rubistudios.com

Cozies are not just for tea. We have seen the appliance cozy, the car cozy, and now, thanks to JacquelineKnits of Ontario, we have apple and pear cozies. Jacqueline Dufresne, a mother of 12 year old twins, calls them “jackets;” she also makes totes for teabags and coffee sleeves.

I originally found Jacqueline’s work on Rose and Radish.  If you don’t need anything at all, you should check out Rose and Radish, you are sure to find something you won’t be able to live without

If I squint, it might feel like fall a little. I almost thought about wearing something with sleeves, but for the most part, but it still feels like summer down here in Savannah. The calendar says autumn, and that means soup. YAY soup, my favorite food. This soup uses fresh corn, which we still have down here: a perfect verging into fall soup.

This is a creamy soup, but has no dairy. The richness comes from silken tofu. You can put cream in if you want, but you don’t really notice, and your fat bum will thank you if you leave it out.

Makes enough for 4-6 for lunch.

Peel and cut the kernels off of

• 6 ears of corn

Hold the kernels in a bowl, and add the cobs to

• 6 cups of water or veggie stock (chicken is too overpowering)

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Keep at a simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove cobs and discard.

Blanch the corn kernels in boiling corn broth for about 4 mins. Remove and set aside 1 cup of corn kernels.
You should have about 4 cups of corn broth left. In a blender, food processor, or, if you are wise enough to have an immersion blender, process the broth with the remaining corn and the following:

• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon of pureed chili’s in adobo*
• 16 pkg of silken tofu, drained

Return to heat, add reserved corn and stir until bubbling. If too thick, allow it to simmer some liquid off. Just before serving add

• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

This goes nicely with cheese quesidillas or fresh bread.

As always, soup is better on the second day.

*chilis in adobo can be found in the Mexican section of your local grocer. Open the can and pureed the contents for a quick, strong and spicy sauce. If you don’t want to work that hard, use 1 chili, minced, and about 1/2 teaspoon sauce, depending on how hot you like it.

Karen Hanrahan, also known as Mother Earth, is a wellness/nutritional consultant and writer. She has just posted pics of her 12 year old hamburger on her website.The burger on the left is 12 years old, the one on the right is fresh.

This seems a fitting time to update you on Patty and Pammy, my art version, albeit, not so old. To refresh, Patty is the McCheeseburger, purchased on July 29, 2008 and Pammy is the creme-filled golden spongecake opened on August 1, 2008. I glued the date on in crystal rhinestones so we might mark the passage of time. Please note I photographed them on today’s front page.

For your viewing pleasure, here are two more versions, from early 2007. These photos were taken about 3 months into their existence, which was cut short by a trip to the garbage against my knowledge. (sniff) Yes, it is very difficult to sew lace, beads or sequins onto a cheeseburger. Especially if they have been sitting around for a day or so.

This picture, in this condition, was staring at me from the bottom of a crate I recently unpacked. Circa 1974, it shows two very charming children with their father on his tractor. I might recall rideing on the mower, trying to grab at laundry drying on the line, but mostly, I remember the photographs, and what they recorded.
This one begs the question: What happens when the picture starts forgetting?

Male, pronounced ma-li,  is the capital of the Maldives, an island chain smack dab in the middle of the Indian Ocean. the highest point in the island chain is roughly three feet above sea level, so global climate change and it’s impact will not be a friend to the Maldivians.

Contrary to what I expected, I was able to provision quite handsomely there, as Male is in the middle of a great shipping channel. Turkeys from Brazil, Oreos from America, and cheddar from New Zealand were readily available. The fresh fish market is the most amazing place I have ever been, but those pics come another day.

The local diet is mostly fish, rice and vegetables/fruit. Local Coca-cola is the only in the world made from desalinated water.
The fruit market:

I bought The Art of Embroidery  about a year and a half ago. This term it has been assigned for a graduate level Stitch class I am taking. Hello, old friend. (It’s a lot cheaper now.) Originally  published  in France by Francoise Tellie-Loumagne, the rich evocative images need no translation (but the text is in English).

Tellier-Loumagne takes the reader on an embroidered journey through the natural world.  She presents a striking photograph next to her stitched interpretation: a field of daisies, lichen on a barn wall, even a moldy orange. The deconstructed images are recreated, some as stitches in paper, others as three dimensional wearable art, as in the cabbage leaf transformed into a ruffly scarf, or a flower pot reimagined out of yarn and thread to look like moss.

Mimosa’s replicated in beads, boulion knots, and seed stitch.

More eye candy than instruction, this book won’t teach you how to embroider. You might add a new stitch to your repertoire, but if you are looking for basic instruction you might be disappointed. If, however, inspiration is what you are after this is an investment, especially if you are looking for ways to challenge yourself or slip out of a rut.

I suspect we will be having a few assignments similar to this. Stay tuned.

I learned this recipe at culinary school in Thailand, served it at my wedding party, and again on Saturday night. Shrimp season is in full swing here. Locally caught wild shrimp is $5.50 a pound, they are so sweet and perky.

Combine the following:

• 2 pounds of cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/4 cup fresh lemongrass, thinly sliced
• 3 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 Tablespoon Kaffir Lime Leaf, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup mint leaves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, thinly sliced
• 1-2 or more fresh red chili peppers, seeded and chopped
• 3 Tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Allow to marinate in refrigerator. This is best if the flavors have  a chance to play together, if you can make it the night before or even give it a few hours, you will get a superior result. Serve atop a bed of crispy lettuce (butter or Boston.)

Notes:

Kaffir Lime leaf may be available at your local fancy food store, health food store or Asian grocer. It has an unmistakable flavor. Your salad will survive without it, but if you can find some, by all means you’ll be happy. Kaffir lime leaf freezes well, and is indispensable in Thai cuisine, so you’ll want to have some on hand.

Feel free to substitute some or all of the shrimp with another type of seafood. I have had success with cooked calamari rings, and would imagine this would work with a light cooked fish.

Fish sauce is available in the Asian/ethnic food section of your local grocer.

These are actual statement on the packaging of actual food products.

 
Embroidery on cotton and ultrasuede

I found this list, in my handwriting, stuffed between a stack of less important papers in a crate I pulled out of storage. The list has no title (I do this frequently). Rubio Carbon Dating shows it originated somewhere between 1989 and 1991. My recent comments in italics.

• Alliteration
• The Muppets
• Joe Shaboo
• 5¢ candies that make a whistle noise
• Lake George
• My $10 welfare flea market guitar
• Rueban Kinkaid [the fish, not the band manager]
• Rock Garden
• Getting my period before it gets me
• Cigarettes & Coffee
• Holly [most likely the sister and not the plant]
• Kenny Rogers [the gambler, not the roaster]
• Biting my toenails
• Fun flavored coffee and tea
• Eargasms
• Peach Clearly Canadian–like swallowing liquid velvet
• Paperbag mountains
• Gay men playing volleyball in Cheeseman Park
• Dreams
• Tao of Pooh
• A can of Coke
• The flowers in the alley
• Farts that make your buttcheeks clap
• Wilbur Murkey
• Candy Corns and Chemical Bonds

Do you have anything to add?

This is a well earned snack after a drizzly day of touring on foot. Although they don’t look great, each of these fritters has something to do with tuna, and they were delicious.

Horta is an island in the Azores, belonging to Portugal. We made landfall there after 8 grueling days in a spontaneous tropical storm in the North Atlantic.  Still a few days South and West of mainland Europe, the Azores are another week’s sail from Gibraltar, the entrance of the Mediterranean. The best cheese I have ever tasted came from the local agricultural co-op.

Although not from a farmers market, I love this image. MMMmmmmmmmmm, canned pig bits…