Field and Fen

Today's the 11th anniversary of my art blog, Art, the Beautiful Metaphor, which I folded recently into Field and Fen. This is why you're seeing more art content in here.

Here's a couple of watercolor and chalk paintings I showed in the first post on Beautiful Metaphor. 

The title of the blog is a joke on Soccer, the Beautiful Game. Only soccer fans ever caught that, but oh well. It's also a musing on how art is a metaphor for life. And vice versa, even more interesting.

Then, back to now, there's Lucy Worsley and royal history which I watched yesterday, noting how very little has changed in politics since Tudor times. 

On one of the programs, there's an episode on the Russian revolution, with surprising revelations contradicting what most of us thought happened then. A lot of what we think was in fact publicity spin. Nothing new there. 

Did you know, I didn't, that the Russian revolution was started by thousands of women textile workers massing in St Petersburg, on International women's Day? February 1917. They marched on factories urging men to down tools and join them. Even coopted the police ahead of time, so when the Czar inevitably ordered a crackdown, the police failed to open fire. 

That was in February, Lenin in Switzerland, nothing to do with him, despite his later claims. Then the October revolution, billed by the men running it as the real one, erased the role of the women while taking advantage of the gains they'd made. Sounds so familiar.

Anyway I accompanied this with a decadent dessert, defiantly.

One of those almond pastry shells, remember them? filled with yogurt mixed with maple syrup, topped with an apricot and a chocolate chip. Spooned out the contents then ate the container.

And 

And my current go-to rapid supper, fingerling potatoes, scallions, roasted then oven off, longhorn cheese on top to melt.

Oh, the molded paper piece looks promising. 

Here it is, released from the pumpkin stems, and now waiting for more in order to make a shadow box artwork. It suggests a few scene ideas.

Happy Sunday, everyone. I woke quite sure it was Monday, so I got an extra day.

Partly triggered by ideas from Clarissa, I committed two experiments yesterday, both edible.

One was to add raw chopped onions to fishcake mixture  l was already toying with using sweet potatoes rather than white. And  I  went and added in a handful of raw spinach. An egg, baharat, salt. Small can of tuna, drained.

I don't deep fat fry, but I sort of roasted the cakes at 400°f on an oiled baking sheet. About half an hour, turned midway 

Pretty good supper. Interesting combo of flavors. I wondered if the sweet potato would work, and it did. The onions and spinach cooked through. This beats deep fat frying, which I don't like doing

Then Clarissa made a great tart crust using just ground almonds, caster sugar and one egg white. 

So I tried that, because it was a chance to do something I've had in mind for ages, using the upside down nonstick muffin pan to form pastry shells.

But I found that my dough was way too sticky to work. I'd ground regular sugar to make caster, and whole almonds. Almonds vary, eggs vary, and she was pressing hers into a fluted pan, not rolling it. Anyway I added flour until the dough was dough, used a crumpet ring to cut out circles, and see how it went

350°f about 25 minutes, left them to cool in place.

Then lifted them off, sampled the little one. Really nice. Very crunchy, not too sweet,  good almond flavor. 

So these are now in an air tight container until I get the ingredients for filling them. I hadn't thought that far. Ran out of sugar, a first, so the rest is on hold till reinforcements arrive.

I'm really pleased with the upside down pan idea, not mine, saw it somewhere. Next time, to get a shallower shell, I can use a smaller cutter. I'm definitely doing this again.

And I've been studying toilet replacement parts for the leaking unit upstairs. I think it may be possible for Gary to fix it if he ever gets time again. 

We both suspect the base gasket of needing to he replaced. I can't do that, since it entails unscrewing all the works and lifting off the tank, a bit beyond my strength.  But since it leaks only when flushing, we both think some seal isn't functioning under pressure. With luck I won't need a plumber. 

Then the overhead light he fixed for me downstairs jumped off the clips holding it in place. Twice. I think it's a lousy design, and I'm ordering a different, bigger light with a different installation design. I can't keep asking him to run in and snap it in place again!

I haven't seen him for a week to talk to, but I think I'll go ahead, order the new one, and ask him to install it. Then when he unhooks the first light which is now hanging down, but light in weight, not dangerous, I can return it for a refund. And maybe it will all stay fixed. 

I feel better now I've made a couple of decisions. Action always helps my frame of mind.