Life is in the Details

Evolution of painting on canvas #1 #bloomtrue #art #painting

I was really hoping this painting would emerge as horizontally oriented as I had just the place to put it but so far it's wanting to be vertical.

I saw the first little birdie (in black in the left flowerish area... very small relative to the overall canvas. Then I saw the larger  bird appear. The tail feathers could go either way... first, the way I've outlined it. The other pops up a little larger when I peek over at it while working out in the basement. Not sure which way it will go. It depends on what appears the next time I look at it. 

Happy Pancake Day!

Happy Pancake Day!!! Last night I made some savory green pancakes with green onions, jalapenos, and spinach with a lime butter to go alongside our soup (as I promised myself I would because I've been wanting to try them)... I love these! Good thing, since I have leftovers (the kids andMike did not... notice a trend?!). Here is Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe. It's also in the cookbook Plenty from which I've been making a bunch of things.

And then for breakfast I made our favorite whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes. Yum!!

Have a happy day! I'm off to teach my kids yoga class after school.

The best recipe I've tried in a LONG time (Black Pepper Tofu - Plenty) #cooking #Asian #Ottolenghi #vegetarian

This is seriously the best recipe I've tried in a long time. It's worth the price of Plenty just for it (though that book has provided me with MANY winning recipes). 

It uses three different types of soy sauce and was so worth going to the international market to get the dark soy that I was missing from my pantry.

I made some tweaks to the recipe (always, right?!):

• I cut the butter SIGNIFICANTLY - it calls for a whole stick (gasp!!), I used less than a tablespoon and used vegetable oil to fry the tofu - next time I won't even be frying the tofu which will make it even healthier - Jessi and I like prefer soft tofu in some stir-frys; next time I might try using veg oil for cooking the shallots and add a small pat of butter at the end of cooking along with the green onions
• didn't use any fresh chile peppers - (a.) because I was making this for the first time - and planning to serve it to J; the recipe calls for 6 or 8 or something like that - and wanted to see how it was without it and (b.) I couldn't find any fresh red chile peppers this time of year and couldn't find the jalapeno that I KNOW that I bought at the store
• I used half the amount of black pepper called for

It was AWESOME!! Seriously. So amazing that I just can't get enough of this and happily ate leftovers - no, *RELISHED* the thought of leftovers, actually! Even J took leftovers for lunch the next day at school it was so good.

This sauce could easily be used with chicken or beef if you are so inclined, and it can be made ahead (without the green onions at the end so that they don't wilt and loose their crunch)

Oh, all the carmelized shallot-y, garlic-y, ginger-y goodness! Add to that light soy sauce, sweet soy sauce (kepap manis), dark soy sauce, a bit of sugar, and green onions and stir-fry it up. This is my new favorite sauce. I made it last week and I've already made it again this week!! <3

Here's the link to the Black Peper Tofu recipe (just remember not to include all the butter... and the soft tofu where you just stir-fry cut up pieces o f tofu and then allow it to heat up in the sauce is PERFECT (!!) - and much healthier too.)

Plenty - Brussels Sprouts & Tofu #vegetarian #ottolenghi #healthy

I made this dish of Brussels Sprouts & Tofu (from Plenty by Ottolenghi) tonight for myself for dinner. The family was having leftover brisket (Ryan had sliced chicken breast), baked potatoes, and broccoli which is easy enough to make so that freed me up to try something new. I didn't think anyone would want any of this for dinner and I was right!!

The tofu marinade has sesame oil, maple syrup, chile sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar. This marinade then gets used as the sauce at the end when all the ingredients come together again in the pan. There was also chile pepper, green onions, a bunch of cilantro, and mushrooms (that I omitted because I used up all of my mushrooms in the Pickle Soup). Don't have Plenty? No worries... Check out the recipe here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2007/nov/24/weekend7.weekend3

Jessi wanted to try some and didn't like the sprouts at all (this is the second time she's tried them and the second time she's had to spit them out). Oh well! :) I was impressed she wanted a taste again. I always encourage and praise the kids when they try new vegetables. It often takes many introductions/attempts to accept a new food as a part of your regular food repertoire. I'll keep trying! Ryan wanted to *try* a bit too (I was stunned!!) but the sauce had sesame oil in it so I promised him I'd make some plain Brussels sprouts for him to try next time.

I thought this was very good and would make it again (obviously for just myself... Maybe as a good lunch to have on hand and eat from a few times during the week)!

I am loving cooking from this cookbook!!! I'm having the best time with it. Next up is Green Pancakes with Lime Butter (a savory pancake that I'm serving alongside matzo ball soup tomorrow night)!! :D

Another soup from Love Soup (Pickle Soup: Mushroom Barley) #soup #vegetarian #healthy

A windy, cold Saturday morning is the perfect time to be in the kitchen cooking up a huge pot of soup!

This soup contains a ton of healthy ingredients: barley, leeks, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, a turnip, potatoes, dill, parsley, cabbage, thyme, bell pepper, spinach (or chard if you so desire). And it also contains some diced pickles! This is what made me make a mental note of this soup when I first read it in Love Soup a couple of years ago. I knew I would one day make this soup. Having a half of a head of cabbage in my fridge (leftover from making egg rolls which I don't think I've talked about yet - but I will - in another post!) was my catalyst.

I should not be making this soup. Although the weather is perfect for a full and hearty soup like this, right now my freezer is packed to the gills and can't take any more jars/containers/bags. And this soup makes 10 hearty servings! EEEK!! But somehow I got the itch to make this mid-week and went and got the other ingredients I didn't have. So when I went to see what I'd cook this morning I realized I now HAD to make this or all the things would go bad and that would be such a waste.

I don't even have to tell you how good garlic, thyme, and mushrooms smell when they are sauteeing.... aMAZing!

I had a nice bowl of this NOURISHING soup for lunch (along with some roasted sweet potato wedges with lemongrass ginger creme fraiche) and just spoke to my friend who just said that she'd love to try some. SCORE! Now I have a home for one of my jars of leftover soup! If you are local, let me know if you want some soup as I have a few more jars for the taking!

UPDATED (to add recipe link):

You can find the recipe for this soup here.

Doodling and dribbles

The title just means I'm watching the Heat/Knicks game and decided to draw for a little bit because I didn't get any creating time earlier today. (I could have, but wasn't feeling it then. I, instead was filling up my creative well by looking at art by some new artist and illustrators that I've discovered). I stopped doodling right after I took this photo...to continue another day. As soon as I began to draw, the Knicks started to fall apart. When these two teams play each other I want them both to win. The Heat is team I cheered for growing up (being raised in South Florida). I also have ties to NY, as that's where I was born and where my husband is from. So tonight I'm torn. Off to watch the rest of the game. :D

Updated to add: Man, these photos from my phone are stinkin' it up lately. I think I have multiple scratched on the area where the lens is because everything is blurry. Boo!

Canvas #2's Evolution... So Far #BloomTrue #FloraBowley #Painting

This is a visual evolution so far of this still-in-progress painting but I thought I'd show it from the beginning until last week before I get started adding to it again this week.

Lots of turning of the canvas and mark-making going on.

The focus is on fun and playing.

Adding black and white for value contrast.

Sorry for the bad lighting. All photos were taken in my art cave (my basement) with poor lighting and my phone. I hope to take these babies outside to capture their true color before the next transformative layer.

Two small canvas reminders

I made these two 4"x4" paintings a few weeks ago to hang in my bedroom (colors were used that already coordinate with that room). These are simple and cheerful with a nice splash of color.

I fully believe that surrounding yourself with uplifting sentiments (and people) can make a positive impact on your attitude and outlook and how you interact with everyone else you touch in your day. Also, *how you feel* directly correlates to how you treat others. We have the ability and the power to radiate kindness, support, and encouragment... or we can nitpick, complain, and wear (or tear) people down. It's a conscious choice. And I know which side I want to be on.

I've been drawn to painting, drawing, and planning uplifting messages in my art (and the art of others) as a means of having reminders around my house for myself and my family. And eventually, as I build a larger collection, I will place more artwork up for sale.

If we all said the things to OURSELVES that we TRULY need to hear, the world would be a much better place. And if we could tear down our ego and then tell others the same thing the effect would be exponential.

These little reminders to take time to *nourish your soul* and *enjoy the ride* were just the sort of thing I wanted to see each day.

Small painting study: perfume bottles

Here's the second in my small daily painting study series from a couple of weeks ago. It is also on a 3"x5" canvas panel. I used the same colors from my fruit line-up study. The exact same colors actually. I used my stay-wet palette so that yesterday's extra paint didn't go to waste. Whatever colors that were there from the previous day's painting was left overnight and then got mixed and remixed and used in this one. I love being able to squeeze a generous amount out on the palette so that I'm not afraid to mix colors and make a mistake and that none of it ends up going to waste.

What I love even more is that I've made art a regular enough practice this month that I'm starting to know about my likes and dislikes as a budding artist.

Art from today: sketchbook & canvas

In Flora's Bloom True class we were encouraged to carry around a sketchbook with us this weekend and draw what we see. Here my sketches from today... the first from real life (a part of our bedroom):

The second a little real life/imagination combo (I started looking at the pattern on our sheer curtains and then embellished it a bit):

Earlier this morning I worked on my two canvases (which I'll post the progress of in a separate post) and I started on TWO MORE! Here are the new ones (canvas #3 is 30"x30" and canvas #4 is 24"x48")

Canvas #3:

Canvas #4:

Here were the colors that I used (the three on the left were for canvas #3 and the three on the right were for canvas #4):