ABOUT LOVE

It seems to me...

The scope of love is broad and deep, encompassing a wide range of emotions and behavior.  At each end of this broad spectrum are two opposing descriptions of this phenomenon we call love – Soft love, and Hard love.

Soft love is gentle, caring and compassionate, non-judgmental, inclusive, nurturing, generous (sometimes to a fault), and forgiving.  It has no boundaries or requirements

Hard love is rigid, harsh, restrictive, judgmental, unforgiving, exclusive, demanding, and limited.  

I suspect few people fall exclusively into one or the other of these extremes, but would fall somewhere between the two, closer to one than the other, but capable of experiencing the full spectrum in a lifetime of living.

In spite of these differences, The depth and commitment of the love is, or can be, the same in both extremes.  While I believe there are circumstances that require a bit of both, I think we have an innate tendency toward one or the other, kind of like are basic handwriting.

  Quarter Moon...oil pastel...12x9 (sold)

MORE BROCCOLI RABE

Thanks to the folks at Midtown Market broccoli rabe is now a regular staple in our kitchen.  This means more opportunities to explore new ways of putting this unique green to use.

Last night, acting on Patience's suggestion, I combined the BR with mushrooms and onions and served it over a spinach Pappardelle.



INGREDIENTS:

Pappardelle - At Dented brand, available at Midtown Market
Broccoli Rabe - thick stems discarded and coarsely chopped
Onion
Garlic
Olive oi
Mushrooms - combination of shitake and baby portobella
Red pepper flakes

PROCESS;

Cook onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, then add the mushrooms.  Blanch the BR in boiling water for 3-4 minutes, drain, and add to the mushrooms.  (I drizzled a bit more olive oil at this stage but that is a judgement call.)  Cook over low heat.

In the meantime, bring the water back to a boil and cook the pasta.  Place in serving bowl and mix in the greens and mushrooms.  Serve with grated cheese of you choice.

Broccoli Rabe served with white beans

ONE MORE LANDSCAPE

My goal was to create a companion piece to a previous painting (Reflections II - 36x48") on this 36x36" canvas.  As usual, trying to create a second painting in the same mode as the first is difficult for me, and there were more than a few "do overs" in this piece.


 
Snow Field...acrylic...36x36

Reflections II...acrylic....36x48

I anticipate taking a break from the acrylics and the studio while I think about my next project.  Unfortunately I haven't the slightest idea what that will be.  I'll have to think about it over a glass of wine and a dish of pasta.  Oh how we suffer for our art!

Broccoli rabe pesto

Although I have not been posting our pasta dinners as regularly as I once was since the Pasta Quest officially ended a few months ago, I have continued cooking and eating my favorite food.  When I come up with something that is unique - at least to me - I will share it with my readers.

I have made a lot of noise about broccoli rabe since it began appearing in Paducah's new Midtown Market last month.  Typically it is sauteed in olive oil with garlic and served with Penne pasta or with Cannellini beans.   Last night I tried something a little different...making a pesto with the broccoli rabe.

There was a bunch of the BR in the fridge that I was not able to use immediately, and it began to lose its color and firmness.  Patience cut it up and cooked it in the microwave for the dogs, but before serving it she tasted it and could not bring herself to give it the canine members of our family.  She offered me a taste and I agreed.

I placed it in the food processor, along with some garlic, pine nuts, parmigiano cheese, and olive oil, and created a creamy textured pesto.  Spooned over the cheese and mushroom ravioli, along with a bit of the pasta water, it provided a delicious, easy to make dinner.

ADOLESCENT FAITH

1.    A faith that adheres blindly, without doubt or question, to a strict and rigid theological doctrine.

2.    A faith that takes as absolute truth the written words in a sacred document.

3.    A faith that produces a rigid and narrow worldview, which discounts the validity of anything that contradicts it.

4.    A faith that requires an answer to all of the eternal human questions about life, thus aborting the need for reflective, critical thinking.

5.    A faith that leaves no room for honest doubts and insecurities.

6.    A faith that discriminates, judges, and restricts,

I see this as a faith that hides behind God, and religion, a God that has been narrowly defined by their inability to look beyond the confines of their doctrine.  This kind of faith limits the human spirit, casting a large dark shadow over the incredible expanse of human nature.

Sadly, it takes the core of wonderful and timeless truths and reduces them to the lowest denominations.

                                               

McKinney TX

This fall I will be having a solo show of works on canvas at the Laura Moore Fine Art Studio in McKinney TX. The opening reception is October 13.  So you can imagine my delight when I saw that CNN listed McKinney Texas as the 2nd most livable place in the country (Carmel Indiana was number one.).

I've been working on the show for the past 8 months and will be taking about 20 paintings with me when I drive to McKinney in Patience's 15 passenger Whippet wagon.  Most of them have been posted on this blog as they were completed.  Not surprisingly, the Texas gallery wanted large canvases including 3 of my larger works on 48x60" canvases:

Somewhere Else...acrylic...48x60

Beyond the Hills...acrylic...60x48

Farmscape...acrylic...48x60

GOODBYE MY FRIEND

It is not without a little sadness that I inform you of the removal of my gallbladder.  This small, inconspicuous organ that has served me so well for 73 years has literally been pulled out of my abdomen, where it has been quietly tucked away beneath my liver.  Some gallbladders can become cantankerous, getting inflamed or infected, or accumulating stones that interfere with the proper functioning of other organs, in which case it is imperative that they be removed.

In my case, there were stones, but they were not causing any discernable symptoms   The GB was removed more as a precautionary measure, a small source of guilt on my part.  But the major source of my guilt comes from the fact that Billy’s GB has served him so well for all these years.  Let me explain.

The GB serves as a reservoir for the bile salts produced by the liver.  These salts are critical for the digestion of the fats that we eat, This unheralded organ recognizes the fats that reach the stomach and small intestine and releases some of its contents to do the job they are intended to do.  Because of the tireless performance of my GB I have been able to enjoy two of my favorite foodstuffs…Olive Oil and Sausage.  So you can understand some of sadness at the turn of these events, losing an organ that has served me so well for so long.