Tall Tales from Kansas

the baba rum

If you find yourself in the Richmond Virginia area anytime soon, be sure to go directly from the airport to Stuzzi's.  Order whatever the pizza of the day is with a glass of red wine.  While you are waiting for your pizza, get the caprese salad with their house-made mozzarella.  Go with someone and split all this because what you are really going to want to get is the "Baba Rum".

Rum soaked mini yeast cakes served over a creamy slightly sweetened ricotta with a drizzle of raspberry.   Holy Easter Bunny!   It was divine.  

As soon as you are done eating, shake a leg on over to Carytown.  It's just a block over from Stuzzi's. 

There is a LOT to see and plenty of interesting spots for flattering self portraits.

The last time I heard an accordion this soulful was in the metro station in Paris.  Enchanting. 

Lots of unique little spots to poke around in.  Highly recommended as a way to spend a day. 

P.S.  Be sure to stop in Merrymaker.  Super cool paper store.  I tried to stop myself from buying another interesting book on fonts but I was not successful.  In my defense I was under the influence of the baba rum when the purchase was made. 

972 miles away

This morning I got up and did a quick check of the garden, took a walk, and did three loads of laundry.

But in my mind, I was 972 miles away in Richmond Virginia.  Playing ready, set, GO, with Katharine Ray...

... and learning all about Optimal Primus, Rescuebots, and Transformers from Garrett and Gavin.  Who, by the way, never stop moving.  Ever.  Unless they are trying to talk you into a game of chase or eating pizza. 

I was also schooled in the fine art of chap stick application by Allie Grace, and we all marveled at how Griffin just smiled.  No matter what.

I am not sure how I arrived at this point in my life unaware of the bliss that is having a toddler come racing towards me at full steam, grab my legs, bury her face for a second, and then look up at me with a face full of happiness.   Melts all your internal organs.  Every.  Single.  One. 

stories are powerful ties that connect us

We are headed to Richmond Virginia this week to spend some time with my 5 amazing, adorable, smart, funny, incredibly talented, great-nephews and nieces.  There will be lots of hugging, kissing, laughing, chasing, and general merriment making while we are there.  Time will also be carved out for eating southern cuisine, drinking wine, and telling stories about the lives and times of Ray and Angie Moss and their 4 offspring (known around some parts as the Moss gang). 

There is always at least one story I've never heard before at these shindigs.   I will do my very best to stretch the truth about the time Dottie almost ran over my head the night we snuck out in the Volkswagon when she did in fact not know how to drive a stick shift, did not have a drivers license,  and we were in Panama.   A good story lies in the small details which must be embellished if they can't be recalled.

And as we sit around the table and swap our memories we will be building, in the minds of the next generation of the Moss family, a link to the great grandparents that got this whole family started.

Stories are powerful ties that connect us.   Long live good stories.  With lots of interesting details. 

no one will be the wiser

This past weekend I discovered that if you go to Wheatfields Bakery, at the corner of 9th and Vermont, very early in the morning, they quite possibly will have just taken the "everyday french" bread out of the ovens.  And when you ask them to go ahead and slice the loaf they will tell you "it's too hot". 

Which means you will have to drive home with it, in an open bag, in your car.   This will make your car smell like a bread bakery the whole way home.  

And when you get it home, you will be forced to cut off the end right away... 

... and slather it with butter and pop it in your mouth.  

If no one is awake in your house you can even do both ends.  No one will be the wiser.   Your secret is safe with me.   As I know mine is with you. 

the Vietnam war, murder, divorce, cancer, loggerhead turtles, death, cooking, cancer, schizophrenia, the holocaust, and alcoholism

If you, like me, have waited 20 years before deciding to finally read Beach Music, this review is for you.  I listened to it, as I do all super long books, because it's a great way to use my commute time.  When I finally turned it back in today, after completing all 28 hours on 25 CD's, I owed a grand total of $2.50 in late fines.  That is what happens when you go to Palm Springs and then Philadelphia in the middle of listening to a big book. 

This is a big sprawling novel that tells the story of a group of friends in a small town in South Carolina.   You also get to know their parents and grandparents and some of the significant events that shaped their lives.  I could not begin to list every topic covered but all of the following were included:  the Vietnam war, murder, divorce, cancer, loggerhead turtles, death, cooking, cancer, schizophrenia, the holocaust, and alcoholism. 

It was a good listen.  Mr. Conroy could have left out some descriptions and details and the story would have been just as good.  But since I am a "less is more person in the word department that could be just me.  

I will be interested to hear the impressions of those who read it way back when it was written in 1995.  Should the person who hasn't read it yet give it a whirl?  I say yes.  What say you?

I will always and forever be completely delighted

I hope that spring in your neck of the woods is shaping up as nicely as it is here. 

We've had some sunny 70 degree days, some chilly 34 degree nights, winds, rain, a smattering of pea sized hail, and some of the thickest fog I have ever driven through. 

In other words, a typical Kansas spring.

In the flower department, other than daffodils, nothing says spring like forsythia bushes and magnolia trees. 

They are the first real show stoppers.

No matter how long I live, I will always and forever be completely delighted each March when this magic happens. 

facetime sketchtime week 5

Before I move on to this weeks sketching session with my sister, I present "Annette the first".  The first, because I had so much fun drawing her and coloring her in, you know there will be an "Annette the second".

This week I sketched a bird - not just any bird.  A woodpecker.  Not just any woodpecker.  A gilded flicker.  A gilded flicker who just happens to look like he ran into that tree and re-arranged his beak in the process. 

One of his relatives came to my goldfinch feeder Sunday morning and I had never seen one before.   The spotted breast was amazing.  In real life I mean.  I did my best to capture it here.

Topics of conversation this week included:  the chevy malibu, car max, white carpet covered dashboards, and how to make a dark brown from the watercolors in your pan. 

I then thought it would be a good idea to try and capture a scene from the walk Chris and I did on Saturday.   Naked trees should be easy to draw.  Au contraire.    

For my final selection I tackled the daffodil from another angle. 

By this point in the session I was laughing so hard I almost spilled the last sip of my ice cold cosmo so we called it quits.   For all out FUN - facetime sketchtime can not be beat.  

go guerillas go

Guerilla artists are alive, and well, and thriving in Lawrence.  And on display at the corner of 9th and Massachusetts street downtown. 

I got up early this morning to go investigate.   I smiled, and I clapped, and I might have said something like "Go Guerilla's Go!"  Then I got in my car and went home and made coffee and thought about how cool it must be for those kids to have their art on display for everyone to see. 

Way to go Lawrence Art Center. 

you have met your match

The Persian lilac,  oak leaf hydrangea, red sunset maple, weeping cherry, and all manner of succulents that are tucked into the rock wall in the back yard, are beginning to do their thing.  Their spring thing.  I love a morning and an end of the day stroll around the yard to check on progress.  These days things are changing by the hour.

Last night, the most important thing I did while walking around, was to remove the old dead growth off the cat mint to reveal a fresh new crop.   Cat mint = Harvey boy visits. 

On my inspections, in addition to the good things, I have noted the appearance of my old enemy.   The dreaded bindweed.  I kept it in check last year with constant vigilance.  This means weekly (and sometimes more frequent) weed pulling sessions. The secret to this is having one (or both) of the Harvey boys over to rub on the cat mint and keep me company while I pull.

Ha!  Take that bindweed.  You have met your match.  And their names are Harvey and Harvey.

if you need an occasion

Here at Tall Tales Headquarters on this fine Friday night, which also happens to be the first day of Spring, we are celebrating with a wee bit of an Irish ale.

If you have been caught up in that goofy snow storm back east I am drinking one of these for you too. 

If you don't celebrate the first day of Spring but still want a spot of Irish ale, you might consider drinking a toast to celebrate the union of John Lennon and Yoko Ono on this day in 1969. 

If you need an occasion.  

Which is completely unnecessary, in my opinion. 

please send me an alert when yours start to do something

I made my first trip of the year to Kauffman Gardens recently.  No matter what time of year there is always something to see.  This year I expected to see bulbs sprouting and buds bursting forth and maybe some Witch Hazel.  And I did.  See all of that I mean. 

I did not expect to see all these decorative cabbage that looked as though they had been wintered over in pots.  Will they replant them?  Now?  Later in the fall?  I gotta find someone who works out there and get them on the payroll.  To answer all my questions. 

Nor did I expect to see this clever use of a "twisty" - Angie would have been delighted.  Twisty lovers UNITE!! 

And you can bet I will be back to see this Wysteria put on it's show like the ones in Carpinteria are doing right now at my friend Sharron's place. 

If you live in the area, and you have wysteria, please send me an alert when yours start to do something so I won't miss this event. 

while the Irish Brigade sang Molly Malone

In honor of St. Patrick's Day yesterday, I took out my green broccoli and put it in a green pot and added some Irish butter and made a whole bunch of green soup.

Then I went to bed and I dreamt about leprechauns chasing me through fields of shamrocks while the Irish Brigade sang "Molly Malone".    Powerful good soup. 

he leads me to a section of the bookstore and stops

Meet Dashiell.  He lives at The Raven Bookstore in downtown Lawrence. 

People think he is an ordinary bookstore cat.

But he used to be an operative for the Pinkerton detective agency and he really "knows" people.   

When he retired and came to live in Lawrence he found he missed the everyday interactions with those who needed his skills.   So he responded to a help wanted ad and was hired as an "observer" and therapeutic listener at The Raven.   People tell a cat all sorts of things.   

Things that lead him to understand just the book they are looking for.    Here's how it works for me.  I go in.  I greet Dashiell.  I pet Dashiell.  I talk to Dashiell.  Then he leads me to a section of the bookstore and stops.  This is where I know I will find my next read.  The book I needed but didn't know I needed.  Until Dashiell enlightened me.   

Cats are very good for business.  All sorts of business.   

facetime sketchtime week 4

This Sunday during FaceTime SketchTime with my sister, I had to attempt to draw a daffodil.  I selected a vase Chris made in college in pottery class.  It was placed on a pink spotted imaginary napkin.  For dramatic effect. 

After that I moved on to the monarch butterfly.  There have been sightings around here of the rare white monarch.  This is not one of them.  I am waiting patiently for the ink to dry before I move on to phase 2.

FaceTime SketchTime is fun.  Today while we drew we discussed sprouted chia seeds and hand cream.  Topics you would expect to come up while drawing.

While I waited on the monarch I decided to draw my friend Annette from a photo I took of her a while back in her stylish Tam. 

For my final selection of the week, I give you the juvenile American Goldfinch.   I was unaware that there was a hint of blue in the tail feathers of this species.  These are the kinds of things you learn when sketching.  You can also see the final version of the monarch below.   

I decided to make him extra bright, to make up for all that white space I don't quite know what to do with yet.   Next week I focus all my attention on background.  Maybe.  Unless more butterfly's are asking to be drawn.  Monarchs are extremely fun subjects to sketch. 

they make the whole house smell like spring

Yesterday, after calling 2 flower shops (that closed at noon) and 3 grocery stores, I found myself some daffodils. 

I brought them home and laid them down by the sink.

Then I put them in a sweet little pink vase and carried them around the house trying to find the best light to photograph them in.

Everywhere I put them, I liked them.  Daffodils make me smile.  Not only are they pretty, they make the house smell like spring. 

the gibraltar

A working knowledge of the location of the best coffee hang outs in my geographical area is something I consider my duty to possess.  So whenever I hear about a spot that I haven't been to, I make it my business to get there.  What follows is a thorough report on two places that have recently been brought to my attention.   

I began my study at Crows Coffee, where I discovered the Gibraltar and a group of extremely nice baristas.  

It turns out the Gibraltar is a rich smooth combination of equal parts espresso and steamed milk.  I would consider it equivalent to the Cortado or the Flat White.  

When I arrived and ordered our drinks the barista on the left told me he would make mine but hold on the other one until my friend arrived because the microfoam is best when you drink it right after it's made.  Say what?  Someone who wants to make sure my coffee experience is the best it can be?   I'll be back here for sure.  With a sketchbook. 

 Next stop:  Quay Coffee, in the river market area. 

As soon as I saw they also had a Gibraltar on the menu, my selection was made.  I wanted to do a head to head comparison with the one I had earlier.  I was extremely tempted to get the v60 pour over when I watched the care this fellow took as he made them.  But there will be another visit for that. 

I did not get a decent photo of my drink, but you get the idea (the Gibraltar was apparently named for the glass it is served in).   It was also well prepared here.  Rich and strong but still smooth and creamy.   A perfect coffee drink. 

Crows Coffee and Quay Coffee get high marks from me.   They each had a good  atmosphere and the people who were working were friendly.  BUT the best thing about both places is the reason you go to a coffee shop is to get GREAT coffee.   The coffee was excellent and my Gibraltars were skillfully prepared. 

our purses were still in the trunk

I had a most enjoyable time today strolling through the Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park at the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City.   Modern sculpture under blue skies = a most lovely way to spend an hour or so. 

There are a quite a number of Henry Spencer Moore pieces here.  Sigh.  

My favorite part of the experience was watching this little girl run up and TOUCH a sculpture despite the fact that it reads "please do not touch the sculpture" on the bottom of every sign that explains each piece.   She couldn't help it. 

My second favorite part of the experience was that when we got back to my car both of our purses were still in the trunk despite the fact that I had somehow managed to leave the trunk open after we placed our purses in the trunk for security reasons. 

carol what are you talking about

Last month marked one full year since Angie died.  I don't mind admitting that I am very grateful for the passing of this year.  I find myself thinking less about the sad last 3 months of her life and more about the things that made me laugh.  Today when I was walking to my car after work, in the sunshine and 70 degree weather, I thought about how mom would love a day like this. 

If I could do one more thing right now with Angie this is what it would be... 

I'd call her up and here's how the conversation would go.

Me:  "Hey mom, I'm coming over.  Throw your glad rags on."

Angie:  "Carol?  What are you talking about?"

Me:  "We are going on an adventure." 

Angie:  "An adventure?"   (in a simultaneously excited and suspicious tone)

Me:  "Yep!  No questions.  Be down by the front door in 9 minutes." 

Angie:  "okay...."   (in same excited/suspicious but becoming more trusting tone)

And off we would head to Sheridans.  A scoop of vanilla with salted pecans for me and one carmel pretzel crunch for her... "and get me some extra napkins, and a lid so I can put the rest in the freezer if I can't finish it all".   We would sit in the car and eat our treats and she would look over at me and say "mmmm this is good."    I would say "mmmm, mmmm, mmm, yes it is, want to taste mine?"   She would of course say she did, and then I would taste hers, and we would agree that both were equally delicious. 

And that, is what we would do. 

The end. 

the number of superlatives I used to describe them 366 days ago

In the 366 days since I last made the marcona almond, browned butter, chocolate chip, salty-sweet, squares of complete and utter deliciousness, I have only thought about them 74 times.  That is once every 4.97 days. 

Which really makes it quite a feat of self-control that I have not made them again.  Until this week.

It was complete happenstance that as I was wheeling my cart through the grocery store I bumped into the shelf and a bag of the almonds floated down amongst my other items to be purchased. 

It seemed fate was intervening and I am not one to mess with fate.

I just want to say that the second time I made these Marcona Almond Blonde brownies they may have been even better than the first.  I can't exactly remember the number of superlatives I used to describe them 366 days ago, but I CAN tell you that today they were positively lip-smacking good. 

What is it about that touch of salt in a sweet dessert that turns me from a rational human being into a dessert eating machine? 

Recipe is here.  Don't say I didn't warn you though.  

it's going to take every bit of self restraint I have

Looking at all these modern quilting books has resulted in an overwhelming desire to start making another quilt.

I have not completely decided what this new quilt should look like, other than to say it will be unconventional. 

My dilemma is, I am torn between triangles and long runs of irregularly pieced strips.   I decided (for the moment) to piece teeny tiny quilts to get the quilting monkey off my back AND to allow me to play around with triangles and squares.

This project served the dual purpose of satisfying my need to piece, while at the same time fixing these jeans.  Because I did not follow the "a stitch in time saves nine" rule, the holes have become quite unmanageable.  Which means they cannot be fixed merely with a needle and thread.  They require patches.  Patchwork patches. 

The hardest part of this was using the sewing machine to sew the reinforcing patch on the inside of the legs of the jeans.  With just a minor amount of sweating, cursing, and one clenched jaw admonishment to Chris NOT to come up the stairs to see if I needed help, I did it. 

The hand stitching on the front was a pleasure.  Not nearly as hard as I thought it would be.  I started out with a hoop but found it to be more of a hindrance than a help and abandoned it after about 10 stitches. 

I am positively giddy about these patches.  I can't wait to wear them out in public.  It's going to take every bit of self restraint I have not to walk up to strangers and ask them what they think of my patches.   Happily, Lawrence was just named #9 on a list of the coolest towns to live in the U.S.  People expect odd behavior here.  

facetime sketchtime week 3

Sunday, during FaceTime SketchTime, I colored in flowers as well as vegetables. 

If I wait a week between sketching and coloring my water soluble ink runs less.  Yes.  I know I could use a different pen and ink but I do love this one so. 

I also drew a bird with watercolor and then dropped the brush on the page when I was labeling it. 

We also had a discusion about the very fine line between sheer genious and delusion when it comes to sketching.  I think that may have been when I dropped the paint brush.  But it could also have been when I noticed the foliage on the tree bore a striking resemblance to a broccoli stalk. 

Next week I am going to draw a butterfly.  Either that, or a statue of the Virgin Mary.  Whichever one is least likely to turn out looking like broccoli.  

portion sized options available at the ready

Last week I ate the very last jar of home-made soup from the freezer.  So this morning I took out the 42 oz bag of frozen tomatoes that I put up in October and made a big pot of creamy creamless tomato soup.

This soup uses bread as a thickener, but you wouldn't guess it when you take a bite.  It just tastes like perfectly perfect tomatoes to me.  

Yes sir, yes sir, six jars full.  Two big jars for the "just soup please lunch", two medium jars for the "soup and saltines lunch", and two baby jars for the "soup, crackers, and an apple lunch".  It's important to have portion size options available at the ready. 

fried biscuits and lemon curd with poppy seed meringue

There are 3 more things I have to tell you about Philadelphia and then I am not going to mention it again until Dottie and I go back. 

Thing #1 is that we had a divine vegetable antipasto and parma pizza at Osteria.  If you go, promise me you will get the fried biscuits and lemon curd with poppy seed meringue for dessert.  Do not question the wisdom of this. 

Thing #2 is who knew Philadelphia was such a great city for walking?  I broke all my previous records for "steps" while there.   Extra steps = dessert every night. 

Thing #3 is taking the train from the airport to city center was easier than I have ever experienced in a city in the U.S. before. 

P.S.  I have not taken a job for the city of Philadelphia to promote tourism.  Yet.  

but they were, so I did

Last night I rolled the last 2 skeins of the yarn for the lizard ridge afghan into 4 balls. 

This will be "plane knitting" for my next trip.   

Meanwhile, these are the Philadelphia squares.  I am considering "Isaiah" and "Julia" as their names in honor of the Magic Gardens and the Boeuf Bourguignon.  No decisions are final yet.

And, while we are on the topic of yarn, I went to Loop when I was in Philadelphia.  I ventured out with the specific purpose of looking at and touching some Brooklyn Tweed yarn.  We don't have it available at any of the local yarn stores in our area.  

This was a delightful yarn store.   Clean white shelving and walls;  yarn well organized and artistically arranged.  There were helpful, friendly, people working here.   They helped me figure out how much yarn I might need for the pattern I had in mind for the yarn I was just going to look at. 

When they said they would be happy to ship it, I didn't know they were going to wrap it like a present and include a thank you note and have it to me so fast.  All that was a bonus. 

Did I mention the darling project bags?  You know I had to get one. 

I would have been able to resist the purchase if the people in the store hadn't been so nice.  But they were, so I did, and now here I am, with 5 skeins of lovely Brooklyn Tweed loft.  And I could not be happier.

your choice of the plaid shirt with the sport coat

Happy Birthday Brother!  For your present I am not telling anyone how old you turned today. 

Your impeccable sense of style was present even in 1963.  I do love your choice of the plaid shirt with the sport coat.  Did you pick that out yourself? 

forget what you think you know about team building activities

On a Tuesday afternoon in Kansas City all my brave work colleagues and I gathered at Hook Gallery in Westport and let our inner artists come out.  

Our extremely smart social worker came up with this brilliant idea as a "self-care" activity.  

It was FUN!  I loved watching all the different approaches to the daisy.  

At the end of an hour an a half we had 11 individual masterpieces (and a new appreciation of our collective creativity).

Forget what you think you know about team building activities and get your work group to a painting party in your neighborhood.   I do not go for "forced activities in the name of workplace productivity"... but a painting party?  Who knew it would be such a frolicking good time? 

This daisy now lives at Tall Tales Headquarters. 

facetime sketchtime

After Art Retreat #2 my sister and I did Sketchwar's Wednesdays on a somewhat inconsistent AND regular basis (not a contradiction in terms though it may seem like it).  This was in an effort to keep me in the sketching mode all through the year.  Since Art Retreat #3 we have been doing FaceTime SketchTime on Sundays.  

Today I practiced drawing vegetables.  Vegetables inspired by my friend (in my own mind only) Gregory L. Blackstock.  I figure the only way I am going to get better at drawing my farmers market finds this spring and summer is to carefully observe and imitate the style of an expert until I find my own way. 

My sister was drawing pretty things.  Like birds.

I just kept on with the vegetables.

Until I switched to flowers.

And before you know it 2 hours was gone and I had to go and finish the laundry.  Coloring in to follow. 

art is the center of the real world

One of the best things about wandering around in a city is happening upon something like this.

The work of Isaiah Zagar.  This jewel is Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.  Smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood.  I had not been aware of this mosaic mural artist before and was completely delighted by this "discovery". 

We were between sessions at our conference and did not have time to do the formal tour of the gardens.  No matter.  Yet another reason to go back. 

Before we started our hike back to the convention center, we stopped in a warm coffee shop with a nice barista who happily made us a cortado.  Can you say icing on the cake?

Philadelphia you have endeared yourself to me. 

my first ever Boeuf Bourguignonne experience

Despite the snow and cold, Dottie and I did quite a bit of trudging around near the convention center in Philadelphia.  Near, being a relative term.   Everywhere we looked there was something interesting to see. 

Elfreth's alley did not disappoint.   In addition to getting to see the oldest residential neighborhood in the United States we also made the acquaintance of two cats , both direct descendents of the original alley cat, who established himself there in 1772.

Even though the museum is closed in the winter we did not want for facts about the alley thanks to this thoughtful artist who supplied the vital information needed by any visitor to the area.  

We had intended to see the Liberty Bell as well but when faced with the choice of seeing the bell or being on time for our dinner reservation we chose the latter. 

If your dinner reservation had been at Bistrot La Minette you would have done the exact same thing.  The lighting prevented photographs that would do justice to the incredible meal we had here.  I started off with a lovely french cocktail that contained sparkling wine and blood orange nectar, followed by a salad of the tenderest bibb lettuce imaginable lightly dressed with a mustard tarragon vinaigrette.  I then had my first ever Boeuf Bourguignonne experience.  I say experience because to call it a main course would not really do it justice.  The chunks of tender beef braised in a rich red wine sauce with crimini mushrooms and fingerling potatoes made me weak.  And if that wasn't enough already, we finished the meal with a poached pear in creme anglaise and cups of capuccino. 

If you live near Philadelphia or intend to visit anytime soon, you MUST go there to eat.  This meal is on my list of top ten best eats.