Cold Weather Root Vegetable Stew

Turnips, parsnips, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes.

We've had a cold snap here in New England, so it's time for a warming trend in the kitchen.

Root vegetable Stew

Serves 8

1 medium (2-3 lbs) butternut squash, peeled
1 medium celeriac (celery root), peeled
4 medium turnips, peeled
2 sweet potatoes, peeled
5 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped
5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
4 medium onions, chopped
3 Tbs olive oil
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
2 sprigs fresh sage (1Tb dried)
2 sprigs fresh thyme (1Tb dried)
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the butternut squash into  ¾” pieces.  Cut the turnips into ½” pieces.  Peel and cut the celeriac into ½” pieces. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into ¾” pieces.  Directions to cut different vegetables into different sizes may seem fussy, but butternut squash and sweet potatoes cook more quickly than the other vegetables, so need to be in larger pieces to avoid turning into mush.

In a large pot, heat the oil and cook the onions over medium heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until they soften. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the canned tomatoes, juice and all, and stir in the butternut squash, turnips, celeriac, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sage, thyme, salt and pepper.

Pour in the broth.  Add sufficient water to cover the vegetables, if necessary.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat, set the cover on slightly askew and simmer the vegetables gently, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes or until they are tender.

Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Remove the sage and thyme if using fresh. Ladle the stew into large bowls and serve with crusty bread.

Note: we sometimes add two turkey sausages, sliced and browned, in with the veggies. Use sweet sausage or hot, or a combination. 

Adapted from a recipe by Lisa Zwirn, The Boston Globe.

Cats in Japanese prints and more

Kitagawa Utamoro I. Yorimasa.

Last weekend, stuffed with turkey and trimmings, DH and daughter and I headed to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. After taking in the Postcard Age show (see previous post) we headed to the Asian galleries to view Cats to Crickets: Pets in Japan's Floating World, a small but enchanting exhibit on display through February 18, 2013. The curator selected 18th and 19th-century woodblock prints featuring pets of all kinds, including monkeys, dogs and goldfish, but this cat-lover only had eyes for the felines.  Unless noted, all of the Japanese images are from the exhibit.

Most of these prints illustrate familiar stories or everyday scenes of light-hearted activities and pastimes. For example, in the first print above, a girl watches, hiding her smile, as two boys act out a scene from a popular play, Yorimasa, in which the brave warrior Yorimasa and his retainer slay a monster plaguing the Emperor. In the enactment above, a pet Japanese bobtail cat performs as the monster.

Utagawa Sadakage. Detail, Pride of Edo: An Assortment of Beauties.

The cat in the image above, two panels of a tryptich, is a calico cat - a lucky cat of three colors, orange, black and white. Kitty is indeed lucky, curled up on a blanket over a kotatsu, a cozy Japanese arrangement in which a heat source is placed under a table which is then covered with a quilt or blanket. Everyone sits with their legs under the quilt; the cat has the prime spot right on top.

Modern kotatsu setup. Photo credit: www.johnharveyphoto.com

Speaking of quilts, I've finished this "Gallery of Kitties" quilt top, featuring vintage and contemporary feline prints. The design is a variation of the traditional framed one-patch. The fabric with the tomato-red background is a Michael Miller fabric company "tribute" to artist Tammis Keefe and is adapted from one of her textile designs. Cats and dogs appear on many of the items Keefe designed during her career.
 

Gallery of Kitties quilt top.

Calendar hankie, Tammis Keefe. Note cat in image under "Oct."

The image above is from my personal collection, http://www.tammiskeefe.com/Hankies/Calendar.html

It's instructive to see how different artists, working in vastly disparate circumstances, abstracted the familiar form of the housecat. An excellent book with many cat images is Sandi Fox's Cats on Quilts; Ms. Fox not only offers up appliqued, embroidered and printed cats, but snippets of cat-themed poetry and prose. (ISBN 0-8109-5725-6)

With what silent
stealthiness,
With what light steps
do they creep
towards a bird!
---Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD)

Suzuki Harunobu. Young Woman holding cat and young man holding mouse.

Pets have long been associated with comfort and domesticity, and these prints, with their sumptuously depicted textiles, record and reflect aspirational consumption - the life and leisure of those fortunate enough to have animals whose sole purpose is to amuse and entertain.

Okumura Masanobu. Courtesans Imitating the Four Sleepers.

There is a humorous element to many of the images, and Okumura's print parodies the legend of a Buddhist monk so enlightened he blithely slept alongside a tiger, joined by two young acolytes eager to imitate their elder. In Okumura's print, a young woman, her two young attendants and her tabby cat, striped like a tiger, form a tableau vivant gently mocking the legend of the monk.

Utagawa Kunisada I. Fond [sic] of Goldfish.

No, the above image doesn't have a cat, but the masterly blending of purple into yellow in her kimono was just too beautiful not to include.

(1) The Postcard Age and (2) Mary Oliver

Couturier Vionnet advertising cards by Ernesto Michahelles.

When my children were young, prior to our annual trips to the Cape or further afield, I would pre-print address labels.  Each night, daughter and son would each write one postcard, to grandparents or a friend.  We're not talking Hemingway here; the messages were necessarily brief and on the order of "Dear Grandma, we saw a whale today and had spaghetti for dinner. It was good!"  Stamped and addressed, with those handy labels, off the card would go.

The recipient was thrilled and the children learned to record observations about their day in this child-friendly form of written communication.  As they progressed through school, in-class essays never held any terror for my children; the postcard practice helped them approach the blank page with less fear.

I still love to send and receive postcards, so imagine my eagerness to see a new exhibit at the MFA, The Postcard Age, drawn from the 100,000+ collection of Leonard Lauder.

Cards by Ilona Mate, circa 1906. 

We're all familiar with the static, depopulated photographs of monuments. This is not what Mr. Lauder so thoughtfully amassed. Instead, he focused on cards which captured the spirit and activity of a specific time and place. Propaganda, advertising, technology - it's all here, not to mention The New Woman, sports, and transportation.  Graphic artists created masterpieces in a format of 3.5" by 5.5" inches, working in art nouveau and other styles, proving once more that limitations - in this case size - can be liberating.

In addition,  for anyone interested in fashion this is a must-see exhibit, as you can tell from the images I sneaked for this blog.  The curatorial commentary is excellent too.

Blow-up of postcard advertising bicycle tires; note bloomers!

After looking at the exhibit I took a seat in the Remis Auditorium at the museum for a sold-out poetry reading by Mary Oliver, shown  below graciously signing books after the reading. The last image below is of her hand, writing.

Ms. Oliver signing my books.

Ink, pen and paper.

Ms. Oliver is a Pulitzer prize-winning poet now living in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

I Go Down to the Shore

I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall-
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.

Poem from A Thousand Mornings, by Mary Oliver, The Penguin Press, 2012, ISBN  978-1-59420-477-7.

Tammis Keefe website - tablecloths added!

Collage of tablecloths by designer Tammis Keefe.

Kindly click on any image to enlarge it.

Due to an outstanding effort by my DH, tablecloths have now joined handkerchiefs and linen towels as categories on the website www.tammiskeefe.com.  Tammis Keefe (1913 - 1960) was a woman textile designer who deserves to be better known and, slowly but surely, we're creating an online catalogue raisonne of her oeuvre.

Party tablecloth.

It's exciting to find Keefe's work in contemporary books and magazines, and I was delighted to discover the Party tablecloth featured in William Pahlmann's eponymous book The Pahlmann Book of Interior Design, first published in 1955 (wikipedia date is incorrect).  Pahlmann was an influential decorator and product designer who led the interior design department at Lord & Taylor before establishing his own independent firm.  He was also responsible for the first incarnation of the Four Seasons Restaurant, in architect Philip Johnson's Manhattan masterpiece, the Seagram Building.

Party tablecloth, The Pahlmann Book of Interior Design.

Party tablecloth, detail.

Although my copy of this book is a library discard, indicating that the collections manager found the book out-dated or superseded, I find Pahlmann's advice still timely.

 Small dining spaces for informal family meals are often included in kitchens and while I hate to refer to these as the breakfast "nooks," that's what they grew out of.  See that this space is well-lighted and attractive, since you should always eat in attractive circumstances if you want to preserve your digestion. Children, especially, need light when they eat. These eating spaces usually accommodate a table and four chairs, but some people have reduced them to counters, where the family lines up.  There is always something sketchy and hurried about a counter meal and, personally, I prefer a table where there are children in the house. 
 --Pahlmann, p. 230

Amen - especially with a Keefe tablecloth on the table!

Juji-tsunagi sashiko sampler

Completed sampler.

I recently completed an Olympus-brand sashiko sampler in the traditional pattern called juji-tsunagi, which literally translated means "filled with groups of ten." The Japanese character for the number ten looks very much like the Western alphabet lowercase "t".  By stitching a field of linked "t" symbols this pattern invokes prosperity - may your fortune increase tenfold.

I chose to stitch the sampler, ordered online from my wonderful supplier, Miho, in two colors, Olympus # 10, a denim blue, and Olympus #5, a mustard yellow, which is one of my favorite colors in their range. This is going to be a teaching sampler, and the two colors will clarify the exact stitching sequence, which is very straightforward anyway in this pattern.  I also just like the combination of blue, yellow and white.

Blue stitching complete, braided skein.

When I've taught sashiko before, the biggest challenge seems to be with beginning and ending a line of stitching using the backstitch approach. So the stitching in this sampler, which is a teaching demo, starts and stops with just simple knots. To end the stitching I used a "needle knot;" my recent attempts at shibori dyeing have improved my skill in this detail, which is similar to making a French knot in embroidery.

To form end knot, loop thread around needle.

Tighten loop.

Using fingernail, hold loop at fabric surface, pulling thread through.

Knot complete.

Completed sampler, right side (left) and reverse.

Funny Face Productions

Lawrence of Arabia, before.

A long time ago, by approaching the manager of the now-closed AMC Harvard Square cinema and asking nicely, I acquired an actual movie poster - a re-release poster of the film Lawrence of Arabia. I don't know what this says about me as a person, but this movie, with its cast of thousands, not to mention thousands of camels, deployed in beautifully choreographed and filmed battle scenes, is one of my favorites. It's astonishing that Peter O'Toole did not win the Oscar that year, although Gregory Peck was no slouch in To Kill a Mockingbird.

I framed my poster and displayed it proudly, but, unfortunately, it was water-damaged when stored in my in-law's home (see image above).  So, the poster went into the back of a closet for years.

A closet clean-out  forced some action - either fix the poster or discard. Could this poster be saved? A little research revealed that a very well-regarded poster restorer works about an hour away from my suburban Boston home, in Haydenville, Massachusetts.

Lawrence, after having work done.

Ted  Eiseman, doing business as Funny Face Productions, worked wonders on the poster (see image above.) For less than $100, he gave the poster a linen backing and touched up the worst of the damage, so my once warped poster is now ready to re-frame. For a price, Ted is capable of completely restoring almost any damage to a poster, but he worked within my budget to meet my goals, and I am grateful for his flexibility.

Movie poster now has linen backing.

My poster is an odd size - 26 1/4" wide by 20" tall. Movie posters come in a number of standard sizes, and the nearest standard size to my poster is called a "half sheet" and measures 22" x 28". Perhaps, in my youthful ignorance,  I trimmed my poster to fit a standard art poster frame, although the original lithograph registration marks remain in the lower corners.

Ted graciously allowed me to photograph his studio and posters in various stages of restoration. 

Poster awaiting treatment.

Tools of the trade; paste and applicator, lower right.

Treatment tray.

In progress.

8-sheet Carter the Magician poster.

Restored and mounted posters.

After dropping off the poster, we drove into nearby Northampton for lunch at a Moroccan restaurant, Amanouz Cafe.  While we ate a gaggle - flock, bevy, herd? - of middle-aged, incredibly fit-looking cyclists entered the restaurant, all in matching red-and-white knit shirts, piling their helmets, saddlebags and water bottles on a table. Well, we certainly enjoyed our vegetarian couscous and hope they did too.

A unique city hall - Game of Thrones, anyone?

Sights in downtown Northampton.

Amanouz Cafe, with cyclists.

Ted didn't take long to finish work on my Lawrence poster, as well as two others, and we combined poster retrieval with a business meeting in Amherst, home to the flagship campus of the University of Amherst, as well as Amherst College.  I found Amherst delightful, with independents bookstores, and other fun places to shop, including that refuge of waiting wives everywhere, a yarn shop.

Sights of Amherst.

The Creative Needle.

The Creative Needle is located a row of stores, called the Carriage Shops, a short walk from the historic center of town and set back from the main road in a mixed-use building.  Proprietor Elaine, helpful and friendly, maintains a densely-packed Aladdin's Cave of knitting and needlepoint supplies, Of course I bought a skein of yarn for a scarf, with directions for a design Elaine developed herself.

The Blue Marble.

Another wonderful emporium is The Blue Marble, whose owner, Cathie, clearly has expertise in retail buying and display.  Her focus is gifts with a positive narrative, and Cathie presents a selection of  well-priced fair-trade and locally-made goods that are chic, sophisticated and fun.  In the image above Cathie displays a luxurious scarf of wool felted over an up-cycled sari, resulting in a meltingly lovely texture and color.

The store features a combination of items both decorative and useful, including desk accessories that one would actually use, charming tabletop pieces in wood, glass and metal, and scads of hand-knit socks in fine yarn and rich colors. I wanted to buy every pair of earrings, too, but limited myself to one gift, beautifully wrapped as I waited, for a friend.

Can't be grumpy eating here.

 On Cathie's recommendation we ate lunch at Judie's, just down the street. The upbeat decor alone was worth the price of admission, and we broke one of our rules, "Never eat anything larger than your head," as we tackled the immense, crusty pop-overs which are served with house-made apple butter.

DH with popover.

We purchased a jar of the apple butter to go, and headed back to Boston.

Fresh Corn Salad

Since making textile art is hard work, we need to refuel and take care of ourselves. It's sweet corn season here in New England; here's an "off-the-cob" recipe we enjoy.

Chunks of corn kernels are main feature of the salad.

 

Fresh Corn Salad

Dressing

½ cup cider vinegar

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp salt

few grindings black pepper

Salad

4 ears fresh corn, briefly boiled

½ cup finely diced red onion

½ small cucumber, seeded and chopped

½ cup red or orange sweet pepper, finely chopped

12 cherry or pear tomatoes, halved

3 Tbsp (about 6-8 large leaves) basil, torn

3 Tbsp parsley, torn (optional)

1 Tbsp fresh jalapeno pepper, seeds and veins removed, finely diced 

     (can use canned jalapenos in a pinch)

1 to 2 cups arugula leaves, stems removed

1. For dressing, in glass or stainless bowl, mix together vinegar, sugar, salt and black pepper until sugar is dissolved. Allow dressing to stand while preparing salad.

2. For salad, cut corn kernels from cobs. In large bowl toss corn and remaining ingredients except arugula.

3. At serving, divide arugula among serving plates or bowls. Pour dressing over ingredients in large bowl, mix gently and place over arugula.

Makes 6-8 servings as a side salad. Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens magazine, July 2012

Notes on preparation:

When cooking corn to cut off the cob, break cobs in half - the halves fit better in the pot and are easier to handle when cutting off the kernels. Boil only for a few minutes.

Half cobs fit nicely in pot.

Stand half cob on end, slice off kernels with sharp knife.

After arugula is washed, I just slice off the stems - yes, it's a bit nicer to tear off stems individually, but that's time-consuming.

Trimming arugula.

Trimmed arugula awaits the topping of dressed corn mixture.

Finally, I think this salad would be almost as good with frozen corn, prepared as per package directions, and will try that this winter, when the ears of sweet corn at the farmer's market are a memory.