Chocolate Torte and another finished drawing

For a Valentine's Day experiment I made a flourless chocolate torte for the first time.  And it was amazingly delicious, so I thought I'd better share the recipe here.

Flourless Chocolate Torte:
from the HyVee Seasons holiday mag.

Preheat oven to 350' and
butter and dust with cocoa powder a 9-inch springform pan.

In a saucepan melt
1C butter in
1/4C heavy cream 
over med-low heat, then stir in
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate pieces
till melted and smooth; remove from heat.

In a medium bowl whisk together
5 large eggs
1C sugar and
1/4C cocoa powder
then whisk in the melted chocolate mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until puffed and set, 35-40 minutes.  Allow to cool for 1 hour, loosen sides with a knife, then remove sides of pan.

Seems pretty foolproof to me.  Enjoy!

Also, yesterday I finished the trees and tracks colored pencil.  Here it is.

Trees, Tracks, and Trails, colored pencil, 9" x 12" 2/21/12

 Mid-week already!

2.20.2012

Seven years since my dad passed away.  I'm still striving towards the examples he set in patience, compassion, and in greeting life with open arms, an open heart, and a encouraging smile.  Grateful, as always, for his love and lessons in living.

My Valentine to Todd this year, a sketch of our home, 5" x 7" 2/14/12.

It doesn't get any easier, thinking about how Roo and Moo will never wrestle or hike with their Grandpa Jim; that I have to rely on my memories for certain reminders of how to raise them with love and serendipity.  It is impossible to imagine how life would have been different these past nine years if he had never become ill.  It is hard to reconcile his loss with all the dreams I had for my future when I was just starting out as an adult, ten years ago.

So today I will be calling my mom and hugging Roo and Moo an extra couple of times.  I will be reading a few more books, singing a few more songs, keeping myself patient and keeping my voice calm.  Maybe we will go for an unexpected treat, or have an impromptu tea party after baking cookies together.  We will be having spaghetti and garlic bread and chocolate cake for dinner, and playing board games afterwards.  Holding onto the good memories, and sharing all that love.

Keeping busy, Keeping Warm

I love the colors that come out as the sun sets.  I never get tired of the view out my kitchen window.

Here's how the colored pencil of the trees started out the month.

...And earlier this week.

Today I took a little break from drawing all those lines and decided to carve some new tiny stamps.  (You can still see the trees on the left.)  I get a lot of inspiration from a couple of favorite blogs, and I have been enjoying Geninne's Art Blog so much lately.  Check out her stamps!

 A valentine card with the little flower stamp.  I also carved a snowdrop and a little leaf.

Roo started working on a seal this afternoon.

Happy Friday, everyone!

This Week

Over the weekend we got a chance to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air while out hiking in Swiss Valley.  I'm glad Roo and Moo had more time to poke about in the snow, because this week we're having quite a thaw.  Fifty degrees for a high today; I think we're going to be playing at the park this morning!

 On Sunday night I finished the first sleeve on Moo's sweater - the second sleeve, the hood, and the button bands to go.  I'm deliberating re-knitting the last few inches of the body since discovering that I both mis-measured and misread the pattern.  Or maybe I'll just finish the sweater and let him wear it as is for this winter, and give it a little more length next fall in the hopes he can get another season out of it.

 Some wintertime fun around the house - Valentines ideas:

Workbook time:

 Lots of playtime in front of the fire:

 And, of course, squeaking in some time in the studio:

 Another landscape inspired by deer tracks in the snow.  I love our backyard.

Lately...

We're sitting here listening to the start of the State of the Union address.  Let's see if I can get this fired off before POTUS starts talking.

Moo has lots of fun with our ladybug wings and Roo's bendy green ruler, which they both love to use as 'goggles.'

Did I post this already?  After Thanksgiving I finally finished the Jackson Hole landscape I was drawing for Todd.  It's from a photo he took on our visit there way back in 2005.  Sometimes it takes a while for an art idea to come to fruition.

And just last week I finally finished Moo's lap quilt.  I made it pretty much the same way I had made Roo's, but this time I used heavy-weight embroidery floss rather than hand quilting thread.

It finally(!) snowed here, and we got to try out all our winter gear, reacquaint ourselves with our snow shovels, and justify the purchase of a couple of sleds.  They are the first sleds I have ever owned and operated, guys.  In Seattle we always just slid on our coat-tails the once-a-winter that it snowed.

 I feel like one whale is still missing something.
 

 Two crabs could probably use a little something more as well.

 

I'm hoping this view turns into another colored pencil landscape soon. 

I really enjoy seeing this view, as well.  :)

This afternoon I sat down and whipped out a little colored pencil drawing of my scissors.

I really, really, really love my colored pencils.  They are probably the best art supply purchase I have ever made; I made the investment back during my senior year in highschool and got a 72 color set.

Studio Time

After a fun morning out meeting friends for a toddler program at the NMRMA, Roo and I scurried down to the studio for a little art time while Moo snoozed.  But first I took a picture of the late afternoon sun streaming through the windows.

Roo flipped through our art book from the library and settled on a project.  And I sat for a bit and thought about what I wanted to work on next.  My little frog painting was an easy start, because I had already started it... months ago.  Today was about facing down a blank white page.

Part of me thinks that this is a little bit cheesy-silly, but I wanted to make some number cards to go with a set of Eeboo alphabet cards we're hanging in the playroom downstairs.  And since we were at the aquarium this morning, I was primed for a sea life theme.

So I made a list of numbers and matching animals and did a set of very quick sketches, and then I got started on number one.  One whale.  Here he is so far.  Definitely needs some pop.  I wonder where it will go from here?
 

I think it needs some orange...

The First Artwork of 2012

Yesterday afternoon I finished my little frog watercolor study, enjoying the bright, warm studio while snowflakes fell outside.

It was fun to take pictures of the entire process - something I haven't done before.  It gives you an idea of how the painting evolves in my mind, whether or not this is proper watercolor technique.  And it makes me realize how different my approach is when I'm using different mediums.  With colored pencil I work from area to area, with paint it's layer by layer.

 Turns out I need a finer brush for the smallest of detail work, and also I can see why some artists use white acrylic paint to add the final highlights to their watercolor studies.  In the past I've used colored pencil, but I wanted to see what I could do with just my new paintbox on this one.

Frog Study, watercolor, 9" x 6" 1/12/12

Hope everyone has a good MLK Jr. weekend.  Keep cozy and listen to "I Had A Dream."

Starting the New Year

It's been an up and down past few weeks, but after some good conversations with friends and family, and a few days of boosted Vitamin D intake, I'm feeling much more like my chipper old self today.

Still getting lots of heavy use out of our bamboo tile mosaic.

I love how the afternoon sun streams through the schefflera leaves.

And lights up our crystal candle holders in the dining room.

As a sort of New Years resolution, Roo and I have been working together in the art studio while Moo naps...

And then finding a way to include him too, after he wakes up.  (Don't you paint pants-less, too?)

This past week I've been working on a watercolor study of this awesome picture of a frog.  Good to start dusting off some of my old art skills.  My head is full of ideas, if I can just get a creative rhythm going.  For one thing, did you hear about this?  What a fabulous idea.  I'm trying to decide what wise old tome I would rediscover and re-imagine this way.  An old favorite, or one of those classic heavyweights I haven't gotten around to yet?

And if you're curious about some of what I've been fretting about of late, here's a snatch of an e-mail exchange I sent to Todd's mom, who is an artist herself:

I'm trying to do some oil and watercolor painting, trying to get back into my art after years (and years and years) of back-burner status, and I'm struggling with all kinds of self-doubt and self-motivation.  I know that I need to start somewhere, somehow, to get back into a rhythm and to rediscover my skills, but at the same time I feel frustrated by my smallness (both in subject and emotional depth, and in audience) as an artist, and trying to feel motivated by just doing it for myself.  Which is all silly, because obviously as I work on practicing my skills and my perspective I will mature as an artist and expand my connection to the arts culture here.
I'm trying to find a way to fit it into my days with R and M, and that is challenging, too.  Right now R and I head into the studio while M naps; I get her started on her own project, and then we work side by side for an hour or two.  It all seems so ideal when I describe it, so why is it so hard to keep on?

Especially silly since I am in such a privileged position to begin with - having time and a place to start following these dreams.

We're off to the park on a glorious sunny afternoon.  Tomorrow we're supposed to get our first real snow of the winter.  Oooo!

Making

We're big big big fans of the handmade and homemade here, so I wanted to show off a project that Roo and I worked on last week to send out with our Christmas peanut brittle.

Project inspiration comes from here, via elsie marley; we decided to use old watercolor paintings of Roo's, and I pulled out my ancient case of embroidery floss from Jr. High (remember those macrame friendship bracelets?) for Roo to select from.

I cut the circles out and notched the edges, since the watercolor paper is so heavy, and Roo picked her floss colors and did all the weaving herself.

I think she did spectacularly, and I think the ornaments came out quite well.  Hope the Grandmas and Great Aunt agree!

Pie

We grew this little beauty ourselves!

Pies that I have made:
Pumpkin pie.
Custard pie.
Pecan pie.
Blackberry pie.
Apple pie.
(Strawberry) rhubarb pie.
Lemon meringue pie.
Sweet potato pie.
Shoo-fly pie.
Chocolate cream pie.
Coconut cream pie.
Acorn squash and honey pie.
Nectarine galette.
Strawberry tart.
Chicken pot pie.
Oh yeah, and two cutie pies... Roo and Moo.

Is it possible to take a good picture of pumpkin pie?  Homely.

Pies that I want to try making:
Dark chocolate avocado mousse pie.
Everything else.

Anyone got a favorite pie to offer up?  Anyone want a recipe shared?

Fall is as good a pie season as any...

Fall

This is a lovely time of year.  I want to bask in the glorious weather all day long.  Hello garden full of pumpkins and a few tenacious tomatoes!  Hello mowing and weeding and spreading mulch!  Hello Roo's tricycle pedaled out to the bend in the road.  Hello Moo's chalk scritches and scratches on the driveway and sidewalk, waiting for Daddy to get home from work.  (Hello even to the deck that needs to be stained and the side yard that needs to be reclaimed from the monster goldenrod and butterfly bushes.  (It's a mess!))

I also want to give a shout about my absolute favorite picture book for harvest time, because I only discovered it a year or so ago, and it is a gem.  Are all y'all acquainted with the Caldecott winner from 1980, Ox-Cart Man, by Donald Hall, wonderously and beautifully illustrated by Barbara Cooney?  (Incidentally, also check out her 1959 Caldecott winner, Chanticleer and the Fox, a retelling of a Chaucer tale.)  If not, grab it from the library the next time you're about, and enjoy the idyllic homage to a simple farm life.

If I get my photos uploaded, I have a pumpkin pie post to do next...  Pie!

Not Your Mama's Zucchini Cake

I have, of course, made zucchini bread before, though lately our preferred method of dealing with summer's inevitable over-abundance is to make some kind of courgette curry. But I always like cake, so it seemed a logical extension of our zucchini repertoire. And what a cake I made.

I suppose I could also call this Not-Quite-Martha's-Zucchini-Cake, since it is another adapted MSL recipe from the Aug '11 magazine.

Here's what I did.
Preheat oven to 325'

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together:
2 1/2 C flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground anise or fennel seed
and the seeds from approx. 6 cardamom pods (or maybe about 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom?)

In a large mixing bowl stir together:
1 stick butter, melted
1 C sugar
3 eggs
3 small zucchini, coarsely grated
1 Tbsp. lemon extract

Stir in flour and spice mixture and pour batter into an ungreased tube pan.
Bake for 1 hr 10 min.
And enjoy!

Nectarine Galette

Whew, bit of an extra-long blog vacation there...

I had some soon to be over-ripe nectarines in my fruit bowl, and finally took the plunge into tart making. I had a vague memory floating about that somewhere online in the indeterminate past there was a recipe for a Blueberry Nectarine Galette, so I searched from there and came across two recipes from the Smitten Kitchen that I mashed-up in true Hana fashion. And it was definitely a winner.

I followed the recipe in the second link, but using the first as inspiration, I made the following substitutions: In the filling, replace the 1 Tbsp. gound almonds with 1 Tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut, and the 1 Tbsp. amaretti/ground almonds with 1 Tbsp. chopped candied ginger. Oh yes please. Delicious warm, with vanilla ice cream.

Bagels!

Yes, you too can make delicious homemade bagels to share at your daughter's 4th birthday picnic!  Here is how (okay, assuming you are somewhat familiar with bread making):

Whole Wheat Bagels:

In your bread bowl dissolve 2tsp. yeast in 1/4C warm water.  Wait 5 min.
Dump in 2C white/AP/bread flour and 1C whole wheat flour and a pinch of salt.  Stir to combine.
In a Pyrex measuring cup (2C or larger) mix 1-1/2C warm water, 2Tbsp. molasses, and 2Tbsp. brown sugar.  Pour into your flour and yeast mixture and stir vigorously for a few minutes, then add the final 1-1/2C whole wheat flour, 1/2C at a time, mixing well between additions.  You should have a fairly soft and not-too-sticky dough.  Knead for ~6 min.

Lightly coat your kneaded dough in olive oil, cover, and let rise for ~2 hrs.  Punch down, divide into 12 balls, and let rest for 20 min.  Grease a pair of baking sheets while you are waiting.  Poke a hole through each ball, shape into bagel, place 2" apart on the baking sheets, and let rest for another 20 min.  While you're waiting this time, preheat the oven to 450' and bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove top.

Drop the bagels one at a time into the boiling water, cook for 30 sec. on each side, replace on baking sheets, and top with sesame/poppy seeds, finely grated hard cheese, etc. if desired.  Bake 5 min., reduce heat to 350', and bake 25-30 min. more.  Cool on a wire rack.  And enjoy.