exciting news everyone!

I designed and illustrated an album cover!

It’s been printed and pressed, and the band - a little outfit cleverly named Provincial Parks - is having a party to celebrate - so you should be there. I will be there, anyways. I would like a copy of my work - and the music inside it’s pretty awesome too (sort of a sparkly-shiny indie rock with some poppy undertones) so I’m excited about getting a copy of that as well.

The launch party is at the Mod Club next Saturday. Click through to the Facebook page if you’d like to come along!

me as a teen

There’s this meme that’s been going around, and for once I actually decided to participate because it sounded kinda cool.

Things Of Note in this little portrait:

1. This is an amalgam of my looks from between 15 and 17
2. My sorta dykey haircut. I was going for Audrey Hepburn/Wynona Ryder. I’m not sure I quite got there. I did get asked if I was a lesbian a few times. No.
3. The little sparkley butterfly clip that is holding up my rather awkwardly growing out bangs.
4. My black messenger bag. Which I got from Le Chateau. The only place I shopped. Possible contents include: sparkly nail-polish, sparkly lip-gloss, iridescent eye-shadow, green-tea scented hand lotion, American Vogue, GO bus tickets, a script (from the school musical of course), pens, a small notebook, and some kind of pretentious, hardcover novel from the library (or, let’s be honest here, possibly some Anne Rice if I felt like slumming).
5. My thrift-store, mens, stretchy polyester shirt. I probably underestimated the size of the collar here.
6. The size of my shoes. Large. I liked to balance the width of my pants (wide) with the size of my shoes (clunky).
7. My glasses. They were bright-blue, metal cats-eyes. Totally hot.
8. Lavender. Mauve. Whatever you want to call pale, vomity purple. I loved it then. I can’t stand it now. Go figure.
9. I ate, pretty much like a pig - but I was hella’ skinny. I can not believe how skinny I was. Ten pounds away from Nicole Ritchie skinny. It shocks me to look back in pictures. That twenty (or thirty, or forty) pound college rule is totally for real guys. *Sigh.* I want my old metabolism back.

yummy week

I’ve been having a good food week. Right now I am sitting here with a (natural) peanut-butter and (concord) grape jelly sandwich and a big, tall glass of chocolate milk. I don’t think it gets more nostalgic than that (*sigh*…grade two… bag lunch… twenty five cents for a carton of the good stuff *sigh*). I bet it’s a meal that people across North America remember and cherish in the same way I remember and cherish it, and that’s sort of neat.

I’ve also been exploring exotic, not so familiar, tastes.

We finally ventured out to little India last week (also known as one block down the street) and bought some spices, paneer (fresh cheese), jellabi (basically funnel cake soaked in syrup), daal (spiced lentils) and the most yummy, fresh, delicious naan (spicy flat bread) and had ourselves an authentic Indian feast!

One of the stores down the street sells samosas at three for a dollar, so I think I’m pretty much sunk. I could eat a bucket of them, and actually I have.

Last night I made a cottage pie, which is something I had in England. It’s basically what we know as Shepard’s pie, but in England a pie with lamb is a Shepard’s pie, and a pie with ground beef is a cottage pie (and it comes smothered in cheddar!). I don’t know what it was about the “Shepard’s” pie I had growing up, but it was not as flavorful as the one I had in England. So I attempted to re-create it.

I cheated and used a lot of “Montreal style” steak spice to season the meat (which is basically just sea salt and cracked black pepper with some cayenne, corriander, dill, garlic, and onion), and it seemed to do the trick in the flavor department. I ran out of corn starch to thicken up the gravy for my stew, so I had to improvise. I thought about what a peasant living in a small cottage might do in my situation. I decided to toss in a few cubed up slices of stale, oatmeal-honey bread into the pot to soak up the stock and it worked like a charm! It thickened my sauce, gave it a richer flavour than starch or flour would have, and bulked it up enough that it could stand up to being covered with mashed potatoes.

For the stew:

• 1 pound ground beef (whatever cut you prefer - nothing too lean though)
• 1 tbsp “Montreal style” steak seasoning (or an equal amt. of a mix of salt, pepper, and your favourite herbs and spices for beef - thyme, rosemary, dill, and coriander being quite good here).
• 2 carrots (diced)
• 2 sticks of celery (diced)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 1 clove garlic (diced)
• 1 cup beef stock
• 3 slices whole wheat bread (chopped into 1 cm cubes)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

For the mash:

• 2 pounds of potatoes (chopped into 1 inch cubes, un-peeled - potato skin is flavourful and nutrient rich, and you don’t even notice it when it’s mashed)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt and pepper

Topping:

• 1/4 cup old/aged cheddar cheese (grated)

1. Steam or boil the potatoes.
2. Saute the meat with the spices and garlic until it is browned. Add in the vegetables and continue to sauté until they soften.
3. Add the sauces, stock and bread to the meat mixture, stirring to make sure the bread absorbs all the liquid and begins to break down and thicken the stock.
4. When the potatoes are fork-soft, drain them, and mash them with the butter and milk, seasoning well with salt and pepper.
5. Layer the meat stew into the bottom of a casserole dish, and then cover evenly with the mashed potatoes. Give the top of the potatoes some texture by using a fork to draw a pattern into the mash (I like a big spiral). Sprinkle the top evenly with the grated cheese.
6. Broil at 400 for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

In the end, my pie came out of the oven golden and crispy on top, and rich and comforting in the middle. It was quite perfect. You should try it! It makes a lot - at least enough to stuff 6 people - or two people 3 times, as the case may be.

There was one blight this week though. The less said about my fish-ball pad-Thai the better alright?

vivian’s website

While I’ve been out of commission, I’ve been working on a little website for my friend Vivian (she’s a talented girl, who is a fledgling DJ - among other things). I’m doing it just for fun and I’m totally digging it so far.

Granted, Vivian hasn’t seen this yet, so it might look entirely different by the time it ends up online, but at the moment, I’m pretty happy with it.

Vivian was using a little snail with a record for a shell as her little logo, so I decided to take the motif a step further and go for a whole story-book, woodland DJ motif. She also has a love of Alice in Wonderland, so I integrated a bit of that too. Vivian’s own personal aesthetic tends to lean towards rocker-mod, with lot’s of black and white and red so there’s a bit of a subtle retro, rockin’ influence (most notably in the use of cooper black for the header - and who doesn’t *heart* cooper black!). I, of course, added in a good dose of my own Mary Blair obsession into the mix as well.

sizzling shrimp

My little brother and sister came over to visit last night - one last time in the old ‘hood before we move. I was going to make them dinner, but I was at a loss as to what I would make.

Then we started discussing how the other night we had been watching one of our new favourite shows of the fall: Chuck, and this weeks episode centred around a Chinese restaurant entree called “sizzling shrimp.”

We were intrigued. But alas, we had never eaten such a dish.

So I decided I would do my best and improvise, based on nothing more than a name.

What follows is that improvisation. It is probably nothing like what real sizzling shrimp is like, but it is delicious, it is spicy, it sizzles and it’s tastes vaguely like something you might get at a really good little restaurant in Chinatown.

Sizzling Shrimp

• 1 pound shrimp (raw but peeled or zipper-back)
• 1 tbsp butter (melted)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chilli-garlic sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 lime (zest and juice)
• 2 green onions (chopped)
• salt to taste

1. Toss the shrimp with the butter, oil, chilli-garlic sauce, soy and lime zest. Let the shrimp hang out and and marinate for 10-30 minutes while you pre-heat oven to 400.
2. Place the saucy shrimp in a single layer on a baking sheet (you can skewer them - 3-4 per skewer if that makes them easier to handle). Broil for 10-20 minutes, or until the shells of the shrimp are lightly browned, flipping once at the halfway mark.
3. As soon as the shrimp are browned evenly on both sides remove them from the oven and sprinkle a little bit of salt on top, then the green onions on top so they absorb the heat and wilt slightly and then squeeze the juice from the lime onto them.
4. Serve while hot, preferably with retro, classic, Chinese-restaurant-style accompaniments - like fried rice and egg-rolls.

finding inspiration

I have been feeling unmotivated (as I occasionally do). Without the spark of life that leads to ideas and work. Granted, things are pretty understandably out of sorts right now - all the things I normally run to in situations like this are getting packed into boxes, and I’m trying to avoid buying or finding any new things, because it’s just more to lug to the other side of town (as it is, I’m trying to eat my way through my pantry just so that I don’t have to bring that with me).

But it made me think about the things that get me going, get me working, get me coming up with new ideas and exploring them.

And so I started writing a list of those things, in lieu of actually being able to have them… And then expanding and expounding on that list… And then the list took on a life of it’s own and became:

creative sparks

Go, check it out. It will probably grow as time goes on (I left out some things - plays and fiction and tv and music - they will find their way on there eventually, but the thing is massive as it is).

I tried to include things that were instrumental in how I approach life, art, the universe and everything - as well as some things I am constantly hearing have helped fellow artists and friends get those friendly lightning bolts of imagination.

I hope it’s helpful to more than just me.

the papasan question

I am still planning on ultimately getting an Eames rocker, but that leaves a need for something a little more appropriate for curling up with a couple kittys and a good book.

So I was wondering…

What do we think of papasan chairs?

1. they are kitschy- in a good way
2. EWWWWW! they are kitschy in a bad, bad way
3. they are so comfortable nothing else matters.
4. crocs are to shoes as (blank) are to chairs (answer=papasans)
5. they are cheap and tacky and belong only in college dorms, basements and incense addled dens of inequity/hippies
6. Usually, they’re not so pretty but they could be cute if *I* worked my magic on one (painted the frame a nice colour - silver? white? turquoise? - and re-covered the cushion in cute fabric and added some adorable throw pillows)
7. whatever makes the kitties and the boyfriend happy, makes me happy

I’m maybe, kinda, sorta leaning towards: sorta kitschy (but I like kitschy) and they also could be cute - with some boyfriend and kitty happiness thrown in for good measure. Keep in mind that I would not be purchasing a new one, but probably procuring a used one for super cheap (from craigslist, likely). Which is happy for the environment!

Before answering, check out this super pretty room I found at Apartment Therapy that utilizes the chair in question in an appropriate and, dare I say it, stylish manner and totally makes it work. I am kinda basing my bedroom around it. I stumbled across the blog of the guy who owns it and it’s worth a look too if you’re into whimsical design and hand drawn type (Yes! Yes. Yes I am).

spring is coming

A week or two ago, my sister came down for a visit with my little brother and we all went out to dinner together. I think I’ve mentioned my brothers strange aversion to all food that isn’t somehow Mexican/Tex-Mex/Central American in origin?

So we went to this little restaurant way down Queen street that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time: Johny Banana. And yes, Johny Banana is a monkey.

What immediately attracted me was the gigantic Mexican wrestler mural on the back wall the quotes from Shakira on the chalkboard, and bossa nova on the speakers. The menu was impressive too - a very wide selection of light fusion cuisine and for desert? Churros accompanied by spicy Aztec hot chocolate. Awesome, right?

To top it all off they also had an extensive (by which I mean HUGE) beverage menu (alcoholic and non), with a bunch of really wacky and intriguing smoothies - like avocado shakes. Liam had this one that had banana, guava and mint in it - SOOOOO good - refreshing and totally unexpected.

I decided we had to recreate it at home right away. But maybe without the guava (too sweet).

Last night I whipped this baby up with some orange juice replacing the guava and I was so impressed with myself. Not only did it taste delightful - but it looked like spring. Pale, pale chartreuse with little flecks of deep green. I’m calling it my “spring is coming” smoothie, because around here the snow is almost gone, and the earth is warming. It’s almost spring!

spring is coming smoothie

• 2 cups orange juice
• 1 banana
• half a cup of vanilla yogurt
• 2 sprigs of fresh mint (make sure to remove the stems!)
• 4 or so cubes of ice

Toss the orange juice, banana, vanilla yogurt into a blender and blend until the mint is barely visable (no more than tiny flecks). Add in the ice, blend once more, and serve garnished with a single mint leaf in each glass.
(makes two big glasses).

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.

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.