Tuesday, December 13, 2016

What a Trifle and Craftbombing Felt Butterflies in the Winter Snow

HAH! Can you believe I won FIRST place for my trifle at the bake off at the Yellow Springs Arts Council. Thank you ever SO MUCH, what a hoot eh! They are super easy to make and very tasty, although I skipped the sherry for the bake off just in case any youngsters were attending. 

Recipe
Sherry, Pound Cake, Raspberry Jam, Mandarin Oranges, Orange Jello, Birds English Custard Powder, Whole Milk, Whipped Topping, Sprinkles

Slice pound cake into thin slices. Spread jam between two slices and then cut into chunks. Put 2 or three small chunks in bottom of desert dish or clear 8oz cups and sprinkle a little cream sherry on top. Let soak for a wee bit. Top with a few mandarin oranges and then put in a layer of jello. After jello is set, pour on a layer of custard and let set. Before serving add a layer of preferred whipped topping and then add sprinkles. 
That's it.

Here are some yummy variations or a classic.

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Winter Wonderland in Yellow Springs
and the felt butterflies look so pretty.

Saturday, December 10, 2016

The Jafagirl Christmas Cookie Caper

It was the day before the Holiday Bake Off. Grandma Deal's Special Cookie Recipe lay on the counter,  spotted with the doughs of Christmas past. I preheat the oven to 350 degrees and turn on the Christmas carols.

At 10 am Corrine arrives at my house. By 11 we had had our tea and chatted about art and everything else. Finally, I said “I guess we better bake.”

Corrine had bought butterfly cookie cutters. We planned to ice the butterflies blue, and they would have black-piped bodies and tiny candy silver balls for eyes. We had a vision of a tray of beautiful blue butterflies winning first place at the bake off.

 The dough was chilled, all night chilled, it takes a lot of muscle to roll all night chilled dough.  Nancy is looking forward to Corrine  doing it. Corrine gives it a try and says “I'll cut the cookies, you roll.” Nancy stares at the dough. “What are these brown spots?”  Gotta be nutmeg that didn't get mixed in enough.  Well... it doesn't look too bad.

We do the bottom rumba, it is not a 2two-butt space. We bump into each other and reach over each other, as one rolls or adds dough and one reaches for flour to keep things from sticking, and we both want the spatula, and the other  lifts off the cookies, and puts them on trays. “Would you like to live in a Harem?” I ask, and Corrine says no they mostly plotted and wanted to kill each other.  Hmmmm.


Corrine was unloading her shopping bag.  She had bought the blue and black icing colors we needed and a neat little packet with a brand new icing bag with instructions, when she froze, holding one of the little containers, and  said, “Green?” 
  Luckily I had a blue in the cupboard.
Then came the discussion of water in the icing. “It has to be thin,” says Corrine.  Hmm. Mine always has butter and milk.  It's fat.  She whipped out her phone, and looked it up. The instructions didn't say use water, and didn't say use butter.  Glycerin? We used water.  Corrine assured me she'd always used water.  And it would make it smooth.  We'd pour it on.

Corrine asks, “Is it okay if they are this close on the baking  tray?” 

“Sure,” I confidently say as I nudge one a little farther away.

When we were ready to  bake our first tray, I can't find the recipe.  Where did I put Grandma Deal's special recipe that I have used for 30 years and never made a copy of and no one else has?

Oh well, I'll find it later, I'll guess how long the cookies should bake.

“Wow, they are all puffed up,” Corrine says.  But they sink in a minute. I don't say anything as I cut the blobs apart to put on the rack to cool.
I find my recipe in the living room.  That's when I notice that the temperature was supposed to be 400 degrees.
 I turn the oven up.
By the time we get to that last sheet of cookies to bake, they look pretty good.
 
Corrine is ready to test the icing. “I need a rack, so the icing can be poured over them.”  I only have one rack.  It's got hot cookies on it.  For 30 years I've thought of getting a second rack.  Maybe I will tomorrow.

She pours, and then looks at it. It's not exactly beautiful. “I think I need to test another one.”
After a tray full of testing, some with knives, some with fingers (Corrine, you've got to wash your hands now) and a very large pool of blue, watery icing on the counter, she says, “This isn't working.” 

And gets on with opening the piping bag.  Maybe we can pipe them.  But there is only one bag.  How do you put it together?  After futzing with it, I ask, “Have you read the directions?” 

“No” 
(I honestly didn't think I would need to, I mean how hard can it be)

So she reads them out loud.  And neither of us understand them.  But I take over, sure I can figure it out.  I will read the whole directions.  Half way through, I realize I can't understand them either, and start at the top again. Still don't understand, stop reading, give up on using the twisty part that keeps it neatly on the bag, and start cutting off the top of the bag, and drop in the pointy nozzle.  And Corrine starts scooping in black icing.

After carefully making some swirls on a blue iced cookie for a body and long curly feelers, Corrine says, “This is ugly, they look like Fallopian tubes” And we give up. 

“Corrine,” I say, “you need to take pictures! I want a picture of your face the way it looked when you tried a bite of cookie.”

As I start to wash up the huge mess we have made, Corrine kicks into artist gear, and uses the piping bag to decorate the not iced cookies with smiley faces ,and frowny faces, and  heartfelt words, and finally says to me “'look at this one.”

It says “Fuck” in beautifully piped black icing. Nope.  I don't think we can bring that one to the bake off.

Instead,  in the morning, Corrine will make trifles, which she makes every Christmas. She makes them very well. By herself.  Nancy BOUGHT the supplies.

Happy Holidays!

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Craftbombing With Felt on a Winter's Day

Honestly I don't know why but one morning I wake up and decide I MUST, absolutely MUST, make yellow felt butterflies and stick them up on a pole in town. That's how it works with us sometimes.  An idea bursts forth and BOOM done within a day or two. Other times we have ideas percolating for weeks or months and nowt happens and then BOOM! OR NOWT happens. Anyway, weather is getting grotty and we thought these would 
brighten up the grey days of winter.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Yarnbombing for the Art Show and Salem Avenue Peace Corridor

It was a glorious day in Dayton and after our tour at the PBS station we all piled into the van and headed down to the corner of Salem Avenue and W Riverview Ave.
Ode to Kehinde Wiley
Ann Rotolante Producer at  The Art Show
Originally Nancy and I were only going to do one installation with the blue butterflies but we decided to do three. Jule and Treva were there to greet us and we thought it would be great if Jule Rastikis installed the butterflies for the Salem Avenue Peace Corridor seeing as he is the president. Don't you love Ann's hair, matches our butterflies. 
One of the most fun parts of doing installations like this is the reaction of people walking by and we got hugs from two people who LOVED the butterflies.  We attached them (err, the butterflies not the two people) to a thin mesh and when the wind blows, and boy does it blow on that corner, they flutter which makes them even more cool.
This is Tiki
who was happy to get one of the butterflies.
Nancy is installing the third craftbomb with Richard the Cameraman aka sweetpea getting an  such an extreme close up I thought the camera would swallow her up. 
To learn a little about the Salem Avenue Peace Corridor check out the video.

and their facebook page.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Art Show Shenanigans at PBS Dayton


HAH! before we headed out to install the yarnbombs/craftbombs for the Salem Avenue Peace Corridor Nancy and I got to have a tour of the PBS station downtown. I was channeling Morcambe and Wise and Austina Powers, NOT sure what or who Nancy was channeling ;)
Nancy with the Art Show Producer Anne Rotolante
I love how Big Bird is looking at them
as if to say
you crazy birds

Sunday, November 6, 2016

6 Minutes of Fame on the Art Show

Well not quite because it hasn't aired yet BUT the crew from ThinkTV Art Show came out to Yellow Springs to film us.

The Art Show | On Air | ThinkTV

The greater Dayton area is home to a strong, vibrant and thriving arts and cultural community. The Art Show takes a look at the artists and the art scene in and around Dayton. The weekly series presents profiles and features from the worlds of music, theater, dance and art in the Miami Valley along with national arts and cultural highlights.
 They arrived at 8:30am and I must say Richard the Cameraman, John the Sound Guy and Ann Rotolante the Producer made it all very easy
 despite our trepidation. I subjected them to marmite which they graciously ate  without flinching, I was IMPRESSED.
 I did get a bit of the "stink eye" from Richard for taking his pic, like me he prefers to be BEHIND the camera, sorry ;)
9 hours later after filming us at my house, then at Nancy's house and getting a shot of  
mr.plato they were gone.
Nancy and I were plunged back to reality and our normal life of plotting our next move on the arts council fence, tasks for the holiday art jumble, the permanent collection event at Anitoch Midwest, and what day to finish the butterfly piece for the Salem Avenue Peace Corridor installation which will be the final filming done by the Art Show.
Thanks guys
 It was such a pleasure to meet you and work with you. 

I believe it will air in January.
cheers all



Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Fence Painting in Yellow Springs

The Yellow  Springs Arts Council has a fabulous wee gallery  located on Corry Street but it's set back off the street and people often don't notice it. Nancy has been itching to paint the fence to the left of the gallery for years with something eyecatching. We finally got around to it and it's definitely eye catching and most definately out of my comfort zone colourwise. But we work with what we have and thanks to a dear donor (you know who you are ♥) we were able to buy primer and black/white paint.  
 So for several days with have been busting our backsides trying to get this done before the weather get's too cold, This is the fence halfway done, and I think it's definitely  Eye catching, right?
I don't think anyone can walk past the arts council and NOT notice this,lol!