From the Landscape Archives:2003 - L-Segments - 36x36
After a month of heavy duty hosting (all with love but back to back and over lapping) I was totally washed out (not even talking about all the sheets and towels from both houses.) In a fit of controlled anguish (and even while the last batch of guests were here) I announced my retirement from the kitchen. These days (in the world as I know it) it's not unusual for many personal taste preferences which are expected to be met... and I won't even go into the peculiar need for wooden salad bowls that must be hand washed... by me. Okay... I take full responsibility for creating this scenario... a proper southern hostess allows for these preferences to take precedence at her table. "Oh! You don't care for that? Let me get you something else..." Enough! I quit! It's over! Sez I. Let me introduce you to my cabinets and fridge... help yourself!
So then life settled down, everyone went home, except for the occasional afternoon g-kid, but that's okay. Routine returned and I resumed dinner time kitchen responsibilities for just the two of us. But something has changed.
Some time ago, as my career demands increased and J retired, I declared that I would only be responsible for the evening meal... and even that became mostly frozen, overly processed, ready to serve entrees. For awhile it was novel and sometimes halfway decent. But convenience has become Blahsville and something has got to change! Been googling my options and there's no reason convenience can't include fresh, healthy food. I'll just need to plan ahead, maybe cook ahead so when I'm at my lowest energy level and it's time to open the fridge to see what the evening options are, there will be something that isn't in a cardboard box or plastic bag with a yummy picture on the outside and a bunch of mush on the inside... not to mention all those long, impossible to pronounce ingredients on the side.
You might think this is a stretch, but I see a correlation between what's happening in the studio and the kitchen. Time for a change... time to go back to a previous point on the timeline and pick up where I left off. From acrylics to oils, from abstracts to landscapes, from fast frozen to roasted veggies. Who says I don't have a life? There was a time when I was very creative in the kitchen... to the point of test tasting myself into larger britches. I was a good cook and I can be again. Maybe...
(PS... if any of our friends or family reading this were here during that time period... I'm talking about the other guys!)
4 comments:
Darn..........I remember that guy although I didn't remember his name at first. What a shame he passed. He did great work and I enjoyed visiting his website.
I am a great believer in the rolling salad in summer (you add ingredients as the volume decreases) - the tastes become a subtle melange which no-one, even you will ever be able to repeat.
In winter soups and casseroles can be made once in large enough quantity to freeze portions for quick reheat at a later date.
This way it is possible to go for days without cooking at all, and still have delicious meals.
Anything you cook at home is better than something from a box. Simpler the better. It's just another opportunity to be creative without spending hours in the kitchen. I'm a flash cooker myself. If I can't make it in 10 minutes it ain't worth it!
i'm enjoying seeing earlier landscapes and how they serve as building blocks for the culmination of your quest for landscapes this year. i especially like this one..its chunky and feels like a fault line in the earth.
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