The first blush

I went out this evening to water the tomatoes and there it was... the first blush! Will (my lovely husband) watered the tomatoes this morning since I had been called into work and didn't get a chance to do it - he called to let me know one was turning orange. How exciting!

But when I got home tonight the first little tomato had passed the "orange" stage and moved right into a blushing reddish-gold. Soon it will be time to eat and enjoy!

Lettuce watch - week 3

So there it is! The little green specks have become leaves - delicious ones if I do say so myself. I had to do a little thinning, so I figured I would "taste test" while I was picking through my lettuce crop. MMMmmmm. Who knew something so small and simple could be so tasty?!?! It's awful pretty too - so many shades of green and red and brown. :)

Kandinsky

Vassily Kandinsky is another favorite artist of mine. He was born in 1866 in Moscow and died in 1944. He traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia, lived in Moscow, Munich, Berlin, and Paris, and was married twice. For many he is known as "the father of abstract painting" - though not because he was the first abstract painter, but instead because of the depth and breadth of his work from 1900 to 1944.

Kandinsky was a prolific painter, producing a great variety of work, which I will discuss next. He was also an influential writer and professor of the arts, detailing his thoughts on color, composition, and culture. Kandinsky believed a true work of art should involve music, color and movement. Over his years as an artist he was active in many organizations that furthered the theory and study of art.

For those who study art history Kandinsky's works can broken down roughly into three separate phases. First, he spent much time studying color and seems to have derived inspiration from the impressionist movement and the use of dots and dashes of color. This phase of his art work lasted from 1900 to approximately 1914, and was also known as his "heroic" years; he spent most of this time period in Munich.

In 1914, when WWI started, Kandinsky left Munich for Switzerland and eventually ended up back in Moscow where he seemed to produce very little art work from 1917 to 1921. In 1922 Kandinsky returned to Germany and landed in Munich at a German art school, called Bauhaus. During these years he entered his next phase of painting and seemed to take a distinct interest in the importance of structure and geometry in painting. His paintings were still rich with color and contrast, but the subjects became far more geometric and abstract.

In 1933 Kandinsky made his final move, coming to Paris where he continued to paint. His paintings entered their third phase during this time becoming more organic. In the world of art history, one would say his paintings became biomorphic (to me this means if I were to look at a slide on a microscope of a bunch of cells the stuff I saw on the slide would be similar to the stuff in Kandinsky's paintings). His paintings during this period were described as pulsating with life and living substance.

I have attached three paintings from throughout his lifetime. Can you tell which painting came from which period in his life?

Here's a hint - the first is called Blue Rider (painted in 1903), the second is called Study of Squares (painted in 1913), and third is called Dominant Curve (painted in 1936).

Lettuce watch - week 2 (part 2)

I know most of you may not be as excited about lettuce as I am... but I had to post another picture. This literally has happened overnight and I really just wanted to share this little miracle of life with you all. It is so amazing what a few seeds, some dirt, water and sun will do!

(Yes, I know we all grew the little bean sprouts in kindergarten, and it was amazing and we all learned about the miracle of life, but it is so damn cool when it's growing on my deck, that I can't help but share it with you all over again... and I'm looking forward to eating it in a few weeks.)

Lettuce watch - week 2

It's coming!!! I promise there are little green buds in there - go lettuce go!

Yummy fresh summer food

Summer risotto - this recipes makes me so excited to walk to the farmer's market and buy fresh produce - sweet corn, tomatoes (my current favorite are Pink Lady heirlooms), and leeks. All of which are in season right now in California. It is also entirely vegan if you don't use the Parmesan cheese at the end. I love risotto because it tastes SO creamy and rich, but there is no cream or butter in it! It's like magic!!

Ingredients:

• 5 cups of stock (bring 6 cups of water to boil, then simmer, put leek tops, really well rinsed, and corn cobs in for flavoring, let simmer while prepping the rest of the ingredients)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2 cups thinly sliced leeks (white and tender green parts)
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine (pick a tasty one because after you add the 1/4 cup the recipe you can enjoy the rest with your dinner!)
• 2 cups of kernels scraped from sweet corn (approx 2 ears)
• 1-2 pounds of ripe, juicy tomatoes, seeded & diced (peeling optional)
• 2 tsps minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 cup torn basil leaves
• grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
• milled sea salt & pepper to taste

How to make the deliciousness:

1. Make the stock - bring 6 cups water to boil, add leek tops and corn cobs, let simmer while you prep the rest of the risotto
2. In a heavy sauce pan heat the olive oil (med heat). Saute the leeks for 2-3 min (until soft). Stir in the rice, saute for 2-3 min (until translucent). Add the wine - let simmer until absorbed.
3. Add the corn, tomatoes, garlic and thyme - stir.
4. Add the stock 1/2 cup at at a time - stir until absorbed - heat may need to be adjusted to increase absorption - if you increase the heat make sure to keep stirring or the risotto will stick to the pot (that's bad). Adding all the stock takes about 20-30 min.
5. Add basil at the end.
6. Serve in bowls, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (optional).

Enjoy!!!

This recipe was adopted from The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley.

Update on the tomatoes!

There are 30 gorgeous, green, globes hanging off the tomato plants already. I am SO excited! Check out the really cute, really tiny one on the far right of the bunch.

Lettuce Watch - The first week!

Check it out! This is the beginning of "Lettuce Watch" 2009. (I know it looks like a pot of dirt right now... but just wait!)

Catalina

This last weekend I visited Catalina, an island located approximately 20 miles off the coast of southern California. It is a rugged island, the majority of which is a natural preserve. There are two small townships located on the island, Avalon and Two Harbors. After a sixty minute ferry ride from Long Beach (not recommended those who get seasick unless you've taken your Dramamine) my husband and I embarked on our Catalina weekend adventure. (He was a little bit steadier on his feet then I was as we got off the boat.)

Since I have dedicated this blog to all things food, art or plant related I am going to focus on the plants on Catalina. Particularly the Botanical garden plants. At the farthest outskirt of Avalon (1.75 miles, the locals were very excited to tell us it was the longest walk in Avalon we could go on) there is a botanical garden and memorial to William Wrigley, Jr.

The Wrigley's used to live on Catalina. The Cubs (yes, the baseball team) used to have their spring training on Catalina. And the garden was created by Ava Wrigley (with the help of horticulturalist, Albert Conrad) to preserve the local plant species and showcase others that would thrive in the island's environment. (For more on the history of the island check out this website: http://www.catalina.com/memorial.html)

The botanical gardens are a combination of endemic plants and a variety succulents and cacti. While the endemics were beautiful, and it was great to see the local species, I was particularly fascinated by the succulents. They're so alien and impressive and diverse. I wanted to share a few pictures we snapped while we were poking around.

The picture directly to the left is called an Elephant's Foot. I thought this one actually kind of looked like an elephant's foot at the base so I snapped a picture of it. There were also older and larger varieties of the same plant that looked less like feet and more like "elephant piles."

The next picture down is a shot of a bunch of cacti that are all one plant (I don't remember what they were called) that was probably 8 x 6 feet wide and averaged 3 ft tall. We thought this would be a great plant to grow below your windows if you were worried about burglars - the needles on the cacti were 1 to 2 inches long, sharp and hard (we tested them).

The bottom picture is of the prickly pears. They were in bloom with beautiful yellow flowers all over them. I didn't get a great picture of the bees, but they were cruising around the flowers and laying on the cacti, drunk on nectar. Apparently they were "on holiday" too.

Catalina was a great little vacation, especially if you're already in southern California and you just want to escape LA for a little while. And I would absolutely recommend a stop by the Botanical Gardens to check out the crazy plant life. Happy planting to all!

All about dip

I love a really tasty dip - this one is super easy (especially with a food processor) and is a nice change from hummus (which is my go-to). It's quite tasty in the summer and has worked well for me as an appetizer, a party dip, or sometimes as dinner served with veggies for dipping and a side salad.

The recipe is adapted from The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, by Peter Berley. I love this cookbook!

White Bean Dip with Dill, Lemon & Garlic

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of organic great northern beans (drain and rinse)
• 4 Tbs fresh-squeezed lemon juice (do not substitute pre-squeezed from a bottle - go fresh)
• 3 Tbs plus 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbs chopped fresh dill
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• sea salt & pepper (to taste)
• paprika (for garnish)

If you have a food processor the easiest thing to do is throw everything in there, except the 1 tsp of olive oil and paprika. Blend all the ingredients until well mixed. Spoon into a bowl - top with the remaining 1 tsp of olive oil and sprinkle with paprika. Serve chilled.

If you don't have a food processor I would recommend a mixing bowl and a hand blender to get everything mashed together. Elbow grease alone will probably work, but the dip will be a lot lumpier.

I especially like this dip with rice crackers - they seem to complement the flavors of the dip.

Happy eating!!

Vincent

One of my all-time favorite artists is Vincent Van Gogh. Today I wanted to share a little bit about his life and a cool place in LA where you can see one of my favorite paintings of his.

Vincent was born in the Netherlands on March 30th, 1853. His father was a reverend; he had 2 brothers and 3 sisters. In his early years Vincent followed in his father's footsteps, working as a preacher at a parish and doing missionary work. In 1880 he abandoned this path and began drawing. Finding his calling in art he experimented with pen-and-ink, lithography, and oils, especially blazing trails in the use of complementary colors in his paintings.

Throughout his life Vincent was unlucky "in love", first falling in love with a girl who was already engaged. Next his affections landed on a widow who rejected him. He spent time with a prostitute who gave him venereal disease (for which he needed treatment), had an affair with an older woman who tried to commit suicide on him, and cut off his own ear following a quarrel with another painter and presented it to a woman.

In the last years of his life Vincent spent much of his time being hospitalized or in an asylum, though he was still able to paint and some of his most magnificent works (I think) came from these last years of his life. On July 29th, 1890, Vincent died after shooting himself 2 days earlier. His brother was by his side.

Somewhere in the midst of the hospitalizations, the year after he cut off his ear (1888), Vincent painted my favorite piece, Irises. I love the colors, the broad brush strokes, the lone white iris amongst the purple. I also love the fact that he actually signed this painting. Throughout his career Vincent did not often sign his work. He felt it was arrogant to sign his paintings and when he did he would only sign as "vincent" and often it was to add a certain color to an area. For some reason he chose to sign Irises and that makes it even more interesting to me.

Irises is currently on display at the Getty museum, in Los Angeles. Check out the website below for information on hours and visiting - the thing I love about this museum is it's free! When you pull into the parking lot you pay $10 to park, then ride a tram up to the museum. The exhibits, gardens, sculptures are all free for you to view at your leisure! If you are ever in LA it is worth the trip, at the very least to check out the VanGogh paintings (although I will admit the rest of the artwork is not too shabby either).
http://www.getty.edu/

Home-made Granola

I would like to share the recipe for my new favorite breakfast cereal - home-made granola. It takes about an hour to make - this includes baking time. It is delicious - at least I think so.

About 3 months ago when I found out wheat was on my endangered-foods list I had to come up with something to eat for breakfast. If you look at most conventional cereals that are sold in stores you will find that a vast majority contain some sort of wheat flour, whole wheat or wheat germ. I started buying my granola, but one box would last a couple days and the costs started to add up... so I decided to make my own.

After 10 weeks of experimenting here is my latest favorite recipe:

• 6 cups rolled oats (Bob's red mill makes a gluten free variety)
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (canola oil works equally well, I tried coconut oil and the granola came out quite chewy)
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup agave nectar (Trader Joe's has a good variety, Whole Foods also carries this)
  
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Heat oven to 325 (I have tried 300 and found the granola was chewier and at 350 the flax seed burned a little and the granola tasted burnt). Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl (oats through nutmeg). Then add the wet ingredients (oil through nectar). Mix well and spread on a jelly roll pan or cookie pan (I use a large cookie pan and cover it with foil to make clean up easier). Bake for approx 35 min at 325 - flip the granola approx every 12 min to ensure even baking throughout. After 35 min remove from oven and spread raisins and cranberries over the top. Let granola cool. Store in an airtight container. Eat and enjoy!

I love eating this granola with organic soy milk and fresh cut strawberries. It is also quite tasty with frozen blueberries.

Growing tomatoes in LA

I started a vegetable garden in the middle of LA. I live in a 3-story town home apartment in the LA jungle with my husband. We have no dirt, no land, nothing I can grow plants in to call my own. But we do have a rooftop deck.

Inspired by all the fresh vegetables I see at the farmer's market I decided it was time to try my hand at growing my own vegetables. I procured a variety of pots from discount shops, thrift stores and craft stores along with a mix of ceramic and iron stands to set them on. One trip to the garden store and I found a 30 pound bag of potting soil, a couple of healthy-looking starter plants, a hose, a shovel, and a few packages of seeds. After lugging everything up 3 flights of stairs I was ready to get my hands dirty and start planting.

I had done minimal research and figured I would start with plants that like sun. The deck gets close to 8 hours of direct sunlight everyday so I knew I needed plants that liked sun and plants that were fairly hardy, even drought-resistant. The deck also gets minimal shade; where we live in LA there are not a lot of trees and even fewer that are 3-stories tall. I had settled on bringing home tomatoes, sweet peppers, chives, mint, geraniums, daisies, cut-and-come-again lettuce, and 2 really cool looking succulents called, Space rocks (adromischus maculatus) and aeonium zwartzkop. The succulents are both drought resistant and are fascinating to watch grow. (I will attach pictures of these in a future post.)

I am now 1 week into my grand experiment: Can I actually grow a garden on my rooftop deck in the middle of LA?

The verdict so far is: it is working! I have attached a picture of one of the tomato plants - it looks like I am going to need to get tomato cages or bamboo spirals pretty soon because these little guys are actually growing! I am so excited to see the little green tomatoes that are already poking out. According to the planting instructions that came with the tomato starters I should have ripe and ready-to-eat tomatoes in 60-70 days!