Full Moon Pickles

Oh my brother forager, Corey Fogel! A love poem for the Hachiya!

2012-02-12T20:19:00.000-08:00

Verify Persimmons from Corey Fogel on Vimeo.

An Excerpt of a New Banner

2011-11-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

An excerpt on view for the occasion of Darin Klein's & Friends: Box of Books, Vol IV Release Party at Human Resources, November 5, 2011.

Good people! There has been so much cookng for Hollywood lately! I literally finished this one hour before the show opened! A whirlwind tour, a whirlwind banner!

Shacking Up with Kitchen 105!

2011-10-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

I am THRILLED to report that Full Moon Pickles and Catering LLC are moving operations in with Kitchen 105. Felix is a gem and a generous comrade. I am so glad to be sharing his space!

'Twas the Art Fair

2011-10-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

Commonwealth and Council's beautiful booth at PULSE.
Demolition Woman: Preview
Kelly Cline, Margaret Honda and me

Payback is a Bitch, detail

Geoff Tuck's Notes

My roommate Molly Larkey had an excellent program of informal artist talks at her Statler Waldorf booth at CO/LAB Platform Fair. My talk was on the Discursive Pickle. I had been under the weather and did not feel particularly interesting that day. But I was smart enough to bring pickles and jam with some bread and butter. A few of us sat around and talked about pickles and cultivating quality of time. I was warmed to see Geoff Tuck's notes.

Will you take me as I am?

2011-09-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Despite it's invocation of a Sunset Pig and the glamorous concerns of a seventies

folk icon,

this song always reminds of

dusty chaparral,

madrone,

live oak lined canyons,

sea-scape vistas

and this earth beneath my feet,

holding me,

holding us.

California!

LA in Bloom Webisode featuring ME!

2011-09-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

LA in Bloom: Home Canning from LAinBloom on Vimeo.

Community Life: Testify! Witness! Encourage! Rejoice!

2011-09-10T11:57:00.000-07:00

The Time in Between or Summer Comes, Summer Goes!

2011-08-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

The summer months came,

a-rollin' thunder!

Full Moon Catering really got a lift off!

What had previously been my sole endeavoring,

suddenly found favor in Independent Hollywood!

And a-slogging we have been ever since!

With joy in our hearts!

(Suddenly We! Suddenly Our!)

I give praise to the workers!

I give thanks to the eaters!

To the fruits!

To the vegetables!

To the season!

What a great, good gift!

What lucky, lovely fortune!

What generosity!

What bounty!

What thanks!

So many melon salads this summer.
Here, Watermelon, Mango, Shiso and Lime Zest

Pickle Demonstration at Summercamp

Christy Roberts, pictured here on left,
and I met for the first time.
She was very enthusiastic to share some RIOT GRRRL love.
Sister Pickle!
This history of community exchange and direct action
lives on.
Our time, still, is NOW.

Jars getting ready!
Jars looking good!

Your pickles are ready, good madam! good sir!

Collards with Dried Apricots and Pistachios

One of the movie we catered this summer is called California Solo.
It's main character is an organic farmer.
After their time filming at the farm,
the Art Department gave us their props:
bags and bags of beautiful organic produce.
I loved this exchange and challenge.

Baby Daikon Radishes

An Easter Egg Basket of Beets!

A Powerful Chioggia Beet
Raw, it is variegated pink and white.
Cooked and skinned, as it is here,
it is a luminous orange-pink.

Summer Solstice!
Rituals of the Earth Turning!
Charles was so kind and took me to his friends' house
where we picked Santa Rosa Plums
in the sultry deep dusk.

More Beets and Beats!
Enchanting these pickles with Bad Brains Magick!
Photo by our very own Laurel Frank

Don't care what they may say

We got that attitude!

Don't care what you may do!

We got that attitude!

YEA!

We got that PMA!

(positive mental attitude)

Staff Lunch with the Cooks!
Math and Sarah in our tree house break room!

A funny trek to San Diego for a pickle demonstration at the invitation of Andrew Printer.
Here, buskers sing Beatles' songs while the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence invite the good people in.

The Sisters reviewing canning instructions.

The youngest and tiniest pickler yet!

Robert from Cookbook and local Echo Park food enthusiast taking in the Greek wine.
Marta and Robert hosted me at a lovely pickle sale at No. 2 on the night of July's Full Moon.
It's been a long time since I have really been able to look up in the sky and remember that the Earth is turning.
I was very grateful.

Cookbook is an important local green grocer here in Echo Park.

They are doing some fantastic summer programming at No. 2.

I am of the opinion that this sort of thoughtful community engagement is what distinguishes food sustainability lifestyles from food sustainability as a way of life.

I was so glad to take a walk in the woods with my old buddy,
Teddy Kwo!

My best friend, Amanda Eicher came from San Franciso,
to take a turn as one of the proletariat workers that wo-man the kitchen.
Lately, I feel we are doing historical reenactments from the Enchanted Broccoli Forest!

Despite our heavy slogging, Amanda and I found time to be HUMANS!
Here she is picking wild fennel in Topanga Canyon and of course,

looking very glamorous.

The Sun! The Sea!
The You! The Me!

My old AE! I was so warmed by her loving company!

The Figs Arrived!
Eamon and Gina let me come a-gleaning again this year!

Of sky and earth!

Short Ribs and Figs!
The eaters went wild! And why not?
There is magick in them there figs!

Brunch for David Benjamin Sherry at OHWOW

2011-05-27T18:04:00.001-07:00

I had so much fun talking to David about Mexico City and local flower foraging.
His show is saged everyday before the doors open. Good vibes!

Asparagus Season!

Baked Salmon with my go-to Tarragon-Kumquat Sauce

Perhaps not the most flattering picture of this EXCELLENT strawberry rhubarb pie,
but I include it anyway. Finally, finally, really strawberry season here. People will sell you a strawberry all year long in Los Angeles. But waiting to late May-early June is honestly best!

The artist and the lovely Brian Phillips in the background there.
Geranium Cardamom cake in the fore.
Such a simple, delicious cake!

Gifts from New York in Spring!

2011-05-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Dogwoods and Turkish Delight from Sahadi's

While in Brooklyn, delighting in the mid Spring flora, I was so thrilled to go to Sahadi's and bask in their excellent offerings. It had been recommended to me on my last visit but I was encouraged further by following the important work of Michael Rakowitz. In Return, Rakowitz worked with Sahadi's directly to try and import Iraqi dates. Using food, some of his projects are exciting investigations of the social political. I also love Enemy Kitchen.

Mother's Day!

2011-05-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

Mother to Mother!
Was with my gorgeous mother on her day!

One of my favorite meditations on motherhood, a tribute to the legendary Pepper Lebeija!

This song was suggested to me in response to "Mother to Mother!" A loving classic!

Bruce High Quality Foundation at LAXART

2011-05-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

Lamb and Mint Crostini on Leek Pea Mash

Golden Beets, Dill and Pickled Onion Salad Cups

Fava Bean and Grana Crostini

Spent Easter Sunday with Bruce High Quality Foundation, discussing the relevance of advanced art education. Actually, I just listened but I did make this food!

All Spring I was so crazy about the delicate flavors and colors of the season. I made as many fava bean dishes as I could bear. They are such hard work to get to but their freshness is not to be missed. This day, Easter, I thought a lot about rituals and renewal. As favas are planted as a soil replenisher, they really are the legume that symbolizes the cycle of winter's fallowing fields and their vernal rebirth.

I also made leek pea mash so many times! Saute leeks, defrost some frozen peas, puree them together with a little salt and maybe a squeeze of meyer lemon and the results are divine! I made it with many different combinations of lamb throughout the season. Terrific!

Chrissy and Stuart Get Married!

2011-05-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

I was so happy to be part of their very beautiful wedding!
Photos by the talented Eden Batki.

Observe the Earth

2011-05-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

Where oh where has the time gone?

March was interrupted by serving on a jury! But the better part of the Spring has been spent walking Louie and observing the splendor.

cactus blooms,

two blue herons nests,

the edible flowers: nasturtium, calendula, lavender and geranium,

a still giving meyer lemon tree,

the old jacaranda tree in front of our house raining purple blossoms,

the time of the day that turtles sun themselves on the bank of the island of Echo Park lake,

cormorants and king fishers,

all the flowers known and unknown

Make Butter

2011-03-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

With "Gut Feeling" by Devo as a triumphant soundtrack, this is a fantastic informational video.

Gather Together- FOOD 1

2011-03-08T23:19:00.000-08:00

Gather Together - FOOD 1 from Helga Fassonaki on Vimeo.

The Mountain School

2011-02-27T23:47:00.000-08:00

A lively demonstration and discussion at the Mountain School last Wednesday evening. A critically engaged crew, it was a pleasure to field their questions, technical to philosophical. I am hoping to hear how the pickles turned out, but the times, oh the times! People, they were good!

Thanks to Andrew, Val and Stella for their hospitality.

Raymond Avenue Community Garden in the LA Times!

2011-02-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

My friend Julie Burleigh and the community garden she started across the street from her house are featured today in the LA Times. People together, fantastic!

Bonnie Bracey

2011-02-21T05:48:00.000-08:00

Watch it on Academic Earth

In an insomniac journey, I have found my sixth grade teacher, Bonnie Bracey. This woman was THE COOLEST! During a very difficult and formative part of my childhood, she changed the course of my life. Through her strict and loving attention, I transitioned from being a troubled, aggressive kid into a curious, intellectually engaged human. She would frequently remind me of this metamorphosis, telling me that other teachers were weary of me. (I did, after all, break a boy's fingers in a door! Yikes!) "Everybody thought you were trouble, but then you came to ME!"

This morning I learned that she has had quite an august career as an educator. From Wikipedia:

Bonnie Laverne Bracey is an American teacher and technology consultant based in Washington, D.C.. One of the first teachers to promote the role of the Internet in the classroom, Bracey was the only teacher selected by the Clinton Administration for serving on the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council, whose work in the mid 1990s led to the creation of the E-rate program. She also served as lead educator on President Bill Clinton's 21st Century Teacher Initiative.

In 1993, Bracey was selected as a Christa McAuliffe Educator, and subsequently worked with NASA on various education programmes. Currently she is an international educational consultant; in this capacity she conducts outreach activities for the George Lucas Education Foundation and other groups. Bracey is an active member of the Digital Divide Network.

Education is empowerment. This woman helped me to become an independent learner and thinker at the age of eleven. What work, what a gift!

Pickling at the Hammer

2011-02-06T00:11:00.000-08:00

Pickles for the People! The good people of the Hammer Student Association!

Videograms of a Revolution

2011-02-05T00:02:00.000-08:00

There are so few times that people take back power. These are the times we are witnessing. I am reminded of "Videograms of a Revolution" which pieces together from home videos the fall of Romanian dictator Ceausescu in 1989.

To cheer the feminist chef

2011-01-31T19:06:00.000-08:00

Meyer Lemons!

2011-01-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

Oh joy, oh joy, oh joy!

It is Meyer Lemon season again!

It is with heavy heart that I say good-bye to one of my favorite things on the planet in April.

Truly, it hurts my feelings, every single time.

But now they are back!

Meyer Lemons are entirely edible, skin and all, which has a lovely perfume a long with it's expected acidity. The fruit itself is a lot less tart than a regular lemon.

(Now you world savvy readers know all about this, but my mother having lived her entire life on the East Coast, only just experienced them for the first time.)

Here are some simple recommendations:

Put them in Secha Green Tea, eat them at the end of your drink as a delicious treat.

Mince some and add it to sautéd greens.

I find them delicious in iced tea, especially green sencha.

More recipes to follow, I promise! For now, preserve some in salt, and be glad all year long that you did.

Retreat

2011-01-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

To the rolling hills of the Bay, Escape after a depleting season

The air cold and crisp, the undergrowth bursting with fungus

Amanda described the mushroom hunters around Villa Montalvo:

the older European couples in their sensible attire and dour, downward faces,

the younger wild men, with stringy hair who eagerly offer the intent of their hunt,

and me, dilettante-know-nothing, so thankful to see the ground move

Lovely Laura's Fiftieth Birthday!

2010-12-28T09:00:00.000-08:00

Hors D’Oeuvres

Meyer Lemon-Smoked Bacon-Ricotta Tartlette

Potato Rounds with Dino Kale, Carmelized Onion, Apple and Thyme and Sausage

Ben's Pita Chips with Tzatziki, Tabouleh and Olive

Cheddar and Quince Membrillo on Crackers

First Course

Persian Lamb Meatballs with Pistachio, Preserved Lemon, Tarragon, Mint, Parsley and Shallots

Asian Pear with Balsamic Vinegar, Pumpkin Seeds, Pomegranate and Arugula

Main Course

Braised Shortrib with Polenta and Brussel Leaves, Shallots and Parsley

Desserts

Chocolate Chili Torte with Bourbon Maple Whipped Cream

Honey Ricotta Cheese Cake

This is the menu from a lovely party I catered here in Washington. The meal was paired with fantastic Virginia wines from Democracy Vineyards.

Lunar Eclipse on the Full Moon Winter Solstice

2010-12-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

Does this auspicious moon need to be accompanied by such heavy-handed music? I guess William Castleman says YES! I am in Washington, D.C., and did try to get a glimpse of it by setting the alarm for 3:15am. I woke up but was unwilling to go into the 20 degree darkness to see it. And alas, no window in the house afforded me the view! So I thank you William Castleman for your labors, music and all!

Los Angeles, we're really in a pickle!

2010-12-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let the locals know that pickles can be bought one jar at a time from the following stores:

Iko Iko in Echo Park

Ooga Booga in Chinatown

Wombleton Records in Highland Park

From the ancestral Virginia home,
from my family to yours,
Happy Holidays, y'all!

To be a person

2010-12-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

Nikki McClure by Dicky Dahl from PatCastaldo on Vimeo.

Nikki is an old friend from Olympia, Washington. She has a lovely integrated practice. Lately in LA, I spend more of my time "escaping" via the internet. What I really want, and why I do so many of the things that I do, is to feel a part of the earth and to cultivate a sense of time, to slow down and be a person.

Making Apple Butter with Heather Taylor

2010-12-13T12:47:00.000-08:00

Oh how mother loves a bandana patterned mash up!

Heather stopped by for a home visit and an apple butter session!

Read all about it right here!

Service-Works

2010-12-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

Service-Works is a project by artist Josh Greene. He writes, "I am a 36 - year old artist and waiter. Service-Works is my own foundation that is designed to bridge the gap between my art career and my service industry career. Each month I dedicate one night’s worth of my tips to fund a project. For the past twelve years I have been doing art projects while making a living waiting tables. I currently work as a waiter in a fine-dining restaurant in San Francisco."

His website chronicles all seventeen of his foundational grants, which include the applicants original proposal, documentation of the project's completion as well as the circumstances of Greene's night of work. Artist Helena Keefe used her $256 to actualize her project where a Bush impersonator reads "the speech that shocked the world." A first grade class from Rooftop Elementary wrote fictional speeches that turned "the aggressive posturing of an all-attack-all-the-time leader into a gentler, wiser soul determined to demonstrate the power of honesty and vulnerability." The results are hilarious!

Holiday Pickle Party! At Iko Iko, this Saturday!

2010-12-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

Kristin and Shin are hosting me at Iko Iko this Saturday. She writes:

Keeping with our entertaining/celebration/decorate-your-space theme...

we have some edible gift options as well as the complementing accessories for it.

If you're going to a dinner party or throwing one yourself,

here are some easy and delicious solutions...

And you can taste them first.

Please join us for our

jarred tastes tasting

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2-5 pm

IKO IKO

1298 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

JEN SMITH's holiday offerings:

pickled brussel sprouts, pumpkin, okra,cactus, curried cauliflower, dilly beans, bread 'n butter pickles & apple butter

some enticing homemade by MOM edibles:

wine jellies (chardonnay, chianti, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, malbec, sangiovese)
spicy jellies (red and green jalapeno)
fruit jelly (pomegranate)

Heather's Beautiful Birthday at the Smog Shoppe

2010-12-06T12:09:00.000-08:00

It was lovely! Flowers by Holly Flora
and Apple Butter
(with Ginger-Cardamom-Rosewater) by Full Moon Pickles!

The Menu,

a Perfect & Cozy

Wintery Meal:

Special Birthday Aperitif with Carob, Vanilla and Pink Peppercorn

Butternut Squash and Sage Soup

Pomegranate Braised Lamb Shanks

Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips

Brussel Sprout and Parsley Leaves in Black Truffle Oil

Mint-Pistachio-Meyer Lemon Gremolata

Arugula Salad

with Asian Pears and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

in Balsamic Vinaigrette

Chocolate Chili Torte

with Hachiya Persimmon and Bourbon Maple Whipped Cream

Eden and Marty pretending they are shorter than me!

A magical birthday spirit! Vodka infused with vanilla,
carob from Holly's farm in Ojai and pink pepper corns
from the giving trees of Griffith Park.

A torte de force!
Chocolate Chili Torte, served with Hachiya Persimmon
and Bourbon Maple Whipped Cream

My mentor-captain,
Felix Barron,
told me they filmed an episode of Top Chef here.

It was a dark and stormy night...
with occasional drips of rain through
the tin roof!
Smog Shoppe's kitchen is outdoors!
I like how my eyes look like the
candle flame here.
SPOOKY!

PICKLE OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!

2010-12-03T22:24:00.001-08:00

HOLIDAY SALE! Please be sure to order by Monday, December 20th for shipping outside of Los Angeles!

How does it work?
For $40 a month, you get FIVE jars of magic!
After an initial joining fee of $15 which goes to the cost of jars
(that in the tradition of home canning, will hopefully get cycled back to me or reused),
you get five jars of the seasons best!
Pickles, preserves, and whatever else that might age well in a jar!

What are examples of past offerings?

from October:

Pickled Pumpkin!
Pickled Asparagus!
Pears in Vanilla and Pepper Syrup!
Peach Jam!
&
A Wild Card: Pickled Young Almonds!

from June:
Strawberry Jam!
Ginger Peach Jam!
Lavender Plum Jam!
Spicy Okra Pickle!
Experimental Pickle: Gingery Watermelon!

from February:
Pickled Brussel Sprouts!
Pickled Onions and Fennel in a Citrus Brine!
Bread and Butter Pickles!
Young Radish Kim Chi!
And oh joy, Meyer Lemon (LADY) Marmalade!

Can I sign up for just one month?
YES! Try it to see if you like it!

Can I pace a subscription over the course of several months?
Of course. You can skip a month and get another set of five the following month.

How do I order?
You can order via PayPal on the side bar to the top right of the screen, under the label

"Pickle of the Month Club."

If you have other questions not answered here, please email me directly at
fullmoonpickles@gmail.com

Eating Our Words at Taylor De Cordoba

2010-12-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

Monday, I am giving a pickling demo and selling whatever remains in the larder at EATING OUR WORDS, a literary-artisinal food mash up!

Here's the promotional blurb:

For our upcoming event on Monday December 6 at 7:30PM, the New York-based writer Elisa Albert will read from her critically acclaimed anthology, Freud's Blind Spot: 23 Original Essays on Cherished, Estranged, Lost, Hurtful, Hopeful, Complicated Siblings. This newly published work was recently featured in the New York Times “Lives” column and Elle magazine. Hailed as the next Philip Roth and compared by The New Yorker to the great Lorrie Moore, Elisa Albert established herself as a major new voice in American literature with the publication of her critically acclaimed 2008 novel, The Book of Dahlia. Unsparing,hilarious and compassionate all at once, Albert makes a place for all of us at the table. Books will also be available for purchase courtesy of the Traveler's Bookcase.

Along with the reading, canning expert Jen Smith of Full Moon Pickles and Preserves will be doing a canning demo and selling her "jars of magic." On the menu - sweet pickled pumpkin, pickled
brussels sprouts, curried cauliflower, apple butter, smoky brined cucumbers and more.

Space is limited

RSVP to rsvp@taylordecordoba.com

Perhaps see you there?

URBAN FORAGING

2010-11-30T19:14:00.000-08:00

Oh, one of my favorite things to do is to follow an idea or query into the far reaches of cyber space! Tonight, as I was scouring the world wide web for suggestions about infusing carob pods in vodka, I came across this lovely message board discussion on chowhound. I love the community conversation, recollection and adventure sharing of people finding, eating and improvising with local free food.

Edible! Nettles!

Gordon Matta-Clark and FOOD

2010-11-26T11:15:00.000-08:00

**From the beginning, the idea was to establish not only a kind of perpetual dinner party but also a food-based philanthropy that would employ and support struggling artists, the whole endeavor conceived by Matta-Clark as a living, breathing, steaming, pot-clanging artwork.**

**Mitchell Davis, a vice president of the James Beard Foundation and an adjunct professor in New York University’s food studies program, said that while restaurants like Food bubbled up from the counterculture, their influence eventually changed mainstream culture. “These people were not on the path to being chefs or restaurateurs or professional food people,” he said. “They were like: ‘Hey, we like to cook. We can do this. Why not?’ And in doing it they ended up knocking down all these barriers of wealth and class and status in the restaurant world.”**

**Excerpts from When Meals Played the Muse by Randy Kennedy**

This is an oft cited influence for many of us artists who cook. And I have to say, I REALLY LOVE THIS PROJECT! At the same time, I want to recognize the other humans who, according to this article, were really the start-up capital and lumbering labor of FOOD, most notably Caroline Goodden. I have been thinking lately about these utopian projects fueled both literally and figuratively by the spirit of community. So often, a star is produced in order to describe and historicize the project. I have been witnessing this in contemporary projects. This production of a "star" is not something from which I am immune, obvious from this post's title. But it bares reflection, and that is why I note it here. It is a topic to which I intend to return.

Geoff Tuck is a kind man!

2010-11-23T20:54:00.000-08:00

And a man about town! He really keeps up with all the interesting things happening in Los Angeles. And that is why I am honored that he talks about Link Arms and Listen here.

Serving, Cooking, Giving It Away!

2010-11-23T20:33:00.000-08:00

Serving, Cooking, Giving It Away: Food, Art, and the Places In Between | by Twilight Greenaway | Art Practical

I am still processing my experiences of OPENwater, and I hope to post more about that in the not too distant future. But in the mean time, this is a very good article about some of the intersections of food and socially based art practices in the Bay Area. The entire 2.5 issue of Art Practical is devoted to food, so check out the whole thing!

Inside OPENwater,
a two day symposium and pop-up
restaurant in a former naval hanger in Alameda, California

To the woods! Sandor Katz in the New Yorker

2010-11-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

A podcast with Burkhard Bilger: newyorker.com

This is a a whimsical investigation of the fermentation movement, narrativized through a culinary road trip Bilger takes with Sandor Katz, regarded as the guru of the fermentation movement. Katz' first book "Wild Fermentation" is an important tome of fermentation with recipes that vary from kraut to pickles to sourdough to mead.

Wild Fermentation is also a loving social history of Katz' life in a rural Tennessee radical faerie community. "Nature's Spoils," in the New Yorker November 22nd issue, captures some of that sentiment when Bilger describes a meal with "freegans" and "opportunivores." Having lived in a community of similar activists in the Bay Area for a decade, I find this account to be charming in it's ethnographers account and remove. As a spirited tinkerer and a person content to live with less, and lately as I toil towards an uncomfortable professionalism, this account reminds me of other possibilities.

Pilot NY

2010-11-11T21:10:00.000-08:00

Lavender Semi?! Yes, my friends, yes!

Bandana Patterned Napkins?! Again! Yes!

And finally, chaffing dishes and pickles?!
Together, at last?! YES!
YES! A million times!
YES!!!

Selections

2010-11-10T23:10:00.000-08:00

The Wound and the Voice
series
2008

Duty Calls, series
2008

Duty Calls, series
2008

Duty Calls, series
2008

Making the Body and the Archive:
Our Painful Inheritance and How We Learned to Live With It
installation view
2009

Mission Accomplished I, II, & III
2009

In the Bush administration’s war on terror, feminist concerns of sexual self-determination and labor equity were co-opted as tactics of military interrogations. Despite this performance of sexual power, women remained objects in a violent, neo-imperialist tableau. This vignette is a particularly American portrait of sexuality, racism and dominance, one not easily exorcised. This body of work investigates the ways in which heroic mythologies of the nation state inflect libidinal impulses. Using strategies of performance, camouflage, and craft, the work draws from the political social archive. It asks what is the visceral legacy of those libidinal impulses? And how do these desires animate the body?

I grew up in Washington, DC where monuments are a very mundane part of the cityscape. Horses are often in these early memorials to war, a romantic vision of industry and imperialism."Oh I Limp Concise Sadism!" (a reformation of “Mission Accomplished”) documents a return pilgrimage to my hometown. I don a white horse’s head made of chicken wire and paper, and drag the severed rear of the horse. I spew yards of celebratory ribbons like blood and guts. Without a viewing hole on the mask to guide my steps, I use the length of my arms to assess my path, only to fumble and collide with the pillars of the monument. My blinded movements and lack of coordination suggest the futility of an idealized, mythic nationalism.

We Make the Rules

2010-11-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

Show at Commonwealth & Council through Saturday, October 20th.

Duty Calls
series
2008

Here Always Elsewhere
2010

Installation view

Installation View

In other news, I offer this-- deep from the archives of Mike Appelstein, sent to me via Calvin Johnson, a document from 1993, songs I made with Rastro! and other gems.

Wow! Thanks to the mighty archivists of this world!

Huffington Post Write Up!

2010-11-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

Heather Taylor interviewed me for Chef Speak for Huffington Post. Fantastic!

Snake Eats It's Own Tale! Sic!

2010-11-05T21:58:00.000-07:00

Geoff Tuck gives a shout out to this blog, and to my show with Kaucylia Brooke.

Pre-Production Lunch, Old Navy

2010-10-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

Oh the seasonal salad!
Persimmons and pomegranates
really put on a show!

Made this very delicious riff
on Jerk Chicken.
Introducing,
the long anticipated,
spice grinder!

Bees!

2010-10-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

I came home today to find this group having a party! WILD!

Getting ready for this!

2010-10-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

Having a brief residency and show at Commonwealth and Council.

Please,

come on by!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jen Smith

Link Arms and Listen

November 6 – 20, 2010

Reception: Saturday, November 6, 12 – 5pm

Commonwealth & Council presents Link Arms and Listen, an exhibition by Los Angeles artist Jen Smith. The exhibition title, borrowed from the lyrics of a song by The Golden Bears, sutures dual impulses between Smith’s formal aesthetics and social art practice.

Link Arms and Listen presents three works. The first work, a video called "Oh I Limp Concise Sadism!" (a reformation of “Mission Accomplished”) documents Smith’s pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. during which she dons a white horse’s head made of chicken wire and paper, and drags the severed rear of the horse. She spews yards of celebratory ribbons like blood and guts. Without a viewing hole on the mask to guide her steps, she uses the length of her arms to assess her path, only to fumble and collide with the pillars of the monument. Her blinded movements and lack of coordination suggest the futility of an idealized, mythic nationalism.

During her two-week residency at Commonwealth & Council, Smith constructed the second piece in the show, a banner of satin and linen that reads, "WE MAKE THE RULES.” Conceived as a communal affirmation and a critical provocation of imperial power, the piece links the formal investigations of the video to the social offerings of her home preserves project.

The third work reminds us that the politics of the social and the economic is always a part of the home. Configured as part artist project and part entrepreneurial exercise, Smith began making home preserves in response to the seasonal abundance of Los Angeles and her own economic necessity. As part of the show Link Arms and Listen, Smith will offer home preserved pickles and preserves and a pickling demonstration on November 6 at 2pm.

Link Arms and Listen is a continuing exploration of utopic/ dystopic tensions within notions of democracy in late capitalism, examining both the mythological and the quotidian.

Jen Smith is an artist and musician. With her post punk band the Quails, she has played music halls, street protests and squats, made posters, zines and anti-war ephemera, and recorded three albums. She received her BA in American Studies from University of Maryland, College Park, and her MFA from University of California, Irvine.

Commonwealth & Council is open Saturdays from 12 to 5PM and by appointment.

She's a Giver!

2010-10-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

Massive Prickly Pear Cactus.
the giver of both this lovely
red fruit
and
the tender paddles of
Nopales.

Jay Stuckey allowed me to scale he and Jennifer's amazing cactus on a rainy day. It was a harrowing feat. Tiny little needles found their way all over me, despite my best efforts. Prickly Pear jam, I suffer just a little bit to make you!

Harvest Moon Pickle Party!

2010-10-19T23:19:00.000-07:00

Tender Lovers!
I beseech thee!

Please mark your calendars
for an autumnal pickle!

FRIDAY
OCTOBER 22nd!
6-8pm
At my house!

This month, NEW!:

*Pickled Pumpkin!
*Pickled Asparagus!
*Pears in Vanilla and Pepper Syrup!
*Peach Jam!
*Wild Card: Pickled Young Almonds!

Also, from the larder:

*Spicy Okra!
*Curried Cauliflower!
*Pickled Nopales!
*Dilly Beans!
*Dill Spears!
*Smoky Spears!
*Bread and Butter Pickles!
*Thai Spiced Pickles!
& some other fruity things!

I will make some cider
and hang around,
so happy to send you off into this stormy world
with some pickles to keep you warm!

Please email me for directions:

fullmoonpickles@gmail.com

Pickles at SMITHS in Oakland

2010-10-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

My pickles went on their own adventure, joining the fun at the Putting Up Party and Pickle It Workshop at SMITHS in Oakland. It looked like they had a fantastic session. Wished I could have been there in person.

The event was initiated by Ted Purves and Susanne Cockrell who do some pretty lovely discursive pickling themselves. Here Ted is interviewed about some of their social practice projects.

Gather Together: T'was a Rainy Day!

2010-10-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

Gather Together was a very informal affair due to a persistent drizzle. Any fluxuation in the weather will arrest the best intentions of Angelenos-- this is what I am learning! A hearty international crew convened-- New Zealand and Sweden (and me, trained in the inclement San Francisco!) where a light rain is just that. Native Angeleno Kate Wolf did make it over and brought a lovely book on Scandinavian cooking and told us about Noma.

The internationalists made for an interesting conversation about american politics and witnessing Obama's presidency.

FOOD 1: Gather Together

2010-10-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

An essential human experience, how can artists mobilize the democratic possibilities of the discourse around food cultivation and eating? What do we have to share? Participants are asked to bring ideas, inventories of artist projects and community resources, interest and/or something to eat to contribute to this gathering within the temporary autonomous institutional space of the Elysian Park Museum of Art. Join me for lunch from noon to two at Elysian Park, Solano Canyon picnic tables (pastrec center tennis courts).

If you plan to attend please RSVP: fullmoonpickles@gmail.com

See map. Look for the spot marked FOOD 1.

Helga Fassonaki asked me if I would like to put together a meal in conjunction with the Elysian Park Museum of Art at LACE. She describes her curatorial intent to me this way:

In this series, I'm inviting artists to prepare food to serve/present at any location in Elysian Park to about 10 to 20 patrons. Each artist will participate on a separate FOOD event date (I'm aiming to curate five of these). It would be completely up to the artist to decide how they choose to form/shape this happening, what location (in Elysian Park), and what you want to create/make in terms of food. I'm not so much interested in Food artists, but rather an artists making food as a catalyst for gatherings, conversation/dialogue, exchanges, and interactions. The title FOOD is taken from Gordon Matta Clark's restaurant called FOOD and is a direct homage to him. Every Sunday, he would have a different artist be the Chef for his restaurant and sometime bizarre gatherings would result. His widow, Jane Crawford, recalled such a time when Clark 'cooked a lovely whole sea bass, but it emerged from the kitchen encased in a block of aspic nearly three feet long. He unmolded it, then gave the table a good kick, so that the aspic wobbled wildly and the bass seemed to fishtail upstream.'

What I hope will convene is a discussion about food within contemporary art and it's activist possibilities. With so much interest in local, organic and sustainable food practices, I worry that the theme reiterates a fanciful lifestyle preoccupation. Having only recently shifted my conception about my own pickling as an artist project, and here to fore, been both weary and keenly curious about these types of artist projects, I am hoping to educate myself through this informal gathering.

The invitation was cobbled together very recently so I will be thrilled with whomever arrives to eat and talk about art, food and politics!

I am also very happy to be part of the EPMoA's investigation of the park as an artist space, where "exhibitions are by necessity temporary and lightweight, in a dialogue with the ecology of the park itself, and the incredibly diverse ways in which it is already used."

Advanced New Genres

2010-10-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

The lovely Erika Vogt invited me to be a visiting artist this week for her Advanced New Genres class at UCLA. It was a biographical lecture cum art talk that culminated in an explanation of the discursive field of the pickle.

Advanced New Genre Pickles equals Back to the Future equals Pickles to the People!

good times.

Antelope Valley Expedition

2010-10-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

Today, I trekked out to Little Rock with my friend and birthday twin, Charles Rosenberg (who is actually a twin himself). My mission was to pick the last of the season's peaches. Charles is an artist, certified nutritionist, personal chef, frugal gourmet and probiotic expert. Is there something about being born on April 29th that makes a person prone to making magical concoctions and being compelled to use everything to it's fullest? Well, if Charles and I are any guide, I would say yes! Witches are we! Today he guided me on a fantastic culinary odyssey along Pearblossom Highway.

Our first stop was the Yingst Ranch. This is the last three days of their "U-Pick" season which begins in June. Mrs. Yingst explained that when the peaches are gone, they close-- though they still sell their fruit at the farmers market and are happy to bring you anything you want, if you give them a call. They have a regular stand at the Sunday Hollywood Farmers Market which is where I fell in love with their beautiful pears last year. The Yingsts also grow plums, apples and persimmons. While they are not certified organic, which can be a prohibitively expensive process for small farmers, they use no pesticides.

I picked twenty pounds of peaches and twenty pounds of pears.

Charles in Charge!

Last of the Season

Mrs. Yingst

Our next stop was Charlie Brown Farms: a regular road side culinary attraction with barbeque, funnel cakes, deep fried twinkies, date shakes and other heart stoppers. But within this arsenal of oddities, there are some real gems: local honey, dates and pickles!

Pickles at Charlie Browns

And then, tucked between fruit rolls and an aisle of candies labelled "the Eighties!," we entered a delightful grotto, the modest tasting room of the local Cameo Vineyards. We arrived to find Caroline, the sommelier, in a dour mood. Saddly, the oldest vineyard in the valley is closing. Hit hard by the economy and the failing health of the vintner, Caroline is selling off all the remaining wine and retiring her pours after sixteen years of service. She started us off with generous tastings of the dry reds, about six in total. Then she moved to the sweet wines, pulling a dozen plus bottles from the fridge! It was incredible! We were so seduced by her stories and generosity (and the twenty-five percent discount), we bought a case of the various offerings. Gentle readers, I must confess, I have never done such a thing in all my life!

Caroline, what a dream!

After our bacchanalia, we made our last stop at the Valley Hungarian Sausage and Meat Company where they make a fantastic array of fresh and cured sausages. We ate summer sausage sandwiches and bought a few links of boy scout kielbasi (being a popular recipe for the touring youth) and spicy smoked kielbasi. Charles was delighted to find local pecans for $2.75 a pound, grown in the owners yard.

My bolshevik sister behind the counter at
Valley Hungarian Sausage & Meat Co

Well, there she is! Miss Little Rock 2003
and her prize pig!

A real magical mystery tour, if e'er there were one!

Christina Linden and Amanda Eicher on Radical Citizenship: The Tutorials

2010-10-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

Christina's review is here.

And Amanda writes:

I've been thinking about the tutorials, too. In the class meeting after coming back from the island, we looked at the dictionary definitions of radical - I think as we were using it on the island, it came into its meaning of revolutionary, and also sometimes intransigent (two synonyms in the thesaurus). However, there's a way in which radical also means the closest to the bone, referring to the deepest, or root, qualities of something. (I credit Jason Bird for bringing this out in discussion.)

I liked the solitary experience of Julia's tutorial for exactly this reason. Facing the ferry harbor alone or next to another person listening through headphones, we listened to sound recordings of individuals repeating the phrase 'I am a person.' Although the undifferentiated long tracks were ultimately not quite so personalizing to my ears, it did drill down to a point of root citizenship - our humanity with each other - which is so important to realize. However, where Julia's sound piece invited us to plug in and stare out to the sea, I gravitated toward the tutorials in which we were invited to examine the ways we relate to each other and the state as citizens on a root level. Dictionary.com's first definition for radical is as follows: 'of or going to the root or origin; fundamental: a radical difference.' To be together in radical citizenship in this sense would seem to connect us all at a fundamental point of divergence, to call us back to these conflicts and arguments and brilliances and ingenuities which distinguish the parts of the whole. Often these moments were bodily moments of looking at one another, but in certain circumstances, I think this could have been brought about through awareness of site and landscape as well. It probably happened this way in Shanti's walking tutorial.

In taking the immigration test with Huong-An, I found myself meeting someone I could imagine as a friend and colleague, but who was my interrogator for an hour, in a way that really tested me as a person. I was brought back to my lifelong relationship with lying, something that we all, as Americans, have to wrestle with, whether it's the tiny everyday lies of omission which make us a part of an international economy which takes with one hand as it gives with the other, or the lies one necessarily tells to become naturalized as an American through an interview like the one Huong-An administered. When we switched out of the bureaucratic mode, I still felt nettled, and this time it was because our conversation about what we'd like to see as citizens threatened to open up differences between us that we'd most likely smooth over in a different atmosphere (i.e. meeting between classes in the professional halls of a university, rather than at a picnic table on Angel Island). The way we talked felt open, though tinged with the performing we both had done just a little bit earlier.

Maybe that is a departure point for talking about the tutorials with Lt. Mark Gagan - the conversations Mark and I had with gallery visitors about observation, noticing, and surveillance seemed as much to do with vision and seeing as to do with words and lying - how we deal with and manage the police, and how they manage us; what our eyes do as members of our civic bodies. In each tutorial, Lt. Gagan's straightforwardness seemed to disarm the gallery visitor, and visitors often talked about truths or how manipulation of truth caused distortions in what would be an ideal relationship between the police and the populace. This was not all we talked about, but the conversation (spread across four tutorials) seemed to point toward radical points of divergence between police and populace - places where we could examine the splittings with real curiosity, perspective, and feeling.

A Salty Gathering! A Conceptual Pickle!

2010-10-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, in a near dream state, I spent the afternoon in the kitchen of Chez Panisse with some great thinkers, Jerome Waag, Amanda Eicher, Valerie Imus, Rosie Branson Gill (the OPEN curatorial team), Christina Linden (a curator, writer and fast friend from Consider The Gatherer/ Radical Citizenship foraging), and Rebekak Cantor (my dear friend who is versed in permaculture and fermentation). In preparation for OPENwater, our mission was to put up tomatoes and freshly foraged nasturtium capers while Jerome made salt out of sixty gallons of sea water harvested at dawn from the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Jerome pours the reduced sea water through
16 layers of cheese cloth, as recommended
by the World Health Organization

Two gallons of salt were harvested.

My time with OPEN continued today when a few spirited picklers gathered at the beautiful tables of 18 Reasons for a pickling demonstration. OPENwater is being organized around water issues of the San Francisco Bay. Jerome very eloquently explained their project then asked that I make a very simple conceptual pickle with our group: cucumbers from a farm at the top of the San Francisco's water table, near Stockton, in a salty vinegar brine made from the bay water salt, seasoned with nasturtium pods and wild fennel flowers picked at the mouth of the Bay, where the water table releases into the sea.

And that is exactly what we did. This pickle was a delight! The sweetness of the fennel was in perfect counter balance with the tartness of the vinegar. Incredible!

Our own hand model and model forager,
Amanda Eicher picks the pods!

Picklers Pickling!

Conceptual Pickle!

Cucumber with wild fennel flower,
it was dramatically delicious!

More about OPENwater

OPENrestaurant Presents OPENwater

What is the future of water, for us? OPENwater, SFMOMA's latest collaboration with the artists, chefs, and educators who make up OPENrestaurant, takes the form of a pop-up restaurant and art installation in a large warehouse space on the San Francisco waterfront. This immersive dining experience highlights three major areas: oceans and fisheries; water management, both urban and agricultural; and water as a medium. The piece serves as a platform to focus on water as our most fundamental resource and to debate the health of the Bay Area's environment, water table, and water-based politics.

It is being staged at St. George's Distillery (aka Hangar One) in Alameda, from noon - midnight on November 13 and 14 with educational and improvisational events including:

November 13

Teacher with a Bus: 1 -3 pm for a Marine Biology/Physical Education lesson -- Basics of the Hydrologic Cycle - open to all
OPENkitchen 3 - 4 pm: Salting Meat and Quick Pickles --- the OPENkitchen opens to visitors for a workshop on salting meats and preparing pickles on the spot at home and in pop-up warehouse kitchens.
Round Table Discussion -- Cured, Curated: 4 - 6 pm: Food Historian Ken Albala, Jenn from the Exploratorium, Food and Water Watch activists, and SFMOMAConservationists discuss salt curing, caring for artwork, and environmental care and preservation in a round-table discussion before the first seating for OPENwater's three-course dinner.

November 14

Salmon Run: 2 -4 pm -- Why does the Salmon Run Dinner include no salmon? What are the stakes of the Bay Area (and California's) principal waterways? Why should we care about water conservation, and what are the worldwide implications? Experts including career fishermen, activists, and conservationists discuss the future of California's waterways and how the discussion impacts the wider world.

Experimental Pickle!

2010-09-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

Monday evening, I will be at 18 Reasons in San Francisco, presenting an artist talk and pickling demonstration MASH UP!

I will show my video Oh I Limp Concise Sadism! and then give participants a lesson in home pickling. Here's how 18 Reasons describes our event:

18 Reasons and OPENrestaurant are teaming up to offer a 2-part curing workshop in preparation for OPENwater, OPENrestaurant's 2-day food and art exploration of water politics in the Bay Area. In this first workshop, artist and chef Jen Smith will stimulate our brains with her recent video Oh I Limp Concise Sadism! After this short artistic foray, we will whet our appetites by making various pickles, including fennel, capers and salt cured lemons, that will be used during OPENwater.

OPEN is a fantastic artists/chefs project, that describe themselves thusly:

OPENrestaurant is the project of a collective of restaurant professionals who sought to move their environment to an art space as a way to experiment with the language of their daily activities. This displacement turns the restaurant, its codes and architecture, into a medium for artistic expression which is made available to cooks, farmers, artists and activists as a way to explore issues around food and society. Held for one night every few month it creates an informal forum by focusing on a specific issue. OPENrestaurant is the project of Stacie Pierce, Jerome Waag and Sam White, all part of the Chez Panisse restaurant staff.

OPENwater will be a two day event that explores issues of water in the Bay Area.

http://18reasons.org/

http://openrestaurant.org/

Tickets here, should you like to come!

Harvest Moon Pickle Party!

2010-09-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

Gentle Friends of the Pickle!

It's your ol'

JJ PICKLE here!

Lamenting!

I have been too long away from the Pickle Factory!

But my hands are brine deep now!

Ready to offer some pickles and jams,

Iko Iko!

1298 Sunset Blvd

Los Angeles, CA

Sunday, September 26

2:00pm - 5:00pm

I will have:

Curried Cauliflower

Spicy Okra

Dilly Beans

Nopales

lots of cucumbers~~

Bread and Butter

Dill Spears

Smokey Cucumbers

and some Thai Spiced numbers!

There will be some jams:

Peach, Plums, & whatever else is in the larder.

Kristen and Shin are also serving cold Sake!

People, I put it to you plainly,

DO YOU LIKE FUN?!

(Also, friendship circle, if there is something special you want me

to make, let me know, and I shall do my best to make it for you!)

Please won't you join us?

http://www.ikoikospace.com

Snapshots from Radical Citizenship: The Tutorials

2010-09-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Gathering the mobil kitchen

The ferry from Tiburon to Angel Island

Our campsite in the distance

Amanda talks to Sarah Jane
about cultivating Creme Fraiche,
Mary and Julia do some chopping

Watercress becomes salad

Back on the main land, Hong-An and Huong
problematizing the notion of allegiance to the
state

Radical Citizenship: The Tutorials or Back to the Garden

2010-09-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to be in the Bay Area as a Tutor for this interesting artist's project by Mary Walling Blackburn, hosted through Southern Exposure.

Can knee-jerk nationalism be swapped for a wild love of the local or is patriotism always in collusion with Empire? Mary Walling Blackburn and Anhoek School present Radical Citizenship: The Tutorials, a series of one-on-one tutorials for participants with artists, activists, ecologists, and academics from various disciplines. Over the course of four days, at Southern Exposure and Angel Island, tutors will engage participants in individualized inquiries into the nature of citizenship and its enactment. Each tutor will offer their own lyrical and practical examples and investigations of radical citizenship and, as such, an unregulated form of belonging. Together both the tutor and the participant will deconstruct the terms of what it means to be a citizen, upset its definition as based on a principle of exclusion, and redefine it as practice rather than status. The length of each tutorial will be negotiated on site between each participant and tutor, ranging from five minutes to an hour.

I am here through the invitation of my fellow tutor and inspirational social practioner and best friend, Amanda Eicher. I had known Amanda for years socially, but really began to notice her as a kindred spirit about five years ago at an event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. A potluck (i.e., no monetary support from the institution) in conjunction with a zine show, I expected to show up to bags of potato chips but instead, there was delicious, fortifying foods: french lentils, salads and breads. I knew immediately that it was Amanda's handiwork, and I made note to myself "Amanda Eicher is no joke! This is a class act!" We became fast friend and collaborators and over the years have made and eaten many, many meals together.

That she would bring this long-time collaboration to a public symposium is a stroke of her particular genius and generosity. Our friendship has been so edifying, it makes so much sense that it might be cobbled into a strategic teaching point. Here's what she wrote to frame our investigative tutorial.

Consider the Gatherer: A Supper and a Conversation
What are the attributes of the gatherer—the short-range roamer who specializes in knowing what the ground (or grounds) have to offer? In a moment when the principles of the hunter are enjoying a resurgence of support and interest, what does it mean to invite the gatherer to the table? Gleaning, observing, waiting attitudes; knowledge of the seasons and the territory; coexistence with other consumers of the same goods/crops; dependence on the yield of the environment, or on range; cleverness in preservation vs allowing for change; as well as many shared characteristics with hunters, notably nomadism; will be explored in a tutorial meal.

Our first step was to go on a foraging journey to Marin with Christina Linden, a curator, writer and fantastic conversationalist! Lately, I have been more busy than I can remember being, out of my body berserk. It was so healing to walk in the woods and gather some food with these two brilliant women.

First stop, the 24 hour Farm Stand in Bolinas, where they use the old honor system to receive payments!

And then a five mile hike to Alamere Falls, via Bass Lake,

to lunch and gather watercress and nettles.

One of my most favorite places on Earth, Bass Lake

Our collaboration

Christina gathering cress

Gleaning from the nettle forest

A Careful Mobile

Oh, they sting alright!

A Vigorous Bouquet

Bags filled with nettles

Yesterday's Menu, Last Day! Sound of My Voice, Day 16! That's a wrap!

2010-09-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

Chicken Schnitzel

Black Eyed Peas

Mac and Cheese

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Peas, of course!

Cole Slaw

Cucumber, Pickled Onion and Dill

Green Salad!

Yesterday's Menu: Sound of My Voice, Day 15

2010-09-13T23:22:00.000-07:00

This was a monster day! On five hours of sleep, I woke up and made my first "to go" order for a brunch and then I made lunch for the Sound of My Voice Crew.

Grilled Steak Larb

Grilled Chicken Larb

Glass Noodles with Wild Mushrooms

Fried Rice with Ginger, Peas and Scallions

Baby Bok Choi

Watermelon!

Simple Green Salad!

Afterwards, I whisked off to Heather Taylor's house to participate in a "webisode." I was brought on as an experienced canner to teach Heather how to make dilly beans and peach jam and mostly to not fear the water bath! I had very intense flash backs to myself as a child, performing a tutorial for an imaginary cooking show! Pretty fun!

Heather is a mover and a shaker! And among her diverse projects, co-directs Taylor Cordoba Gallery and writes about food.

http://taylordecordoba.com/

http://lainbloom.blogspot.com/

And then finally! Off to Erika Vogt's very beautiful show:

http://www.overduinandkite.com/

http://www.overduinandkite.com/Vogt%20PR.pdf

What a day!

Today's Menu: Sound of My Voice, Day 14

2010-09-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

Cranking it out over here!

And nearing the finish line!

Shish Taouk
as described by Seth Lorinczi!
This is quite good and quite easy.

Marinate the chicken
(today I used breast)
in
some tomato paste,
yogurt,
lemon juice,
garlic,
a LOT of sumac
(common spice in Middle Eastern cooking
and therefore, groceries),
cumin,
a dash of chili powder,
salt

for 2-12 hours before grilling.

The yogurt coats the chicken
in a flavorful fat,
keeping it from drying out.
The sumac has a delicious
savory tartness
and it takes the lead in
this recipe.

Do it!
SO SIMPLE!

Those Fancy Green Lentils,
again

Herbed Basmati

Roasted Broccoli

Piquant Purple Slaw

Red Onion, Cucumber and Feta
Salad

Green Salad with Dried Fruit
and Nuts!

In the evening, I went to these two excellent events:

http://www.artistcuratedprojects.com/www.artistcuratedprojects.com/ACP.html

http://www.steveturnercontemporary.com/artists/ore-giron/rtr/index.html

and then a really enlivening backyard party at Eamon and Gina's house! So many warm geniuses in one place! I was so seduced that I stayed until 3am!

For some reason, as the job comes to a close, I have been acting out, little resistances to my own self as employer, going out and having a social life! It is lovely, lovely, lovely in the moment but oh! The burden of the following day!

Yesterday's Menu: Sound of My Voice, Day 13

2010-09-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

Grilled Flank Steak with Spicy Garam Masala!
A repeat, but people love this!

Coconut Curried Daal

Brown Basmati Rice with Almonds, Golden Raisins
and Dates

Red Chard with Garlic and Lemon

Crunchy Salad of Radish, Cucumber, Fennel, Celery,
Chayote, Parlsey and Roasted Seeds

Raita

Simple Green Salad

In the evening, went with the lovely M'Lady M'Larkey to http://www.vielmetter.com/exhibitions.html

Terrific show, terrific company!

Music For Hoarders

2010-09-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

Art Season here! This shoot is finally feeling like a day job and I am stealing time in the evening to go out among the people!

Thursday, I participated in a performance called Music For Hoarders by my lovely friend, Dawn Kasper. I was one of about 15 musicians. We sat along the walls of a room filled with detritus, things Dawn had been collecting from the street, personal objects and drawings. We were instructed to pick an object and during the course of her performance when she would interact with that object, to make a sound with our instrument and imbibe that sound with a feeling directed towards her.

Music for Hoarders
at Honor Fraser

For the first ten minutes or so, she circled the room, arranging and shifting things around. Eventually, she came to the top of a pile of tables and told a story about her mother who is a hoarder, about witnessing a woman with OCD and about the emotionality of objects. She then came off of the tables and proceeded to pile even more on top of the tables, more tables and then dangerously wrangling a plastic children's swimming pool on top. The soundtrack became increasing manic and cacophonous. My feeling for her at that time was CONCERN! I was afraid she might fall and crack her head open! I spent much of that time playing piercing guitar sounds and wincing. But finally, the pool settled on the top of this enormous pile and the room cheered. The crowd was really with her. Dawn is very good at creating a narrative and an action that while frantic, dangerous and upsetting is still loving and generous. It was a pleasure to take part.

Pre-Show:
Dawn in the background with videographer,
Eric Kim with his mandocaster.

Yesterday's Menu: Sound of My Voice, Day 12

2010-09-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I have finally perfected my herbed meat! I have been making "Green Burgers" for years, where the inside of the patty is intensely green from fresh herbs. But these meat balls were next level!
Here are important hints, pistachios, lemon zest and tarragon! Wow!

Herbed Meatballs

Hummous

Tabouleh

Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Dressing

Carrots with Cumin and Cured Olives

Tomato-Feta Sally!

Ever true, Green Sally!

The Day Before Yesterday's Menu: Sound of My Voice, Day 11

2010-09-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Well, these days we are really cracking! The day has shifted to much earlier and it has been a rough transition! But who suffers the most? You, dear reader! Because you are left wondering, "but what have you been making for lunch?!"

Poached Five Spice Chicken

Black Beans

Calrose Rice

Grilled Anaheim Peppers,
Scallions and Squash

Grilled Peppers

Green Salad with Beets

And for Breakfast,

Leek and Feta Galette!

Labor Day, Company Picnic

2010-09-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

Hawaiian Sweet Potatoes Are In!

2010-09-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

Today's Menu: Sound of My Voice, Day 10

2010-09-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? DAY TEN!

First meal was the ever popular, modest Lox and Bagels! Always comes with Preserves from the Preserve larder. Today: Ginger Peach, Lavender Plum, and Strawberry!

If in Los Angeles, please do your yourself the important favor of getting bagels from the Brooklyn Bagel Bakery. Hailing originally from New York, they have been there, making bagels for the past 40 years!
It really feels like another time in there.

But dinner, my god, dinner!

I have to say, perhaps, just perhaps! A next level has been approached!

This was a GOOD MEAL!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Peaches!
The Summer's Best!

White Beans with Roasted Radicchio, Endive,
Parsley and Truffle Oil

Roasted Root Vegetables with Rosemary

Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil and Beets!
Dressed lightly with Bariani Olive Oil and Coarse Salt

Butter Lettuce with Corn, Radish,
Tarragon and Chives!

Yesterday's Menu: Sound of My Voice, Day 9

2010-09-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the terrible news from yesterday is that Martha, the 14th, got into a fender bender on the way over here! A little pile up starring our own tender gal! She is fine, though the car in front of her was a bit crumpled! But the car in front of that car was fine. I tell you what, Christian billboards can be VERY distracting!

Meanwhile, Hollywood doesn't wait, and deadlines are still met!

But it made the day a bit frantic, because I drove with her out to location and some errands, so I had to really JAM upon our return!

When we got back, Martha spent a few curative moments with a snort (or two) of Bulliet whiskey and

Word Is Out! The Story of Some Of Our Lives,

the book that accompanied this seminal documentary about gay lives in the Seventies.

When these kinds of jarring things happen, it is so important to slow down and recalibrate the feeling of our bodies at rest, to take inventory of our great good fortune, and to remember our very important personhood.

To eat, the Sound of My Voice had the following!

Penne with Italian Sausage and Bitter Greens

Vegetarian Option: Penne with Bitter Greens,
Feta, Corn and Pine Nuts

Vegan & Gluten Free!
Brown Rice Penne with Bitter Greens, etc.

Seared Broccoli with Garlic and Parsley

Mixed Greens with Bartlett Pears,
Roasted Pecans and Pepitos

Melon Plate

Ever dutiful, here's our girl! Post a very trying day!
She's an angel, I tell you!

The Littlest Kitchen That Could!

Today's Menu: Sound of My Voice, Day 8

2010-09-03T22:45:00.000-07:00

Well, Amir at Jon's had a lot of influence on today's first meal.
Amir is a lovely, dishy type with long eye lashes.
When a person asks to sample something,
he responds very flatly, "of course."

But he is taking a shine to me,
today convincing me to buy a solitary knackwurst on special.
And telling a terrible pun, knocking on the counter,
and flaring his hand, saying "the worst!"
"That's how you'll remember it!"

Um, now, his affect will perhaps stick in my memory a bit longer.

Also, he asked,
"how many kids do you have?"
"Thirty," I said,
which he loved!

He suggested the turkey ham
and a fanastic sammy of Gorgonzola and Cantaloupe Melon.

So thanks to Amir, the morning meal was:

Hard Salami, Monterey Jack and Cornichons Sammies

Turkey "Ham," Monterey Jack and Arugula with a Relish of Sauteed Onions, Thyme and Apples

Monterey Jack, Arugula and the same relish for the lovely vegetarians

and Amir's Gorgonzola and Melon Sammies!

Of course, more stone fruit sally!

Then, tonight, we were back to a more healthful meal.

Rosemary-Lemon Chicken Breasts

Fancy Green Lentils

Mixed Grains with Corn, Tomato, Cucumbers
and Herbs

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cilantro

Roasted Cauliflower with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
and California Peppers

Mixed Herb Salad with White Nectarines,
Dried Cherries and Shallot Viniagrette

Pickles
were Nopales, Smokey Cucs,
Okra and Curried Cauliflower

Bread:
Little Armenian Finger Bread Loaves

Yesterday's Menu: Sound of My Voice, Day 7

2010-09-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

The days go late, so I am scrubbing the floor at one am. Too late to let you know what was on the menu!

Yesterday's morning meal,

Hard Salami, Monterey Jack and Cornichons Sammies!

Smoked Gouda, Apple and Dijon Sammies!

Ye Olde Stone Fruit Salad with Basil!

(It's perhaps a bit boring, but here we are in the

height of the season! You will get stone fruit

everyday and LOVE it!)

There had been a concern that the food has been too light, too healthful, that the crew was getting hungry after six hours labor. People! A body SHOULD get hungry after six hours! But one does what one is asked, so I dropped a classic stick to your ribs (and arteries) Southern Meal on the gang to mostly fantastic results. As mostly vegan, the director was a little saddened by the demands of his crew.

Meat Loaves

Mac and Cheese

Steamy Collard Greens

Watermelon, of course!

Ever Loyal, Green Sally!

Corn Breads

Pickles were Okra and Smokey Cucs again!

Don't forget a little Tapatio for those that go that way!

Yesterday's Menu: Sound of My Voice, Day 6

2010-09-03T01:29:00.000-07:00

Day 5 was a half day for me. So we had a repeat of Lox and Bagels day!
Then, Day 6, first meal:

Turkey and Cheese with Dijon, Cranberry Sauce and Baby Arugula

Cheddar Cheese and Dijon, Cranberry Sauce and Baby Arugula

Roasted Asparagus

and still more Stone Fruit Salad with Mint

Second Meals are coming late these days,
and for you, gentle viewer,
this means the uncomfortable chore of FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY!
This is a terrible way to view food,
but people, what can I do?
It's dark!

Braised Short Ribs

Black Eyed Peas

Polenta Squares

Roasted Peppers and Parsley

Red Cabbage Cole Slaw

Spinach Sally!

Pickles tonight were

Spicy Okra

and Smokey Cucumbers

Bread was

a very beautiful

Ciabatta

baked today at

Whole Food for Life

on Los Feliz!

People,

this is a fantastic market!

SHOP THERE!

Missing Signe

2010-09-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

One of the funnest things I do when on a job like this is go to the store.

I have been shopping at the Jon's near my house. It is mostly Russian, Armenian and Latino immigrants that people the store as workers and customers. Since I go everyday, I am getting to be quite friendly with some of the folks there. I am also lucky to go when the elders are out, gathering their own supplies.

I am thinking today of my lovely grandmother, Signe Betts who past away at the grand old age of 94 last year. She came to this country from Norway as a nanny. Her mother was so sad when she left in 1934 to work in the States, because those that did, never came back.

Signe was a lunch lady in the Arlington County Schools, eventually becoming a manager.

She was pretty out of it in the last few days of her life,

when I was so fortunate to be with her and my family.

When it was time for me to leave,

she brightened considerably, pulling herself back into this realm.

"Well, we hope we will see you many more times this year.

And I want you to go out there and take over the world!"

Now,

without a doubt,

I was, and am, her most eccentric grandchild.

That she would want that for me,

her very own weird-o,

is something that I shall always cherish.

I started catering this January.

As I was running the errands that surround

this work,

I realized,

I too am a lunch lady.