Time to Shake Things Up!

Spring has sprung (or is in the process of springing, anyway) and it's time to clean up my blog.

I've updated the recent reading and have made a promise to myself that I will keep it updated. Despite what it may look like, I am actually a fast reader and usually have a fiction and nonfiction book going at the same time.

I'm also going to be posting much more frequently. To motivate myself, I'm introducing some new weekly or semi-weekly features, including:

• Magazine Mondays - This one is inspired by another blog (http://creampuffsinvenice.ca/). I'll be posting either a delicious dessert created from a magazine recipe or a craft project/art technique from a magazine. Hopefully, this will justify all of the space those magazines are taking up.....
• Watercolor Wednesday - Yup, I'm bringing this one back. I've signed up for a watercolor class that meets on Tuesday evenings and will post new paintings each Wednesday.
• Around Town - I'll be highlighting cool events for the upcoming weekend or showing pics of recent outings around town.

Field Trip - Minneapolis Institute of Art

A trip to the MIA always means a few minutes of staring at this massive work by Dale Chihuly. I saw an exhibit of his work once and it was really amazing to see so much of it all together - like walking into an alternate (albeit fragile) world.

This hand above and the weathervanes below are part of a permanent exhibit of American art and folk art from the 1700's-1800's. It's cool that they can put more of this kind of thing on display now since adding a new wing.

I was drawn to the painting below by the shiny, luscious fruits. No raspberries have ever looked that way - unless these were an heirloom raspberry that we have since stopped planting? Hmmm... still, I like the depiction of the fruit as little jewels.

And below is a creepy copper horse from China - must be a war horse, right?

This buddha below was originally gilded but was damaged in a fire. I really like the patina on it better than I would a smooth gold finish. I've read that a lot of the ancient statues and buildings were originally painted in bright colors (one prime example is the pyramids in Egypt and in Mexico). It's hard for me to imagine.....

Spoonbridge (sans Cherry)

I went to the Walker Art Center to see the Elizabeth Peyton exhibit (I liked it but it seemed a little fluffy for the Walker) and snapped the photo above. They've removed the cherry to give it a fresh coat of paint! Below is a picture I found on the web (from a slightly different angle).

Two Desserts

Here is a pic of the crepe cake that I made a couple days ago. It wasn't that difficult but it is time-consuming because you have to make all those crepes. The key to success here is to have patience and let everything cool before assembling. There is pastry cream and chocolate ganache between the crepe layers. I should have let them chill before pouring the chocolate ganache over the top but was too impatient. So, the whole pile of crepes slid around to form a mound instead of a stack (not attractive - picture a brown, oozing mound of goo). That is why I had to cut a piece in order to get an appetizing picture. Also, I put the berries on the top because I didn't let the ganache cool enough before wrapping in plastic wrap so the top of the "cake" stuck to the plastic. See - I told you this requires patience - a quality I am obviously lacking!. Anyway, it tastes delicious - kind of like an eclair but with a different texture. I got the recipes for the different components (crepes, pastry cream, chocolate ganache) from my trust copy of How to Cook Everything but you could easily find recipes online.

The dessert pictured above is really just a way to use up leftover cake. I know - who has leftover cake? Well, I needed to make cupcakes for work and ended up with just enough extra batter for one small layer of chocolate cake. I hate to let good cake go to waste so later that week I cut out shapes using cookie cutters (since it was a short layer, that worked well). I made a quick sauce by heating frozen raspberries with some sugar then poked some holes in the cake (using a chopstick) and poured the sauce over to give the cake a little more moisture. This one is topped with a dollop of chocolate buttercream frosting but obviously whipped cream would work just as well.

Pretzel Turtles

I made these treats for my friends for V-Day. They are super easy to make and I made two batches in about a half hour - and most of that time was spent unwrapping the rolos!

I got the instructions from here:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pretzel-Turtles/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

Valentine's Day Treats

Here are some cute cupcakes that I made for the kids at work. I used a mix and made a simple buttercream frosting. My frosting gun broke a while ago so I snipped off the corner of a ziploc bag to frost these. It worked pretty well, I think. To make the mini cupcakes below, I used little metallic bon-bon wrappers that I bought at Michaels. It's hard to get a sense of scale in this photo but they are about 1 1/2 inches wide. I baked them at 325 degrees for about 6--7 minutes and they turned out perfectly. They're bite size so great for a party where people don't have utensils.

Coraline - the movie

I'm pretty excited about this movie, adapted from Neil Gaiman's novella. The story definitely has some dark and creepy parts. The official website has lots of behind-the-scenes info and fun interactive elements. You can create your own flower, as I did above, in the "Garden" section or upload your photo to give yourself button eyes in "The Other Mother's Workshop."

Here is the official website:
http://www.coraline.com/

Here is an unofficial website that has a lot of great info:
http://evilbuttons.blogspot.com/