sniff

I have just been diagnosed of the worst plight known to man: I have the sniffles.

The full blown sniffles.

Thankfully, I have this concoction I’ve developed that seems to take the edge off: gingerbeer and OJ (the frozen kind - it has more vitamin C). It pack’s a punch. I’m kind of intrigued to see what it would do to me if included some rum. Would that take it up to eleven? I could even switch the OJ out for lime-aide, and full on indulge my pirate grog fascination… Bad idea? Good idea?

Then maybe I can get Liam to make me some kind of elaborate soup for ME for once. I’m thinking a little something in classic Chicken, possibly involving some homemade noodles…?

I’m going back to snuggling the cats now.

sweater & soup weather

I think one of my favourite kinds of weather could best be described as sweater - and soup - weather.

Since the weather outside could indeed be described as such (and Liam was generous enough to share his cold with me) we needed something warm and reviving around here. So I made a huge batch of tortellini minestrone.

Minestrone was pretty much my go-to winter meal when I was in my first few years of university. I lived in a big old house with a bunch of hungry people (including my soon-to be boyfriend), and for not very much money I could whip up LITRES AND LITRES of the stuff.

Pretty much all of the ingredients are things I like to have on hand in my fridge and pantry at all times. I don’t have to make any special shopping trips. Not to mention, this soup lasts for days in the fridge - and for weeks in the freezer - it is one of those rare foods that gets better on the second day. If you know you’re going to have a busy week, it’s the perfect solution. One hour of work, and you’re pretty much fed for the week.

Basically, what I’m saying is, minestrone is something I’ve perfected at this point. It’s sooo easy. And sooo good.

tortellini minestrone

• 1 large can of tomatoes (diced or whole)
• 1 small tin of tomato paste
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 red pepper
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 package of frozen spinach (apx. 300 grams - 1 cup)
• 1 package of tortellini (apx. 350 grams - 2 cups - of whichever variety you prefer)
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp of fennel seeds (crushed, or ground)
• 1 small chilli pepper (fresh or dried)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups of stock (chicken OR vegetable OR beef - whichever you prefer)
• pepper
• salt

1. Dice the onions, carrots, celery, and red pepper and drain the tomatoes - reserving the juice.
2. In a very large pot, sauté the onions in the olive oil, then add the carrots, then the celery, then the red pepper, then the drained tomatoes, and finally the tomato paste (in that order) . What you want, is for the tomatoes to deepen and darken in colour - from a light orangey red - to a deep burgundy. That means the sugars in the tomatoes have caramelized. Yum!
3. Quickly, before the vegetables start to burn to the bottom of the pot, add in the reserved tomato juice, 2 cups of stock, the frozen spinach, and all the flavourings (bay, fennel, chilli, garlic, salt, pepper) and 2-4 cups of water (depending on how thick you like your soup to be -). Now comes the easy part: turn the heat waaaaay down to low and simmer for 30 min-hour with the lid on. Check it every once and a while and stir it (to make sure the vegetables aren’t sticking on the bottom).
4. 5-10 minutes before serving turn the heat up to medium or so and dump the tortellini and the frozen peas in (add extra water if necessary - the tortellini’s going to soak up a lot of it) - stick around and stir the pot every couple of minutes so the pasta doesn’t stick.
5. Fish out the bay leaf (if you can find it) and serve in big steaming bowls with sprinklings of parmesan and a side of garlic toast.

P.S. Minestrone isn’t really meant to be a set down in stone kinda recipe - What makes it really, authentic Italian is to use up whatever you’ve got lying around. So feel free to throw in any leftover vegetables (sun dried tomatoes, parsnips, fennel, rapini, cauliflower, Italian parsley, whatever!) and even any leftover meats (especially any pork - like bacon, prosciutto, ham or sausage) - even though I kept my version vegetarian.

not so confuzzled

I spent an afternoon at the book store (with a nummy gingerbread latte), and solved some of my confuzlement issues - as per usual, I was on the right track all along.

Since I liked his first book so much, I flipped through, and actually ended up purchasing Making Comics by Scott McCloud.

Yes, it’s a book about making comics - not illustration - of course. But I happen to be very interested in comics, and illustration is really just a single panel comic most of the time. I think there’s a lot they can lend to each other. Illustration is non-sequential-sequential art to comics sequential art, if you will. Ok, that was confusing… point is they have a lot in common.

This book talks about everything I could have hoped for, AND it’s got contemporary examples that I actually recognize this time around (O’Malley, Larson, Ware etc) AND it’s got exercises for me to play around with AND it’s got a meaty bibliography at the back AND it’s exactly as pragmatic and irreverent and practical as I’d like it to be.

I especially like how helpful it is when it comes to talking about depicting the things that readers/viewers/the audience picks up on, and needs to be drawn in to an image, or story. It seems to be based on some solid psychology/evidence of what has worked throughout comics history. That’s going to be really helpful, whether I’m illustrating or comicing (And I plan to do both, actually).

I think the only reason I don’t see it recommended everywhere, is that it’s really new - 2006 publishing date, to be specific.

However, I also really appreciated the pointing in the direction of Ed Emberly. His stuff is adorable, and awesome and soooo much fun - I’m probably gonna order some real soon (they only had one book, and it’s cheaper online). He’s gonna be a good distraction and reminder that I don’t always need to complicate things unnecessarily. Simple is definitely best a lot of the time. So thanks for that, Travis.

kaylee catness

I have not been posting nearly enough pictures of my cats being adorable in recent weeks.
Hope this rectifys that.

make fun of me, please

The following is a list of the most awful things I have ever owned:

1. “Northern Star” (By Melanie C)
2. “Happiness is Not a Fish You Can Catch” (by Our Lady Peace)
3. “Jesus Freak” (by DC Talk)
4. An completely unread copy of “The Two Towers” (by JRR Tolkien)
5. A completely read copy of “Fall on Your Knees”, an Oprah Book club book (by Ann Marie McDonald)
6. A VHS copy of “Ever After”
7. A VHS copy of “Steven Curtis Chapman: LIVE”
8. At least 3 clown themed music boxes (one of which played “Send in the Clowns”, another which played “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head”)
9. A year long subscription to Focus on the Family’s magazine for teen girls: “Brio”
10. Two pleather skirts. One pair of pleather pants. One pleather jacket.
11. Psychadelic Daffy Duck Keds
12. Fake Doc Martens
13. Navy blue, yellow, lime green, pearly blue, black and at least 4 varieties of sparkly (multi, silver, purple, red, etc) nail polish. Often worn all at once.
14. A logo t-shirt from American Eagle
15. A fuzzy Elmo shaped backback.

I just thought you should know what you’re getting yourself into.

P.S. I also watch Grey’s Anatomy religiously.

confuzzled

I am researching books right now. Books of the instructional, non-fictional variety, to be specific. Books in lieu of art school (as previously discussed).

I recall reading Brian Lee O’Malley at some point say how awesome Understanding Comics is (which is a very well respected compendium of basic comic knowledge - done up, rather inspiredly, in comic book format), so I grabbed a copy at the Beguiling this weekend.

It came highly reccomended, and it remains highly reccomended. Good stuff there indeed. Some of the references are getting a little old, but for the most part Mr. Scott McCloud sticks to the classics (Herge, Spiegelman, Tezuka, Marvel) and they hold up excellently.

But now that I understand “sequential art” I feel the urge to sharpen my drawing skills, drastically. So I look to yet more books of the non-fiction variety. Unfortunately, it seems most instructional art books are not terribly advanced, not terribly sexy, and worst of all: pretty hippy-dippy-new-agey at times. Ick.

Here are some of the one’s I’ve seen most recommended, and the reasons I haven’t brought myself to purchase them yet:

1. Drawing on the Right Side
   From what I’ve heard this book steals most of what’s good about it from another, better book, and the rest is bad science - right brain/left brain drivel that was largely disproved years ago. I hate faux-science. I hate it when laymen, without following any actual scientific method or process come up with lame, simplistic theories and expound them for undiscerning housewives. This is why I don’t care for carb-free diets, or self help books.

2. The Natural Way to Draw
   This is apparently the much better and much more thorough workbook that the “Right Side” one took most of it’s exercises from. It’s apparently a classic, and and largely outlines the traditional method of learning to draw - the one most of us who’ve ever taken an art class have already been taught. The problem here, of course, is that in the 9 plus years of art training my little brain has experienced, I’ve likely worked my way through most of the stuff multiple times already. Grids? Blind contour drawings? No thanks. I had my fill in the ninth grade.

3. The Artist’s Way to Spiritual Creativity
   This book is definitely one of the ‘hippy-dippy-new-agey’ ones. It’s even got the word “spiritual” in the title. I’m far too pragmatic for that sort of thing, I’m afraid. I just end up mocking it whenever I skim it at the bookstore.

   Besides, it’s really a writing guide. And I write fine, and quite prolifically. I even have a pretty strong and definite literary voice.

   And of course, I am an illustrator (who sometimes writes) not a writer. I understand that it might help me ‘embrace my creative side’ and every-time I decide “no way, not for me,” internally, I find myself looking at it again just to see why so many people highly recommend it… But the same people who recommend it also like Sark a whole lot. And I’m not a fan. She’s like a middle age women’s answer to R. Crumb (who I’m not a fan of either. But I respect Crumb more. At least he’s a bit more irreverent).

   Basically, I just wish there was something along the lines of this book that would allow me to keep my street cred (”The Indie Way to Being Cool,” maybe…? Yes…? No…?).

   But above all else, this book DOES NOT teach you how to draw good. It doesn’t teach you to draw, at all. It’s not, actually a drawing manual. So all this is moot. Nope. No good.

4. Creative License
   Again, this one is a bit too self-helpy for my liking… and a bit unfounded… and too inspirational: You can do it! Hang in there!. With some (as in very limited) drawing advice thrown in.

   I like Danny Gregory, I really do, he’s a nice guy and a good illustrator, and a great blogger - but I’ve read a good chunk of his blog, and I’m not sure there’s much in this book I couldn’t glean from the blog itself. Or that there’s much left for me to learn from him in general.

   From reading his blog, I’ve found that he doesn’t seem terribly open to change or advancement in style or technique. I’ve often read him railing against those who would dare to tell him that he could improve himself in one way or another. And I just don’t think that’s the attitude I want right now.

   I’m a highly critical person. I beleive in constructive criticism. I thrive on lots of in depth discussion and nit-picking. I mean, my boyfriend reviews Sorkin on Ain’t it cool, for goodness sake. Besides, there seems to be far too much discussion of WHY to draw, and not nearly enough on HOW to draw, and that’s what I’m really aiming for. More instructional, less inspirational.

So, anyone out there got any better ideas?

Or am I just being a stubborn, snobby, stick-in-the-mud?

(All in all, I think for now it seems like lots more life drawing is the way to go.)

winter girls

Am I the only one who’ll kinda miss winter when it’s gone?

I like the blustery weather. I like the fluffy snow.

I like getting bundled up to go outside. I like mittens, and scarves, and toques, and berets, and pea-coats, and parkas.

I like curling up with a book, or some knitting, or sewing, or illustrating while sparkly flakes fall outside.

I like making minestrone, and chilli, and roast beef, and baked ziti, and spaghetti Bolognese.

And I feel like we didn’t get our fair share of winter this year. Granted, I happen to think that Toronto looks especially pretty when it’s “Rosy and Gray” out (as Ron Hawkins put it).

But this year there’s been far too much grey. Not nearly enough fluffy-white-stuff.

suggestion

If you decide to make that brisket I gave the recipe for yesterday (or have already made it - and good on you for that) here is what you should do if there are any leftovers:

1. Warm up any leftover gravy and add in any leftover meat.
2. Make some fries (my oven roasted potatoes sliced into shoestrings will do).
3. Crumble up a couple hundred grams of fontina cheese.
4. Indulge in some of the best poutine of your life.

My theory is: Calories don’t count in February. Especially not when your boyfriend is sick and snuffly and grumpy and pathetic and has to head to work on a cold night.

love beef

It was probably wandering past all the restaurants serving up fillet minion in a red wine reduction on Valentines day, but for some reason I wanted something red, beefy, winey and onion studded for dinner that night.

But, being the kind of person that can’t leave well enough alone, I didn’t want to blow 30 bucks on some boring tenderloin or other schmancy cut of meat. In the grocery store, at the butchers counter, I had an epiphany, “Ooooh… a combo the best of the two finest beef dishes known to man: brisket and bourguignon! That’s it!”

This recipe is not for the faint of heart. Or faint of meat.

A brisket is the ideal meal when you’ve got some extra patience and time on your hands - it doesn’t require too much active participation, but does some require some time (3-4 hours) to gently braise. The other night Liam was working at a local theatre, so I knew he wouldn’t get home ’til late. Perfect opportunity for some braising.

We got some great Argentinean merlot for this. You don’t need to get anything fancy, but it has to be a pretty butch red wine to stand up to the red meat. Of course, a Burgundy would be most authentic - but this is not meant to be authentic boeuf bourguignon, it is merely an interpretation of it’s flavours. So really, anything goes, and I decided to keep things relatively simple - a good cut of beef doesn’t need too much mucking around with.

This serves two with leftovers. Which you will most definitely want.

bourguignon brisket with roasted potatoes

• 1 small beef brisket (apx 1 pound of meat)
• 1 cup of red wine
• 1 cup of good vegetable stock (home made would be ideal)
• 1/2 pound of small shallots (or apx. 1 dozen , or a good handful)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 tablespoons of cold butter
• 1 pound of potatoes
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• Cracked black pepper corns
• Course sea salt

1. Peel the shallots, but leave them whole. Dice the garlic. Season the meat with the salt, pepper and diced garlic - vigourously massaging it it into the meat.
2. Put the meat into a small casserole dish with a lid. The brisket should have a bit of fat on one side. Put that side up. If it does not have much fat on the top (and believe me, fat is very necessary to keep the meat from drying out), put the butter right on top of the meat.
   Pour the wine, herbs and shallots in (reserving one shallot). There should be enough liquid to almost cover the meat.
3. Put it in the oven (preheated to 300 F) covered and leave it there for 3-4 hours - checking occasionally (every 30-60 minutes) to make sure it does not dry out.
   The liquid should slowly evaporate and thicken (leaving you with a delicious sauce) but if it is evaporating too quickly, feel free to top up with stock and baste as neeed.
4. Now for the potatoes: 1 hour before you expect the brisket to be done, chop up the potatoes and place them on a baking sheet with 1 tsp of olive oil, and a good coating of salt and pepper, and the reserved shallot (diced). Take the brisket out of the oven, and “borrow” a teaspoon or so of it’s roasting juices to add in with the potatoes. Toss well. Return both the meat, and the potatoes to the oven.
5. The brisket is done when it falls apart at the mere sight of a utensil… Ok, not quite, but when it should shred really easily with a fork. Remove the meat from the oven and it’s pan and wrap it in tin foil, letting it rest for 15 minutes to a half hour.
   Remove the bay leaf from the juices and if you have not yet used the butter, add it to the sauce now (it may be kept warm in the oven until the meat is ready to serve).
6. After the designated waiting period, you should shred the meat with a fork into manageable pieces and give it a light coating of the sauce. The potatoes should also be done around now - they should be evenly gold, crispy and roasted on the outside, and soft on the inside.
7. Serve the roasted potates and shredded, saucy brisket accompanied by freshly steamed and salted green vegetables (we had rapini, which was excellent) and a vessel of the rich, juicy, shallot-studded sauce.

romantic

Yesterday was surprisingly pleasant. We don’t normally go in for much holiday related festivities on Valentines day - we generally find it a bit tacky.

And I don’t even mean just all the red and pink and hearts - that stuff I don’t mind.

I actually kind of like red and pink and hearts.

It’s more just the clichés that get to me. (Red roses, champagne, teddy bears and all the other commercialized “hallmarks” of a greeting card holiday.)

And of course on the other side of the coin you’ve got all the virulent anti-valentines day people. (So you’re single. I get it. Do you cry on Fathers Day because you don’t have a father? How about Secretaries’ Day because you lost your secretary in a freak typing accident? Flag day, because you were once choked by oversized Australian flag? Black History Month because you’re a WASP? Let your coupled friends celebrate the love in their life and get over yourself.)

Overall, I really believe that romance is spontaneous. Romance should just… kind of… happen.

The more you plan and plot and organize and carefully schedule romance the less romantic it becomes.

And yesterday, Toronto sparkled under a good two feet of confetti like powder.

So we headed out to the Distillery District - it’s pretty red brick Victorian industrial buildings looked very nice indeed under it’s fluffy blanket of snow.

We had Mayan hot chocolate and a few choice truffles at Soma Chocolate Shop - I’ve heard that the place is amazing and the best chocolate in the city - and I was not disappointed.

The hot chocolate was gently spiced with chilli pepper, cinnamon and Madagascar vanilla - just enough to warm the back of your throat - but not burn your lips. Absolutely perfect for a blustery February day.

The truffles were truly some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had! They had that gentle crackle and crunch when you bit into them that instantly melted inside your mouth - and a perfectly clean chocolate flavour on the inside. Not too sweet, no muddiness, just clean, clear, creamy, smooth chocolate flavour. My favourite was a cocoa powder covered whiskey flavoured one (appropriate because the Distillery was once actually a distillery, of course).

One of the best parts about Soma is the gigantic windows they have where you can watch the chefs prepare the chocolate - and they make much of their chocolate from scratch (!!!) so it’s an incredibly interesting process.

Afterwards we stopped by my absolute favourite store/gallery in Toronto - Distill. I do not have the money for anything there but my hope is that one day my entire wardrobe will be purchased there. At very least, I always pick up a few new ideas whenever I push past those big heavy old doors and above all else I find inspiration hopelessly romantic - and vice versa.