Recipe: Rice Pudding
Posted on October 25th, 2010
Like all of my other recipes, this one is adapted from somewhere else, but I’ve been making it for so long I have no idea where anymore.
3 c. cooked rice (I use jasmine rice because that’s what I use for everything, heh)
3 c. milk
2/3 c. sugar (I find raw sugar gives it a richer flavor)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, ginger and cardamon
dash nutmeg & cloves
1/2 c. raisins (if you add more than this, add more milk to compensate)
2 Tbl. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine everything but the vanilla in a good-sized saucepan and cook on medium heat for ~25 minutes, or until it’s just starting to thicken, definitely thinner than you want for serving. Stir occasionally, and keep watch once it starts to simmer to prevent boilovers and messy stoves, not to mention scorched milk.
Remove from heat, add vanilla, let cool. Eat hot or cold, though I prefer it warm. It’ll completely solidify in the fridge, just stir in some milk if you want to thin it out for eating later.
Categories: Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange, Words Words Words
Tags: food, nfs, recipe, sharpie marker
2 Comments »
Molten Sky
Posted on October 23rd, 2010
Molten Sky by Amy Crook
This painting was inspired by Roger Zelazny’s Amber series, in a roundabout way. In it he postulates a continuum of realities from the Pattern of Order at Amber to the Courts of Chaos at the other end, with the realities becoming stranger and more dangerous as they get closer to Chaos. I imagined a world where the sky had cracked open one night, its rough-velvet texture tearing down the middle and letting molten gold spill forth, sparking and changing and becoming like stars as it spread across the sky. I tried to capture that sense of motion, of chaos, with the three metallic colors of droplets (gold, bronze and a scarab red that shimmers and changes to old-bronze-green at certain angles).
This painting goes strangely well with my decor, when I hang it on the one darker golden accent wall the gold paint blends beautifully, while still stands out more on the lighter wheat-gold of the rest of the apartment. I keep wanting to frame it with an old window frame, so that it looks like you’re staring out a window at the glowing fissure in the sky.
Molten Sky, oil on canvas, 24″x24″, $999 with free shipping.
Categories: Daily Art
Tags: amber
2 Comments »
Dancing on Glass
Posted on October 22nd, 2010
Dancing on Glass by Amy Crook
This is another piece from about the same era — I got into a phase where I was painting with acrylics on shards of broken glass. Surprisingly, I didn’t cut myself nearly as much as you might think. You can see the same fascination with dancers, though — I’ve always been pleased with the feeling of grace in this piece.
I never did figure out a good way to display any of these pieces, though, and I’m not sure I even still have them. If I recall correctly, this one’s about the size of a 3″x5″ index card, and the background is literally painted on the back side of the glass, with the figure floating a few millimeters above it on her own surface.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: acrylics, glass, nfs
2 Comments »
Inertial Dampeners
Posted on October 21st, 2010
Inertial Dampeners by Amy Crook
This piece is a bit of a blast from the past — as the signature says, it was from 1991 and probably originally done in a cheap drugstore sketchbook. I had a real fascination with dancers back in the day, probably due to an utter lack of grace on my own part. Even today, though, I like this as an image of winding down to a state of rest and safety.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: nfs, sharpie marker
Weeble Wednesday: Leila and Her Monkey
Posted on October 20th, 2010
Leila Lloyd-Evelyn and Her Monkey by Amy Crook
Leila Lloyd-Evelyn doesn’t literally have a monkey, but she wanted her cartoon to represent her sense of playfulness and fun, and dancing with a monkey certainly fit the bill!
Leila and I talked about her cartoon for a long time, batting back ideas back and forth before her budget and our inspiration connected and we went for it. Her awesome old-timey boots are monkey brown to match her imaginary friend, her own dark hair and rich coffee eyes, and the deep forest green of her curvy babydoll t-shirt made an excellent complement.
Her actual cartoon is a little shorter than my usual weebles, because I drew it sideways on the page (so it’s 7″x5″ instead of 5″x7″), in order to make room for the monkey and their little weebley dance step.
Have you thought about being a cartoon? I’ve got a few spots free, and I’d love to draw you in your Halloween costume, holiday glamour, or just your awesome everyday self. You can click here to go read up on what’s what, or just use the buy button below to get going.
Be a Cartoon – $79
I’ll email you some questions to the email address from which I got the payment, so keep an eye out!
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: cartoon, copic marker, holiday special, leila lloyd-evelyn, monkey, pen and ink, weeble
A Circle in Time
Posted on October 19th, 2010
A Circle in Time by Amy Crook
Insomnia brings art experiments! I had a ton of trouble sleeping last week, and around 3am one night I got bored with sitting around in bed and started wandering around the apartment, looking for things to do.
I had put this quote on the white board, plucked from the Storm Constantine book I was re-reading:
“A circle in time; we begin again.”
So I picked out one of the little pre-torn squares of soft, thick watercolor paper I had left from my printmaking days, pulled out a pan of Japanese watercolors, a brush, and a matching blue fountain pen, and this was the result. I waited until the watercolors were mostly dry — but not fully — before writing in the quote, so it blurred and became as much image as text.
A Circle in Time, 5″x5″ watercolor with pen and ink on Arches cover white paper.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: blue, for sale, pen and ink, watercolor
1 Comment »
Amy’s Mum’s Pumpkin Cookies
Posted on October 18th, 2010
It’s fall and time to make one of my absolute favorite treats! These cookies are practically little cakes with their fluffy texture and delicious icing, and while they’re a long process to make, it’s absolutely worth it.
I make these a little differently than my mother, so I’ve marked my own variations with a * in case you’re not quite so much of a spice nut as I am.
Amy’s Mum’s Pumpkin Cookies
Cream 1 cup of butter or shortening
Add & beat:
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin (puree or canned)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sift together & add:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
*1 teaspoon ginger
*1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
*1 teaspoon cardamon
*1/4 teaspoon cloves
Drop on greased cookie sheet (I use parchment paper instead), bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes. Check frequently for burning. (They will still seem a bit wet inside when they’re golden brown on the bottom, but will finish baking into a cake-like consistency as they cool.) Makes ~2 dozen.
Ginger Brown Sugar Icing
Start with:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
Put in small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool.
Stir in:
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
*1 teaspoon ginger
*1/4 teaspoon cardamon
1 cup powdered sugar
Add more powdered sugar until the consistency resembles a thick glaze, then frost your cookies. Icing will get everywhere, so i suggest you frost them on parchment paper. *grin*
Enjoy!
For those not in the US, when making your own pumpkin puree, use the smaller pumpkin varieties (approximately 5-7 lbs., 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 kg.). Cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise, remove seeds and stringy fibers, and place cut-side down on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) for approximately 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours (depending on size) or until easily pierced with a knife. Scoop out the pulp and puree in a food processor until smooth. Can strain through cheesecloth to extract all the liquid. Cool before using.
Categories: Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange, Words Words Words
Tags: autumn, cookies, food, pumpkin, recipe, sharpie marker
4 Comments »
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