Feasting on Art

It is not easy living in the opposite hemisphere from most of the people I love. The weather is getting colder down here in Sydney and back home in Michigan my favorite season was autumn. This causes me to think of my family and my childhood and of the apple trees in my backyard. I always was happiest when the air had a slight bite to it and the leaves started turning colours. With my seasons turned upside down, I find myself in the middle of my favorite time of year with everything just a little bit off so I decided to make a recipe that reminded me very much of my mother, apple crisp. There is something about baked apples kissed with cinnamon on a cold and windy day that transports me back to another time and another place. I have to say that with my homemade caramel sauce, this version of apple crisp is even better than my rose-coloured memories.

Georgia O’Keeffe, Red Apple on a Blue Plate, 1922
Oil on canvas, 35.5 x 40.6 cm, Private Collection

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I can’t stand passing up a good bargain and last week lemons were on sale. Like my carrots from my previous post the lemons were beginning to look a bit tired. They had sat prettily in my shell shaped bowl on my counter with only one being sacrificed for a tangy lemon vinaigrette. I will try not to pick art based on the current contents of my fridge but I was craving something fresh and light and I just happened to have a heap of lemons. This week I am sticking to my American roots and I am making a no churn (the best kind) ice cream with orange and lemon and a hint of mint. The painting you ask?? Why it is by none other than the great Raphaelle Peale who is considered to be American’s first professional still life painter (1).

Raphaelle Peale, A Dessert (Still Life with Lemons and Oranges), 1814
oil on panel, 33.97 x 42.26 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington

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This week is a special week because normally I would only post on Mondays (but I am enjoying this blog so much that it might happen more often). I am off from work because I have been hobbling around on crutches due to a fall on Saturday night. This morning I found some carrots languishing in my vegetable crisper so I decided to do something about them. I love pickles and we finished up our last jar last night on the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich so I carefully hauled out my big pot (which is not easy balancing on crutches) and started chopping. My inspiration, William Merritt Chase.

William Merritt Chase, Still Life with Pepper and Carrot, c. 1900
oil on canvas, 44.77 x 59.69 cm, Private Collection

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