Cooking Archives - Sparrowshine Designs

Lingering Near the Path- Introspection by a Commitment-Challenged Creative

Feb 4, 2022 | Cooking, Essay, Garden, Humor, Reflections, Surface Pattern Design, Watercolor

Hello, my name is Renee and I am an online-class junkie. I have spent thousands of dollars on classes and subscriptions and BOOKS. Wait- I don’t think this is the debilitating condition that plagues me. Under closer scrutiny, it is not an addiction to purchasing self-learning tools, but rather a refusal to commit to the process that has dampened the joy in my art life. I purchase all these classes and books to learn but then I fail to commit to the learning process.

Periodically I interrogate my inferior self- “Why don’t you follow through? Do you think you know more than the instructor? Are you too good for those exercises? Or is it just that you know you are going to fail? You are afraid that you will follow along to the letter and your bird, or portrait, or tonal strip is going to be shit!” My inferior self winces, squeezes her ears shut against the harsh line of questioning and begins whimpering… “No. I don’’t think I am too good. I just ran out of time. I am too tired at the end of the day. I can’t stay focused- there are too many other things clamoring for my attention.”

Weak excuses that all harbor a bit of truth. But that doesn’t mean I should hand all my power over to them. So- this year I intend to take my power back!

In my last blog entry, I mentioned that in place of “resolutions” I have made intentions. A resolution seems to imply a 180 degree change in behavior. In my mind, the word intention implies that there is more room to make the turn and more than one way to succeed. Because I am so easily lured off the path I have set one of my 2022 intentions to become more disciplined in my approach to learning.

Being aware that I have strayed is the first step. It sounds obvious and easy, but how often have you set out to respond to a text or email only to discover an hour later that you have been watching cute kitten videos on Tiktok for the last 45 minutes? Now cute kitten videos are rarely my nemesis, but you get the picture.

In January I set out to complete a very simple watercolor class on Skillshare. I have managed to follow along- but only by self correcting over and over again. It has taken me WEEKS to get through the class. As I immersed myself in the painting process one evening, I became self-aware. I noticed when the impatience began to set in. And then I talked myself down. I reminded myself that I enjoy getting lost in the process when I permit myself to do so. Until I become a competitive sprinter- time is not important. Who cares how long it takes me to finish the project, or a simple flower?!

How often do I fail to follow through because I do not give myself permission to surrender to time? I think this should be my mantra for February- Surrender to time. Surrender to process.

Folk Art Flower Pattern Border Feb4_2022

In the Studio

I embarked on this Folk Art journey for three reasons: 1. to practice following through 2. I wanted to use folk art flowers in my current project 3. simplifying forms is difficult for me.

In addition to playing with folk art, I created “Siracha” (a working title) from inked line work to digital painting. I will post the finished piece next week. I am super excited by it!

In the Shop

You can find Valentine’s in my Hummingbird Fine Craft shop. Coming this month… new travel cups. I have restocked the scissortail travel cup and will be introducing two new ones to the shop- “You Make My Heart Sing” and “Scissortail Flycatcher with Rose Rocks”.

For other products or if you don’t live in Tulsa, be sure to check out the Society6 shopping tab under the Shop menu at the top.

scissortail-flycatcher-with-blanket-flowers-and-redbud-travel-mugs

you-make-my-heart-sing-bird-with-heart-and-flowers-travel-mugs

rose-rock-and-scissortail-flycatcher-repeating-pattern-travel-mugs

In the Kitchen

With snow on the ground, it’s a great time to make bread and use what’s in the freezer! Today I revived summer with a batch of Roasted Tomato Soup with garden “fresh” tomatoes from the freezer.

Roast frozen whole tomatoes drizzled with olive oil in oven at 425 for 15-20 minutes. Drizzle sweet onion slices and cloves of garlic with oil and add to tomato pan. Increase temp to 450 and roast for 20-30 minutes until onions are golden brown. I then add this pan of gooey goodness to a pot with homemade beef broth (or chicken), 4 TBSP butter, and bay leaves. Simmer for 30-40 minutes. Remove bay leaves, season, add 1/2 Cup or so of chopped fresh basil and use immersion blender to create smooth soup. Add in some milk or cream to finish it. My fresh Basil came from my counter-top Pod Garden.

Add a loaf of Sour Dough Bread with Cracked Pepper, Rosemary, and Walnuts and you have the perfect snow-day supper! A few years back I took a bread baking class with Cat Cox and it has been money and time well-spent! Using her techniques and basic instructions, I have created countless creative loaves of bread- all stunning and irresistible! If you get a chance and you are in Tulsa, take a class with @CatCoxBaker!

Summer's Bounty on Winter's Day

Digging into 2022; Reflections on the New Year Revolution

Jan 19, 2022 | Art, Cooking, Essay, Garden, Humor, Reflections, Watercolor

January 1st signifies new beginnings, a fresh new calendar and the promise of a better self and a better tomorrow. Well-oiled gears of capitalism quickly speed up, cranking out magic machines and elixirs to give us the bodies we admire in the media. Gurus across all spiritual and economic planes sell us subscriptions to their wisdom so we too can rake in the six figure incomes while vacationing on our Covid-proof private yachts in the middle of a sparkling Mediterranean.

Each year I am slower and slower to join in the New Year Revolution. This year is no different. It’s CERTAINLY not because my svelte twenty-like body doesn’t need some attention. In fact, after nearly 2 years in the Covid-Free Pub of my own living room, downing beers and “bar food”, my body would appreciate a good detox and a steady regimen of downward dog.

Nor am I late to join the Revolution because of an out-of-control-wildfire art career that I created from nothing but aluminum cans and social media followings.

Nope. The increased velocity of time itself has opened my eyes to the silliness of the whole shadow play. We all know we have the ability to change tomorrow every day. However, I am grateful for the collective will to examine the past in order to forge the future. Remember those gurus I spoke of earlier? Well, I am pretty sure they would tell me the first step to change is accountability. In other words, SHOUT those intentions to the mother-f-ing universe. So, friends, that is what we have happening here today.

Eat more veggies!
Keep a cleaner garden.
Become more disciplined in my approach to learning.
Learn to create process videos.
Create free downloads for my website subscribers BEFORE March!

Now its your turn. Hold me to the fire. If all six of you return a comment, we can break the internet! 🙂 In all seriousness, it makes my day to hear from you. You can send me your favorite way to eat veggies. Gardening tips. Or tell me what my first free download should be- a printable bookmark? A wallpaper for your phone? Something else?

And don’t forget to check out Hummingbird Fine Craft in the Pearl District of Tulsa. Make an afternoon of it. There is a Cuban cafe next door, a kick-ass vinyl (record) store across the street, and The Church Studio (also across the street) will be opening soon! So you can shop for locally created crafts and art, grab lunch, and pick out some tunes all in the same outing.

Freshly Minted

Jul 1, 2020 | Cooking, Garden

Mint Watermelon Sorbet makes an attractive and tasty summertime treat. Photo by Renee Griffin

Plant mint once and you will have it forever! I give my mint an enthusiastic thinning several times each season, but it still spreads everywhere. It pops up in the daylilies, forces its way through the creeping juniper, and has even wended its way through the seams in our stacked block retaining wall. Its heavenly aroma makes trimming and pulling a pleasant task. And in the winter months, I miss the mint. Mint has so many uses! Today, I thought I would share my favorites with you, just in case you have a wild patch of your own!

Iced Tea Why settle for bland iced tea when your taste buds tingle with the addition of mint? Next time you brew some iced tea, add mint sprigs to the hot water with the tea bags. Steep as usual then discard the mint and tea bags. If brewing sun tea, just throw the mint in the water with the tea bags. Add a garnish of young mint leaves to the top of your iced tea when serving for a special touch- Or an Instagram-worthy photo!
Mixed Drinks Summertime is my favorite time for cocktails. I like to sip them on the patio while watching the grass grow or the fireflies blinking. And when the cocktail begins in the garden, it really is a sip of summertime! Muddle your mint for mojitos or create a minted simple syrup by adding the mint leaves. Once your syrup has cooled, remove and strain.
Fruit Salad I like to add a mint frisee to my fruit salad in the summer. Toss fresh fruit with the mint threads and a drizzle of honey. Let it sit on the counter while you put the finishing touches on dinner, this will allow the honey, mint, and fruit to create a syrup.
Water Surely I didn’t intentionally put “water” on my list? Yes! I did! Water becomes redundant some days. So tickle your taste buds with some tasty additions to your water routine. I like to add a thin slice of lemon, a slice of cucumber, and a few fresh mint leaves to my water. I drop them in before the ice. The addition of ice slightly bruises the fruit and herbs, releasing the yum. It looks very pretty in a glass, but just as often these go into my Nalgene water bottle. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
Mint Pesto Everyone knows mint goes well with lamb, but we don’t eat much lamb in Oklahoma. We do eat chicken. Chicken skewers marinated in a mint pesto, cooked on the grill, and then drizzled with more mint pesto is a fantastic and healthy supper. Just thinking about it gets the juices running! For a recipe, try “Chicken Skewers with Mint Sauce” from the book The Anti-Inflammatory Diet & Action Plans by D. Calimeris and S. Bruner. This book is packed with goodness!
Sorbet Mint Watermelon Sorbet has become my husband’s favorite after dinner treat! Nothing says summer like watermelon. And nothing refreshes better than mint. It is only natural that these two should have a love child in frozen form. While looking for a lost recipe, I discovered a Martha Stewart recipe instead and adapted it. I reduced the amount of sugar from 1 1/3cups to 1 cup (we eat way too much of that stuff!). It is easiest to serve the day you make it. The longer it sits in the freezer, the more difficult it is to scoop out of the pan. Honestly, by the end of the batch, I use a large kitchen knife to cut off chunks. If you would like to try the recipe, you can find it here: https://www.marthastewart.com/1142596/watermelon-mint-sorbet.

So, if your mint is unruly, don’t get mad- get eating! Do you use mint from your garden? I would love to hear the ways you incorporate summer’s minty bounty in your life. Leave your tips in the comments.