My old goodies are out again…

photos by Galeriarocco

tart-rustic

A moody, blue hour photo of a very edible Sunday shortcrust tart filled with mascarpone, dates, almonds...tiny bits of green candied pomelo and cantelupe melon, just because I had some...grapefruit juice...topped with apricot jam...all true blue, as we say in Australia. 

    photo by Galeria Rocco

gomashio

I just prepared the Japanese sesame salt, or gomashio, a delicious condiment I periodically make and always keep. It consists of sea salt and unhulled, fresh sesame seeds, roasted, and then grinded. It will add so much oomph and flavour to your dishes, you will never look back...Sprinkle it on anything just like salt - veggie dishes, eggs, meat, salads...my sweet cherry tomatoes never tasted this good before.
And it keeps in a dark, cool place, or a fridge, for many weeks.  So here goes:

First roast two tablespoons of sea salt on low heat for 3 min. (this time I run out, so I used Himalayan).
Next, add half a cup + two tablespoons of unhulled sesame seeds (white or black, or mixed):

Keep stirring and roast it for a while, until they are a little darker. Make sure they don't burn.
Then grind the lot in a mortar, enough to release the flavour, but not too much, so some seeds are still whole:

Cool and put in a airtight jar. Done!

         All photos by Galeria Rocco

peony season

Yes to Peony Season and my favourite spring flower.

Peony is the Chinese symbol for spring, and Feng Shui staple for wealth, distinction and romance (sounds like a diamond, doesn't it?), balancing the opposites and calming the mind. 

                                                 via Peonies-in-Art-and-Life




Me, I just love the smell and soft ruffles.

Marco Polo described them as "roses, big as cabbages"...

...and apparently ants are needed for the buds to open properly!

                               
photos by Galeria Rocco

ocean waves

More experiments with polymer clay a few days ago led to this ocean swell inspired necklace.
I used mineral pigments to evoke ocean waves and swirling beach sand patterns in semi opaque, muted colors. The contrasting dark shimmering green beads are like sea algae... It took me a while to get the colors exactly how I imagined them, but it was well worth the effort. And did I mention how hard it is to make a perfectly round bead? You never know, until you try…

                     All photos by Bauble Arcade Jewelry

While i was writing this…the necklace was found and bought by a dear friend…it is leaving for Toronto tomorrow! Time to make some more...




                 

playing with clay

A little venture into the polymer clay world during my winter hibernation period ..using the precious daylight hours to knead, roll, fold in pigments, spices, and other unexpected inclusions, has become so much fun, I just don't want to stop.  The play plasticine many, many years ago was cool, but this is even cooler. A big learning curve for sure, and it definitely is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you gonna get!

Just testing the waters really, but I managed to make a couple of necklaces for my Etsy shop, that remind me of the African desert or an ocean beach…

    All photos  Bauble Arcade Jewelry

hibernating time

Long time no see…Mid winter here is the hibernation time for me…long nights and not enough daylight, with often dark skies, are conductive to get buried deep, to take stock, reorganize, reshuffle and recover. Cleaning cupboards, digging into drawers, making room, finding forgotten bit and pieces, getting rid of some stuff. The slow,  languid time, but there's a hidden joy in this burrow treasure hunting. Sooner or later, something will resurface.

     photo copyright Galeria Rocco