What clears my mind...

Yesterday, I was going to go to the print studio, but somehow I wasn't clear how to proceed with this new project. So I decided to bake and cook - for some reason that organizes my mind while feeding the senses (and the belly).

Do you see the chewed off corner? Our first dog, Moe (a great dane/dalmation mix) ate everything when he was a puppy, including books. Back then it annoyed us, but now we both feel wistful when cooking from this book.
A sweet reminder of a truly great dog! 

I cooked for the weekend and for company tonight. I made James McNair's Puerto Rican Rice and Chicken, which is one of my favorite recipes and best when made a day ahead. Total comfort food with complex flavors and a little bit of a kick! When I have a little more time, I'll share the recipe with you.

I also made a batch of my favorite biscotti and will share this recipe with you soon. It's super easy and delicious!!

This are the corners I cut off when cutting the biscotti. Those don't bake twice. They are for eating immediately - and that's exactly what happened...

For dinner last night (veggie soup), I tried a new recipe for whole wheat no knead breadsticks that I found here. I wanted to find a breadstick recipe that doesn't use white flour and this is a keeper. It calls for 3 to 3 1/2 cups of flower, but I don't think I used more than 2 3/4 cups. The dough was soft and baked up perfectly.

Easy to make and incredibly delicious, especially to a bread lover like me... Before baking, I brushed them with egg white and sprinkled them with sea salt. Yum!! (I won't even tell you how many I ate...)

And I made another batch of Caponata, an Italian eggplant appetizer. I'll have to share that recipe with you as well! It's easy to make and so very good!! That, too, is for tonight. It benefits from sitting for a day and having the flavors come together.

All this cooking brought me clarity on how to proceed with my next print. This girl is dark and mysterious and flowers and the bubble wrap stamps didn't seem to fit her. Then, it became clear. On one of the background plates I will paint bare tree branches that surround her. And the other background plate will have different patterns.

For those patterns, I made a couple of different stamps by gluing beans and lentils onto cardboard with molding paste. I also have a natural sponge with an interesting pattern and rubber bands around a brayer. All of these I will apply to the copper with sugar solution to create stencils that will then be etched. Each plate will then be printed again in a different color.

She'll be different from the first print, but in my mind, she's already just as beautiful!

Here's to good food, creative fun, and all of you!!