Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I baked after dinner tonight. I think this recipe (and a similar picture) find their way to my blog every year or two. Can't help it. They are so quick and easy and delicious that I have to post the recipe periodically. I think I got it from a Good Housekeeping in the 1960's (which is when I was reading that magazine) and have never seen as good a recipe again. They are basically shortbread. I've been baking so much this week that I'm running out of butter. I only use sweet, unsalted butter for baking-- and a food processor, which is not in the original recipe. Cookie Crescents Into the food processor, throw: 3/4 c. unsalted butter (1-1/2 sticks) 1 cup flour 1/2 c. cornstarch 1/2 c. confectioner's sugar As soon as dough comes together, stop. Take about 1 tsp of dough (or less), roll between your hands, make into crescent and flatten. ( I get about 6 doz). Line cookie sheets with parchment (or not) Bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 min or till slightly brown at edges. Yum yum. You can dust them in confectioner's sugar but I find that too sweet. Working backwards...I didn't do any fiber work tonight because I spent much of the evening on the phone with my friend Laura, who is mourning the loss of her mother and her brother-in-law within 12 hours of one another. Today, I was in the studio before lunch putting together the piece that has been sitting on my wall for a couple of weeks. Things never go together exactly as they have been arranged on the wall - or the way you think they should. And sometimes, you'll surprise yourself by making a change at the last minute that works better than you would have imagined - or that you hadn't thought of till AHA! "Aha" is sometimes very subtle and this is not the final version. Some of the pieces are lightly Misty-Fused together at the edge,others are just pinned to the wall. Normally I stitch, but today I thought I would fuse edges because I can move the pieces around and eventually, straighten them out. Of course, when your printing is askew it always looks lopsided, even if the fabric pieces are straight. Or especially if they are straight. One thing I discovered: it is much more physically exhausting to print than to put together a quilt. My afternoon felt very leisurely and la-di-da as I carried fabrics from the wall to the cutting mat to the ironing table and back to the wall. I was relaxed. My feet did not hurt. And when I left at 4:something, I even had the energy to stop at Whole Foods and pick up an item or two, make a quiche for dinner and bake after dinner. Maybe I should stop printing and just make art from what I already have. The weather has been pretty nice - breezy and not humid. But I've been running the A/C in the studio because we have a southern exposure and it is SUNNY. Tonight I actually put the air on in the house because it is turning humid. And we did not take our usual postprandial stroll. Here is Marty, just before we took our walk last night. And here is the beautiful pool in our development that we used to go to when we first moved here but haven't been to in a while. Nonetheless, we walk past it every evening (not tonight) and it is very nice to look at. I think this post has been somewhat out of sequence and disorganized but that's the way my life is these days - LOL. I finally got my car washed today but it needs another run-through because of the sticky goo from the damn tree next to my driveway. I am parking across the street for the rest of the summer. One more thing just flew through my head but it's just as well it vanished because this post is too long, anyway.

5 comments:

Eva said...

I like this piece very much that you are working on, it is like a message written on a night sky, and the parts with the comb-like shapes are excellent. --
Did you get my e-mail?

Marilyn League said...

Those crescent cookies are great and can be adjusted to accomodate a vegan diet. (My teenaged granddaughter just had a "phase".) Please do not stop printing!

Judy said...

So Rayna, do you think you could be happy just constructing art quilts, rather than making the fabric? I much prefer the latter!
I love that piece too!

xo

Rayna said...

Of course not! The printing is my favorite part. But it is hard work...or maybe I'm just too old - LOL.

Vivien Zepf said...

I love all the squiggles / writing on this piece. I'm a big fan of the colors, too. Oh, and yum on all the recipes; thanks!

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