Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Sketch Crawling in Asheville

Sunday a group of us braved icy wind and met in downtown Asheville for a downtown sketch crawl.  After a few minutes warming up inside Malaprop's Bookstore we decided to stay warm and defer the outdoor crawl in favor of our old favorite, the Tobacco Barn.  The Tobacco Barn isn't exactly heated in winter, but at least it isn't windy inside.  My pick of the day was this Civil War era fainting couch that the tag said had been fainted on by members of the same southern family for four generations.  It looked handmade and had a hand-carved design inscribed on the odd headboard-like side board.  The upholstery was faded brocade.  I liked the padded bottom of the side board.  The couch was  small and delicate except for its fat ankles.   It was temptingly marked down from $376 to $295, but I didn't dare bring it home.  We're in the market for a bed for our new screened sleeping porch, but I couldn't see my husband getting excited about this find.

 

Before arriving at the sketch crawl, I had had lunch with a friend at a little cafe downtown.  We had had the most delicious and perfect-for-a-cold-day dish called ginger miso rice bowl.  I whipped out my sketchbook while we were eating and sketched the rice bowl and then listed everything that I thought was in it (left side of page).  Then when I got home I Googled ginger miso sauce and found a couple of recipes (right side of page).

 
Last night I decided to try to recreate the rice bowl.  This was an adventure for me since I'm not what you would call a natural cook and always have to follow recipes to the letter.  I lack creative imagination and motivation when it comes to cooking, having grown up with a mother who really didn't enjoy cooking and a grandmother who always had a cook.  But my husband and I had come to a crisis in our cooking schedule (he cooks two days, I cook two days, we fend for ourselves the other three) in that neither of us wanted to cook anymore.  We were both completely bored by our usual repertoires.  We had decided that new recipes were in order, and finding this rice bowl actually fired my imagination. 

The page shown above I did after cooking last night.  I drew the finished dish, which was amazingly delicious, and then recreated the recipe.  If you decide to try this out, it reads from top left (step 1) down to bottom left;  then follow the arrow to bottom right (under the word COMBINE) to complete the sauce part.  Then go to top right for step 3 and end with COMBINE.  I am happy to clarify steps and answer questions.

11 comments:

  1. Your ginger rice looks delicious Gwen,
    I think i might try it out... meant to be summer here, but its been raining and cool and windy this week - good weather for warming kinds of food.
    I like the idea of the chair, its - well, something out of another age and time really. Locates you truly in that old part of the world by the sounds of it. I doubt I'd be able to find anything quite like that here - too new a place really... not enough of us, or the 'stuff' of such early times sitting around for anyone to find I"d say. Enjoy your next sketch trip - hopefully warmer then!

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  2. I think that the fainting couch might have been cobbled together (at some point) from parts and that the back really was a headboard for a bed. That's my guess, anyway, not that it matters one whit!

    The miso rice bowl is tempting! I must try it this weekend. Thank you for sharing.

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  3. How funny - several generations of swooners.

    I, too, lack creativity when it comes to cooking. The thing is, with art we can embrace the happy mistakes. With cooking, it's a whole different deal.

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  4. I think you're right, Michele! I didn't think of it when I was looking at the couch, but I remember that the headboard part of it was screwed to the side of the couch and didn't quite seem to be part of the same piece of furniture.

    And all of you, try the rice bowl! We're on our third day of eating it, and it still tastes good (although next time I'll freeze the leftovers-- it makes a LOT!) I think you could serve 8 with it.

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  5. Its a great one Gwen, I've just cooked it for my daughter and myself, we've had rainy cool weather, and I made it this evening, and we had the soup by candle light, wind and rain around us outside. Warming and lovely with the ginger and daikon and everything! just right. I didnt have the beans, and added broccoli and some fresh greens from the back yard. Nourishing stuff! Might draw it tomoro...

    have a good weekend there

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  6. not much of a cook, though i may try it! i do make some awesome cookies, though only one kind, ha! i loke enjoying your food through your journal!

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  7. Maybe on my September visit I can finally get to the Tobacco Barn.......and maybe I can use my newly-learnt cookery skills from the Kerala backwaters to cook for you....I'll be in touch soon with details, can't wait for my next trip. Journaled every day in India and also tried dividing up the page for daily happenings. By my tenth journal, I finally think I am finding my own style- or rather range of styles within a 'big, bold and colourful, in- your- face' framework! but I still use your prompts often for inspiration..

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  8. Gwen, I LOVE your journals, and have just got a copy of "Real Life Journals" from my local library - wondrful stuff! Unfortunately however, the "Choose Your Own Bookbinding Adventure" is missing from inside the front cover - is there anywhere I might be able to access this online so I can pick the binding that best suits me? Thanks!

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  9. LSH- I'm sorry you've had this problem. Have you tried asking the librarian if they've kept the booklet at the desk? If there is no booklet in the library, let me know and I'll post the booklet on this blog. I'll do that anyway, because I'm sure yours is not the only library with a problem keeping track of the booklet!

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  10. Gwen,

    I just received The Complete Decorated Journal from Amazon this afternoon. It's wonderful! I've always been inspired by your other books, especially The Decorated Page, and I'm so happy this compilation is available.

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  11. Teresa- I'm excited that you got a copy of the book already from Amazon! You're the first that I've heard of! I too am so happy Lark agreed to re-issue the book, and I thank you for your kind words about it.

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