Apple Picking

When we lived in New England we used to go apple picking in October. David's all time favorite apple is the macintosh. Ok, it's practically the only apple he'll eat. I'm not as much of an apple snob, but I will admit that I won't eat a red delicious. Ever. So I went on line looking for orchards in Virginia thinking that it would be fun to surprise him with some macs. Found a couple of places, printed out directions and we headed out with friends on a Sunday morning. I forgot to factor in one thing: we're not in New England anymore. That means that the Virginia macs were ready for picking weeks ago... We ended up picking three varieties and the Dickies Brothers orchard (http://www.dickiebros.com/): granny smith, yellow delicious, and empire. I figured all would be good for cooking and hoped that the empires would be a reasonable snacking compromise. We clearly had excellent apple picking karma - as soon as we parked the car in the orchard the sun came out. And when we returned to the barn to pay for our harvest the clouds took over again. It threatened rain the rest of the day.

Last weekend I made apple butter using this recipe. It's one of those family 6 degrees of separation things - my mother mailed it to my niece who scanned it and emailed it to me. It came out well - I might tinker with the seasonings next time (perhaps add a little ginger?). The amount produced is just about perfect, though - 2.5 - 3 cups. I didn't have macs, so I used a combination of empires and yellow delicious. Here's the recipe without adjustments:

6 Macintosh apples
1 T unsalted butter
1.5 t. cinnamon
.5 t nutmeg
2 t granulated sugar

Peel, seed, and core the apples. Cut them into quarters. Combine all ingredients in a 2" deep 9"x9" pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until tender. Puree the apple mixture in the food processor. Reserver the apple butter.

The recipe didn't indicate what temperature to heat the oven to, so I heated mine to 350. I ended up baking the apples for an additional 5 minutes. I did not pour the accumulated juices from the pan into the food processor.

I've had the apple butter on whole grain English muffins this week and it's been fantastic. I think it would also be good on oatmeal with some chopped walnuts.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

April 12, 2006

Drawing in public

I've drawn in public (on the bus), but this is the first time that I've OPENLY drawn in public. Interesting experience. It clearly made David a bit uncomfortable (note his reference to crocheting in the marginalia). Honestly, no one else seemed to notice or care. Although I'll admit that I did sort of try to stealth draw... I really wanted to draw the pitcher, but I just wasn't quick enough. The EDM members have mentioned watching baseball games on tv for the purpose of drawing - that sounds like a good exercise.

5 April 2006

On the bus and desperate to draw... The best alternative was the guy's shoe across the way. I was pretty happy with it until I tried to get into his slouchy socks. That didn't seem to work out very well. As I drew I became really sensitive to the number of times I glanced over at his foot and began to wonder if it was obvious. If it was he was very gracious about the whole thing.

29 March 2006

EDM #24 - I brought these bananas to work with me this morning for breakfast today and the rest of the week. Someone in the EDM group did a FANTASIC blind contour of pears and I thought perhaps I'd try a blind contour of my bananas. It didn't work out so well. I gave it a shot first thing and decided to tinker with the drawing a bit. It was ok, but I wasn't satisfied. So this afternoon I gave it another stab - this is the result. No, I didn't skip breakfast entirely, but I chose to pass on my banana ration until I had a drawing that I was happy with. My second attempt worked out a little better. The worst part was the stem. But at least now I have a drawing that I'm reasonably satisfied with and I'll be able to eat my banana tomorrow!

Undated and unfinished...

I'm not sure when I started this drawing - it's of my favorite pair of boots (they're snakeskin). I drew it in the front of this sketchbook that has been collecting dust by the bed for quite sometime now. I'd forgotten about it until Creative License prompted me to pick it up, dust it off and try my hand at drawing. I barely remember drawing it, but I don't think it was a bad start. I might have to try this one again.

14 March 2006

I suppose this could be considered EDM #30. I don't particularly care for our couch, but I kind of like this sketch. So perhaps the couch isn't so bad after all...

8 March 2006

The Air Force took David to England last week. He always brings back some of my favorite tea (Earl Grey). This time he also brought a tea I've never seen before. I haven't tried a cup yet, but thought the bag would be fun to draw.

EDM # 18
5 March 2006

I tried to capture the view out our front door. Tallulah (my cat) and I took advantage of a sunny spot just inside the front door. I decided that if I was going to sit there I should take advantage of the moment and see if I could come up with a reasonable sketch. The funny thing at the top of the drawing is a weeping cherry tree that the previous owners planted.

EDM #51 (draw your TV and favorite show).

I took a stab at this one Friday night while we were watching Stargate SG1. There's a lot that I see wrong with it and now that I've read more about vanishing points, etc. I think I might try it again soon and see if I can correct some of the places that I went wrong. I didn't even begin to try to draw the show - I figured I did well to get this far.

Sunday, February 26

A few weeks ago I picked up Danny Gregory's Creative License. I was on my lunch hour and wandering through the Barnes & Noble near my office. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I recognized a book cover. There was no mistaking it - I had seen in on his blog some time ago and had mentally added it to my mental list of books to buy. I debated (for all of about a minute) about buying it - did I really need it? could I really justify it? shouldn't I be watching the budget and controlling my constant impulse to buy more books? hadn't I bought enough books on creativity and weren't they collecting enough dust beside the bed already? In spite of my excuses, it followed me home. And I'm glad.

Since then I joined the EDM Yahoo Group and have been reading Creative License. I feel like I have a new set of eyes. All this time wanting to draw and now I actually DO it. I'm trying to quiet those loud thoughts that tell me "you can't do this" or "you're not very good." There was a spiral bound sketchbook next to the bed that was just waiting for the day to come that I would put it to some use (it waited quite a long time). So now there are some drawings in it. And now, instead of wondering what on earth could I possibly draw, I see so many things around me that would be perfect to practice on. It's almost hard to slow down and pick just one thing!

Anyway, my next hurdle to clear was showing one of my drawings to someone. I was feeling pretty paranoid about that. So I decided before posting anything out on my blog I would have "trial run" with someone that I felt completely comfortable with. I emailed this picture to my niece, Tory, last Friday. Tory is 14. She is creative and smart and I admire her in every way. We live about 500 miles apart, so we don't get to spend time together as much as I would like to. But we email eachother regularly and I just love being able to share things with her. Sharing this with Tory gave me courage to open up my book and share it with others.