cook: seafood burrito

In my youth when I lived in Vallejo, I used to love visiting Berkeley. Telegraph Avenue was my destination. Record/window shopping at Rasputin Records, used clothing at Aardvark's, $1 slices at Blondie's Pizza, Yogurt Park, Moe's Books--I loved, loved, loved the consumerist adventure as much as my Doc Marten boots. And when I could afford more, I ate Indian, Ethiopian, Thai cuisines on University and Shattuck Avenues. One of my favorite eateries was ¡Ay, Caramba! for the squid burritos. Yah as I was telling a friend, it sounds weird, but trust me it was one of the most delicious burritos. Unfortunately, all I remember of the burrito were the calamari and the black beans and maybe a pico de gallo? I don't think there was rice in the burrito, but a cilantro lime rice would probably be tasty. But there must've been more to the burrito, and so I scoured the internet for a calamari burrito and happened upon this recipe--which didn't include rice but did have black beans. Red bell pepper, jalapeño, pineapple, scallions, cilantro, garlic, and lemon juice to which I also added red onion and lime juice. I only had squid tentacles in my freezer, and it seemed to not be enough protein. So I added tiny bay shrimp.           

 

Black beans are so easy because you don't even have to soak them and can just boil and then simmer them for 90 minutes. This is a burrito that can be room temperature, but I made the wrap while the beans and seafood were still warm. Also I drained a lot of liquid from all the protein and vegetables.

Patrick was dubious about seafood burritos. When a burrito or taco doesn't have cheese or sour cream, he doubts it will be delicious. I also wondered if he would find fault with pineapple being in his burrito.

He liked it! He said he was pleasantly surprised that it was tasty. What I love about this change up to my Mexican rotation is how fresh and healthy the burrito is. I suppose next time I could add some chopped lettuce and pico de gallo to make it even more vegetal.

compose + cook: final 2D painting done for no credit + menu rotation OR let summer begin

I am officially on summer break, which I considered on when I finished my final main assignment for my 2-dimensional art class. Here's the irony though. I didn't pay attention to the deadline which was on a midnight on Friday instead of Sunday and I was therefore unable to submit. Instead of finishing my painting, I was pondering whether I should even take Drawing I and Modern Art this summer at the community college.        

For now, I'm still enrolled in the two summer art classes, and this last painting will go into my portfolio even if it doesn't count for credit or get graded. I did email it to the instructor and asked for feedback. And then I went on a spending spree.

 

Besides the $300 I'm spending for summer sandals, I also just bit the bullet on a $450 portable pizza oven. But hey I'm gonna justify the thousand bucks I'm going to spend so far this summer (still have to give over my credit card for my expensive Vitamin C serum and sun block from Obagi and a new hoodie from my favorite clothing company in Brooklyn, NY) as savings for NOT traveling anywhere this summer. On that note, I ought to buy myself membership again to the SFMoMA.

And I kinda sorta returned to the kitchen. Thursday Taco night was made with leftover steak. I clipped a salad dressing recipe as that's what I plan to consume the most this summer.

 

On a run to Costco and the Japanese grocery, I later made a lunch of California rolls, fried smelt, wasabi tuna, and sake for sipping.

And I finally unboxed some UFOs from my quilt boxes. I started stitching a backing for a modern crosses baby quilt top I finished last year and glimpsed the Liberty of London throw I had begun big stitch quilting. Maybe I don't have time for art coursework at Skyline if I'm to finish these sewing projects.

I also have to remember that I have a pottery wheel in my atrium. Maybe I only take Modern Art this summer and do drawing in the fall. Or vice versa. I'd like to park a sewing machine at school and spend my mornings quilting and hand building more plates and then spend the days in between learning to throw a bowl. I feel so indecisive. I don't want to discard sewing as a hobby. But it is such a slow hobby.

cook: tuscan salmon & "robbing peter to pay paul"

In order to cut down on food waste, which I've been consciously practicing since the pandemic, I shop only for one meal even if it's multiple trips to grocery store on the way home from work or from working out during the week. Don't Europeans shop the markets daily for their meals? I cooked Tuscan Salmon last night to use the last of salmon filets in my freezer and bought just a small bag of power greens and a basil plant at Trader Joe's. I found orzo in my pantry and cooked up a cup, saving the rest of the orzo for a pesto or lemon pasta salad.                        

I also used up the rest of the cherry tomatoes leftover from my Greek salad.

And of course, I reheated the roasted broccoli and Korean cheese corn leftover from our steak dinner the other night.

I love a meal that is mostly made up of vegetable sides. This frugality has spilled into other things in my life. I'm consciously trying not to buy stuff that will just get dumped later at Goodwill because I now wear a capsule wardrobe--anything I reach for in my closet or dresser I love and feel comfortable wearing. I'm noticing that I put more dollar bills into tip jars or into unhoused people's hands. However, I've been having foot problems as I've this ache in my left foot from an old fracture when it got run over by a station wagon. But my neighbor, Nancy suggested that I might have also dropped a box or a book on my foot. I suspect too that my favorite flip flops or Havaianas are very bad for my feet because of the lack of support. I wear them too often for walking around, and so I just spent $300 on summer sandals. Orthopedic sandals from Dr. Scholls and NAOT. Sigh.

it’s the little things

I’ve had to curtail creative endeavors because of the busyness of life, i.e., work and working out and dog duty though don’t get me wrong, spending time with Sadie is absolute joy. She came with me to the Kiss the Frog warehouse where I bought French linens for 30 bucks (the sales clerk gave me a $5 discount and I’ll take it!), a box of matches, and a kitchen brush (soooo cute and better than a nasty sponge).                        

Yesterday after work, Sadie and I walked the park and then visited Patrick at the community garden. There's a seed library now. 

I perused the packets, and there aren't many seeds beyond some beans and flowers and mustard greens.

A lot of growth has happened in the 60 days since I had seen the seedlings go into the ground. And now I see the composting bin that another gardener gave to Patrick.

The sunshine was so brilliant. And Sadie had a lot of pep in her step. T'was a good day despite a hectic and infuriating work day. My evening was spent painting, which also was frustrating. Just gotta get it done. But maybe, just maybe, I'll get inspired and turn out something satisfying.

cook + compose: korean cheese corn and lots more painting to do

I am determined to empty my freezer (in which I had bags of frozen corn) as much as possible before making a Costco run.  Instead of my usual buttered corn with a grilled protein, I cooked Korean Cheese Corn, which I spied in the New York Times, but damn! the recipe was behind a paywall. And so I Googled a recipe on other sites and found one, but I forgot to add the Sriracha. And I used onion ramps instead of scallion. I also used both Best Foods and Kewpie mayo and had to ask a neighbor for some more mozzarella cheese.           

However, it tasted good with the grilled steak (another freezer staple) and the roasted broccoli.

I've gotten away with not cooking these past couple weeks because of Momofuku noodles, a bag of sugar snap peas, leftover hummus, a couple of cucumbers, red onion, feta cheese, and cherry tomatoes. I did make a run to buy chicken kabobs at the Middle Eastern produce store. And today for lunch is leftover spaghetti and meatballs and eggplant parmigiana, which means I'm gonna need to cook again soon. I told Patrick I could cook carne asada tacos with the leftover steak. I've also got in the freezer, scallops, shrimp, and green peas. I think scampi with linguine and also seared scallops with mushy minted peas is next in the rotation. 

I am feeling a little stuck on my last assignment for my 2-dimensional art class. I need to fix a lot of my painting, like completely covering over the red with navy blue in the first word, touching up text and lines with more primary black, coloring the bottom of the cage, adding white, black and ocher to the hamster. I also want the bottom of the cage to be red and not deep yellow. Perhaps mix ochre, umber and white to color shavings at the bottom of the cage?         

And of course, more primary white to cover the background. I've been dinged in the past for not enough coats of paint. Maybe we eat more leftovers tonight instead of me cooking, so I can get more painting done.

clay+cook+compose: scoops, sustenance, scale shifter

Not much clay activity these past couple weeks, what with wrapping up a school year at work and manning a table at a Mother's Day popup sale at the community studio. I worked on my homage to Wayne Thiebaud, using his 2D image below as reference.

Plus I've been feeling lightheaded or dizzy and constant nausea. Could be allergies. Could be stress. Could be old age. And so I've been trying to self-care and not worry about my health. I called in sick one day and just read and rested. I went to the library and found ceramics inspo in a book about the art of simple living. I love the outlines of the pots below. And now I want to make sets of coffee mugs, tea mugs, and cocktail cups as well as the pouring pitchers AND the simple plaques below.              

And the house on the wall sculpture. I don't get it, but I like it. A lot. There's just something so very cool about simple white porcelain. 

 

I've a bag of porcelain I bought on sale at Clay People, and so these clean white pieces will be the pots I'll make at the high school studio.

I saw this speckled buff pottery below, and it's another surface technique I'd like to attempt without the gold leaf. I was looking for inspo at West Elm and noticed that the pots I copied were glazed on the interior and just the upper rim on the outside. Oh! Cylinder vases on which I can do the same.

 

I was also tempted to replace one of my living room laps with the one below. It's another clean look I like. And then I remembered I was supposed to make one this summer.

My scoops are fired. 

I like 'em.

I haven't wanted to waste food. I cooked hummus for a vegan potluck, but I was so nauseous. I suspect dehydration may be the cause. I enjoyed a simple snack of raw vegetables and my chickpea dip. Really delicious even though my appetite wasn't as robust. And a bowl of noodles with green vegetables and lots of chili crunch has been my usual dinner this week although I cooked a eggplant parmesan, spaghetti and meatballs, and green chicken enchiladas for the hubs.

 

And instead of drinking wine tonight, I ate ice cream.

I've now more ice cream for me than Patrick's pints of Haagen Daaz's coffee chip.

Finally I arrived at a concept for my final 2-dimensional assignment.

I wish I could keep it just black and white and red. I will become disenchanted with it when I have to paint more gouache
 

2-dimensional composition: dada ist alles. dada ist nicht. dada is kunst.

My pictogram painting is due tonight. And here it is, ready for submission.

And here's the reflection I posted:  

I found it difficult to make intentionally 'bad' artworks/pictograms. I sketched two compositions--one about alien abduction and this one about what is art? Thinking and deciding on a composition to paint took the most time.  This sketch of graffiti in an art museum was more fully formed, and so I went with it. 

I like the idea of making artworks that use symbols and/or linguistics theory and thinking about what is the signifier? and what is being signified? However, I never want to be obscure and I always want to convey a narrative.  And so, I like my "sign": Dada ist alles. Dada is nicht. Dada ist Kunst. Or Dada is everything. Dada is nothing. Dada is Art. I learned those sentences in a German class and did a little research on absurdist art movements while painting this composition.

The pictogram people were easy to paint, but the surrounding details were arduous to paint, especially the "no photographs" pictogram because it was so teeny tiny. I took in feedback on my previous paintings being too rough draft, and so I spent time painting additional coats and touching up and cleaning up edges. 

I'd only a smattering of semiotics, having studied it superficially in a linguistics unit to examine language as a system of signs and symbols in an English class. I've always thought about communication and meaning-making when it comes to making art, and so this exercise to focus on signs and symbols in general was a lot of fun.

I've always adored street art and graffiti--Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat have always been favorites. And now I admire Banksy. I find it so ironic that despite Banksy's political activism, anonymity, and criticism of consumer culture and social injustice, his subversive work in public spaces such as walls and buildings can get sold in a secondary market when a developer or building owner decides to remove and sell it.

 

clay and cook: cone 10 glazing and calzone

Yesterday was a decent day in the Central Park Studio. I may have only created one pizza plate and one very small succulent planter, but I rolled a bunch of slabs to create more planters or soap dishes. And maybe I'll pick them up Monday night to build on Tuesday. And I made a price plaque in preparation for that one day when I finally sell tableware. And finally finished a mug at which I'm pleased with the glaze results.        

However, I'm not ready yet to sell my tableware. At next week's pop-up, I'll sell succulents.

Last week I glazed all my Black Mountain bisque ware.  

I glazed the interiors of the 3 pinch bowls and the lettering in the plaques in Rutile. I glazed the scoops and the spoon rests with Marshmallow. I glazed the two votives in Flambé. I had Zan remove the two plaques from the cone 10 cart because I hadn't remembered that they were cone 10, but now that I see the pic above, they are. With the last of my speckled buff clay at Capuchino, I made this sign and a rock.

And after clay class, I got to cooking after having not cooked during the work week when Patrick asked me if he needed to buy Stouffer's frozen dinners.

It's a no-recipe recipe for calzones. I bought pizza dough, took it out of the fridge in the morning to rise some more. When I got home,I browned Italian sausage and divided the dough into 8 balls. I had crushed tomatoes left over from my dinner party the previous week to which I added a couple tablespoons of fresh oregano, fresh ground garlic, sea salt and olive oil. I flattened the balls of dough and lay on top a slice of mozzarella, the sausage, a couple spoonful of the tomato sauce and a basil leaf. I then folded it over and pinched the edges as best I could. Not pretty, but tasty which is all that matters really. 

And now I've got leftovers for Patrick and I to eat. Today I want to make a grocery run for celery and green grapes to make a chicken salad with leftover rotisserie chicken and some pecans for my salad lunch. And I just gave away leftover peppers and onions, the rest of my tomato sauce and Italian sausage since we've got calzones now. And I could also use some of that rotisserie chicken to make enchiladas too.

create: 2-dimensional "bad" pictogram

I'm trying not to rush on the painting of my 2-dimensional "bad" or intentionally failed pictogram, where you puzzle over what is the sign? What is the signifier? What is being signified? I was late in turning in a second set of thumbnail sketches with a more complete composition of the pictograms that included details in which to set the pictograms. I didn't know whether to go with alien abduction or a scene at a museum.                                

 

Patrick had said that one day television would be reduced to someone going on a toilet, which I sketched and nixed the idea. A Twilight Zone episode called To Serve Humans was really a narrative of what I wanted to paint.

I sketched first a museum scene and realized that not only was I late with the second set of thumbnails but also of demonstrating a halfway done composition. Whoops. Guess I have to go with the museum scene.  I painted the black figures in and added some shading to the word in the museum painting to submit to the professor.

More paint needed! I ate a donut for breakfast yesterday. Just because it was so pretty. 

My student, Next said she liked the composition a lot when it was in the drawing stages and could see that it was a scene at a museum. But Nicole thought it might be a movie theater because of the stanchions, and so Next said to add a no photography pictogram. Brilliant! I painted the wall yesterday at work.

 

Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall resounded in my brain as I was painting. I mixed primary red, black and neutral gray together to suggest aged brick. And treated the gouache like a watercolor. I also watched a YouTube on how to paint floorboards using a 1-point perspective. I like it much better. I need to practice painting gradient before I add the blue and green to the letters. Floor will be yellow ochre mixed with white. Wall around the painting will be ash blue mixed with white. I had to stop painting in order to do clay club after school. After glazing pottery, I stopped at Costco to gas up my car and pick up a rotisserie chicken. I saw these chairs.

I hate the look of Adirondack chairs, but I like these outdoor chairs for lounging. I won't get them though. I haven't sat in my atrium to even enjoy my firepit this past year. And I should get rid of it to make more room for my pottery wheel.