Monday, 28 February 2011
Red Bench on which to consider things.
I've 'revisited' a photo I shot in Barcelona a couple of years ago, given a bit of Eyeshoot magic and here it is:
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
My First Collection on Artfire
I have a shop on Artfire to sell my photos etc. Or rather I don't actually sell anything there so I have upgraded to their Pro version which has a vast array of features, in fact, it's all a bit much. I'm so used to the simplicity of Etsy that I always find other sites hard work. They have a feature over there called Collections which are a similar thing to Treasuries on Etsy. It's a much easier process on Artfire as you add the item you like directly from their shop and the system automatically messages all of the people whose work you have featured which saves copying and pasting loads of Convos |(in Etsy) and continually crashing Firefox in the process! So I was very pleased with that.
Here's a view of what I've put together, click on the image to see the whole view.
Here's a view of what I've put together, click on the image to see the whole view.
Whole Lotta Love
I came across this great little scene while in a dull Manchester on Saturday and thought that it would make a great print, so here it is!
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Thai Pork Wrap recipe based on found shopping list No.4
Continuing my occasional post inspired by one of my shopping lists - this one features in Volume One of a series of mini zines I will be making to record my finds, you can find it here.
This list is rather extravagantly written on one very small corner of a very large, brand new A4 manila envelope which still has the price written in the corner. This implies to me that it was written in a hurry on the first piece of paper to come to hand, but the super neat and organized, bullet-marked list belies this!
The ingredients here can only be for some sort of South East Asian curry, the galangal is a dead give away as I've only ever seen it used in Thai cooking (it's a relative of root ginger, it has a different texture, being a bit more like Chinese water chestnuts, the skin is more pale with pinkish markings and less tough than ginger, it looks a bit like a very knobbly Jerusalem artichoke. The taste is decidedly more citrussy and ginger can be used as a substitute as galangal can be tricky to find)
I've done a little research and created a recipe of my own based on some I've found on-line and in my collection of cookery books. It can be made with the ingredients from my list as well as the normal Asian store cupboard ingredients I would expect any cook to have.
Thai Pork Wraps
Chinese leaves
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
6-8 fat cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 shallots, finely minced
5 inches of fresh galangal
2 whole small red chilli, thinly sliced - leave the seeds in if you like it hot
500g of lean pork mince
1 large carrot, shredded (you can use a mandolin or vegetable peeler if you knife skills are not up to it!)
2 tablespoons of Thai fish sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 lime - juiced
Handful bean sprouts
To garnish
Handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Handful of peanuts, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
Method
Separate the Chinese leaves, keep them whole, wash them and set aside on a towel to dry.
In a large frying pan or wok on a medium heat, add the oil, garlic, shallots, chilli and galangal and lightly fry for a minute, don't let them colour too much. Turn the heat up to a high temperature and add the pork mince and stir well, keeping the meat constantly moving and mixing it well with the other ingredients so that it cooks dry and doesn't steam which will happen if your overcrowd the pan. It is best to do this in two batches if you only have a small pan/wok.
One the mince has cooked, add the finely shredded carrots and toss for a moment or two so that they wilt a little. Add the fish and soy sauces and mix well. Add the lime juice (no pips please) and stir once more and remove from heat. Arrange in a serving dish and add the chopped coriander, peanuts and bean sprouts. To finish, sprinkle over the sliced spring onions.
Spoon the minced pork into the Chinese leaves and fold over to make a parcel, eat and enjoy.
(Ingredients on the list not used in recipe - beef and mixed veg)
This list is rather extravagantly written on one very small corner of a very large, brand new A4 manila envelope which still has the price written in the corner. This implies to me that it was written in a hurry on the first piece of paper to come to hand, but the super neat and organized, bullet-marked list belies this!
The ingredients here can only be for some sort of South East Asian curry, the galangal is a dead give away as I've only ever seen it used in Thai cooking (it's a relative of root ginger, it has a different texture, being a bit more like Chinese water chestnuts, the skin is more pale with pinkish markings and less tough than ginger, it looks a bit like a very knobbly Jerusalem artichoke. The taste is decidedly more citrussy and ginger can be used as a substitute as galangal can be tricky to find)
I've done a little research and created a recipe of my own based on some I've found on-line and in my collection of cookery books. It can be made with the ingredients from my list as well as the normal Asian store cupboard ingredients I would expect any cook to have.
Thai Pork Wraps
Chinese leaves
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
6-8 fat cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 shallots, finely minced
5 inches of fresh galangal
2 whole small red chilli, thinly sliced - leave the seeds in if you like it hot
500g of lean pork mince
1 large carrot, shredded (you can use a mandolin or vegetable peeler if you knife skills are not up to it!)
2 tablespoons of Thai fish sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 lime - juiced
Handful bean sprouts
To garnish
Handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Handful of peanuts, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
Method
Separate the Chinese leaves, keep them whole, wash them and set aside on a towel to dry.
In a large frying pan or wok on a medium heat, add the oil, garlic, shallots, chilli and galangal and lightly fry for a minute, don't let them colour too much. Turn the heat up to a high temperature and add the pork mince and stir well, keeping the meat constantly moving and mixing it well with the other ingredients so that it cooks dry and doesn't steam which will happen if your overcrowd the pan. It is best to do this in two batches if you only have a small pan/wok.
One the mince has cooked, add the finely shredded carrots and toss for a moment or two so that they wilt a little. Add the fish and soy sauces and mix well. Add the lime juice (no pips please) and stir once more and remove from heat. Arrange in a serving dish and add the chopped coriander, peanuts and bean sprouts. To finish, sprinkle over the sliced spring onions.
Spoon the minced pork into the Chinese leaves and fold over to make a parcel, eat and enjoy.
(Ingredients on the list not used in recipe - beef and mixed veg)
Monday, 21 February 2011
Keep it simple Treasury
I've made a Treasury to show off some lovely simple pieces I have found on Etsy, drawings, prints and other goodies all which have a simple line in common.
Keep it Simple - curated by Sarah Franklin
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
What's for supper, a little book of found shopping lists.
I have a secret, it's not earth shattering gossip or anything like that, it's a little embarrassing. People think I'm strange.
Here goes - I collect shopping lists, as I have mentioned here before. Other people's shopping lists. I look in shopping trolleys, the floor around trolleys and at the end of the conveyors at checkout and when I find a list, it makes me happy. I have a drawer full of them and really want to share the eccentric, eclectic, gourmet, fast food wonderful variety of them.
So using list I've scanned some I have made them into a little tiny book of sixteen full colour pages each one with a little glimpse into the life of someone who lives in my part of the world. I've even hand stitched it!
Here goes - I collect shopping lists, as I have mentioned here before. Other people's shopping lists. I look in shopping trolleys, the floor around trolleys and at the end of the conveyors at checkout and when I find a list, it makes me happy. I have a drawer full of them and really want to share the eccentric, eclectic, gourmet, fast food wonderful variety of them.
So using list I've scanned some I have made them into a little tiny book of sixteen full colour pages each one with a little glimpse into the life of someone who lives in my part of the world. I've even hand stitched it!
Taste Test as a Treasury Making Tool.
I was in a very nice Treasury on Etsy the other day which had been compiled using the Etsy Taste Test which I think I recall hearing about a while ago but didn't look at it, just read about it being rubbished in the Forums, and that was that. Anyway, when I came across the Treasury yesterday there was a link to the Taste Test and I had a look and liked what I saw. It's a really good way of compiling a Treasury without sifting through pages and pages of stuff I don't like at all. You can't enter any keywords, so if you wanted items on a specific theme or colour or location, it's not for you. I like to make my Treasuries by look and found that this tool made the whole experience much more efficient and I think I'll be doing them more often from now on!
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Holidays in Wales, early 1960s style.
I bought a box of 35mm slides a couple of years ago at a boot sale for 40p which turned out to be amazing. I've never known what to do with them but somehow I didn't post them on my blog, so here we are. I would love to do something with them, but I've no idea what!
Monday, 7 February 2011
Take a look at a small sample of the gorgeous Treasuries my work has been included in at Etsy recently. I'm a rank amateur at making these collections look good compared to the people who made these.
Click on whatever catches your fancy to go to the items in their shops where you can read all about them.
Click on whatever catches your fancy to go to the items in their shops where you can read all about them.
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Above us only sky.
I took some photos off the terrace a couple of weeks ago of a spectacular sky, both blue and pink. I forgot all about them until today when I applied a little magic to them and turned them into two new prints!
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Up, up and away.
I've made a new Treasury jam packed full of beautiful photography from the Fpoe Team on Etsy.
(click the link to see the real 'live' version where you can access all of the shops and leave appreciative comments and buy beautiful art!)
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
A new floral digital collage sheet.
I've made a new digital collage sheet today and it's full of gorgeous flowers. There are eight images each repeated six times in a neat 1" square.
Digital Collage Sheet of 1 inch Floral Photos for Crafts, Scrapbook or Jewellery Projects
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)