Spaces Between The Gaps

Beetroot and Bean Salad

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:00:00 +0000

Fresh. Chunky. Homely. Unusual.

***

Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on canvas. Inspired both by a wandering through the artwork (not the cartoons) of Australia's much loved Michael Leunig, and the repeated suggestion from a friend to give other-handed drawing a go.

***

The meatless meals recipe - Beetroot and Bean Salad

I won't lie, this dish can take a while to prepare with cooking beetroot and brown rice, double shelling broadbeans and toasting sesame seeds. I don't make it very often, unless I have a glut of homegrown broadbeans straight from the garden and I want to really savour and enjoy their seasonal freshness.

Serves 2

250g double shelled broadbeans or edamame (start with about 300g single shelled broadbeans or 900-1000g unshelled/full broadbeans to end up with this amount)
250g beetroot
brown rice for 2 (about 2/3 cup uncooked) Properly cooked brown rice takes a good 40 minutes, despite what is often written on it's packaging. It should NOT be crunchy. At all.
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
zest of half a lemon
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
about 180g goats cheese

Cook the brown rice.
Boil beetroot until tender all the way through.
Run under cold water to cool.
Chop into medium sized cubes.
Mix all the ingredients together and serve atop the rice.

+++

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Need help with cooking conversions? Download this handy dandy pdf of cooking conversion charts for every cooking measuring system I could find. It should make your life easier.

Where are the rest of the vegetarian dinner recipes? They're all in the Table of Contents.

+++

Spring Pot Pie

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 20:00:00 +0000

Versatile. Leisurely. Hearty. Thrifty.

***

Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on canvas. Inspired by the flatness of poster art and the childlike fun of the artwork of Australia's much loved Michael Leunig. I like the idea of the eating paddock to plate, or in this case, garden to pie. Look how fresh this Spring pie is. The plants are still growing!!

***

The meatless meals recipe - Spring Pot Pie

It's not as much work as it seems! Don't be put off by the long recipe. This is really a straightforward pot pie where the actual vegetable filling can be flexible. Most of the flavour is in the stock which then makes a thick filling sauce and a pea sauce for topping. This is one of those recipes good for using up all sorts of odds and ends from the garden or left over in the fridge.

For 4 individual pot pies when served with mash

Stock

6 peppercorns
4 bay leaves
8-10 large fresh sage leaves, finely chopped (about 2 teaspoons) Dried sage is far stronger than fresh so use far far less if substituting
2" fresh rosemary
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
Liquid volume should total 1L:
1 tablespoon / 20ml olive oil
1 tablespoon / 20ml lemon juice
1 tablespoon / 20ml white wine vinegar
1 cup dry white wine
690ml water

Pie Filling

1 small-medium parsnip
2 cups finely shredded silverbeet or cabbage
1 leek or medium-large onion, chopped or sliced
240g cooked beans
1 small turnip or swede, chopped
1 1/2 medium carrots, sliced or diced

Thick Stock Sauce

1 cup stock liquid (after cooking)
1 tablespoon cornflour

Pea Sauce

2 cups peas
2 tablespoons fresh mint
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
2/3 cup / 180ml stock liquid (after cooking)

500g shortcrust or puff pastry for pie lining and lid

Put stock ingredients in a pot with a lid on.
Simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Add pie filling ingredients to the pot.
Simmer gently for another 15 minutes. Keep the lid on.
Test that veg are done and keep simmering if necessary.
Grease pie dishes with olive oil.
Line with pastry.
Strain pie filling ingredients. KEEP THE STOCK LIQUID. Remove bay leaves and rosemary stalk.
Fill pies.
Using 1 cup of stock liquid, make a thick stock sauce by whisking in 1 tablespoon of cornflour to thicken.
Pour equal amounts of the thick stock sauce into each pie.
Put pastry lids on the pies.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 180c to cook the pastry.
Make the pea sauce by putting cooked peas, mint, parsley and stock into a blender and whizzing until smooth.

Serve pot pies with pea sauce and mashed potato.

+++

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Need help with cooking conversions? Download this handy dandy pdf of cooking conversion charts for every cooking measuring system I could find. It should make your life easier.

Where are the rest of the vegetarian dinner recipes? They're all in the Table of Contents.

+++

French Toast

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 04:32:00 +0000

Quick. Thrifty. Satisfying. Easy.

***

Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on canvas. Another painting inspired both by a wandering through the artwork (not the cartoons) of Australia's much loved Michael Leunig, and the repeated suggestion from a friend to give other-handed drawing a go.

***

The meatless meals recipe - French Toast

Once upon a time, it may have been when I was first introduced to the heaven that is French Toast, I cooked this up for breakfast, oh, every morning for at least a week. Or two. Or more? I can attest that even for a skinny someone with a crazy metabolism, this such a breakfast regime will put weight on you.
Moderation is key. Not too often. Not too much.
Unfortunately.

2 slices bread
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon butter
honey or similar to top

In a flat bottomed container (large enough to lie a slice of bread flat), beat the egg and milk together to blend thoroughly.
Heat the frypan up and melt the butter.
When the pan is quite hot, quickly dip each slice of bread in the egg/milk mix long enough to thoroughly coat each side. There should be just enough mix for two slices of bread.
Fry immediately in the pan until golden and a little crispy (it will still be soft but should not be soggy).

Top with honey or maple syrup to serve.

Tickles 1 tummy.

+++

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Need help with cooking conversions? Download this handy dandy pdf of cooking conversion charts for every cooking measuring system I could find. It should make your life easier.

Where are the rest of the vegetarian dinner recipes? They're all in the Table of Contents.

+++

Super Easy Goldilocks Mac and Cheese

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 05:16:00 +0000

Cheesy. Easy. Homely. Quick.

***

Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on canvas. A nod to the fairy tale of Goldilocks and the three bears and the bowl of 'just right'.

***

The meatless meals recipe - Super Easy Goldilocks Mac and Cheese

Once upon a time I used to make a roux to thicken the cheese sauce of my mac and cheese. Now, I am not fond of unnecessary steps or waiting about for my food and so at some point I tried 'cheating' using a judicious amount of cornflour to thicken the sauce. It's much quicker and no, I could not tell the difference.

After trialling many many variations, this is my version of 'just right' mac and cheese. The thickness of the sauce is 'just right'. The cheesiness is 'just right'. The amount of sauce for the quantity of pasta is 'just right'. And it's quick, which is just right for me.

200g uncooked pasta (macaroni!)
1 1/2 teaspoons butter
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cups grated tasty cheese (88g) For extra cheesyness, use 1 1/2 cups cheese (105g) but I think this is a bit strong
1 tablespoon cornflour
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta, drain and set aside.
Melt butter in a pan on low-medium heat.
Add most of the milk to the butter. Reserve some for mixing with the cornflour later.
Add cheese to the pot as well. Mix.
In a cup or small bowl, blend or whisk the cornflour and reserved milk.
When most of the cheese has melted, add the cornflour mix to the pot and whisk until thickened.
Take off the heat, add drained pasta into the cheese sauce and mix well.

Serve. Salt and pepper to taste.

The sauce takes 5 minutes to make. Mac and Cheese takes 5 minutes to eat.

For 2

+++

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Need help with cooking conversions? Download this handy dandy pdf of cooking conversion charts for every cooking measuring system I could find. It should make your life easier.

Where are the rest of the vegetarian dinner recipes? They're all in the Table of Contents.

+++

Pasta Primavera - Pasta with Spring Vegetables in Herb Sauce

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 05:05:00 +0000

Fresh. Easy. Quick. Aromatic.

***

Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on canvas. An early spring garden of fresh new plants, entangled with spaghetti.

***

The meatless meals recipe - Pasta Primavera - Pasta with Spring Vegetables in Herb Sauce

The taste of early spring in a bowl in the time it takes to cook your favourite pasta shape.

pasta (papadelle is my favourite for this) for 2, about 200g
parmesan to taste
salt to taste
3 cups mixed spring veg, chopped into bite size pieces - recommended are:
peas, broadbeans, asparagus, broccoli, snap peas, snowpeas

Herb sauce:

1 cup chopped fresh parsley (about 10g)
about 7g finely chopped fresh chives
1/2 cup whole mint leaves (about 4g)
at least 1/4 cup olive oil

Cook pasta.
Pre cook mixed veg. Blanch, boil or steam as suits you. I find steaming the veg on top of the pasta or pouring the drained pasta water over the veg to blanch them both work well to save on washing up, water, energy and general effort!
Put the ingredients for the herb sauce in a blender and blend smooth.
To serve, pile pasta into bowls, then top with sauce then veges and parmesan and salt to taste. Be aware that mixing the pasta and sauce before transferring to the serving bowls leaves most of the sauce and flavour behind sticking to the pot or bowl in which they were mixed.

For 2.

+++

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Need help with cooking conversions? Download this handy dandy pdf of cooking conversion charts for every cooking measuring system I could find. It should make your life easier.

Where are the rest of the vegetarian dinner recipes? They're all in the Table of Contents.

+++

Even the business cards have the stamp of the artist

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 11:11:00 +0000

A few evenings of Star Trek and cutting up canvas offcuts from paintings.

A quiet morning laying out and uncurling the canvas cards.

A couple of episodes of Hearts of Space radio and stamping.

A studio with a view

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 03:51:00 +0000

While a view is not necessary to creativity, facing a blank wall or looking into a carport are not ideal either. I always prefer to have some plants around. In fact one place I worked at I acquired a pot plant jungle around me. This studio outlook is the most idyllic I've ever had.

Lemon Meringue Pie

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 02:26:00 +0000

Zesty. Rich. Satisfying. Leisurely.

***

Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on marine ply panel - no framing required. A surreal sight floating past on a summers day.

Original painting on your wall.

Find out what this painting would look like on your wall before buying. Email me a photo of your space and I'll Photoshop it into size and place to help you decide if it's right for you.

Original artwork can be purchased in the Official Art Store. This particular piece is dry and available right now for $AU150. Email me (fi at wherefishsing dot com) to express your interest.

***

The recipe

Once upon a time I lived in a shared rented house with a friend whose recreation mostly consisted of drinking and whose friends were probably alcoholics. I was a student and seeing these guys drink a slab of beer each on the weekend and hearing about them getting their name engraved on the bar for some drinking feat or other was just normal. This particular house had a lemon tree in the backyard. One weekend, I'm telling the tale of how I had just chased some kid who was collecting lemons without asking, over the six foot fence and out of the yard. I would have said yes had he bothered with common courtesty and helped him gather them, but just hopping over the fence was outrageous to me. My friend becomes all fired up about the overload of lemons on the tree, and excitedly asks the little group of his drinking buddies and I, 'What do you do with loads of lemons?'. We all look at each other and say together, 'Tequila!'. Cue shocked expression and pure disappointment from our alcohol friendly questioner, 'Nooooo, LEMON MERIGUE PIE!!!!'.

LMP is one of those recipes that is far more susceptable than most to the experience and knack of the cook. Recipes are only ever guides or roadmaps due to variations in oven and stove temperatures, ambient temperatures, seasonality of the ingredients, the size and material of the cooking pot (and some might say which way the wind is blowing and what the cook ate for breakfast). Unfortunately this dish is renowned as a tricky one and for good reason. Your familiarity with your stove and oven will be tested and the more meringues you have whipped the better you will be at gauging when the foam is ready to cook. Rest assured, that no matter how many times you have to practice this to get it spot on, the tests that might look a little wonky will taste great.

1 pre-baked short crust pastry case of 9" diameter - the pastry needs to be cooked before the filling is added as there is not enough baking time or heat to cook it once the pie is assembled and in the oven.

4 tablespoons arrowroot / tapioca flour - use arrowroot instead of cornflour as it is stronger, has less taste and is transparent instead of cloudy.
3/4 cup / 180ml water
1/3 cup / 60g butter
1 cup sugar or more to taste
5 eggs, separated into yolks and whites - room temperature eggs are best as they whip up into meringue faster than cold ones. Also fresh eggs make a smaller but stable foam, while older ones (more than 3-4 days) make a large unstable foam. Take your pick.
3 medium sized lemons - you need all the zest and juice. Handy hint - zest first!
10 tablespoons castor sugar for the meringue - use castor sugar as it is a small sized grain and dissolves quickly into the meringue. Less sugar can be used but the meringue will be correspondingly less stable.
2 1/2 teaspoons cornflour or arrowroot - a tiny bit of this in the meringue traps moisture and reduces beading.
rounded 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar - this strengthens the meringue foam and reduces the amount of shrinking.

Pre-bake (bake blind) your pastry case and leave it in the baking tin.
Get/leave the oven on so it will be at 190C /325F when the pie is assembled.

For the lemon filling:
In a pot, blend the arrowroot and water.
Add the cup of sugar, egg YOLKS only, and the lemon zest and juice and mix together. A small whisk is really handy for this. Make sure the the yolks are well mixed in before the next step or you end up with eggy threads throughout the lemon filling (harmless but odd).
Then put the butter in the pot and begin heating. Once you start heating this mix do not pause or stop or it will not set. Stir frequently.
As soon as most of the sugar has dissolved, taste and add more sugar to this mix if you prefer it sweeter. I like this quite tart as the meringue is quite sweet.
Now, heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils. Again, a small whisk is ideal for the stirring.
Turn the heat down to medium and keep stirring while the mix cooks for one minute. It should become impossibly thick.
Take it off the heat and let it cool slightly for a few minutes, then pour the mix into the pre-baked pastry case.

To make the meringue topping:
Combine the castor sugar, cornflour/arrowroot and cream of tartar.
In a scrupulously clean bowl (no oil or fats allowed or your egg whites just won't whip up into fluffy heaven), beat the egg whites into a coarse foam.
Once you start whipping the whites, do not pause or stop.
Now begin adding the sugar mix, one tablespoon at a time. Don't start with the sugar in with the whites or the whipping time will be doubled.
Cautiously add the sugar because if it's added too quickly it won't dissolve. A tablespoon at a time, whip until mostly dissolved, then add more. Rubbing the meringue between two fingers will tell you how much the sugar has dissolved. You can feel the grains.
Finally, whip the egg whites until they are stiff. You know they are stiff when you can make little mountains (peaks) and they stay standing up with no flopping over of their tips. Or when an upsidedown spoonful stays on the spoon. Or when tracks spooned through the meringue stay put indefinately. If the meringue starts to lose it's gloss while you are whipping, stop! That is the sign of over whipping.
When the meringue is ready - pile it on top of the hot lemon mix in the pastry case. The heat of the filling helps cook the meringue from the bottom and a properly cooked meringue does not weep and form a pool of liquid on top of the lemon filling leading to the meringue sliding off the lemon.
Also make sure the filling is entirely covered and the pastry meets the meringue all the way round to make a complete seal. This helps to stop the meringue shrinking.
Bake immediately to set the meringue at 190C for 25 minutes or until the meringue on top has browned lightly. A long baking at a low temperature means the meringue will hold up better, though all meringue will shrink a bit.

Resist eating instantly - LET THE PIE COOL FOR AT LEAST THREE HOURS, PREFERABLY FOUR, BEFORE CUTTING INTO IT OR ALL YOU WILL GET IS RUNAWAY LEMON SLUDGE. I know from sad experience.

Makes enough for you to be decadent with 5-7 friends.

+++

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Need help with cooking conversions? Download this handy dandy pdf of cooking conversion charts for every cooking measuring system I could find. It should make your life easier.

Where are the rest of the vegetarian dinner recipes? They're all in the Table of Contents.

+++

Give & take

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 02:46:00 +0000

Volunteering.

One of the most dislocating aspects of moving to a new place is not knowing anyone. One of the best ways I've found to solve this alienation is to arrive and immediately volunteer in the community. There is nothing like throwing yourself in to helping out to help you meet people and get to know your new area. It's win win for everyone.

This morning I've spent doing the morning shift looking after the community gallery here in my new town of Bellingen. It's been quite a pleasant learning.

Creative Cauldron - Paul Klee

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 22:51:00 +0000

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of Paul Klee by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Twittering Machine - possible my all time favourite painting

I've been putting off writing this post on Paul Klee as I knew it would be such a difficult one for me to write. There are so many paintings of his that I admire that choosing would be a nightmare. It was. Which is why I ended up deciding to include so many.

Ad Marginem

What is it that attracts me to so many paintings of this one artist? For starters, he worked small and so was able to make an incredible number of paintings. There are many more to choose from than usual. In an age (ie. now) where massive paintings get the most kudos, it's good to be reminded that size is not everything.

Ancient Harmony

Fig Tree

But this idea of size is only a side interest. What I love about Paul Klee's work is the childlike quality. The innocence. The playfullness. The intimacy. It's the same set of qualities that attracts me to the work of a number of cartoonists, Michael Leunig in particular.

Good Place For Fish

The Mountain of the Sacred Cat

At the moment there is a fashion for whimsy, which also makes use of this set of qualities along with a dose of nostalgia. I'm not sure what it is about whimsy that repels me, perhaps it's that it feels a little contrived and sugar or even saccharine coated. So I guess there's another ingredient in Klee's work too, something approaching genuineness.

Polyphon Gefasstes Weiss

Paul Klee was already an excellent musician when he decided to become a visual artist. Many people, including myself, sense that his paintings are pictures of music. Music is an excellent form for conveying emotion and these works are like visual poems, evoking moods (with what I find to be an enjoyable touch of intellectualism)

Ripe Harvest

I also enjoy the sense of calm that always seems to be present in these paintings. Although I know that some of them are anti war paintings, I look at them and feel they have all come from a very centred and still place. There's no guts or glory or anxiety ridden navel gazing. They are quiet pictures.

Signes En Jaune

His art often contains some symbolism, something that often seems to attract me to artworks when it's done with subtlety. Another common attraction I've begun to notice is tonally related or limited colour.

Paukenspiele

Paul Klee was incredible for experimenting. Materials, style, techniques, subjects. This I admire. His experimental approach meant that he developed his own visual style and did not follow trends of the day. What a fabulous legacy, though I imagine his experimenting with materials causes conservators endless headaches. While I aim to avoid making art that won't last, I do value trying new ways of doing things and not swallowing 'it's always been done this way' without thinking.

More Paul Klee paintings

A Childrens Game

Composition

Bird Garden

Abenteur Schiff

Abstract Composition of Houses

Ad Parnassum

Analysis of Diverse Perversities

Around The Kernel

Castle Garden

Castle and Sun

Cat and Bird

Fire in the Evening

Fish Magic

Flora di Roccia

Flower Myth

Fruchte Auf Rot

Gedanken Bei Schnee

Heroic Strokes of the Bow

Homes Of The Tree

Im Bachschen Stil

Insula Dulcamara

La Belle Jardiniere

Lady Apart

Landscape with Yellow Birds

Main Lane and Side Lanes

Mask of Fear

Orpheus

Pastoral (rhythms)

Picture Album

Red Balloon

Rose Garden

Rote Weste

Scheidung Abends

Senecio

Sinbad the Sailor

The Golden Fish

Three Houses and a Bridge

Cathedrals

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

The Creative Cauldron series of posts explores and showcases the visual styles, techniques, attitudes, ideas, artists and paintings that have had the most impact on me.

The rest of the series is accessible via the Creative Cauldron page. Have a meander if you please, and remember to check out my artworks on Flickr, and have an insider peek at life as an artist on Facebook.

Oysters of the land

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 03:24:00 +0000

Oyster mushroom ahoy!

How to find a new variety of tasty eating mushrooms.

1. Spend some spare time enjoying a read of other people's wild mushroom adventures.

2. Take the dogs out for a walk to the exact same spot you go at least three times a week.

3. Sit down for a rest on a tree stump.

4. Realise you have almost sat upon the mushroom you recently read about.

True story.

Although I managed to ID this as an oyster mushroom, I'm really not sure which oyster mushroom this is. Thankfully that doesn't matter as all oyster mushrooms are edible. All you really need is to be certain it is definitely an oyster mushroom and not it's poisonous habitat sharing vomit-fest imposter omphalotus nidiformis (Australia and Japan only). How do I know it wasn't this? Omphalotus nidiformis (the ghost fungus) glows in the dark in the presence of oxygen. These did not. Oyster mushrooms, if they have a smell, smell of anise and the ghost fungus has no scent. Check strong anise scent.

And what did it taste like?

Bizarrely, reminiscent of lamb chops. Yes truly. It was a bit disconcerting to this 20 year vegetarian. Thankfully the taste similarity was only mild and I'm sure if it was taste tested head to head with real chops there would be very little similarity. It's a good eating mushroom, but we knew that already as oyster mushrooms are grown commercially all over the world.

Pleurotus ostreatus or Pleurotus australis or Pleurotus populinus? I'm not sure but it definitely isn't Omphalotus nidiformis

But which oyster is it?

There are a good half dozen or so and I narrowed it down to three - Pleurotus ostreatus - the oyster mushroom, Pleurotus australis - the native Australian oyster/the brown oyster mushroom and Pleurotus populinus - the Aspen oyster mushroom.

Why the confusion?

The stump it was growing on had been cut down to ground level and was fairly rotted. It was beyond my ability to ID the tree. Pleurotus populinus only grows on

the Populus species of trees ie aspen, poplar and there are plenty of these in the area. But there's also plenty of gum trees and conifers, which the other two varieties will grow on. So no help there.

The spore print was absolutely white and stayed that way after drying overnight. Pleurotus ostreatus has a white to greyish or lilac spore print, Pleurotus australis has a white drying to pale tan spore print and Pleurotus populinus has a white only spore print. Looking like Pleurotus populinus is a strong contender? Wait for it....

Colour. What did we have? Older mushrooms with dark tan cap, white flesh, creamy to yellowish tan gills.

Pleurotus ostreatus has a cap that can be pale brown to dark brown, white flesh, gills whitish or with a gray tinge, sometimes yellowish in age. Well that fits as these specimens were a bit older. Pleurotus australis has a cap that is pale grey-brown ageing to darker brown, white flesh, gills cream to brown. Um ok, that fits too. Pleurotus populinus has a cap that is whitish to pinkish gray or pale tan, without dark brown colorations. Ah we have a mismatch.

So after all considerations, my best guess is Pleurotus ostreatus. I'm happy to hear opinions from other mushroom hunters and I have plenty more pics available.

A vegetarian cookbook update

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 01:42:00 +0000

The food paintings from the vegetarian cookbook on display at The Good Life Festival Daylesford 2012

When will the vegetarian cookbook be published? It's a question that is asked of me quite a lot. The short answer is, when it is finished. The longer answer is I'm working on it as fast as I can and I hope to have it out by christmas. That may not be realistic. I don't know.

I am finding that perfecting the recipes is the really time consuming and somewhat unpredictable stage. Mostly fun and tasty. However after the sixth test that still hasn't nailed it, the word tedious springs to mind. The recipe testing is integrated into our everyday eating. Most of our evening meals are cookbook tests. Getting a dish 'just so' is a thrill. Eating the same meal week after week is not.

It takes time to cook at least several iterations of each recipe. Time to figure out what went wrong. Time to eat our way through the cooking. Time to be able to face the same dish again if the testing has been taking many attempts. Yes, recipes have been dropped for being too recaltricant. Yes there have been months where we took a break from any testing and enjoyed indulging in cheese and tomato on toast and *gasp* random meals.

Right now it is all systems go on the recipes to get Summer done and dusted.

Where is the cookbook at? As you may know already, the cookbook is divided into seasons and there are around 35 vegetarian recipes per season. Each recipe has an accompanying painting inspired by the dish. Autumn and Winter are done, both recipes and paintings. Summer is well underway with about three quarters of the recipes done and half the paintings as well. Spring has half it's recipes and a small handful of paintings completed.

Getting there! And of course all the recipes so far are available from the page at www.wherefishsing.com/cookbook

Creative Cauldron - Mark Ryden

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 23:55:00 +0000

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of Mark Ryden by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Jessicas Hope

It is said that at times, Mark Ryden paints with a magnifying glass. You can certainly see the fineness of detail in his paintings. They are masterfully polished. While I do not aspire to be this obsessive over detail, I certainly admire the results and the discipline it takes to do this.

Fur Girl

While there are many fans of classical painting techniques, it seems to me that most of these people are recreating old style paintings as well. Part of what I like about Mark Ryden's work is his blending of time proven and masterfully accomplished classical painting technique with a very modern outlook. What century are we in anyway?

Incarnation

Like Joe Sorren, Mark Ryden's work is considered to be pop surrealism. It's full of contemporary cultural references. To say it's imaginative is an understatement. It's quirky and surreal. It's full of juxtapostitions. There's often a heavy dose of nostalgia and innocence.

Bjork

Little Boy Blue

The bit that I enjoy the most is the way his work references archetypes and myths (a bit of a recurring theme in the art I enjoy).

Santa Worm

The paintings themselves are beautiful. Full of subtle colour, soft lighting and idealised rendering. He seems to work in themes. Each painting in a show is very strongly linked to all the others and each show is quite distinct to every other show.

Tears

Although I haven't been to one of his shows, from what I can tell he (or whoever handles his publicity) is masterful at creating hype and getting fans to queue around the block for hours for the privilege of viewing the drama - almost theatre - of one of these tightly themed and immaculately presented shows. It's quite incredible.

Yoshi

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

An evening in the life of a DIY artist

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:51:00 +0000

Greeting cards of my artwork were professionally printed. Now folded, given an envelope & wrapped all ready for tomorrow's festival stall. That was my evening. Now to get that car packed for the sparrow fart start time.

Remarkable Recipes. Affordable Artworks. Enjoy the Good Life.

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:33:00 +0000

My press release for the very soon to be here Good Life Festival in Daylesford where I have a stall handing out recipes, talking about vegetarian food and showcasing the Autumn and Winter cookbook paintings. Saturday June 2, 2012.

***

After years of carnivore friends telling her she should open a cafe, artist Fiona Morgan took their compliments on her vegetarian cooking and her general frustration with bland vegetarian food, and is combining her artwork and recipes into a book. Each individual recipe is personally tested until she feels it is at optimal deliciousness. If it wouldn’t be moreish to a carnivore, it doesn’t go in the collection.

Fiona will be at The Good Life Festival Daylesford on Saturday June 2 as a stallholder at Daylesford Primary School, freely giving out meatless meals recipes from the cookbook for you to take home and try. These are recipes that everyone will enjoy not just die hard hippies. Find out how easy and tasty vegetarian meals can be.

She will also be showcasing some of the artwork inspired by the recipes from the upcoming cookbook. All the foodie paintings are 30x30cm and affordably priced.

There is a long tradition of still life paintings of food from our cultural history. Careful arrangements of delicacies abundantly covering a table have been painted for centuries. Today the modern equivalent is food styling photography. Luscious posed shots of crafted gourmet meals abound in magazines and cookbooks.

What if the food images were inspired by the dish instead of literally presenting it? What if the main ingredient, or the history, or the culture of the recipe were represented? What if the essence of this particular food could be captured as a painting? That is exactly what Fiona aims to achieve in pairing her art with these recipes.

All the recipes and images are freely available online for people to use and share (with attribution). It’s all here, with more detail: www.wherefishsing.com/cookbook

***

And to you - come celebrate 'The Good Life'. Live well, care for each other and the environment. Look at some of what will be on:

Saturday 2nd June Daylesford Primary School ‘Looking after our environment’

In conjunction with the Farmers Market, the Good Life Festival will kick off with stalls and workshops to be held at the Daylesford Primary School hall from 9.30 AM, Saturday 2nd June. There is something of interest for everyone ranging from keeping chooks, advice on successful worm farming through to the use of cultivated and wild plants for health, beauty and other purposes.

In addition the Festival will include a walking tour of productive gardens around Daylesford, a Garage Sale Trail and a Fashion Upcycling Workshop.

Sunday 3rd June Daylesford Town Hall 'Householders, Renovators and Home Builders'

The Good Life Festival continues at the Daylesford Town Hall from 10.00 AM on Sunday 3rd. The Town Hall will be bursting at the seams with stalls and information workshops highlighting how your home could be made more comfortable, reduce energy and water usage and save dollars in the bargain. Amongst other things, you could learn about pellet heaters, solar systems or ways to minimize your power bills. This is a day not to be missed, especially if you are considering renovating or building. Other activities include Earthship building workshop at our Tip and Open Day at the “Mens Shed” located at Victoria Park.

The Good Life Festival Daylesford 2012

Presented by the Sustainable Hepburn Association (SHARE) to share the wealth of knowledge and ideas of local individuals, businesses and community groups to help us all live the good life.

9.30am-4pm at locations around Daylesford, Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd June

Festival program

The Good Life Festival on Facebook

SHARE website

Shaggy and very edible

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:30:00 +0000

Ever since doing an intensive and stunningly informative fungi ecology workshop with Alison Pouliot a year or so back, I have set myself the task of quietly foraging my way through the edible wild mushroom species. It's all fun and adventure.

The trick I have found is to learn all I need to know to positively identify one particular mushroom that I want to find and taste, then get outside and enjoy the forests. It's a slow method, but positive identification is the only safe way. I guess I could also get out there and pick one example of every mushroom I find and them attempt to identify them, but I have found identifying a bag full of unknown mushrooms to be so very time consuming.

Some of these foraged discoveries are a lot more edible than others! It's all part of the adventure.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have very quickly discovered that edible does not mean palatable or even delicious, it just means it won't harm or kill you. So it is a delight to discover (read - stumble upon while not looking, again while walking the dogs) a new gem.

Coprinus comatus - Shaggy Ink Caps or Lawyers Wigs. Apparently cultivated in China as a food but completely overlooked here. Total waste.

As of last night, I can now say these are wonderful eating.

A purple treat

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:01:00 +0000

A wonderful unexpected discovery while walking the dogs and exploring a new patch of ground. A delightful bonus of taking the time to look and breathe. My favourite wild foraged mushroom.

In learning about wild foraged foods, it has been an adjustment to find that although there are many plants which are considered edible, that doesn't mean that you would want to eat them. Technically grass is edible. But why would you want to? Point made?

Edible. Palatable. Delightful.

There is quite a difference.

So it is a gleeful moment when I find one of the wild culinary delights. A truly delicious treat. This little lilac lovely is my favourite wild mushroom of the ones I have tried so far. It's lepista nuda, the blewitt.

Fried in a little butter and salt. The liquid they give out is a sublime and perfect cream of mushroom soup all on it's own. The mushrooms themselves are divinely flavourful. A simple zen treat.

Creative Cauldron - Sir Henry Raeburn

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 13 May 2012 23:53:00 +0000

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of Sir Henry Raeburn by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

While I was living in Edinburgh I became fascinated with the stories of the very very many inventive and creative Scots of times past from that city. You may be amazed at just how many breakthroughs we take for granted in modern life were Scottish in origin. Sir Henry Raeburn, as a venerated citizen of Edinburgh, came to my attention.

Anne Raeburn

It is as much Henry Raeburns' story as his paintings that catch my admiration. He was an outsider to the art establishment, who did the work necessary to become a great painter. Let me summarise:

William Robertson, Lord Robertson

Henry Raeburn began his working life as an apprentice goldsmith. For a bit of context, his era was 1756-1823 in Edinburgh, Scotland. As part of the job he was required to paint miniature portraits, for which it turned out he had some talent. His employer introduced him to Edinburgh's leading portrait artist of the day who gave him advice and loaned him pictures to practice copying.

Colonel Alastair Ranaldson Macdonell of Glengarry

He decided to become a portrait artist himself. To increase his skill he sought advice from the best artists in Britain and travelled to Italy to study the paintings there, as recommended. After two years of travel and study he returned to Edinburgh and established his portrait painting business, for which he built his own studio. He was successful and well regarded.

Commander Hugh Clapperton

A bad business investment bankrupted him but did not stop him. He painted his way out of debt, recovered his fortune and ended up being knighted.

Elizabeth Campbell Marchesa di Spineto

I love his story of perseverance, discipline, study and hard work (with a dash of entrepreneurial chutzpah) that took him from being an orphan with nothing and a complete outsider to the art establishment, to a technically accomplished and wealthy painter of portraits of high society.

Elizabeth Hamilton

Onto his actual painting. Usually this quite old (some would say classic) style of painting bores me silly. Yes, yes, I admire and appreciate the technical ability, but the murky shadows, highly dramatised lighting, period dress and stiffness of the sitters just fails to fill me with enthusiasm.

Miss Eleanor Urquhart

However, I do enjoy Raeburn's painting. He only painted from life, and I think it shows through in the way each sitter has a personality and a believably real pose.

Mrs R. Scott Moncrieff

The skin of the subjects in his paintings glow with light. The portraits are of live people! And although the highly dramatised lighting does irritate me (on some days, depending on what I've had for breakfast), I appreciate that the way the light is used to focus your eye is very effective. I find the full range of light to dark contrasts makes for bold, strong work.

Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch

I enjoy the sumptuous texture of the clothing in his paintings which is just tight enough to convey the fabric. In this way that he used his brushstrokes he was ahead of his time, with a confident and masterful square brush technique sometimes bordering on the modern bravura handling so popular today (both which enthrall me).

Sir Walter Scott

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

Creative Cauldron - Tom Thomson

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:53:00 +0000

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of Tom Thomson by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

After the Sleet Storm

It's only quite recently that I have become aware of the paintings of Canadian artist Tom Thomson.

Algonquin Park

Decorative Landscape Birches

Apparently he holds legendary status in Canada in a similar way to Tom Roberts here in Australia. His paintings were done at a culturally important time for the nation and manage to embody a kind of national spirit. Not being Canadian I did not see or feel this when I discovered his paintings, it's something that has been brought to my attention in research. Instead I was instantly grabbed by three standout elements of his work.

Early Spring

Pattern. Many artists rearrange what they see in front of them to form a pleasing composition (and this is something many amateurs don't seem to understand). Tom Thomson takes this to a greater extreme than most, actually making it a feature instead of a subtle way to improve a painting.

Evening, Canoe Lake

In the Northland

The patterns are the strongest design element. There are shades of Japanese design and Art Nouveau in his arrangements. The patterning is so strong that you can change the colours in his images and the overall design stays strong. The patterns are so strong and such a feature that they become decorative. I mean this as a compliment, not in a snooty nosed derisive manner. I love the decorativeness of his patterns, the way he has rearranged the landscape before him into beautiful shapes.

Maple Saplings

Northern River

Apparently he was a self taught painter, with a background as a graphic designer. His era was the early 1900's, when graphic design was illustration and poster design. It was a goldern era for illustration, where high technical skill was normal and the ability to compose or design in an eye-grabbing manner and lead the viewers eye around, was expected. I see a strong similarity between the poster design of the era, and the design of his paintings. It's a large part of my admiration for his work.

Pine Trees at Sunset

Sombre Day

Colour. The way Tom Thomson uses or chooses colour makes me swoon. Restricted palette. Subtle groups of related colours. Bright yet not dancing around with it's pants off. Wonderful contrasts of lights and darks. I am working toward somewhat toning down my palette, and I consider the balance he has found to be an ideal to work towards.

Spring Algonquin

The Birch Grove, Autumn

Texture. Something I love when I discover it and would like to do more of myself is putting texture in the paint. This is a hallmark of Van Gogh's work, and also an aspect I admire of Criss Canning's paintings. The brushstrokes are part of the patterning. The paint is highlighted. His works are paintings, not images.

The Drive

The Pool

To me his work is so strong and compelling that I had great difficulty in choosing which paintings to include in this post. His work completely knocked me out when I first discovered it, which is not something that happens often anymore. And funnily enough, this painter has once again highlighted to me my soft spot for landscape paintings. Hmmm....

Woodland Waterfall

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

All framed up & ready to go

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:24:00 +0000

Seven paintings all framed up and ready to be loaded into the car before they were hung at Gourmet Cafe @ The Mill in Bendigo this afternoon. These have replaced the paintings that were hung there as part of Art In The Streets.

Tangy Tomato Soup and Okonomiyaki

Dong Gu Tofu and Beetroot Pasta

Creamy Cabbage Casserole and Pumpkin Pasta Bake

Bangers and Mash and Creamy Cabbage Casserole

Bangers and Mash, Creamy Cabbage Casserole and Pumpkin Pasta Bake

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash (Vegetable Spaghetti)

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 02:40:00 +0000

Unusual. Easy. Light. Leisurely.

***

Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on linen. The spaghetti squash is, to me, a cartoon of a vegetable. It always makes me giggle. It's an amusing absurdity, a cheeky poke at serious food. In Japan it's name translates as golden thread melon, which is a supurb description. Here the golden thread melon has cheekily unspurled itself in squiggles all over this painting.

Original artwork can be purchased in the Official Art Store. This particular piece is currently drying and will be available shortly for $AU150. You are welcome to arrange to come and look at paintings, just contact me.

***

The meatless meals recipe

A small example of a spaghetti squash or vegetable spaghetti. They are usually around 20cm or 8" long.

Vegetable spaghetti was big in the 1970's. If you've never cooked it before, the flesh falls apart into spaghetti strands as it comes out of the shell with no coaxing needed at all. It can just be boiled and served as a gluten free or paleo diet spaghetti, but.... well, it doesn't have a strong flavour and boiling it doesn't do it any real favours. Like tofu, it soaks up the taste (and juices) of whatever it's cooked with, so I prefer tomato juice and spices over water. Stuffing the spaghetti squash makes use of this tendency. Serving it with plenty of sauce would work too. This particular stuffing is Lebanese inspired, mild and fresh, with a satisfying 'every mouthful is different' blend of rough chopped ingredients.

By the way, if you can grow pumpkins, you can grow vegetable spaghetti. Same family, same vigorous and prolific tendencies. Just save the seed from one before you cook it.

one spaghetti squash approximately 20cm long and 12cm in diameter

dash of oil

To make the filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 large onion, minced or sliced fine
200g tomato, finely diced
1 3/4 cups cooked lentils
2 tablespoons crushed nuts
1/2 teaspoon treacle or honey
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon allspice powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
optional squeeze of lemon juice

Cut the ends off the spaghetti squash, then cut it in half, down the middle of it's longest side.

Scoop out the seeds.

Place both halves face down on an oiled oven tray and bake at 190C / 375F for 40 minutes.

To make the filling, soften the onion in a frypan with a little oil.

Then also soften the tomato in with the onion.

When these are done, put the lentils, nuts, honey, cinnamon, allspice, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl with the softened onion and tomato.

After 40 minutes of baking, remove the spaghetti squash from the oven, scrape all the flesh out into a large mixing bowl, making sure to keep the shell intact.

Mix the vegetable spaghetti and the stuffing together.

Put this mix back into the shells of the spaghetti squash.

Continue baking at the same temperature for another 20 minutes.

Top with dill, parsley and mint before serving (and a squeeze of lemon juice if you please).

This will make a meal for 4 with the addition of a salad or roast potatoes or similar side dish. It looks like a lot of food but it's quite light and not quite enough to be filling on it's own.

+++

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Need help with cooking conversions? Download this handy dandy pdf of cooking conversion charts for every cooking measuring system I could find. It should make your life easier.

Where are the rest of the vegetarian dinner recipes? They're all in the Table of Contents. +++

Ginger Tea

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 06:48:00 +0000

Warming. Aromatic. Robust. Easy.

***

Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm acrylic on Saunders Waterford 100% cotton archival paper. A design in the style of the heraldic crests (kamon) of Japan. This is the strength, the shield, the warrior which protects against and wards off colds.

Original painting for you?

Did you know you can download images of the paintings for your own personal (not commercial) use? Computer wallpaper, Facebook profile picture, yes you can. Find your favourite painting on Flickr, go to actions, view all sizes, download the size you want to your device, set it as your wallpaper or profile. And tell your friends where it came from :)

Original artwork can be purchased in the Official Art Store. This particular piece is currently drying and will be available for $AU150 shortly. To find out exactly when that is, get on the mailing list, yellow box top left.

***

The meatless meals recipe

All throughout asia there exists ginger tea as a warming, cold fighting drink. It's so common and popular that you can buy boxes of little sachets of it, ready at the addition of boiling water. They are very convenient, and also so very, very sweet and usually somewhat lacking in the robustness of fresh ginger. Here's how to make the real thing. It's much, much better.

50g fresh ginger, sliced. It can be peeled or unpeeled. Peeled will minimise any scum formation. Unpeeled will have more biting gingery warmth. It's up to you.

3 tablespoons honey

5 cups water.

Put all the ingredients in a pot together and simmer gently for half an hour.

This makes 4 mugs of fresh ginger tea.

The ginger can be reused once. It will still have it's ginger flavour, but no 'kick'. It may also require less honey. 2 tablespoons instead of 3 usually does the trick.

+++

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Need help with cooking conversions? Download this handy dandy pdf of cooking conversion charts for every cooking measuring system I could find. It should make your life easier.

Where are the rest of the vegetarian dinner recipes? They're all in the Table of Contents.

+++

What is the secret to growing beans?

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:44:00 +0000

The bounty of the summer season is winding up in the vege garden. Each year I become a little more adept at growing the veg we eat the most. Apparently I have mastered zucchini as we never buy any over summer. Beans however, elude me. My crops are always dismal. Plenty of flowers then all I get to harvest is a handful. The photo above is my total bean crop this year.

Any bean growing masters out there with some solid advice?

Creative Cauldron - Yarn Bombing

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:58:00 +0000

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to yarn bombing by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Yarn bombing. Where statues get some dressing up, trees are snuggled into wool and street furniture is fair game for being transposed into the realm of bright and cheerful. It's cosy, it's granny-like and subversive all at once.

The spirit of this new form of graffiti - it's colourful, it's non-destructive, it's cheeky and the intent is to light up your face with a smile - is what I appreciate. Puffed up macho tagging gives me the shits. And although yarn bombing is, strictly speaking, grafitti, the result is that it humanises a city space rather than making it even more alienating than it already is.

photo by Djinn76

photo by PB-PSBear

photo by sapheron

photo by jenniferworthen

photo by ShapeThings

photo by Lord Jim

photo by mysteryship

photo by gracerodriguez

photo by Larry He's So Fine

photo by Urban Sea Star

photo by Sweet One

photo by La Belle Province

photo by waltarrrrr

photo by Roxie Carpenter

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

I'm not usually into soft drinks, though I occasionally go mad for Chinotto

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:52:00 +0000

Rhubarb fizz. Just like liquid sherbert. Super sweet, tingly & powdery on the tongue. And pink. It's my first attempt at a homemade sparkling non alcoholic brew. Just divine. Recipe from 'A Year in a Bottle' by Sally Wise. Rhubarb, lemons, sugar, water. So easy a kid could make it.

Spaces Between The Gaps

Beetroot and Bean Salad

Food painting artwork

The meatless meals recipe - Beetroot and Bean Salad

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Spring Pot Pie

Food painting artwork

The meatless meals recipe - Spring Pot Pie

Stock

Pie Filling

Thick Stock Sauce

Pea Sauce

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

French Toast

Food painting artwork

The meatless meals recipe - French Toast

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Super Easy Goldilocks Mac and Cheese

Food painting artwork

The meatless meals recipe - Super Easy Goldilocks Mac and Cheese

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Pasta Primavera - Pasta with Spring Vegetables in Herb Sauce

Food painting artwork

The meatless meals recipe - Pasta Primavera - Pasta with Spring Vegetables in Herb Sauce

Herb sauce:

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Even the business cards have the stamp of the artist

A studio with a view

Lemon Meringue Pie

Food painting artwork

Original painting on your wall.

The recipe

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Give & take

Creative Cauldron - Paul Klee

More Paul Klee paintings

More Paul Klee links

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

Oysters of the land

A vegetarian cookbook update

Creative Cauldron - Mark Ryden

More Mark Ryden links

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

An evening in the life of a DIY artist

Remarkable Recipes. Affordable Artworks. Enjoy the Good Life.

Shaggy and very edible

A purple treat

Creative Cauldron - Sir Henry Raeburn

More Sir Henry Raeburn links

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

Creative Cauldron - Tom Thomson

More Tom Thomson links

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

All framed up & ready to go

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash (Vegetable Spaghetti)

Food painting artwork

The meatless meals recipe

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

Ginger Tea

Food painting artwork

Original painting for you?

The meatless meals recipe

More vegetarian cookbook goodies

What is the secret to growing beans?

Creative Cauldron - Yarn Bombing

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

I'm not usually into soft drinks, though I occasionally go mad for Chinotto