Coming out of an earlier project with the Think Tank that has yet to be named, another project centered in my now former neighborhood Davis Square has been recently getting some attention. The Davis Square Tiles Project was initiated by the Action Mill and has been active since late April. Last Friday, we were on the front page of the Metro section of the Boston Globe.
The article was pretty great, but best of all, how I was described:
"She wears funky glasses, hangs out at the independent coffee shop, and is well aware she is part of the cultural change that some of the former child artists now assess with mixed emotions."
Oh. Yes.
7.16.2009
7.08.2009
6.22.2009
The Chromatic Diet (and sink, and hands, and everything)
Sophie Calle and the Cromatic diet (or part of the reason I'll be writing about food a lot).
In 1997, after novelist Paul Auster wrote about a fictional artists named Maria Turner, the artist about whom the text was loosely based acted out the projects of Maria Turner. French artist Sophie Calle began a work called "The Chromatic Diet" and ate foods of different colors each day.
This spring, a friend of mine who lives in Rhode Island, kindly cut a whole pile of plywood for me at the woodshop of an art school where he works. As repayment, he challenged me to create a meal entirely out of beets.
Months later (the work which the plywood was made for has been shown and sold, so the trade is way past overdue), I finally made good on my promise, making seven dishes and a drink, each using beets as their primary color and flavoring. It was a lovely event (12 people in total showed up to sit on my stoop and eat), the food was good (if I can say that about my own doings), but aesthetically, it was amazing. Bright pinks all over (even my dress).
I'd like to make a habit of this, since it gave me a chance to try out a whole heap of recipes and cook for almost a full day.
Here are all the things I made with recipes. Though the inspiration came from many great food blogs, I've been testing and tweaking these recipes over the past months. Since they're fairly different, I think I'm allowed to claim them as my own. Also, sorry not to have better counts on how many each serves, I would guess good servings of six per recipe (unless otherwise noted) though we served 12 on small portions.
First things first, wash your beets, cut off greens (always buy beets with greens attached, they're so good, and so good for you), place beet root in foil and roast at approx. 400 for 40 minutes to an hour. when soft, unwrap and use for all these recipes!
Beet Juice Spritz!
When I spent the summer in Italy when I was in college, the university students began drinking around four with "ora di Spritz." Spritz is basically a white wine spritzer with a glug of Campari or Aperol (Aperol was what I preferred, which was apt, as I was living in the city of its origin - Padua - and it is made with (among other things) rhubarb). Sometimes they add an olive for good measure. My version adds beet juice from all the roasted beets I prepared.
-roast beets in foil for 40 minutes to an hour at 400 degrees (or wherever around that). when soft, set aside beets for millions of other things, strain the juice that has collected in the foil.
-1 part beet juice to 4 parts Aperol makes your bitter.
-mix white wine, seltzer, beet/aperol mixture in equal parts. serve over ice.
Citrus Beet Salad
This is a citrus beet salad twisted.
-peel and section 4 oranges and 4 grapefruit.
-dice 4 roasted beets
-mince 10 leaves mint, washed and dried.
-1/4 cup black olives, thinly sliced
-1/2 lime, juiced
-olive oil, salt, pepper to taste.
toss and serve (by itself or over greens, we were lucky to have it over greens Pennie and Aaron grew)! tastes different than any beet salad I've ever had.
Beet root Hummus
-1 roasted beet (pealed)
-2 cloves garlic
-1/4 cup tahini
-2 cans (or 2 cups) chick peas, drained and rinsed
-1/4 cup olive oil
-spash of lemon juice
-salt to taste
Mix it all up in a food processor. The most amazing color you've ever seen. Try and not eat it. Try. Serve with veggies or home made bread or pita.
Wilted Beet Greens with Pine Nuts
In the early summer when you are thinning your garden, use those baby beet greens for this recipe. Or go to the farmer's market and stock up. I'm lucky that my local Stop and Shop stocks beets with greens attached. I hear that other grocery store shoppers aren't so lucky.
-wash beet greens from one bunch beets (maybe 2 or 3 cups) throughly (they're usually really sandy, lately mine have had helicopters from the trees mixed in, which are not so tasty!).
-slice and discard thick stems.
-heat 2 tbs olive oil in wide skillet, add 2 cloves garlic, 1 shallot or other white onion diced.
-add chopped beet greens and cover. allow the greens to wilt, mixing every once in a while. if the pan gets too dry, add a few tbs of water at any time.
-while cooking, toast 1/4 cup pine nuts in another pan.
-add salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste.
Serve hot.
Beet and Fennel Soup, Chilled or Hot.
We have fennel growing wild in our garden (garden isn't really what we have, rather a bunch of flowers, lemonbalm, fennel and wild onions, but who is keeping tabs), so it was nice to use it for once.
-4 roasted beets, skinned.
-1/4 c. water
-1/2 onion, roughly chopped
-4 cups vegetable broth (I think that's one container)
-1 large fennel bulb chopped
-1 granny smith apple, chopped
-2 teaspoons vinegar
-2 teaspoons lemon juice
-salt pepper to taste
-greek yogurt and fennel leaves for serving
Bring broth, fennel bulb and apple to a boil in saucepan. Simmer until the fennel is soft, about ten to fifteen minutes. Add onion and beets to the broth, stir. Puree. Stir in salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice. I chilled it, but my roommate serves it hot. Spoon into bowls, add a tablespoon of yogurt and a sprig of fennel. Enjoy.
Beet and feta tart
This recipe can use roasted or unroasted beets. I've done both with little difference in the results. If I am roasting a whole bunch of beets and don't quite know what I'll do with them, the roasted is fine. If I want this and I've just gotten home from work, I'll use raw.
For Crust:
-2 sticks chilled butter
-2 1/2 cups flour (1.5 whole wheat tastes best)
-1/4 c water
-pinch salt
Divide evenly, pat into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill while preparing filling in the fridge. You'll use only 1/2 for this recipe. Make an apple pie!
Filling:
-Skin 2 medium beets, grate or chop finely.
-4 eggs
-1/2 cup feta
-salt and pepper to taste.
Spread all that stuff evenly over the crust in a pie or tart pan. Bake at 350 until set (about 30 minutes).
Vegan Beet and Beet Green Risotto
My go to vegan recipe for having people over for dinner. The color is outstanding, and it makes a huge pot. It even tastes better the second day as leftovers. For those of us, ahem, who love the cheese, add some Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table.
-3 medium roasted beets (with greens, chopped)
-1 cup white wine
-1 big container of vegetable stock (what is that, 4 cups, I don't know)
-1 cup water
-1 small onion, diced
-2 cloves garlic
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-2 cups Arborio rice
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
-salt and pepper to taste
Peel roasted beets, chop greens and set aside. Over medium heat, heat oil and add onion and garlic. Do not brown. Once caramelized, add the rice, stir vigorously for 1 minute. Add white wine. Stir sporadically (most recipes say you need to stir all the time, but I was doing everything else at the same time, and I was more than fine. I am also notoriously relaxed about directions in the kitchen, so...). Once the wine is absorbed, add the vegetable stock and water about a cup at a time, waiting for the previous cup to absorb before adding the next. Stir. After two cups, stir in beet greens and beets. Continue to add water or stock and stir. After everything is absorbed, you'll notice a change in the rice, as the starches come out. It will be creamy, unlike most vegan dishes without any soymilk or nutritional yeast. Season with salt and pepper, add the lemon juice and take off heat. Stir one last time. Let sit for five minutes before serving. The lemon juice will mellow pretty quickly.
And FINALLY Beet Chocolate cupcakes
This recipe is tried and true, adapted from Pinch My Salt, I use it all the damn time to impress people with slightly purple incredibly chocolate filled cupcakes. They taste damn good.
-2 C. whole wheat flour
-2 teaspoons Baking Powder
-1 teaspoon Baking Soda
-pinch salt
-1/2 C Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips (I insist on the Ghiradelli, and it matters)
-1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds
-1/4 C. butter
-2/3 C. Ghiradelli chocolate chips
-1/4 cup brown sugar (i have skipped this, as I have a friend who doesn't eat sugar, and it tasted fine. the original recipe calls for three times as much, so think about that. beets are so damn sweet you don't really need that much).
-2 eggs
-2 beets, pureed
-2/3 cup yogurt
-1 teaspoon vanilla (I've skipped this and never known the difference, but, yeah)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. This will make about 16 muffins, so get that ready. I use silicone muffin liners, and in a year, they have more than paid for themselves, so that is something to think about.
Combine the first five ingredients (before the line break), set aside. In a saucepan, melt chocolate and butter on low. set aside to cool. In another bowl, compine eggs, sugar, vanilla, yogurt and chocolate mixture. Mix this with the dry ingredients. Spoon into cups, fill about 3/4 of the way. Bake for about 15 minutes (my oven, which runs hot, always needs 17 minutes, but that's just me). They're done when a toothpick comes out clean.
Yes! Enjoy. xoxo.
In 1997, after novelist Paul Auster wrote about a fictional artists named Maria Turner, the artist about whom the text was loosely based acted out the projects of Maria Turner. French artist Sophie Calle began a work called "The Chromatic Diet" and ate foods of different colors each day.
This spring, a friend of mine who lives in Rhode Island, kindly cut a whole pile of plywood for me at the woodshop of an art school where he works. As repayment, he challenged me to create a meal entirely out of beets.
Months later (the work which the plywood was made for has been shown and sold, so the trade is way past overdue), I finally made good on my promise, making seven dishes and a drink, each using beets as their primary color and flavoring. It was a lovely event (12 people in total showed up to sit on my stoop and eat), the food was good (if I can say that about my own doings), but aesthetically, it was amazing. Bright pinks all over (even my dress).
I'd like to make a habit of this, since it gave me a chance to try out a whole heap of recipes and cook for almost a full day.
Here are all the things I made with recipes. Though the inspiration came from many great food blogs, I've been testing and tweaking these recipes over the past months. Since they're fairly different, I think I'm allowed to claim them as my own. Also, sorry not to have better counts on how many each serves, I would guess good servings of six per recipe (unless otherwise noted) though we served 12 on small portions.
First things first, wash your beets, cut off greens (always buy beets with greens attached, they're so good, and so good for you), place beet root in foil and roast at approx. 400 for 40 minutes to an hour. when soft, unwrap and use for all these recipes!
Beet Juice Spritz!
When I spent the summer in Italy when I was in college, the university students began drinking around four with "ora di Spritz." Spritz is basically a white wine spritzer with a glug of Campari or Aperol (Aperol was what I preferred, which was apt, as I was living in the city of its origin - Padua - and it is made with (among other things) rhubarb). Sometimes they add an olive for good measure. My version adds beet juice from all the roasted beets I prepared.
-roast beets in foil for 40 minutes to an hour at 400 degrees (or wherever around that). when soft, set aside beets for millions of other things, strain the juice that has collected in the foil.
-1 part beet juice to 4 parts Aperol makes your bitter.
-mix white wine, seltzer, beet/aperol mixture in equal parts. serve over ice.
Citrus Beet Salad
This is a citrus beet salad twisted.
-peel and section 4 oranges and 4 grapefruit.
-dice 4 roasted beets
-mince 10 leaves mint, washed and dried.
-1/4 cup black olives, thinly sliced
-1/2 lime, juiced
-olive oil, salt, pepper to taste.
toss and serve (by itself or over greens, we were lucky to have it over greens Pennie and Aaron grew)! tastes different than any beet salad I've ever had.
Beet root Hummus
-1 roasted beet (pealed)
-2 cloves garlic
-1/4 cup tahini
-2 cans (or 2 cups) chick peas, drained and rinsed
-1/4 cup olive oil
-spash of lemon juice
-salt to taste
Mix it all up in a food processor. The most amazing color you've ever seen. Try and not eat it. Try. Serve with veggies or home made bread or pita.
Wilted Beet Greens with Pine Nuts
In the early summer when you are thinning your garden, use those baby beet greens for this recipe. Or go to the farmer's market and stock up. I'm lucky that my local Stop and Shop stocks beets with greens attached. I hear that other grocery store shoppers aren't so lucky.
-wash beet greens from one bunch beets (maybe 2 or 3 cups) throughly (they're usually really sandy, lately mine have had helicopters from the trees mixed in, which are not so tasty!).
-slice and discard thick stems.
-heat 2 tbs olive oil in wide skillet, add 2 cloves garlic, 1 shallot or other white onion diced.
-add chopped beet greens and cover. allow the greens to wilt, mixing every once in a while. if the pan gets too dry, add a few tbs of water at any time.
-while cooking, toast 1/4 cup pine nuts in another pan.
-add salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste.
Serve hot.
Beet and Fennel Soup, Chilled or Hot.
We have fennel growing wild in our garden (garden isn't really what we have, rather a bunch of flowers, lemonbalm, fennel and wild onions, but who is keeping tabs), so it was nice to use it for once.
-4 roasted beets, skinned.
-1/4 c. water
-1/2 onion, roughly chopped
-4 cups vegetable broth (I think that's one container)
-1 large fennel bulb chopped
-1 granny smith apple, chopped
-2 teaspoons vinegar
-2 teaspoons lemon juice
-salt pepper to taste
-greek yogurt and fennel leaves for serving
Bring broth, fennel bulb and apple to a boil in saucepan. Simmer until the fennel is soft, about ten to fifteen minutes. Add onion and beets to the broth, stir. Puree. Stir in salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice. I chilled it, but my roommate serves it hot. Spoon into bowls, add a tablespoon of yogurt and a sprig of fennel. Enjoy.
Beet and feta tart
This recipe can use roasted or unroasted beets. I've done both with little difference in the results. If I am roasting a whole bunch of beets and don't quite know what I'll do with them, the roasted is fine. If I want this and I've just gotten home from work, I'll use raw.
For Crust:
-2 sticks chilled butter
-2 1/2 cups flour (1.5 whole wheat tastes best)
-1/4 c water
-pinch salt
Divide evenly, pat into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill while preparing filling in the fridge. You'll use only 1/2 for this recipe. Make an apple pie!
Filling:
-Skin 2 medium beets, grate or chop finely.
-4 eggs
-1/2 cup feta
-salt and pepper to taste.
Spread all that stuff evenly over the crust in a pie or tart pan. Bake at 350 until set (about 30 minutes).
Vegan Beet and Beet Green Risotto
My go to vegan recipe for having people over for dinner. The color is outstanding, and it makes a huge pot. It even tastes better the second day as leftovers. For those of us, ahem, who love the cheese, add some Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table.
-3 medium roasted beets (with greens, chopped)
-1 cup white wine
-1 big container of vegetable stock (what is that, 4 cups, I don't know)
-1 cup water
-1 small onion, diced
-2 cloves garlic
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-2 cups Arborio rice
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
-salt and pepper to taste
Peel roasted beets, chop greens and set aside. Over medium heat, heat oil and add onion and garlic. Do not brown. Once caramelized, add the rice, stir vigorously for 1 minute. Add white wine. Stir sporadically (most recipes say you need to stir all the time, but I was doing everything else at the same time, and I was more than fine. I am also notoriously relaxed about directions in the kitchen, so...). Once the wine is absorbed, add the vegetable stock and water about a cup at a time, waiting for the previous cup to absorb before adding the next. Stir. After two cups, stir in beet greens and beets. Continue to add water or stock and stir. After everything is absorbed, you'll notice a change in the rice, as the starches come out. It will be creamy, unlike most vegan dishes without any soymilk or nutritional yeast. Season with salt and pepper, add the lemon juice and take off heat. Stir one last time. Let sit for five minutes before serving. The lemon juice will mellow pretty quickly.
And FINALLY Beet Chocolate cupcakes
This recipe is tried and true, adapted from Pinch My Salt, I use it all the damn time to impress people with slightly purple incredibly chocolate filled cupcakes. They taste damn good.
-2 C. whole wheat flour
-2 teaspoons Baking Powder
-1 teaspoon Baking Soda
-pinch salt
-1/2 C Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips (I insist on the Ghiradelli, and it matters)
-1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds
-1/4 C. butter
-2/3 C. Ghiradelli chocolate chips
-1/4 cup brown sugar (i have skipped this, as I have a friend who doesn't eat sugar, and it tasted fine. the original recipe calls for three times as much, so think about that. beets are so damn sweet you don't really need that much).
-2 eggs
-2 beets, pureed
-2/3 cup yogurt
-1 teaspoon vanilla (I've skipped this and never known the difference, but, yeah)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. This will make about 16 muffins, so get that ready. I use silicone muffin liners, and in a year, they have more than paid for themselves, so that is something to think about.
Combine the first five ingredients (before the line break), set aside. In a saucepan, melt chocolate and butter on low. set aside to cool. In another bowl, compine eggs, sugar, vanilla, yogurt and chocolate mixture. Mix this with the dry ingredients. Spoon into cups, fill about 3/4 of the way. Bake for about 15 minutes (my oven, which runs hot, always needs 17 minutes, but that's just me). They're done when a toothpick comes out clean.
Yes! Enjoy. xoxo.
6.16.2009
i like to ride my bicycle.
when i was in high school, i used to tell my friends that i wanted a pick up truck. they always asked me, "why?" to which i would respond. "to haul stuff. like rocks."
i just got my version of a pick up, but oh so much better. look how nice.
and another view.
the lovely mechanics at Open Bicycle made the changed while i waited (it isn't really waiting when you're chatting with amazing people...). the first thing i hauled in my new basket...
beet chocolate cupcakes back to the boys at Open as a thank you. Open is Zack and Joshua and a whole community of bike folks around Somerville and greater Boston. i suspected (based on what i know of Josh and Zack) that the space would be populated with hip hip hip fixie kids, but while i was waiting, a girl came in with her boyfriend's forgotten mountain bike, two BMX bikes, and an older gentleman wandering in. they also run Chorus Gallery out of the same space, and i am damn happy they do. seen two nice shows there so far, certainly the young artists of New England that wouldn't find a venue otherwise. Open is creating a real community and making us all very happy.
i love me some bike riding, but getting back on my bike after the new handlebars (made by Velo Orange, i cannot describe the difference it makes. i never want to get off this bike ever. ever ever. and damn, it looks good, no? in fact, i'm in such a bikie mood that i rewatched The Flying Scotsman after going for a long ride this afternoon. yes yes yes!
i just got my version of a pick up, but oh so much better. look how nice.
and another view.
the lovely mechanics at Open Bicycle made the changed while i waited (it isn't really waiting when you're chatting with amazing people...). the first thing i hauled in my new basket...
beet chocolate cupcakes back to the boys at Open as a thank you. Open is Zack and Joshua and a whole community of bike folks around Somerville and greater Boston. i suspected (based on what i know of Josh and Zack) that the space would be populated with hip hip hip fixie kids, but while i was waiting, a girl came in with her boyfriend's forgotten mountain bike, two BMX bikes, and an older gentleman wandering in. they also run Chorus Gallery out of the same space, and i am damn happy they do. seen two nice shows there so far, certainly the young artists of New England that wouldn't find a venue otherwise. Open is creating a real community and making us all very happy.
i love me some bike riding, but getting back on my bike after the new handlebars (made by Velo Orange, i cannot describe the difference it makes. i never want to get off this bike ever. ever ever. and damn, it looks good, no? in fact, i'm in such a bikie mood that i rewatched The Flying Scotsman after going for a long ride this afternoon. yes yes yes!
6.09.2009
idle talkers
"One can throw away a chair and destroy a pane of glass, but ... [only] idle talkers regard the state as such a thing or as a fetish that one can smash in order to destroy it. The state is a condition, a certain relationship among human beings, a mode of behavior between men; we destroy it by contraction other relationships, by behaving differently toward one another ... We are the state, and we shall continue to be the state until we have created the institutions that form a real community and society."
-Landauer, Gustav. 1910.
-Landauer, Gustav. 1910.
Iowa, oh Iowa
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I am moving to Iowa City, Iowa to begin an MFA in Intermedia Arts (beware, outdated website ahead) at the University of Iowa.
It is too bad that Iowa has such a bad state song (it is to the tune of "oh tannenbaum").
5.18.2009
5.11.2009
Davis Square Tile Project / Community in Question
Beginning in 1977, the MBTA and the Cambridge Arts Council began collaborating on a project intended to invigorate a much lived space, the Boston subway system (or the T as it is known to locals). The project, named Arts on the Line, began at the same time as serious planning for the Red Line extension into Cambridge and Somerville (Porter, Davis, and Alewife stations were created, and many of the older stations were retrofitted to accommodate longer six car trains), and commissioned artists to create installations in and surrounding the subway stations. Every station that was redone from the late seventies through the 1980s had shiny new art installations, many by local artists. The project took one percent of funding for T improvements to spend on art, which seems like a very small amount, but for a system that is perpetually in debt, like the MBTA, the program was slashed.Now, roughly twenty-five years after the Red Line extension, serious discussion surrounding another T extension is commencing. The Green Line, which currently ends at Lechmere in Cambridge, is proposed to extend into Union Square and Ball Square in Somerville as well as College Ave near Tufts University, ending all the way out at Rt. 16. The project is a requirement due to the Conservation Law Foundation law suit against the state for the infamous Big Dig, as a way to mitigate the air pollution with disproportionately affects Somerville residents.
In early April, descended on Somerville (and Medford) to investigate and facilitate a conversation on the potential benefits and problems of the Green Line extension. Just how would if affect the area it was planned to enter? And could we look to the Red Line extension of the 1980s as a prediction of what would occur? We created a reader and lead a walking tour for a conference at Tufts, and began thinking about another branch of the project.
Looking at the Arts on the Line project, members of the Action Mill and the Think Tank joined up to work on the Davis Square Tile Project, a Distributed and Participatory Public Investigation (DPPI). In the Davis Square T Stop, 249 tiles were created by a local artist and students at the Powderhouse Community School. These tiles were installed in the station. Now, decades later, we are attempting to contact the makers of these tiles in order to ask just how Somerville has changed for them in the years between. Might these 249 voices act as a sampling of families in Davis Square at the time, and perhaps indicate what is to come in neighborhoods like Ball Square?
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