New year/new business cards

"Mademoiselle Spider." 2011
Prismacolor marker and pigment liner on paper. 24 x 19"

"Drippy Tape." 2012.
Prismacolor marker and pigment liner on paper. 14 x 17"

I've been meaning to re-order new business cards since summer of last year when I published my website.  Sure, it's been over half a year since I started putting "create new business cards" on my to-do lists.  I decided on two different illustrations on the front and my contact information on the back.  

Simple, yet striking. 

I admit some of the photographs I have of my illustrations are not the absolute best.  I would really like to have all my work professionally re-shot; especially two illustrations ("Epiphany (Lilith)" and "Mademoiselle Spider"-pictured above) that I had professionally matted and framed.  There's still a bit of glare on the photograph above that I'm just not content with.  I'll just have to badger one of my photo friends and arrange a time to meet up and shoot my portfolio. 

Anyways, I'm excited for the fresh start to the new year (yes, I know we're already over a month in).  I'm excited above my fresh new business cards, applying and exhibiting in new shows and venues, and especially to creating new art.

December + January Reading

I'm stillll readin'! (slowly yet steadily).  
One and half more books down (still reading Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72) and a whole bunch more to eagerly dig through and mentally digest.  (I've got a medium sized stack of new books from Christmas that are patiently waiting to be opened, read, and cherished).  I do happen to really enjoy reading my books slowly.  It sometimes feels like I'm cultivating a stronger relationship with them; taking the time to really dwell in the written world I'm reading and learning to love/appreciate the characters you seem to mentally walk with through the book.  Yes, I'm becoming a book nerd. 

I started the yellow book above, Weird Like Us, in December and finished it sometime in early/mid January.  This was definitely a book I wanted to not end as I contently went from chapter to chapter, thinking of some of my own past bomenian-like experiences.  As you can guess, I loved this book!  I recommend this book to all my friends and to anyone who feels even the slightest bit alternative/bohemian in their lifestyle (I can get really picky about what books I read, so the ones I do are worth it in my opinion).  The book felt open and diary-like as Powers relates her real-life experiences and memories to the different expectations of popular American culture, finding your "place" in life, and of growing older.  

One of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much was Powers bringing up things that our common culture classifies as beneath it, such as: dumpster diving, curb hunting the suburban streets for discarded treasures waiting for trash removal, cultivating your wardrobe from thrift store and consignment shops, or occasionally having a little grass.  I felt connected in some of these similar practices, because I have personally chosen that lifestyle.  I'll admit the majority of my wardrobe comes completely from a local thrift store (where all the proceeds go to assisting the homeless in the area) and I love it;  I've lived in a tent for a month in a friend's backyard (when my old lease was up and I couldn't find an apartment in time).  I've dumpster dove for food and have found some absolute gems along the curb, including six old boxy television sets I used for my senior exhibition for my BFA.

I absolutely love the feeling of upcycling and reusing; especially when it's full circle like donating and shopping at a thrift store/consignment shop.  I also like keeping a small container garden on little balcony I share and buy organic, when I can afford it. This is just the lifestyle I choose to lead as I continue to figure out what ideals I want to try/keep/discard as I get older.  I do have goals to be more self-sufficient, resourceful, and less wasteful;  I want to learn to distinguish food in nature and to continue to learn, and grow, and appreciate the simple things that I feel our popular culture is stifling.    

-Caroline

Table Lemons.

 

Anyone can recite the common line, "if life gives you lemons, you make some lemonade" bit to incite positive inspiration to help someone who is struggling or is feeling a little low.  Well, I gave myself a present of fresh lemons to lift my mood with the winter slump.  Why not just have some lemons around to be reminded of that cheery color during these grey months?

I decided to do just that and to house them in a bright green ceramic bowl on the kitchen table.  I not only bought some lemons to help cheer myself up a little with some gorgeous yellow, but to also help boost my body with fresh citrus juice.  I can also honestly say, I also had some added inspiration from a lemon whiskey sour recipe I found too.  I used regular lemons in the recipe, since I couldn't locate any Meyers lemons locally (which were still tasty) and some Crown Royal blended Canadian whiskey.  The C.R. mixed well with the lemons and I recommend it for this recipe.  However, I would be interested in trying this recipe out with an Irish Whiskey or another Canadian, such as Yukon Jack (named after writer Jack London). 

A little early spring cleaning, a fresh pop of color from some lemons in a brightly colored bowl, and a newly found citrus cocktail are helping to make the greys of winter a bit more bearable.  If you're looking for a new cocktail or just a simple, cheap pop of bright color in your abode, I recommend adding some lemons or other citrus fruit into your life.

-Caroline

Homestyle Cooking: Fresh/Freezer-Friendly Burritos

Burritos are simple, delicious, and are pretty easily accessible in America almost anywhere via a local grocery or gas station convenient store.  I'm sure you can name a couple local restaurants/take out joints that serve some fabulous burritos too.  Who doesn't love a freshly made burrito for take out on those nights where you don't want to cook at all?  I can name at least three places in the local area where I can a damn good sized burrito in less than twenty minutes.  The point I'm trying to make is that burritos are not only super easy and fun to make, but they're really cheap when you buy the ingredients fresh and make a whole bunch for supper (and to stock your freezer). 

My inspiration to create a burrito party for dinner and to stock the freezer came from Martha Stewart and a recipe found here on her website.  I prepared and cooked my ingredients and had them spread out on kitchen table so that Greg and I could pick and choose how we made our supper and our future supper.  I used Martha's recipe as a guideline and chose my own ingredients to use what I already had in my cupboards.  Here are some of the ingredients I chose to use for our burrito party:

Ingredients:
(listed clockwise in the photo above)

shredded taco cheese
guacamole (Wholly)
Greek Yogurt (Chobani)
refried beans
chopped up boneless chicken cutlet
black beans
Greek Yogurt + 1 tsp. Sriracha hot sauce 
shredded Iceburg lettuce
hot salsa
1 cup cooked Basmati rice* (with 1 can of diced tomatos and peppers + half a 
          chopped onion) 
10" soft tortillas (not shown)

*I put in the can of diced tomatoes and peppers + half a chopped onion in the uncooked rice and water before cooking.  I cook my rice in an old pressure cooker for about 9-10 minutes.  When the time the rice is done the vegetables are cooked as well (and make the rice more flavorful).  You could use any kind of rice for this recipe (white, brown, yellow;etc.)

We each had two and made up four for the freezer.  I don't ever recall making this many burritos in one sitting.  Now that I know you can easily freeze them, why wouldn't you make up a couple extra to have on hand?  They were honestly even tastier than take-out or frozen because we made them by hand (and I'm sure the fresh ingredients helped too).  I am so excited to try out my newly made frozen dinners and even more excited to do this again.  Maybe even as a dinner party meal.  

To freeze: wrap individually with a long piece of plastic wrap and mark with the date.  Aluminum foil seems like it would be a good alternate as well.  According to Martha, they should be good for up to three months, but I doubt mine will be in there for that long.  Enjoy!

-Caroline 

November Reading

It's December and I'm still trucking along with my reading.  The end of November felt like it flew by for me.  Black Friday and on has been mainly spent assisting consumers with their Christmas needs at my job.  I have, however, been able to absorb, and love, every minute spent reading and mentally visualizing each word of the two books I have pictured above, even though I've slowed down a bit in pace.  I truly enjoy the anticipation to read more and more as I mentally latch unto to the protagonist and imagine their experience in the text as if it were real.  That feeling when you want to continue and keep reading on to the end; when the book is thinning towards the back cover and really you want the opposite so that you'll stay in mentally in this written world. 

I didn't always read this consistently.  College kind of dampened my personal reading when I struggled to finish assigned reading as well as numerous art projects on top of it.  And I'll admit I've also pushed reading aside at times when I was in relationships.  Movies were just more crowd-pleasing.  I still watch movies with Greg as well as read for personal enjoyment.  Since I found inspiration in an old Jack London novel, Adventure, in the Syracuse Regional Market, among a lot of aged German books, I have been reading and craving more books; especially those written by Americans from the twentieth century.  

Shown top to bottom:
          On The Road by: Jack Kerouac (currently reading)
          Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey into the American Dream 
                  by: Hunter S. Thompson

I loved reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  I enjoy the way Hunter S. Thompson writes in the way that it feels personal-almost like a diary from a witness.  I'm intrigued by his writing and the experiences he's lived through America and Puerto Rico.  Fear and Loathing is absurd and doesn't stray far from the outskirts of Las Vegas and the Nevada desert.  It was above all interesting adventure of a read of a lot of drug and alcohol consumption, interpretations of trends in America from an opinionated sociological perspective, and the quintessential search for "The American Dream."  Kerouac has been spot on fantastic and an equally intriguing read based on America in the late 1940s.

I hope you're reading an equally enthralling book that keeps you anticipating the next pages and prolonging those last pages that edge the back cover.  I'm also very open to suggestions from other twentieth century writers on their own search for an America and how they fit into that place.  

-Caroline

I Love Leftovers.

The title says it all.  I love leftovers.  Even better than eating scrumptious food for the second time is reducing your personal food waste.  It's a delightful win-win situation.

I decided to write this post not only to talk about my love of leftover food from the night before, but also to share a tip on the last post concerning the homemade tomato soup.  I ate the last of the batch last night and decided to add some ingredients to mix.  Yes, it's still quite delicious after being chilled for a couple of days in the refrigerator.  I added too much red pepper flakes to mine and it was just a little too spicy for my preference (but I've been eating it anyways).  To counteract the spicy-ness I added about 4-5 teaspoons of tomato paste and 1/3 cup half & half.  Not only did this even out the soup a bit, but it also made it just a little creamy.  If you're a typical canned tomato soup person, I'd recommend you add 1/3-1/2 cup of half & half or whole milk to the soup for creamy goodness.  

Also, I discovered crushed tortilla chips make fabulous toppers on tomato soup!  Add a little tortilla chips, sour cream, and/or shredded cheese and you've got a pretty tasty dinner (especially on these colder nights).

-Caroline

Homestyle Cooking: Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Crustinis

I'm pretty sure I've said this before (and probably will again)...I could eat soup all year round (easily). 
I love soup.  I do enjoy canned coup when I'm feeling lethargic, but canned soup ain't got nothin' on homemade soup!  We've just had our first couple of light snowfalls central New York (a couple of inches) and occasional snow flurries throughout the week.  The winter coat is already in use and the snow brush has come out of its long slumber in the trunk of my 90s grandpa-sedan during the warm seasons.  Winter really feels like it's just around the corner.  Or down the block.

This recipe for homemade tomato soup comes from a cooking blog, Sips and Spoonfuls, that I stumbled upon doing some recipe research.  I followed the recipe loosely and also blended for a fraction of the time recommended for a chunkier soup.  I also used what I already had on hand, so a little improvisation was made.  Listed below are the ingredients I used.

Ingredients:

(soup) 
2 tbs olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2-3 green onions, roughly chopped

8 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

8-10 plum tomatoes

1 tsp dried basil powder ( you can use fresh)

2 cups vegetable stock

2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp sugar

salt, pepper and red chili flakes to taste

handful of chopped parsley to garnish

other (optional) garnishes: 

french-fried onions

croutons

sour cream

shredded cheese/parmesan cheese

(crustini)
Bagette of choice in 1/2" slices (I used a Tuscan bagette)
butter
sliced cheddar cheese

Heat oil in large saucepan and add onion. Once it starts to get translucent, add garlic.  Cook for 5 minutes or low-medium heat or until fragrant.  Add diced tomatoes, basil powder, chicken/vegetable stock, sugar, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Simmer on low covered for about 40-60 minutes.  Blend soup with an immersion blender until desired smoothness or transfer to blender half at a time.  For crustinis, butter each slice of bagette.  Add 2-3 sliced of cheddar cheese between two slices.  Heat large pan to low-medium heat and spray with a little extra virgin olive oil spray.  Cook until each side is lightly brown and cheese is melted.  Enjoy! 

I originally bought the Tuscan bagette for butter slices and dipping into the soup.  Mini grilled cheese sandwiches seemed like a better option after I was done making the soup.  I also was able to cook six crustini in a large pan at once, which made me think of this side morphed into a party appetizer.  Hmmmm....

-Caroline