PAFA tries out POST (Philadelphia Open Studio Tours)

PAFA decided to try participating in POST (Philadelphia Open Studio Tours) this year. It was decided only the graduate degree students would participate this time, maybe we are the guinea pigs? I wouldn't say the traffic was heavy but there were a lot of interested strangers poking their heads in, and a few good friends came to hang out and make it more fun!

Queen Catherine: friends enjoyed trying out my prop box of head gear!

From Betty to Veronica in one second flat! So cute.

Cupcake Day!

Today was Cupcake Day for students at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts! Rainbow-tinted fun. Here is Cupcake Day: The Photoessay:

My own personalized cupcake (there was a toppings bar!)

I'M BAAAACK!

...in Graduate school, that is. After taking a year off mid-program due to complications following surgery for an injury.

I wasn't really sure how I would feel upon "re-entry" but the moment I walked into my beautifully minimalist light-filled studio I was filled with joy! Interestingly, I've been looking into the early works of painter Max Beckmann and I've been mesmerized by this particular image:

Max Beckmann  "Self-Portrait in Florence"  1907
Hamburg Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

Okay okay, so my studio looks out onto Philadelphia's Convention Center rather than beautiful tuscan hills, and I'm lacking a smartly tailored formal outfit, and I don't smoke, and I'm not a stunningly handsome twenty-four year old German man at the turn of the last century, but other than THAT, it's like these pictures are twins, right? ;-)

Peach Season

Peach season is just starting here in the mid-atlantic, and oh how I love it! There's nothing like a good perfectly ripe peach, with it's velvety skin, tender flesh and sweet-tangy juice.  But I am a bit of a peach-fusspot, I will only eat a peach when it is perfectly perfectly ripe. My husband and sons laugh at this, they don't mind chawing at a rubbery unripe lump, or slurping up a peach with deteriorating flesh-quality. Their random grabs at the fruit basket leave me frustrated, as I may be waiting with eagerness for a peach to get to the perfect pitch and before it is quite there, maybe it is even close, wham...they've gone ahead and eaten it. Or they'll crunch up a bunch of very unripe ones, leaving a batch of ripe ones...half of which will "turn" before I can attend to them.  Okay, yeah, fussy fussy fussy. I know. And I don't really care.

Let's see if this signage helps! ;-) Anything goes in my pursuit of the perfect peach!

Happy First Birthday Kitty!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SUNNY!

It's a little odd, knowing the birthday of my cat, even his birth order (youngest of four.) That's because he was born to a supposedly fixed cat adopted from a shelter by a friend of mine. It was kind of a strong arm kitten adoption ("You're my friend? You'll take a kitten, then.") but it turned out to be a wonderful thing. We all love this cat who, as his birthday card proclaims, is unique, fun, cute, smart and lovable! ♡☼♡ We keep him in kitty treats and he keeps our collective blood pressures down, a lovely symbiotic relationship! 

Love Loaves

My Sourdough Adventure continues! I decided it might be nice to have loaf shapes rather than the boules I have been making. For these loaves I used the King Arthur Rustic Sourdough recipe with a few home modifications. Instead of free-form (i.e. rustic) loaves I used loaf pans, and I also changed the recipe from all-white to multi-grain. These loaves include whole wheat flour, oat bran and ground flaxseed meal. I meant to dust the pans with cornmeal too, but forgot. I also added a 1/2 teaspoon of sour salt (aka citric acid, or vitamin C crystals) to boost the "tang" factor. It all worked out beautifully, this time at least! I've made several clunker batches too as I forge ahead on my sourdough adventure. Those loaves don't get blogged about, but they do get eaten, all the same. Homemade bread, even if far from perfect, still tastes good.

Now for some bread art shots...I just think the whole structure of bread is so gorgeous! It's like an art project you can eat!

Macro shot of the crumb form. Click to enlarge.

My peanut butter jar full of starter continues to do just fine, living in my fridge with only sporadic feeding. I can be a bit scatter-brained so I thought for sure I'd kill her dead in no time but so far she seems perfectly content and healthy!

Somebody asked, so thought I would mention that yeah, I'm using NO fancy or specialized bread-baking equipment. No french bannetons, no danish dough whisk, no scoring knife, no kitchenaid dough hook, no proofing container, no dough-raising bucket, no silpat kneading mat, no baking stone etc etc.  All that stuff does sound great but at the moment I am just having fun, enjoying a free-form free-for-all using only common kitchen utensils. I don't even weigh my ingredients the way real bakers do, although I may come to that in future. :-) Who knows?

A Henry & Katja Reunion

"Is that you?"

Katja is visiting us from Heidelberg! It's been three or four years since she was last here. K and I drove out to Beaver Farm to see Henry. K wondered if H would remember her. I really think he did. As usual with Henry there were no glad words of remembrance but some intense stares and happy grins. Like, "Oh THERE you are!"

"It IS you! Yay!"

"Now can I have some ice-cream?"

♡☼♡....

A Sourdough Baker's Dozen

This is my second attempt at sourdough baking, using starter passed along by a local foodie acquaintance. My first attempt was disappointing, but this loaf: wow! It looks a complete little world. I used Jim Lahey's no-knead recipe for this try, substituting 1/2 cup of starter for the dry yeast.

And it tastes just the way you think it does....!

The Day After the Night Before

Out for the count!

Sunny Cat has now managed to Houdini himself outside at night two nights running. Unlike other times of day, he won't return when called if he gets out in the late evening...and has thus managed to attend the local all-night cat raves w/o parental supervision. He's been on the porch in the morning wondering where his breakfast is, though. He then eats like a (little furry) horse and hits the hay.... sleeping so deeply he doesn't even flinch a whisker if you drop something on the floor near him. Typical teenager!

I have heard that in other places people deliberately put the cat out at night, but here where I live we have such a panoply of raccoons, foxes, owls and even the occasional (it is rumored) coyote, that it makes me too nervous to let him roam free among the night-hunting predators. Typical mom!

Big Momma

I just got my hands on some sourdough starter or "mother" from a generous foodie acquaintance. I love to bake bread and am good with yeast, but have absolutely no experience with sourdough wrangling. I love the flavor of sourdough, and was inspired by hearing Michael Pollan interviewed on NPR yesterday...he waxed enthusiastic about the superior health benefits of fermented foods. I look forward to the adventure!