Sunday, October 31, 2010

Spooky Oreos

Last week Gluten Free Girl & The Chef featured homemade gf oreos on their site. (You'll find the recipe there if you want to try it.) I had to give them a try! I figured it was best to make them for a party - so I wouldn't eat more than a few. I've been wanting a pastry bag - this was my excuse to go out and buy one. I whipped them up for a Halloween party, where I knew there would be at least one other person on a gf diet.

A few comments on the process: I substituted brown rice flour for the white rice flour because that's what I had on hand, and coconut oil for the vegetable shortening because I don't like to use trans-fats. I also think that this dough could be rolled out and cut with a cookie cutter, or rolled into a log and sliced. It was a bit labor intensive to form each wafer by hand. The chocolately smell that filled the house while they baked was out of this world!

To decorate them for the holiday, I bought some yogurt covered raisins and poked holes in them with a fat needle to make little skulls, which I attached with a little blob of icing. :-) They were well received at the party, even by non-gf people. That's always the test: will the people who can eat everything else enjoy these too? They did, although I have to say I liked them best the next day, after they'd spent the night in the fridge. The filling stayed really firm when cold, so it didn't squeeze out when I took a bite. Let me know if you make them - and how they turn out!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Weather Magic

This afternoon some weather rolled in - magical autumn weather - the kind of weather that stirs thoughts of something much bigger than our puny selves. I was at my desk, on the third floor of the office building where I spend my days. My cube-mates and I were in awe of the drama taking place outside the glass.

Leaving work, walking to my car, across a little wooden bridge over a wetland, the slanting rays were hitting bittersweet berries with a light that made me see them for the first time.

A half hour later, when I exited Whole Foods, this greeted me. It lasted for the longest time, and grew in size and brilliance until it was a full rainbow, spanning the sky from horizon to horizon. I watched people come and go in the parking lot. Some were oblivious, others stopped for a moment to appreciate it. I spied a very tall young man standing in the next row of parked cars. He stood almost motionless, sometimes in the falling rain, from the moment he noticed the rainbow, until it faded away. When it was over, I watched him walk toward the store, with the sweetest smile on his face.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Please Don't . . .

Last Saturday, S. and I wandered over to the Hessel Museum at Bard College to have a look at the exhibit Home/Not at Home. The show was okay - there are a few standout pieces. I found most of the work in the collection to be clever, but lacking heart.

As we walked toward the museum door, the breeze picked up, and we heard, behind us, the distinctive sound of a flag - a big, substantial one - unfurling and snapping in the wind.

Expecting to see the Stars and Stripes, we turned, and . . . surprise!

The flag was made by David Shrigley.

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Brothers

You may recall that I bought a little 6x6 painted construction by Simon Draper a while back. Well, in August I was lucky enough to find another one that I love. I found both pieces at Roos Arts in Rosendale, NY.

These pieces are actually cut outs made from torn down studio sheds that were constructed as part of Draper's Habitat for Artists program. Roos Arts' current exhibition, which opened this evening, features this work. You can read more about it here.