A Summer Project

I don't post about every art project that I work on, but this one was significant enough that I thought I should document it here.

On May 27th of 2014 my sister gave birth to her son Henry Steven at 34 weeks. He passed away on that same day. In memory of this beautiful child I decided to paint a familiar mountain scene that would act as a reminder of how the scenery looked in my sister's city of Provo. I chose to depict Squaw Peak due to it's proximity to the Provo Temple and it's familiarity. I asked several friends and family living in Provo at the time of Henry's birth to photograph the mountains, sky and clouds to help me capture the conditions of Provo in springtime. The frame is oriented vertically so as to draw the eye heavenward.

This project was an important challenge for me since I am not a landscape artist and am not well practiced in acrylic painting, but was a necessary expression of sympathy for a loss that touched many people close to me. I was happy to give this as a gift to my sister and hope it will be a gateway toward healing for those who view it.

Hi Bye

Just a video of Pippa.

Yellow Borsch!?

Last Sunday I wanted to make Borsch. When I went to the grocery store to buy beets, I found that the only beets they had were golden beets. They are BRIGHT YELLOW in color.
Here they are grated and ready for frying.

They looked especially vibrant next to the orange carrots.


When the soup was done it looked mighty different than the borsch I am used to, but it tasted just as good. The golden beets have a milder flavor than the red ones do. Plus since I used yellow beets, I didn’t look like I had just murdered someone after grating them all up. (Ever cooked with red beets?)


IF YOU HAVEN’T EATEN BORSCH YOU HAVEN’T LIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think SO!

Last night I decided to make Hamburger Buns. At home. By myself.
It was actually pretty easy.
And changed our lives.

I didn’t even have to steal this picture from the internet! LOOK. AT. THOSE. THINGS.

I grilled up some Sweet Caramelized Onion Chicken Burgers with Bell Peppers and Gouda Cheese from Costco….


And made an amazing sandwich. POW!

LOOK OUT FOR THE NEXT IRON CHEF!!!

Arrrrghhhhh

So it's been awhile since I've posted anything. I am writing this now on my iPad, which does the job but its not as good as my desktop where I have my pictures and stuff. The problem is that I can't really work in our computer room because currently it is being occupied by our plants and our bikes and other stuff that used to be outside on our deck. They are re-sealing the edges in preparation for winter, and it has taken way longer than it was supposed to. Blasted apartment living. Oh well. First world problems.

So hopefully if they finish the work soon, I will be able to get back to post some new recipes I have been wanting to share, and maybe some pictures...


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Friends!?!?

So right as I was about to post a thought I had onto Facebook, I thought, "No! I am not in the mood to be a patron to this enterprise today!" and decided to write my thoughts on my blog, because that is where my real friends are.

You are there, aren't you? :-/

Speaking of friends, this was the random thought I had about them today. I'm pretty sure that if I have played a video game or two with you, then we are real friends. Like, for really real. I know it sounds odd and perhaps rather dumb, but when I play video games I get really into it, and I am not embarrassed. If you are, then I would suggest you find another girl to hang out with.

This might explain why I was friends with a lot of guys in college.

Why you should subscribe to Cuteoverload.

I’m not much of a pet person. I know, you’re thinking “why the heck do you have a rabbit?” Well, because it was free, it doesn’t make any noise, and is content staying in it’s home-made cage all the time. We only buy wood chips and bunny pellets. Every once in a while I give him leftover vegetables. That’s it. We gave him a name once (Phineas), but most of the time just call him “bunny.”

Bunnies are the CUTEST ANIMAL EVER. Don’t even try to contest this fact. God made rabbits to cute-ify the earth.

All the other animals are for crazy entertainment. So that’s why I subscribe to cuteoverload.com. Not all the animals are cute, but they are crazy and weird. And I can enjoy them without having to own them. I just look at the pictures. It’s the perfect arrangement.

This was super random.

The wonders of nature…in Southside Chicago?

You guys aren’t going to believe this. Well, maybe you will. I came home yesterday to the most amazing sight.

I thought to myself, “did the zoo have some escapees?” Remember, we just had a blizzard. And this is the tree in my courtyard. Some of you know that we have kept one of the inhabitants of our courtyard as a pet. But this was just beyond cool.

So what kind of bird is this? After some research, I found out. They are Monk Parakeets, or Quaker parrots. Parrots! And they are originally from South America, but were imported to the United States as pets in the 60’s. The most amazing thing to me, is how they acclimated to this weather. I mean, it’s freezing outside right now. How is this tropical bird surviving? This is crazy stuff!

I now have something exciting to tell my cubs scouts this week.

WOOO!!!!

Ukrainians don’t know how lucky they are.

Sister Pack, I owe you my life.

Chagall Windows

The Art Institute just re-installed the America Windows by Marc Chagall.  Yesterday was the first day it was open to the public, so we got to use our handy membership and see it.

We also get to hang out in the members lounge with all the rest of the old rich people and sip our complementary herbal tea.

On another note, somebody please buy this hat for my husband.

Sometimes life is hard.

But there is always youtube.

Don’t mind the title.

Random things that make me happy 2.0

Jamba Juice.

My ipod and the cute owl bag I got to hold it (purchased at H&M…a store that makes me very happy)

Books, and this little guy I made out of felt (let this be a clue as to what we are going to be for Halloween - - no, we’re not going as books…)

Fall decor. Autumn in general.

My sewing machine. It’s just a pretty blue. It also works really well.

Cool macro shot.

Organizing with Hello Kitty.

Artichoke Bruschetta. So easy. In fact I’ll just give you the recipe right here, right now. BAM.

Ingredients:

• 1 (6.5 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I get the big jar from costco because we LOVE ourselves some artichokes!)
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
• 5 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 French baguette, cut into 1/3 inch thick slices

How:

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. In a medium bowl, mix marinated artichoke hearts, Romano cheese, red onion and mayonnaise. Top French baguette slices with equal amounts of the artichoke heart mixture. Arrange slices in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
3. Broil in the preheated oven 2 minutes, or until toppings are bubbly and lightly browned.

And I like to sprinkle some parsley on top. OH YUM.

Moving right along…..

Sipping tea out of this guy.

Ok, so you may laugh at this, but it’s really a miracle.

I read somewhere that barkeepers friend works well on stainless steel pots. I was desperate for any kind of help trying to save these precious pans given to us by Micah’s parents. See the before picture:

And see AFTER. WHOAAAAA!!! It really really worked. With some elbow grease, but it was SOOO worth it.

Look at that shine! It was like I had new pots and pans all over again. Makes me so happy. Don’t you love that forest green counter top. Yeah, Merry Christmas.

I went a little crazy with the stuff and did them all. Oh what a joy.

Makes cooking so much more satisfying:

Mmm. Meatballs.

Dream talk

So, some of you out there may or may not know that I talk in my sleep. And some of you have even been there to witness it. My personal favorite happens to be the time my roomie in college caught me saying, and I kid you not,

“Rainbow

Magic

Rhyming

Machine.”

Pretty impressive? Maybe. But it gets weirder. A few nights ago, Micah finally was able to catch a glimpse of my subconscious  (I was fearing that I was past sleep talking). He seems to recall me expressing the following (mind you, he was really tired, but I was loud enough for him to wake up)

Me: { laughing} “But that doesn’t rhyme with _____(some word that Micah can’t remember)

Micah: “hah, what doesn’t rhyme with ___ Betsy?”

Me: “I dunno…”

 

And that’s it. I am open to interpretations on what this could all possibly mean. Why do I care so much about rhyming? And rainbows? When will they invent the rainbow magic rhyming machine? The world may never know.

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