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Archive for the ‘Kitchen Inspirations’ Category

As you walk around Kyoto, you’ll notice in the windows of restaurants or any type of establishment selling food items, the most beautiful displays of freshly prepared delicacies.  Shrimp, appearing as if caught just that morning, top noodles and float in bowls of clear broth.  Sushi artfully arranged on bamboo platters glistens in the sunlight.  In front of the Italian restaurants, calzones spill melted cheese onto white plates.  It is amazing as you press your face against the windows to realize that every single dish is a fake.  Every scale, every shell, every bit of liquid is synthetic.  But the craftsmanship is of such a level as to make the mouth water even after you realize the dishes are plastic!

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When I first spied these illuminated leaves in the Middlesex Fells, I was stopped in my tracks.  At first, I thought the leaves were monarch butterflies — they so resembled the pictures I’d seen of monarchs dripping orangely from the trees along their migration routes. There were many such sights in the Fells this past Sunday.  Such a journey, with the sunlight so golden and falling at that end-of-summer low angle … it was a definite highlight of the month. Following are a few other highlights of the month, as well as a some plans and prospects for September.

For those of you new to my blog, these more or less monthly updates are my attempt to regularly share with friends, family and colleagues my creative activities. These updates also help me put a public stake in the ground about what I am planning to do in the near future … so that (ahem) my friends, family and colleagues can help hold me accountable and keep me honest! Even if you regularly visit my blog, I think you might find a few new items of interest … especially if you like chocolate. 😉

Where Inspiration Found Me

Inspiration appeared in unexpected places in August. For both words and images, Steve’s Kitchen, was a source of inspiration. The images are below. As for the words, you can read the recent short that appears here in Orion Magazine’s online Places Where You Live. FYI, the picture you see in the online story will be appearing in the magazine’s November/December print issue.

And maybe being in Steve’s kitchen set the tone for the month, because food in general inspired me. I sent off poems about food. I’ve been reading books about food. Heck, I may even watch Babette’s Feast tonight. I do know that in August I spent a lot of time photographing food … first at the farmer’s market, and then … in Steve’s kitchen.

Additional images can be found here.

Though it is darn toasty now where I live, earlier this month there were heavy, steady rains and the air was so chill, people had pulled out sweaters and scarves. On my way into work one day I was captured by the pools that had formed on the sidewalks. And floating in the pools were fallen leaves.

More images like these can be found here.

Leaves in general have been inspiring me.

A leaf at the Middlesex Fells. You can view more Fells images here.

Okay, that’s a snapshot of the past month. What’s on tap for September?

* continuing to send off submissions for both the writing and the photography

* investigating what it would take to publish a book of my photos

* following up on some really cool story leads that people have been sending my way

* keeping better track of the arts events taking place in my area, especially those coming up for the holidays

* assessing and investing in the tools of my trade, from pen and paper to camera equipment

I think that’s it for now.  Here’s hoping we all have a good September! 😉


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A nice surprise today when I checked email today and saw the latest Orion Magazine newsletter.  At the bottom of the page, in the “Places Where You Live” area, there was a link to “a couple of our favorites.”  Well, one of the favorites was a link for Somerville, Massachusetts.  Since I live in Somerville, I clicked on the link and what did I see?  Well, you can see for yourself.  I hope you enjoy.

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/place_where_you_live/view/somerville_ma_5820/

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What can you do with one can of tuna, leftover bread, a few veggies and basic condiments?  This is what Steve creates.

Open 1 can of tuna.  Drain, rinse, then place in bowl.  Add 1/2 cup of finely chopped carrots.  Toss in 2 tablespoons of capers, 1 tablespoon of spicy brown or Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup of olive oil and two cloves of garlic that have been coarsely chopped with sea salt.  Mix all of these ingredients together.  Meanwhile, thinly slice bread then sautee in olive oil until crusty.  Rub with fresh garlic.  Provide the following sides on the table as people prepare their own mini-sandwiches:   finely chopped red onion, fresh basil and thinly sliced tomatoes.  Chilled white wine makes a great accompaniment.

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Pink is not my favorite color, but this July pink flowers kept catching my attention, as did blooms in white,

and in gold.

I love photographing trees reflected in water. But sometimes I was so focused on shooting such images, that I nearly missed the ducks for the trees, like these little fellows sitting silently in the bottom of my frame.

Spiders — yes, spiders! — continued to woo me with their wondrous webs. As imperfect as they are, I cannot help but share these images of spider webs I saw one July night in Maine. Layers upon layers of fog-covered webs illuminated by night lights.

Guest contributors added visual and culinary spice to our lives by sharing recipes and photographs. Links below will take you to recent posts. Expect many more tasty selections in the coming months.

Tell Me About the Petunia Wall

Sunflowers

And what does August hold? Hmmm.

* New submissions to writing and photography contests, magazines and other Call for Artists.

* Putting better business practices into place around my creative life, from fun stuff like new business cards to better systems for cataloging and tracking images and articles.

* Following up on recent opportunities to tell other peoples’ amazing life stories.

* Pulling together all my camera gear and giving everything a good cleaning!

* Writing. Writing. Writing.

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Ingredients

6 medium strawberries

1/2 teaspoon of sugar, plus extra pinch

splash of red wine

1 tablespoon lemon and/or lime basil leaves, chopped

Hull strawberries.  Slice in half.  Place in medium sized bowl.  Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and splash of red wine.  Gently toss until strawberries are well covered.  Place in shallow bowl or in center of a plate.  Sprinkle with basil leaves and the pinch of additional sugar.  Enjoy morning, noon or night.

Recipe and images by Cynthia Staples.

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Gather mushrooms in a wooded area. Be very sure of what you are gathering or root around with an expert. With a brush, paper towel or even a pocket knife, clean mushrooms by removing tough stems and dirt. If necessary rinse gently in water. Drain well. In saucepan, warm butter and olive oil. Add chopped onions. After onions cook down a bit, add in mushrooms that have been rough chopped. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. A lot of liquid will leak out of the mushrooms. Let it cook down. Once most or all of the liquid has simmered away, add a healthy of dollop of sour cream. Cook until mixture bubbles and thickens. Serve with crusty dark bread and chilled white wine. Also good ladled over pasta!

Recipe by Galia

Image by Cynthia Staples

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Warm butter and olive oil in frying pan.  Add small clove of garlic that has been finely minced.  When butter is browned and garlic perfumes the air, add rabbit loin that has been cut into medium-sized pieces.  Toss in coarsely chopped fresh tarragon.  Cook until rabbit is lightly browned (or  to your preference).   Serve with crusty bread on the side.

Recipe copyrighted  SFH.

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Stack five to six slices of bacon.  Cut along short end into smaller pieces.  Then cut those slices in half to make chunks.  Toss into cold cast iron pan and cook over high to medium-high heat until brown.  Remove browned bacon pieces and set aside.

While bacon is cooking, dice half a medium onion and set aside.

Once  bacon is cooked, add 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of large peeled and deveined shrimp to bacon grease.  Cook until shrimp are  pink, 1 – 3 minutes.  Remove shrimp.  Add onion to remaining oil, cook for 1 – 2 minutes, then add two cloves of minced  garlic.  Stir and cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Add one 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes to pan.  Stir to mix onions, garlic and tomatoes.  Add 1 T tomato paste and mix in.  Reduce heat.

Add herbs of your choice (italian seasoning, oregano, etc.) salt and pepper to taste.  Add cayenne pepper to taste if you want a little kick.  Add in six to 7 leaves of fresh basil, cook over med heat until sauce thickens a little. Add bacon and shrimp and heat through.  Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve over pasta of your choice.  Thin spaghetti or thin linguine are good choices.  Or just serve with rice and good, crusty bread to dip in juices.

Photography copyrighted Cynthia Staples.  Recipe copyrighted LMM.

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