Feasting on Art

Life has been hectic as of late. I am in the process of moving house and saying goodbye to my first Sydney home and the beautiful light the big windows provided. I have been dividing my time between cleaning, packing and doing a bit of home repair as an indoor painter with only a nominal amount of time left to cook. This recipe, a concoction of odds and ends from the pantry, was simple, quick and full of flavour. Rolled into a lettuce leaf, the spicy salad is edible on the go and keeps for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

Raphaelle Peale, Still Life with Steak, c.1917
oil on panel, 33.97 x 49.53 cm, Munson Williams Proctor Museum of Art

Read the rest of this entry »

This guest post is by my mother, Julie Fizell.

I thought it would be so fun to walk in Megan’s shoes for a while, and she agreed to a guest post.  Her father Ed and I quickly decided to make blackberry jelly.  We had made strawberry jam several times together and managed to stay married, so we thought we were up for the challenge.  The difference between jelly and jam is that jelly does not contain seeds.  No big deal, right?

We picked our blackberries along a secret dirt road in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  I’d tell you where the secret road is but I wasn’t paying attention as we bounced along.  We wore jeans and heavy shirts despite the hot weather – protection from the vicious thorns attached to blackberry brambles.  The blackberries in Raphaelle Peale’s still life look misleadingly innocent draped over the silver platter, so unlike their counterparts in the wild.  We were scratched, poked, and tripped by thorny stalks that attacked us as we waded through the thicket.  But we were successful!  After nearly an hour, Ed and I picked about three cups of luscious berries.   One cup I devoured immediately; the last two made it into our bucket.

Raphaelle Peale, Blackberries, c.1813
oil on wood panel, 18.4 x 26 cm, de Young Fine Art Museum

Read the rest of this entry »

After a beautiful weekend in the Upper Peninsula visiting my mother’s side of the family we have returned to the humidity of the Lower Peninsula with a bucket of wild blackberries in tow. My aunt and uncle know of all the best berry picking locations and while I was asleep in my bed, my parents joined them for some early morning picking. I did do a tiny bit of thimbleberry picking (pictured below) and I  sat through the 7 hour car ride home thinking about what to make. It is too hot to bake and I just made a batch of jam so I settled on a frozen dessert. I seem to be a creature of habit – the last post I did about Raphaelle Peale was a recipe for orange & lemon ice cream and exactly one year ago I posted a recipe for a frozen watermelon margarita. For another cold treat check out my post about coconut milk ice cream.

Raphaelle Peale, Blackberries, c.1813
oil on wood panel, 18.4 x 26 cm, de Young Fine Art Museum

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Read the rest of this entry »