Plum and Lion

Pool

2008-11-20T00:39:00.002-05:00

Pool Rona Chang

I've been working on my freestyle with a coach for over two months now. I can finally, finally do some laps without looking like I'm having a heart attack. Yay!

Goldfish

2008-11-19T00:36:00.002-05:00

Goldfish Rona Chang

My jaws dropped when I saw the work of Japanese photographer Toshio Shibata on Shane's blog the other day. I couldn't believe how close our work is and how I have never come across any of it. Lots of people photograph dams and rivers sure, but retainer walls? I hope to see his work in person one day, the prints must be beautiful.

Leaves

2008-11-18T00:37:00.002-05:00

Leaves Rona Chang

Found some hairpin legs that will be good for future home projects.

Dried Lily I-III

2008-11-17T00:31:00.001-05:00

Dried Lily I Rona Chang

Dried Lily II Rona Chang

Dried Lily III Rona Chang

Base

2008-11-14T00:35:00.002-05:00

Base Rona Chang

The New Yorker story, Late Bloomers, reflects some of what I and several of my friends have been thinking about at this junction in our lives. It's much of the same sentiment I felt when I read Murakami's memoir, What I talk About When I Talk About Running.

Plant

2008-11-13T00:38:00.002-05:00

Plant Rona Chang

Love this painted dresser tutorial from Lena Corwin. It's based on those beautiful animal blankets from Mexico that I really, really want.

Water Lines

2008-11-12T00:42:00.002-05:00

Water Lines Rona Chang

My old moccasins from Taiwan have been wearing thin for some time and I noticed a big gaping hole in the seam of the sole. I have been on the prowl for comfortable walking shoes for some time now so I decided to put my money in a pair of well crafted shoes. I put an order in for some Arrow Mocs, handmade leather moccasins. A friend had them and I always admired the worn leather on his and even put my feet in them once so it's not a completely blind faith order. I have high hopes for them. I just have to be very patient because it will take six weeks to get them!

Rock Formation

2008-11-11T08:41:00.004-05:00

Rock Formation Rona Chang

Hmmm, I realized after yesterday's post that Suzanne Revy has a series titled Small Wonders. So the search is on for a new title for this series. I'm open to suggestions as the project develops. I'm currently floating "Breathing In" on my brain.

I'm in the Typologies Group Show, which is in the current issue of Fraction Magazine. There is a solo show with Suzanne's series, Small Wonders. (Yes, this is where it clicked in my brain.)

Small Wonders- Me and Dad (with his girlfriend)

2008-11-10T09:00:00.002-05:00

I started a new photo project, tentatively called Small Wonders. It's actually not so new, it's something I've been working on in different forms. The inspiration is my Dad, who I only got to see about once a year growing up. When he died a couple of years ago, it was hard. But the experience wasn't so immediate even though I was there the day he passed away and participated in the two week-long funeral rites. For some time afterwards, I would forget and think that I could still call him. I often still speak about him in the present tense. I have dreams with him in them. Not being with him throughout the whole of his sickness removed the tangibility of it. I have decided to post a picture a day from the project as I sort through it, with tentative titles, just to get it going. Some of the photos are old, and some are new. Here's one from our trip to Hualien.

Me and Dad (with his girlfriend) Rona Chang

Babette's Feast

2008-11-09T09:16:00.005-05:00

Mags sent me a chain email titled, "recipes are nice." I included it below in case you want to send me some recipes for me to share or if you want to start this yourself.

(1) random person's email (in my case, someone Maggie knows)

(2) Maggie's email address

Please send a recipe to the person whose name is listed in the #1 position above (even if you don't know them).

It should be something quick and easy, without rare ingredients. Actually, the best is the one you know in your head, and can type out and send right now.

Then, copy this letter into a new email and move my name to the #1 position and put your name in the #2 position. Only your name and mine should appear in this list when you send out your email . Send this email out to 10 people you know.

You should receive 36 recipes. It is fun to see where these recipes come from! Seldom does anyone drop out because we can all use new recipes. The turn around is fast because only 2 names are on the list. The idea is that you send around a bunch of recipes around.

*****

I received a bunch of recipes already so I thought I would share them all.

This is what I sent to the person on my list.

Vegetable Fritter

ingredients:
15 very small potatoes
4 small turnips
10 mini white beets
1.5 leeks
4 eggs
about a cup of flour
salt and pepper to taste
optional: handful or more of cooked shrimp (I used Ikea's frozen shrimp, pre-cooked)
butter or vegetable oil

This recipe was invented today. We get a batch of veggies every week from our CSA, and sometimes can't figure out what to do with the stuff. The above vegetables are what we happened to have. You can use any vegetables you want basically for this and any amount, adjusting the batter just so that there's enough eggs to bind everything together.

Shred all vegetables to shoestring size. (You can opt to use a food processor which would make it super fast.) Mix flour, eggs, salt, pepper, and shrimp in a bowl . Heat up frying pan on medium. Use a 1/4 in" stick of butter or some oil to lightly coat pan for every batch you cook. Scoop some batter out in big clumps (each clump will be a fritter). Flatten each clump with spatula. Fry until lightly brown, flip, repeat. Serve on plate.

Ours ended up tasting a bit like okonomiyaki and Korean seafood pancake. You can put more seafood in or leave it out all together to make this vegetarian. I ate 10 for dinner!

From Billy:

(1) 4-lbs pork roast, at room temperature (very important)
brown sugar
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
olive oil
1-lb of small onions
3-lbs of potatoes, coursely diced to about 1-in cubes (to cook evenly)
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
butter
2 cans (I think they're 15.5 oz or so. Maybe 14.5) of chicken broth
1/4c all purpose flour

Allow the roast to sit in a brine (I used equal parts salt/brown sugar/water) for at least 2 hours (I did it overnight). Preheat oven to 325F. Add olive oil to roasting pan. Season roast with salt and pepper. Pop in oven for 90 minutes. You can probably begin the next step about 1/2 hour into the roast. In a large saucepan, say 4 quart? (I used a dutch oven), add oil, onions and garlic. When onions become translucent, add chicken broth and potatoes. Bring to boil, then simmer. When roast is done, place roast in with potatoes and continue to simmer. The fat from the roasting pan is used to make gravy. Place the fat over med high heat and add flour. (I used a cast iron pan to roast so I just moved the pan directly over to the stove top) and wisk until smooth. If lumpy or not enough fat, add butter. When smooth, add ~2c water and allow to come to a boil. Don't stop wisking. When the gravy becomes consistent, you're done.

Remove roast and slice. If you had the roast sit in the brine overnight, it'll be substantially more tender and a bit more flavorful. Add potatoes and gravy. I like to drain the potatoes before serving. Otherwise it waterdowns the gravy.

From Mary:

moroccan harira (ramadan soup)

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1.5 cups lentils
2 cups (15 ounce can) chick peas, drained
3 stalks celery
1/2 bunch parsley
1/2 bunch cilantro
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
1.5 liters water
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tsp. turmeric
2 cubes bouillon (your choice of flavor, i use chicken)
salt and pepper to taste

about 3 cups water and 1 cup flour

if you can, soak the lentils in water for a few hours (if you can't it's okay, it just takes longer to cook)

liquefy tomatoes in blender, set aside.

chop celery, parsley, cilantro, and onion (i do it all in the food processor). sautee these four ingredients in olive oil until the kitchen smells like parsley and onions are soft. add tomatoes, chick peas, lentils, water, spices, and bouillon. bring to a boil and cook on med-high heat, covered, for 1.5-2 hrs, until lentils are soft, stirring occasionally as needed.

when lentils are fully cooked, blend about 3 cups water and 1 cup flour in blender. you are looking to make a thickener--about the consistency of heavy cream. add flour as needed until the right consistency.

slowly pour this into the soup, stirring constantly, until the soup is a nice orangey thick color. add salt and pepper to taste. delicious and healthy!!

From Megan:

Yo mamma's white trash! (yes, she wrote that - she crazy!)

1 - 10 0z. mini pretzels
5 C - Cheerios
5 C - Crispix cereal
2 C - salted peanuts
1 lb. M&M's ( in seasonal colors)
1 C- raisins (optional)

Mix above ingredients together in LARGE pot

2 - 12 oz. pkgs. Nestles white chips
3 T. veg. oil

Melt chips and oil, pour over mixed dry ingredients. Mix well. Spread out on waxed paper until dry. Break apart. ENJOY!

From Kate:

This is my new favourite recipe. Its really good with Spinach, but you can also make it with swiss chard or any leafy green vegetable.

2 knob butter
2 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/3 cup raisins
2 slices bread (for croutons if desired)
4 cups spinach
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Pour boiling water over the raisins (enough to cover) and allow to soak for 10 minutes, then drain.
2. Rub the bread with garlic and then cut into cubes fry in 1T oil + 1T butter until toasted and crisp, set aside.
3. Wipe out the pan and add the pine nuts and allow to toast until slightly coloured, add the remaining butter and oil and the garlic. Saute 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the spinach mix to coat the leaves in the oil. Cover until just wilted about 2 mins (cook longer at this stage if using swiss chard or other leafy greens)
5. Add the raisins, salt and pepper and stir through to incorporate all the ingredients.
6. Serve immediately and top with the croutons for a bit of crunch!

From Maria:

Sarah's yummy turkey and lettuce wraps....Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
Small Package of Ground Turkey
1 head Romaine
3 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 Tbs Vinegar
2 Tbs White wine
2 Tbs Sugar
1 tsp hot sauce
1 package Cellophane noodles
1 cup chicken broth
(sesame oil to saute)

(diced ingredients)
1/2 Yellow Pepper
1/2 Orange Pepper
1/2 Green Pepper
1/2 can bamboo shoots
1/2 can water chestnuts
1/3 White Onion
4 scallions
1" piece fresh ginger
2 cloves fresh garlic

Saute Onion/Garlic/Ginger/Scallion in sesame oil. Add pepper and turkey.
When turkey starts to brown, add sauces and sugar. Add bamboo shoots and chestnuts.
Cook 10 Minutes.

Boil Chicken broth. Add noodles, cut in 3" pieces with scissors. Once all liquid is absorbed, pour into turkey mixture.

Serve on Romaine leaves. Happiness!

From Sarah:

Bangkok Noodles
1/3 c Vegetable broth
1/4 c Coconut milk
2 tbsp Soy sauce
2 1/2 tsp Curry powder
1/4 c chopped scallions
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp chopped fresh garlic
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 small jalepeno diced
4 oz Firm tofu drained and cut into small pieces
2 c fresh spinach
6 oz Rice vermicelli (soaked in warm water for 20 min)

In small bowl, mix together broth, coconut milk, soy sauce, curry
powder, green onions and black pepper. Set aside.

In frypan, sautee garlic, ginger, and jalapeno in oil for 1 min and add
tofu. Stirfry for a few minutes until tofu starts to lightly color. Add
broth mixture, and bring to a simmer. Add spinach and noodles and heat
through so spinach wilts.

If you want to go for a non-veg option, use chicken broth and diced
chicken instead of veg broth and tofu.

*****

And if you're not in the mood to cook, you should watch it being made. Last night I watched Babette's Feast, a great Danish film about an elaborate French meal. Ahh, good thing I already had a good dinner before I watched it, otherwise I would have had to grab onto my growling stomach!

Happy cooking and eating!

Conversations

2008-11-09T07:16:00.003-05:00

As I was lying in bed just half an hour ago, I realized that I had not put a link up to my Conversation with Jennifer Williams from Thurs. I then realized that none of the Conversations are linked collectively for you. I have fixed it by adding the links on the sidebar to the right. So if you missed any of them, you can find them right there.

Gravitate (detail), Clinton St., July 2008 Jennifer Williams

So here's the Conversation with Jennifer Williams.

Congee place in Hong Kong

2008-11-07T15:36:00.002-05:00

I love congee, it's my favorite Chinese comfort food. For those of you who don't know what congee is, it's just cooked rice in water or broth, served piping hot. Congee can be plain or served with anything from vegetables to meat.

Mr. Lee at work just sent me these photos of a congee place he had told me about in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. I couldn't find it the last time I went. So he was good enough to take some photos to help guide me. I'm not going to HK any time soon but I will look forward to it when I do.

You're the best Mr. Lee!

Dessert Truck

2008-11-06T00:58:00.000-05:00

About a week ago, my friend Chia-Yu came to town with her mom. She had two pieces that she composed performed at Carnegie Hall. We went out to dinner along with Liu and Meggie in the East Village. And guess what we found for dessert? The Dessert Truck that Jillian and I were looking for about a year ago. Hooray! (I highly recommend it.)

Unbelievable!

2008-11-05T10:03:00.005-05:00

"We have come to the end of a long journey," he says. "The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly."- John McCain

"...change has come to America."- president elect Barack Obama

Woohoo!!!!

For the video and full text of the victory speech, click here.

Cozy

2008-11-05T00:55:00.000-05:00

Making something super cozy with this new yarn.

Summer is really over

2008-11-05T00:04:00.000-05:00

I was in denial for a while but even the tomatoes taste different now.

We need change

2008-11-04T17:45:00.003-05:00

And it's coming!

Voting in Elmhurst was quiet during the day.

I am making some changes. Stay tuned for the first post on Monday.

Out of the house

2008-10-29T15:59:00.004-04:00

I guess I'm going to time out and go on a mini blogging break. I've been busy thinking about new projects and trying to get older ones "out of the house," as my friend Anna likes to put it. So see you back here soon enough.

Running on Ugly

2008-10-24T08:05:00.001-04:00

I finally got myself a pair of these Asics trainers for running. I know that they are hideous but they are comfortable. I got them at Paragon Sports, where they analyze how you run by having you run on a treadmill for a minute or so and then help you to pick the best sneaker for your feet. It took me forever to decide on these and admit that all the designs out there are awful ugly and I had to look past the glitz and trim to find a comfortable pair of trainers. So far so good.

Goat Milk Ice Cream

2008-10-23T07:55:00.000-04:00

G really loves goat milk. When I was at Whole Foods the other night, I was tempted to have something sweet. I picked up a pint of La Loo's Chocolate Goat Milk ice cream. A pint is alot, and my eyes are way bigger than my stomach and sweet tooth. It was perfectly rich and creamy, and you could definitely taste the goat milk, which I liked.

I ended up ordering a cup of coffee so I could dunk scoopfuls of ice cream in and finish it off. (Very brilliant idea because it's amazing this way!)

Reading the Tao at 80

2008-10-22T07:36:00.001-04:00

My dear friend, Ann B. Knox, is putting out a new book of poetry titled, Reading the Tao at 80. You can prepurchase it at Finishing Line Press.

Stitching

2008-10-21T07:39:00.000-04:00

I bought this Old Navy flannel night gown a while ago because the fabric reminded me of French ticking. R cut of the bottom and altered the top for me. I decided it needed something more to make it even less like pj's. I ended up embroidering it with some red floss along the buttons and the sleeves.

Endorsement

2008-10-20T11:54:00.002-04:00

Watch Colin Powell as he endorses Obama on Meet the Press. Very well put and quite eloquent as he states his points because it was very hard for him to cross party lines and turn back on his friend of 25 years, John McCain.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27265490#%2327265490

Thank you Anna!

Apple picking

2008-10-20T07:35:00.000-04:00

We've had the fortune of having a mild October so far and this weekend was no exception. The skies were bright blue and the leaves were changing. On Saturday I went apple picking with some friends at Wilkens Farm, on the Taconic Parkway. It's just about an hour north of NYC, so it's super easy to get to. We enjoyed an afternoon of taste testing apples as we we picked them, all the while breathing in the fragrantly fresh air. At the end of the day, we stood in line back at the farm store, as we waited for the fresh apple cider donuts and hot cider. These donuts were certainly worth the wait as they were hot, fresh, and absolutely delicious. I'm sorry I don't have a photo, my camera battery died. I had 3, so you have to trust me that they were that good because I never eat donuts. The cider was tart and perfect as the air around us cooled down at the end of the day. It was a really fun day.

Here's Lisa with a branch mustache.

Sweet potato fries

2008-10-17T07:32:00.000-04:00

Sweet potato fries with cilantro, salt, white pepper, and cayenne. It's hazy because it was steaming hot when I took the photo!