LAW 119: Treat Yourself Well

Yesterday was our 32nd anniversary, and i decided that it was important to take care, of myself, Mungo, Magellan. It was time to develop a more positive attitude, something that appears to be difficult to maintain in the current political climate we find ourselves in.

Food is one of the main comfort tools in my toolbox, i used it extensively yesterday.

Breakfast was a yummy, and really easy to prepare Apple Yorkshire Pudding. Comfort food at its best.

Breakfast, Apple Yorkshire Pudding!

Lunch, at first glance a little more mundane as it was on one level leftovers. However leftovers can be elevated to a more sublime level by tweaking them. I made black bean chili Sunday evening, yes black bean chili of Fat Cat fame, and had enough left to make braised, stuffed poblano peppers. I through in a little cheese and made some fresh guacamole, yummy!

homemade salsa too, but we didn't need it!

Yes Karen, we still have all of the pasta plates, and yes, we use them all the time, and they are getting pretty beat up.

Dinner was fish chowder. Sounds like comfort food city all the way around doesn't it? Some times celebration food can be about comfort. Cod, littleneck clams, potato, corn, and of course a little bacon.

It's great having friends who are potters!

The udon bowls, by Darby have held up remarkably well.

Take care of yourselves my friends, and if you have the inclination please help us out with our Indiegogo campaign for our new project, Tesla's Revenge. Mungo has posted some new stuff about the boat construction at the Floating Empire, check it out okay.

More later,
Morgainne

LAW 118: On the Making of New Art

Been awhile since i have posted anything about art making. This is not to say that i haven't been a busy little creator, believe me i have.

I've been steadily stitching away on my Firebird piece. I just finished the background flames. Mungo jokes that i will have this one finished before i turn 80, i should hope so! I had been toying with the idea of beading parts of the flames, now that it is time to start on them i am not so sure of the wisdom of that path. I guess i will think about for awhile.

A lot done, a long way to go

I promised myself that i would make a real effort to loosen up my approach to the art journaling; make an effort to do more spontaneous drawing, less collage, and more color work. I'm not sure the color work will happen, but i am drawing more. This is a good thing.

Day one, Magic of Words, words of four letters

My newest project will be a small hand made book, Magic of Words. I had lots of paint left over from my Cat Window book, i couldn't bear to toss it and knew it wouldn't store so i took several pieces of Canson multi media paper, torn to 6 x 9" and splattered and blotted it on both sides. Of course i sat on the paper for over a month, partly because it was just so cool i couldn't figure out how to approach mark making.

DAy 2, MoW, how many ways can you say sun?

On the 12th of this month i finally just started. Sometimes you just have to do it! With no clear path, other than a desire to use up desktop scrap and the knowledge that i would use words i folded one of the pieces into a 4.5 x 6"signature and started.

Day 3, MoW, one, feeling lonely.

I've been averaging three days per signature, taking advantage of the double spread in the center to work a little larger.

Day 4, MoW, Do you Measure Up?

As usual, and as should be expected the work takes on the emotional tone of the day; politics continues to creep in, desired or not.

Day 5, Magic of Words

Our Indiegogo campaign started yesterday and three cheers, we've already gotten contributions! Thank you all!  Click here if you would like to help support our newest adventure, the build of our second shanty boat, Tesla's Revenge. Cool art gifts are waiting for you

Day 6, MoW, The Space Between Us

Day six, which has no words harks back to a drawing style i started playing with as far back in time as high school. Eek! I don't even want to think about how far back in pre-history that is.

Day 7, MoW, Laugh

Day 8, Magic of Words

Again, words failed me, inspiration was missing somehow. But than these marvelous little faces started peering out at me. For me Chauvet cave drawings come to mind.

Day 9, Magic of Words

We took Friday off, treated ourselves to a movie, Disney's latest offering, Moana. I am quite sure you can see the influence in the marine theme.

Day 10, MoW, I Will Not...

Okay, i really was planning this before the Tweeter in Chief misspelled honored in a tweet last night. Thanks to Bart Simpson for inspiration.

More later,

Morgainne

Law 117: Do You Believe

Our ship's cat, the glorious Magellan wants you to know that our Indiegogo campaign has gone live today. By the way it is also Mungo's birthday! We are looking for your help in raising funds for the build of Tesla's Revenge, our second hand built shanty boat and floating home. Come along with us on this new and exciting adventure. We have lovely, arty gifts for anyone that participates.

Here is the link that will take you to the official site. Click here


thank you for all your interest and support.

Purr ty please send money now....

More, much more later,

Morgainne

LAW 116: Do You Believe This Weather?

Climate deniers, please take note; it is not normal to experience temperatures in the high 60's in the middle of January here on the Upper Chesapeake. Having said that, i will happily take this beautiful weather. Did not have to have any heat on in the boat, had the doors open, Magellan was frisky as all get out, all around a great day.

Sunrise down river 1.12.17

If you look closely at the sunrise picture you can actually still see a very slight scrim of ice still on the water. Believe me it is gone now.

Looking up from under the Drinking Trees, great patterns

Walking to the store was a treat this morning, no boots, no gloves, no three or four layers of clothing. I felt as though i had by some miracle lost 20 pounds and no longer looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, err, girl, let's keep that gender identity straight!

It is always so odd to see the boats out of water!

So after lunch we sat up top under the leafless Drinking Trees and enjoyed the beauty of the day. Later we had our first grill out of 2017, would have done a fire in the firepit, but the winds kicked up, and it felt to dangerous.

Mungo building fire

I finished up the last of my New's Years cards and started a new art journal project. I am not sure where it is going, that is so unlike me. I think i will just have to live with a little uncertainty, it will probably be good for me. What i can tell you is that i have 14 pieces of Canson, multi-media paper that i used as mop ups from my last hand made book that i have folded into signatures and will make daily art on. I 'Pollacked' the paper than blotted it. The first page started with the interior cutouts of the 0's from the New Year's card. I was playing with the idea of magical numbers and words, and came up with an in spiral of four letter words.

first page of new art journal

More later,
Morgainne

LAW115: Good Morning, it is a New Year

Happy 2017. I was up early again this morning, and was rewarded with a gorgeous sunrise. Today seems to be such a promising, beautiful start to the new year.

Sunrise, looking at our neighbors across the river

We spent a very quiet evening snuggled up in the Floating Empire, although it did feel, at least sound a little like a war zone at midnight. Yes, the fireworks did wake both of us up. We shared a nice bottle of Italian red wine, and the obligatory champagne with dinner, which was our current favorite beef, braised short ribs. Of course i completely blew off taking pictures, bad me, but let me tell you just how yummy it was. Beef is almost always a disappointment, flavor wise these days. It is expensive, chock full of things that are not good for you, usually not very tender, and also usually, flavorless. Unless of course you are lucky enough to have a source for organic, grass fed beef. Then of course it is too expensive to be anything but a very rare treat. Sigh. Anyway......

first sunrise of 2017, looking downriver

Braised short ribs, yum yum, meaty, beefy goodness. or as the writer of the Pioneer Woman informs us, heaven on a plate. I have to agree with her. You can check out her recipe in detail, but it is really pretty simple. Figure 2 ribs per person. Salt, pepper and flour the ribs, dice up very finely an onion, a couple of shallots, a couple of carrots. Dice up either some bacon, or pancetta, fry until crispy and the fat is rendered. Add some olive oil to the bacon grease and brown the ribs on all sides, remove the ribs from the pan, add all the veggies and saute until softish. Don't forget to scrape up all the good bits from the bottom. Add a couple of cups of a decent red wine, bring to a simmer, add an equal amount of stock, chicken or beef, taste and correct for salt and pepper, toss in a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme, pop the ribs back in, they should be just about covered. Cover and stick in a 350 oven for two hours. Just walk away. Don't mess with it. After two hours turn down the oven to 325 and let it cook for another half hour or so. At this point the meat will literally be falling off the bone, oh my! If you can stand it you really should let the meat rest for at least 20 minutes. Good luck with that! You can serve this with anything that will sop up the incredible goodness of the broth, mashed potatoes, polenta(our favorite), you get the picture. I served it with our favorite cabbage salad, a Syrian offering, featuring a heavily salted and rinsed shredded cabbage, with lots of garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Oh my.

Intentionally Blank? Really?

This year on the Floating Empire will be bittersweet, as we expect it to be our last one living on the Empire. We are busy planning and scheming about Tesla's Revenge, our newest project and living experiment. Keep checking in with us.

Magellan is not afraid of the cat's traditional enemy, the rocker

More later,
Morgainne

LAW 114: End of the Year, Early Morning Thoughts

New Year's Eve, and one of the most often repeated memes on Facebook is about staying up until midnight this year, just to make sure 2016 really does die. I can sympathize with the feeling, but most surely will not be awake at midnight. I am an early morning riser, even now in the dead of winter i am often up, if not before the sun, with it. I've gotten some beautiful pictures that way.

last sunrise through the stern window

One of the very best things about living on the water, in my mind, is the quiet time i spend every morning with my first cup of coffee watching the light change on the water and shore line.

Last sunrise of 2016 from front deck

In spring and summer it is the verdant greens of the trees filling the air with growth. In the fall, the vibrant colors of change fill my eyes, and in winter the stark beauty of bare tree limbs outlined against a cold gray sky fill my heart with hope that the cycle will, inevitably, turn again.

Fog on the river

Summer hike 2016

fall 2016

Until next year, when we will assuredly meet again i hope that you, those you hold dear, and the entire world experience peace, joy, and love in your lives.

Duck tracks off the stern in ice and snow from our first winter

More later,
Morgainne

Oh ya, what's a blog post with out a cat picture? Happy New Year from Magellan, ship's cat extraordinaire, as well as awesome personal embroidery assistant. The proof is in the picture.

He's so much help!

LAW 113: Wishing You a Wonderful Christmas Eve, and Why I Love Cabbage, Stuffed.

The above sentiment may sound odd in its juxtaposition, but trust me, it works. The last night before serious eating and celebration starts seems a fitting time to have a very hearty, healthy and homey sort of dish and tonight's meal fits all the above in spades. The origin of this dish is German, i first came across it many, many, many years ago in my first copy of The Joy of Cooking. I don't even know the actual name, and no longer have a copy of Joy, but i have cooked it faithfully for decades. One of the things that appealed to me the most when i first read the recipe was the multiple variations already listed for me.

Assembling the dumpling

Yes, this one is a little bit more work than the average weeknight one pot meal, but...... it is worth it.
So the basics are, cabbage, duh! Preferably a whole head, but hey, use what you've got, i had a large half left from the night before. A protein of some ilk, usually ground pork, or beef, or turkey, or......
a starch, recommendations from the original recipe include, split peas, rice, bread crumbs, pretty much anything you can think of. Over the years i have modified the recipe to be more "Paleo" friendly by cutting the amount of meat in half and substituting diced mushrooms for the missing meat. Last night i added a minced shallot, because i had some. I used a mixture of ground fennel, black pepper and coriander seeds that i had at hand for seasoning, and added some caraway seeds just because it was cabbage, and a touch of thyme. Mix all these ingredients together, last night i used leftover biscuits that i had made for breakfast and set aside.

Putting the cap on the cabbage

Bundle it up nice and warm!

Bring a large pot of water to boil,  you are going to be dipping the hunk of cabbage you have into the boiling water to loosen individual leaves of cabbage. Make sure you completely cut out the core so it separates easily.

Ready for a little hot water bath

Next you need to line a bowl with a clean cotton towel and line the towel with a couple of layers of overlapping cabbage leaves, make sure you build it all the way up the sides. In goes your filling. Gently moosh it around so it fills the entire cavity and smooth of the top. Finish it all off by layering a cap on the cabbage. Gently gather up the ends of the towel and bring them together. Using either string or a large rubber band secure the ends. Don't get it too tight as the dumpling will expand as it cooks. Into the pot it goes, cover it with water bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for at least 30 minutes, maybe as much as 45. This depends mainly on what starch you used. Peas of course will take the longest.

I know, it looks like a lot of onions, but trust me.

Just a touch of nutmeg.

While you are waiting for the dumpling to cook, slice up 2 or 3 onions and saute them in a mix of butter and olive oil. You do not want to caramelize them, just cook them until tender. toss in some chopped garlic, make a roux and add the stock of your choice, maybe a little white wine, stirring until you get a nice creamy, aromatic sauce. Season to taste with a little black pepper. I usually add a touch of fresh grated nutmeg.

Careful, it is very hot!

Too hot to touch!

Carefully fish the dumpling out of the simmering water bath, drain, unwrap and serve. I usually cut this into quarters. Technically it will serve four people. Yup, that's right. Enjoy.

Make sure to divide it evenly.

Yum, yum, and the plate is from Clay Lick Studio

More later,
Morgainne, aka Gail

PS, Bizarre but true, Magellan has developed a taste for good Italian white wine. Hmm.