reason to be afraid
...ever...
the video's a poor excuse i know,
but it helps me remember
i need to remember
sometimes there's so much beauty, in the world,
i feel like i can't take it ...
and my Heart
is just going to
cave in

Where there's smoke...

2008-12-05T17:59:00.003-05:00

I hate cigarettes, but aesthetically speaking there are few things more intriguing then smoke. The form swirls around creating this floating organic line, like hair curls, then it dissapates. We really are swimming in air, the atmosphere is like an ocean, only thinner, there are waves and current, and we often forget about air cause its usually invisible to us, but the heavyness of cigarette smoke in particular is like drawing pictures in midair. Like milk swirls in coffee only you can put your fingers through it. There are a lot of examples of film using smoke seductively, my favorite is the recent movie "the 300" which made good use of smoke's mysterious properties in the oracle scene. A girl is tranced into a magical state to talk to the gods, they use a lot of trick photography slow motion and backwards, and the whole time there's this marvelous smoke pouring over her. Good times.

Elemental

2008-12-03T18:16:00.003-05:00

I first saw this photo on the wall at my friend Paul Reickhoff's apartment in alphabet city. It was printed large like 40 x 60 in and it just stopped me in my tracks. I was surprised and delighted to rediscover it on getty images, the photographer is Sam Basett. This shot is just all that and a bag of chips. What more could you possibly want from a photo. Check out his portfolio for an assortment of awesomeness.

My obsession with underwater photography

2008-12-03T16:41:00.011-05:00

There's thousands of examples out there of underwater photography and why it completely rocks. If you can manage to get your model to not make that face - yknow the help i'm under water and there's no air here face :) The possibilities are just amazing. I especially like how fabric comes out. Also hair has extraordinary potential. You kinda need to take a million shots to come up with something good i imagine. Other underwater cherished artistic moments have taken place in film. See scenes from Julie Taymor's Across the Universe, or Kate Winslet singing underwater in Romance and Cigarettes, Or even the way they drew Ariel's hair in the little mermaid. Or Check out Gregory Colbert's zen like photo installation 'ashes and snow' which featured film of people doing flips under water next to an actual swimming whale. Mystical.

Once upon a time i joined a gym to make a photo shoot involving fabric underwater, they were not thrilled at the idea, the search for a good venue continues...

Flame On!

2008-12-03T05:31:00.004-05:00

I'm blogging from my room in which i have a few paintings in-progress. The one behind me is of fire spinning. The photo of it is a bit grainy I just took it with my phone. Its painted onto what used to be a frame for a furniture mirror. I made this about a year ago, I had just lit up for the first time, I had practiced poi spinning for a year leading up to the big day. And it was so much better than i even expected. The fire is loud. I wasn't expecting that, it whips around with this beautiful roar. I was in the middle of a grassy field and i was this nice combination of nervous and excited and a little scared and rhythmically at peace. Cause the spinning motion has to be controlled if you like having eyebrows etc, like you could potentially have an accident if you aren't in sync with the rhythm of cyclical motion. So it is this kindof meditative dance movement which is tension and peacefulness at once. The light from the fire was warming and glowing and so a little moth came and landed on my chest. My friend Kate was there and the fire dragon man was watching over me just in case.

Photorealism

2008-12-03T02:05:00.004-05:00

After achieving a successful career in photorealistic painting, large scale insanely detailed portraits of regular looking people, chuck close suffered a spinal arterial collapse and became paralysed from the neck down, but somehow manages to keep at it, he got through enough therapy to recover minor movement in his arms and amazingly was able to continue to paint by strapping paint brushes to himself. His later work uses a series of dots in a gridded pointalism technique which morphs photorealism into a pixelized opt art style, still maintaining the format of large scale portraiture of everyday regular looking people.

Talk about overcoming adversary. There's that dude who says he can't paint til he can afford a bigger space to work in, there's the chick who doesn't have time because of her day job, there's the mope who feels discouraged for lack of clients so watches tv and balks, .... and then there's THIS GUY the lance armstrong of the painting world, remove even his ability to manuver his limbs and he'll find a fucking way to paint. Beyond being a talented artist with a vision, he's livestrong, he's a symbol of surmounting the insurmountable

So get Off your Ass!

Camera rockin pastel moves

2008-12-02T22:32:00.003-05:00

Speaking of sexy check out this photo, the blur they captured in this saucy yet non explicit pose has an almost pastel quality. Check out how similar the delivered effect is to the below pastel drawing. The rendering has a sortof gentle intimacy. I'd bet good money that the photo's effect was accidental. Accidents are often awesome.

Birds and Bees

2008-12-02T21:33:00.002-05:00

When explaining maturation to children metaphors are often useful. When i was a child i lived in my father's garden, my every need was provided for me and i was naive to the troubles involved in adult reality. I ran around the yard without my shirt on, and i and my playmates were unaware of our sexuality. But to be a part of the world and to grow into a wiser woman i yielded to curiosity and matured. One might for my own good warn me against heeding the urgings of snakes with devious ideas about tasting luscious fruit, but its a rather tempting offer to turn down. In my adult life i toil and work and sustain myself, i no longer am provided for, and once i procreate i will no doubt toil even more, providing for a family looks exhausting, but saying adam and eve were cast into hell is a bit of an exaggeration, life's not so bad, independence has its privileges.

And would you really be able to say no to anything this lady offered you... :P

Awwww Hell!

2008-12-02T20:15:00.003-05:00

Some of the most creative paintings from antiquity are depictions of Demons and Damnation. Long before horror flicks taught us to not dismiss noises as 'oh its just the cat' churches were teaching people to behave by threat of afterlife torture. The entrance to most old churches were adorned with commisioned 'worse case scenario' monster pics. SciFi's monster squad is often based on these images. As a fan of surrealist artists i enjoy seeking out their nightmarish precursors, like Hieronymous Bosch.

Swingin

2008-12-02T19:37:00.004-05:00

Surrealism is not just a way to paint. There are all sorts of ways to make dreams into reality. Obviously none of us are planning on running away with the circus any time soon, but if you're bored of the movie / bar / restaurant lifestyle you may want to spice up your life by trying something absurd. Trapeze classes are available here in manhattan. Not too pricey and they teach group beginners classes. Fun, novel, and its said to be v addictive.

Here's how to sign up http://newyork.trapezeschool.com

Trancending Reality

2008-12-02T19:11:00.003-05:00

The Circ du Soleil costume designers, body painters and set creators deserve a special nod. Contortionists are kinda freaky, watching some chick tie herself into a pretzel could potentially be rather creepy, but the brilliance of Circ is through costuming they transform the performers into other worldly artworks, the results are memerizingly beautiful. The bright colors and often animal or elemental themed decorations encourage the audience to suspend disbelief and get on board for a surreal mind blowing performance.
Also take a tip from them in searching for models, gymnasts and dancers can make anything look good.

Fitting In

2008-12-02T18:36:00.003-05:00

I have been a fan and advocate of body painting for years, in college i used to draw intricate designs on people at parties and festivals. I even considered being a tattoo artist for a time. Lately I have been creating paintings of tattooed people. Anyway here are some camoflage images i found online which i find inspiring. I like the idea of the subject being painted or dressed in a way that they blend into the background. Its an interesting way to create a surreal or almost abstract looking image while maintaining representational integrity. I enjoy works that combine media.

Avant Garde Architecture

2008-12-02T16:21:00.005-05:00

Gaudi taught us more than just the value of mosaic even on large scale, He made dreamtastic brilliant works that defy convention. Who said walls are straight or flat. His undulating organic forms have become the main stop on any touring agenda of barcelona, his churches houses parks and sculptures are celebrated for their creativity. Cookie cutter boxy buildings come and go 5 up today 10 torn down tomorrow.. But the visionaries who heard Gaudy's crazy architecture plans and decided to give him a chance funded greatness. Stone hallways that look like a crashing wave, pillars like forests, ceilings like the plaster has become rippling water, balconies that appear to have grown organically into their form like bone or tree roots. This kindof creation does not happen often not because it is expensive so much as because the artist has been cut out of the loop in most cases. Originality is undervalued in our culture, its even feared. Despite all evidence to the contrary, people feel their investment is safer if what they build doesn't stand out in anyway.
Mcdonalds and Denny's replace charming restaurants, pawn takes queen.

Mosaic's the new Green

2008-12-02T13:46:00.001-05:00

With the increasing global garbage problem and resources dwindling I have to take a moment to talk about Watts Tower. Created from found materials, broken mugs and bottles, this monument stands as proof that you don't need tons of cash or high quality materials to create something amazing. Why do we quarry out mountain sides to provide gravel for sidewalk after sidewalk and then bury our used glass in a landfill. More mosaics should be on the national eco friendly agenda.

“You gotta do something they never got’ em in the world.” Simon Rodia (1875-1965,) top right.

I have chills all over every time I look at this picture of Simon Rodia because it is an undeniable testament to the enormity of Rodia’s achievement: the Towers he single-handedly built on his residential lot in Watts over 33 years every evening after working a construction job and every Sunday, without nails, rivets, bolts, gloves, drill, blueprint, diplomas. I also love this close-up because it shows that Simon did it with immense pride and joy.

Read more at http://www.lataco.com/taco/i-build-the-tower-dvd-review

Below is one of the mosaic lamp posts of the east village, these always give me hope somehow

The Legend of Creepy Trees

2008-12-02T01:08:00.000-05:00

There's this forest in central pennsylvania, not far from where i went to school, which has a very creepy air to it. When you look around there's something not quite right about this group of trees. They appeared to have been planted, since they're almost grid like, and they have few branches which make them look like a bunch of telephone poles on death row. The canopy provides shade but as non of the leaves grow at a mid level the overall color as you gaze across is a muted grey. Me and emily went there a few times and were going to create an awesome photoshoot. There was going to be a woman in a dres, something colorful like red, and the fabric was going to boldly flow like a drop of color in the form of a damsel scurrying across this grey cold world.
That was me and em's last collaboration, this is the current one, dueling blogs - check out her keen eye for interior design at http://www.ruleof3s.blogspot.com/

My friends rocks too!

2008-12-02T00:32:00.000-05:00

Heres another example of rocks being arranged in a circle however these are at a very different scale. Each rock in the currently standing semi circle, which is added to annually, is measured in tons, i believe the latest and largest was 13 tons. Each Rock is dragged about half a mile by a group of 40 - 80 people using nothing more than rope, logs, and long crow bars. Open air ceremonies are held in the center.

Andy Goldsworthy Rocks

2008-12-01T23:34:00.000-05:00

Ephemeral art and work made from nature are seriously special. The buddhist monks who create paintings out of sand spend months perfecting their mandelas and upon completion blow their work away and its gone. The lesson being the everything is temporary and the artifact you create when you are creating is not nearly as important as the act itself, of creating. You can say goldsworthy's work is an amazing example of the temporary beauty of nature and the fragile temporary nature of his arrangements is poetically exemplery of life itself.

Signora Giovanelli

2008-12-01T22:55:00.000-05:00

I took a painting class in Florence and la Signora was kind enough to sit for us. This was in 1999, in my beloved tuscany.

This was the first painting after my epic trip to la musea d'orsay. The only time i was in Paris which was such an amazing inspiring adventure. I saw the Paintings there in person while i was taking an oils class back in florence, so i had oil mixing on the mind and the musea d'orsay has the best collection of impressionist art in the world. I also met Rodin and Camile Clausel there in paris for the first time, the sculptors who got me to sculpt. Anyway the painting above is the first thing i made when i got back from paris and in many ways the start of a different style for me.

i Miss paris i Really love europe

Impressionism Color Recipe Book

2008-12-01T22:20:00.000-05:00

Ok here's a trick, the impressionists who dabbled in a sortof pointalism and light and highlight color study, yknow the big guys monet etc, have produced what is in essence a cook book for good color mixing. They are deconstructionalists of sorts. They don't mix their paint, they juxtapose color ingredients to create that color's highlighted effect when viewed at a distance or through blurred eyes. So if you are learning to paint and want to know how to make any color you can just take a closer look at these for a while. Or mimic their tendency toward color studies which is to repaint the same subject in a variety of lightings.
Good Times

Baroque Chiarascuro

2008-12-01T20:17:00.001-05:00

The Hay Day all time representational zenith in my opinion was the baroque. I love other genres that incorporate non religious themes or mix in ornamentation or surrealism, but in terms of straight up painting you gotta see my man caravaggio. He was born the same day of the year as me incidently and was known for his mischievous gambling, brawling, drinking, partying and womanizing, but even still he was the catholic church's go-to-man for religious imagery. The extreme lighting the soft fabrics, the frozen action shot and photorealistism, the facial emotion, the detail so accurate you can smell them, the characters are warm and alive and dramatic and human. I like the idea of having actors recreate these scenes for photos, i'd like to do up more work which pays homage to the masters with contemporary twists.

Reviving Chiaroscuro Photographically

2008-12-01T20:05:00.000-05:00

This is a few images from a photo series i did. The model is painted on, then draped and lit to create a series which references baroque chiaroscuro paintings. :)

If i only had a chopper!

2008-12-01T19:35:00.001-05:00

There is a genre of photography I love and highly doubt I'll be able to participate in, and that is arial landscapes. When I worked in a gallery in college one of the shows that came through featured this style and I was awestruck. The patterns etched in the earth, similar themes of repetition etched in various landscapes, are somehow zen like. Like the sum meaning of everything can be seen so clear if we just were to take a step back... or ... up.

Hair: a moment of appreciation

2008-12-01T19:18:00.000-05:00

Hair as the scrolling organic flowing line work. Hair as the bridge between figurative and something more fantasy.

Urban Fashion Forward

2008-12-01T18:47:00.000-05:00

One of the distinct advantages to creating illustrations for fashion (or for comic books) is the clients want 'cool' and 'urban' There is a lot of layering of line work splatter collage and distortion in contemporary illustration and that's definitely an exciting thing to be a part of. Above are some examples i found of cutting edge illustration, and below is something i made for a recent project

Figurative Sculpture in Modern Society

2008-12-01T18:15:00.000-05:00

Figurative sculpture is not often used in modern interior design. Here is a piece i made recently (though it sadly got eaten) I have made many sculptures in my life, but this one standing at 3 and half feet was my largest and most complex. I would like to create more but am not sure how big a market there is for figurative sculpture these days. I don't usually concern myself with whether my work will be marketable but to create work which is complicated and devote the kind of time i'd like to devote I may need to consider finding patrons. So the question is, why are so many publically commisioned art works so abstract cold and corporate, is figurative sculpture a thing of the past or do modernists just have a better sales pitch... ??
Regardless this is one of the funnest projects i've ever created. Clay and me are good friends. Im looking forward to our next adventure.

Tactile vs Texile

2008-12-01T17:57:00.000-05:00

Being a designer/ illustrator in the new millenium means working on a computer. I create art in much the same way they used to in the day, but the majority is drawn directly into the computer. My paints are waiting for me to have free time while i click buttons and draw and paint without ever getting my hands dirty. But the result is my cubical job like any other has me tethered to a machine in a box without sunlight, like veal. There is a tactile experience to traditional media that i love cherish and crave. Having my hands dipped in mud, smelling the oils, the thick wet smooth paint, the squish of the clay, the full body movement of massaging a layerof sky onto the bouncing fabric...
My goal is to create more images using traditional media, either as fine art or as textile design, i know it takes longer to produce, but the quality is higher and the process is how i want to spend my days.
though i will miss command-Z
:)

Livin the Dream

2008-12-01T17:09:00.000-05:00

Surrealism doesn't just have to be melting clocks, realistic paintings delicately depicting dreamscapes often is the best of both worlds, concept and craft both excelling harmoniously. I also love that the braid is in her face. Could you imagine the guts it took to have a perfect painting and opt of to mask off part of her face, the result is awesome. I used to watch bob ross and scream when he wanted to paint a tree in the foreground which cut into and covered some of his sky and mountains, he'd say now another happy little tree and i'd be going Noooo! and in the end it always looked good but i'd be all scepticle and then relieved when he'd pull it together. Here the braid offers the exposed subject something to shyly hide behind so her look is a kindof timid feminine peek at us, and it reinforces the movement of the swing and makes the whole thing seem more like a candid snapshot.

Mucha my love

2008-12-01T16:33:00.000-05:00

There was this marvelous time period around a hundred years ago, the camera had just been invented and art was in this transition period, prior the realistic depiction was paramount, it was arts primary function, but when a machine was created for that purpose artists started to focus more on style, in the following decades realistic representation disappeared entirely but during art nouveau there was this beautiful mix of representation and stylization, the painters were free to experiment but still wanted to show real and beautiful things. It was like the art world got to let its hair down and have some fun. Mucha's work resonates with me, its representational but goes a step beyond. Scrolling organic ornament frame his angelic saucy women on pedestals with exagerated hair and ornate drapery, intricate jewelry designs, and hips. mmmm

City Scape

2008-12-01T16:13:00.000-05:00

Here's one of my city scapes, I'm creating a new series of paintings of new york. This one is the view off my roof, i started this one in 2002 when i was visiting my friend anders at his place, and i left it behind unfinished, i moved in two years later, and a year after that found it in the back of a closet, i had forgotten it existed, lol. So i finished it then i guess it was '05.. anyway its pastel on acrylic. i enjoy drawing architecture

MC Escher in India

2008-12-01T16:02:00.000-05:00

Why is it that all the marvelous feats of architecture are made in the name of gods. I Want large improbable inspiring peculiar marvelous to just happen more. To happen everywhere. I love this temple, can you just imagine what it must look like when it rains!