Black Paintings

The Dallas Museum of art presented the largest exhibition of Jackson Pollocks Black paintings, ever. (According to them anyway.) We didn't know about it until some friends invited us. I'm glad not to have missed it.

According to a description on the wall:
Pollock's black paintings were not well received. Of them he wrote to his friend, "I've had a period of drawing on canvas in black...think the non-objectivists will find them disturbing." Pollock's "new technique replaced the many encrusted layers of dripped paint with a more direct relationship between raw canvas support and black enamel, often using a basting syringe to draw directly with the thinned paint."

Gallerist Charles Egan, having seen the show quipped, "Good show Jackson, but could you do it in color?"

I didn't mind the black and white. In fact, many of them I preferred to the paintings in color—as I did not particularly like Pollock's color choices.
The presentation also included a few of his more popular colorful paintings. Below is Adams' favorite.

And this one was mine. I think it's the canvas size. Pollock's large paintings are amazing to stand in front of.

Below was my favorite Black painting.

We'll done Dallas Museum of Art. (And Pollock.)

That Looks....

There's hunting here. Lot's of it. Subcontractors treat Adam's office to weekends out. You've seen the photos of the hog hunts. We've started parcelling out the hog that won't fit in our new freezer.
Adam brings it home in a giant cooler and lets it "bleed" for a few days. When the water drains out clear, it's time to quarter up the pork. (He and his friend are still learning how to make it look pretty. And I have to wash it three times over to be sure no bristles are left behind.)

When this batch was finished the guys shoved EIGHT hog legs into my giant pot. I sent this photo to friend and asked her if she'd like some to make broth. Her response, "No thank you. That looks scary!" So when I offered it to the next friend, I did NOT send a photo to go with my offer.

I took four legs and combined them with water and veggies and a bit of seasoning and boiled it all day.

Then strained it and I let it sit in the fridge for two days so the fat would separate to the top...

...spooned it out...

...and then strained it again and bagged up the broth to freeze.

Pork broth can be very mild so it can take on the flavor of veggie broth, or anything else you pair it with. So far I've made Mexican rice with it and this Sweet Potato Chili recipe as well as a white bean and sausage stew. We have enjoyed all three dishes.
Now it doesn't look scary at all—just delicious. Nothing beats homemade broth.

Cookbook Club

A couple of months ago I joined a cookbook club. Here is a description—the first meeting was fun. There were about 12 people and we spent almost TWO FULL HOURS eating.
We each chose a recipe from The Art of Simple Cooking, I went with clam chowder. So off I went to Sprouts to score some of these babies.

The fresh clams were about $4.99 a pound, I needed two pounds—and had to read up on how to store them so they wouldn't die until I needed them. (Keep them cold in the fridge and cover with a wet towel. If they come open, they're no longer alive. I had to throw a few out from the get-go because the guy at the counter packaged some for me and I didn't know.) Oh well. Can't blame someone else for my lack of knowledge. Plus I did this to learn something right? Right.

Fresh clam chowder is incredibly easy. I really like it so I don't know why I've never tried before but will certainly be making it again. I'm looking forward to another meeting—and perhaps there will be more photos to share!

She Made Aprons

For Christmas all the girls received aprons from Mom. She found a new tool that cuts zig zags from fabric...so she went all crazy up in that sewing room of hers.

And the aprons of course, were put to good use making Christmas cookies.