Quote of the Day

"When there is no turning back, then we should concern ourselves only with the best way of going forward" - Paulo Cohelo


Photo via free people

Rivers and Tides

Andy Goldsworthy is the artist behind these breathtaking works of art made of natural materials. The video contains excerpts of the documentary film Rivers and Tides, which follows Goldsworthy while he creates his art. I highly recommend checking out the whole film.

River and Tides [1] > Andy Goldsworthy from Riad HATTOUTI on Vimeo.

Paper Art

It blows my mind that these works of art were created from cut paper. Elsa Mora is the talented artist behind these and more can be found here.

Quote of the Day

"Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles." 

- Frank Lloyd Wright

 

Picture via Etsy

Spice Up Your Life

 

One of my favorite places to visit in Evanston is The Spice House. This unique store reminds me of being in a middle eastern spice market. There are jars of spices from around the world lining the walls and the smell inside is overpowering. Great gift idea- they sell collections of spices based on Chicago ethnic neighborhoods. I'd love to try the Greektown "Billygoat" Seasoning or the Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza Pizzazz. 

 Visit the Spice House, image from worldgallery

Tim Walker

These photos by Tim Walker are so enchanting!!

Brodsky and Utkin

My animation teacher this past year shared the genius and creativity of Brodsky and Utkin with my class. They were architects in the Soviet Union during the 1970's. At the time it was impossible for them to fulfill their artistic ambitions, so they resorted to becoming "paper architects", drawing fanciful structures that were never intended to be built. How cool would it be if these bridges were real though?!

 

A Bridge for Real Travelers

“A real traveler needs a real trial. A real traveler must be ready for anything during his journey. This bridge between two islands is invisible but mighty. It connects the islands  but doesn't change the landscape. Walking along it in calm and crossing the conventional boundary the traveler feels himself on the real boundary between sky and ocean.”

Bridge

A bridge above the precipice in the high mountains. A chapel with glass walls, glass roof and glass floor, standing over the fathomless, endless crack between two abysses- upper and lower.

Quote of the Day

"I hope you find someone your height, so you can see eye to eye" - Nickle Creek

Save the Skokie Theatre!

Don and I were on our way to the Skokie Public Library today, when we saw the streets closed off for a festival. We stopped to check it out and discovered that it was Skokie’s Backlot Bash and silent movie festival. Coming from a summer in Los Angeles, I’d seen my share of film festivals, but little did I know that Skokie, IL has it’s own rich film heritage.

The Skokie Theatre was built in 1912 on what was a backlot for some of the first silent films. It exclusively played silent films for many years . It was renovated in recent years and became a venue for all types of music, theatre, and film. Due to hard economic times and lack of grant funding the theatre was being threatened with foreclosure. As part of  an effort to fundraise, they arranged the Backlot Bash with free silent film screenings. Don and I sat in a program including a DW Griffith film, “The Little Tease” which had not been screened since 1913. Though I had seen many silent films as part of my film history courses at Emerson, it was a completely different experience to see it in a theater with live piano accompaniment. We really enjoyed the program, especially the slapstick comedy short similar to a Charlie Chaplin film. Apparently buckets of water falling on peoples heads is timelessly hilarious.

To help save the Skokie Theatre, visit: http://www.skokietheatre.org



Pictures via Skokie History and Annyas

Farmer Don’s Pumpkin Soup

This past spring, Don called me to tell me that he had bought packets of seeds at the grocery store because they were on sale. He said that he wanted to plant them, but did not know how. I told him I was pretty sure they wouldn’t grow, but he was determined to plant a garden. He scattered the seeds all over his yard and forgot about them. After our summer in California, we returned to Chicago to discover a huge pumpkin patch growing in his backyard. I was totally shocked how big the plants got. There were about four large orange pumpkins ready for harvest, so I told his family I would cook one of them for dinner. I scooped out the pumpkin seeds and baked them for a snack, and I made pumpkin soup with the rest.

Here are the recipes:

Easy Pumpkin Seeds

Scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin and place in a bowl. Try to separate the seeds from the stringy part of the pumpkin. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the seeds out on a baking sheet and drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil over them. Sprinkle them with salt. Place the baking sheet in the oven. After 15 minutes,use a spatula to flip the seeds and make sure they do not burn. Leave them in the oven for about 30 minutes or until seeds are brown.

Farmer Don’s Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoons butter

1 fresh bay leaf

2 ribs celery chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

2 teaspoons hot sauce

6 cups veggie stock (low sodium)

1/2 of cooked pumpkin, pureed

1 cup heavy cream

Directions

Cut a medium sized fresh pumpkin in half. Scoop out all the seeds and place them in a separate bowl (don’t discard, see pumpkin seed recipe). Take half of the pumpkin and slice it into smaller wedges with the skin still on. Put the wedges in a microwave safe bowl with a lid, and fill with two inches of water. Put the covered bowl in the microwave for 15 minutes, or until pumpkin slices are soft. You can tell when a fork can easily pierce the skin. Once cool, peel off and discard the skin. Put the soft pumpkin pieces in the blender and puree. 

Heat a medium soup pot over medium on medium heat. Add the oil and melt the butter. Add bay, celery, and onion. Season them with salt and pepper. Cook 6 or 7 minutes, until tender. Add flour, poultry seasoning and hot sauce, to taste, then cook flour a minute. Whisk in veggie stock and bring liquid to a bubble. Whisk in pumpkin in large spoonfuls to incorporate it into the broth. Simmer soup 10 minutes to thicken a bit then add in cream.

Adapted from this Food Network recipe. Picture via Flikr