Haiti: A Rant and A Rave

HAITI: A Rant, and A Rave
I am happy to donate all proceeds for the month on Etsy, and proceeds from art at kerrycoleart.com, as it is what I can give…we help because we can, in the ways we can and we have a heart for service in this country. It will be even more meaningful when third world countries can not only receive aid, but begin to create a system for themselves where they are able to sustain and eventually contribute to the global economy.
I hear complaints in the media about America not responding quickly enough, not doing enough~ and frankly it’s tiresome.  The U.S. always, always steps up in times of need, as we should and always will. We don’t need recognition, at the same time we don’t need to be bashed for not doing enough.
Here is just short list of quick twitch response we have given thus far…any credit…anyone in the media??
We are running their airport so all supplies can get there. We have sent in more than 10,000 troops to mobilize supplies and stabilize (not occupy, but stabilize) the region, we have been busy repairing a badly damaged seaport, so our Naval Hospital (USNS Comfort, and others out of Guantanamo Bay) can arrive with it’s 250 beds and staff of 560. The ship is slow, but on its way in it’s largest humanitarian mission in 20 years (we are ground guys, remember? Fault us for having decrepit ships, okay…15 knots an hour is pretty slow, but we are already there doing other stuff)
We (not including all the private and corporate donations) as a country have pledged $114,632,301…which is 13.75% of the total of all pledges combined.
China, on the other hand has pledged 4.4 million (reports vary from 1 million to 4.4 million) which comes in at 1.25% of the total…I’m just sayin…and India? Where are they?

I am proud of America, and of our response. I am happy to be in the company of like minded servants of good. I should leave it at that, but in thinking about the evolution and global economic sustainability of any country (which I would presume would be their goal, unless they don’t want to remain an independent nation, and go back to being a colony?) the following quote comes to mind…I didn’t write it, I just find it interesting.

“Poor people do poor people things, and rich people do rich people things. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.”  (anonymous)

There has already been a call out for all wealthy nations to cancel all debts owed by Haiti (called for last August, which were 1.9 billion prior to this disaster)
God bless all those nations who have erased the debt, all those who have a heart for service and were already there trying to help them, and who are reaching out now in whatever way they can, and may God bless Haiti in the rough road ahead.

Thanksgiving…Sometimes Life’s ‘Out Takes’ are what we remember most…

November…ah, Fall in Washington is truly amazing. Brilliant leaves, earthy scents rising up from all around, a newfound chill in the air and the excitement of family and friends gathering together to share a meal and give thanks. That’s the goal, anyway.

We, maybe like you have a few stories that conflict with this ‘Rockwelian’ scene. Call it modern family ‘out takes’, if you will.

Like the year I left Uncle Gilles in charge of the mashed potatoes (okay, I wasn’t switched onto the fact that the French don’t mash potatoes…). 11:30 am, a bottle of Chardonnay and a quart of half and half later…we had potato soup. I joined him in a glass of bubbly, tossed together a batch of cheesy potatoes and no one had a clue (but I get to look back and giggle…one of many Thanksgiving ‘out takes’).

Or the time we had ordered pizza (the night before the big feast), to keep things simple and out-of-the-way of the impending hustle and bustle only to enter the kitchen and discover the dog had stood up on the counter, taken the pizza out of the box- eaten off the tops off and left the crusts strewn about the house. Have you ever tried to get marinara sauce off of a white carpet? Like I had time to get the Bissell out. Damn dog…but we love her.

Might like to forget the year my honey was a little tipsy and decided the gravy was good enough to chug…literally. The coaxing from the ranks at the table didn’t help any…honey, can we not ever do that again?? An original ‘out take’ for sure.

Or the time I started the dishwasher early, (so organized getting the mess cleared before making another mess) to come back in and discover I had grabbed the wrong soap, and a foot of foaming bubbles with its free flowing carpet of suds was adorning the floor… LLucy!!

Or the Thanksgiving evening I got the call that my mother had died…
All the memories are at once funny, fantastic, frantic, melancholy and wholly wonderful. Of all of them, the following is what I look forward to year after year…and can count on with thanks, without fail;

My family sitting together around the table.  I get very quiet, and just listen. Listen to the laughter, the chatter, the stories they tell to one another, the serving of one another, the poking fun, the free form thankfulness flowing from their hearts toward one another and beyond.  The audible enjoyment of the food and the company. These are the sounds of the season that bring me closest to Spirit, that send my heart to its knees in pure thanks for all that we have

TIPS FOR THE FEAST:

Get your table set the night before, if you can. Get all your new candles out and in place, so all you have to do is light them. Have your music selection chosen and in the player. Make sure the chilled drinks are in a cooler or the garage or if room, in the fridge. Make sure the kitchen is cleaned up and the dishes are washed and put away before you eat.

I know, all this sounds so obvious…but you’d be surprised what you can forget when you get moving quickly in the kitchen! Taking care of all the little stuff ahead makes a huge difference.

Now…onto the Food!!

I would like to say upfront, that Turkey is not my favorite meat. We stick with the tradition…but other birds are sooo much better, oh well. In attempting to dress up the old bird, and make him (her?) as tasty-tasty as possible, I have found that Brining provides the best results for flavor, moisture/texture. Here is the Brining recipe I have modified over the last few years:

BRINE:

1 c. Salt (I use Kosher or Sea Salt)
1 c. Brown Sugar
2 Oranges, quartered
2 Lemons, quartered
6 Sprigs Thyme
4 Sprigs Rosemary

Dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a non-reactive container. I place a plastic garbage bag liner in a (new, used only for brining…)garbage pail. Squeeze and add citrus, crumple and add herbs. I brine the Turkey overnight in the pail (with a lid) outside or in the garage, as we have no room and it is cold enough here to get away with it. An extra refrigerator would be ideal.

When you are ready to ‘dress’ the bird, take it out of the brine (toss the brine, and the bag full of ingredients right away). Dry the bird and dress as you normally would.

Get your Gravy (and stock) started early, it will make your life so much easier. This Gravy is Good enough to Chug (I’ve seen it done)…but I don’t recommend it.

STOCK: Pick up some turkey wings at the grocer a few days before. Salt and Roast the wings in a 350* oven for 30-40 minutes or until nicely browned. Boil the wings (and all the bits from the roasting pan) to make the base for the stock. Separate the fat, discard the bones and keep only the meat. Can be frozen ahead, or made a few days ahead.

DO AHEAD GRAVY:
Making this a day in advance really helps out…

6 Tbsp flour
4 Tbsp. softened butter
8-10 c. roasted Turkey Stock (from the wings you made earlier, or you can buy it…)
4 tsp. chopped fresh sage
1/2 tsp. salt (to taste, depends on your stock…)
1/2 tsp. white pepper

Combine flour and butter in a med. bowl. Heat a large saucepan over high heat. Add 4 c. stock, bring to a boil. cook until reduced to 1 c (10 min). Add remaining stock, bring to a boil. Stir 1 c stock into flour mixture, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Pour mixture into saucepan, reduce heat to med-low and cook until thickened (5-10 min). Stir in sage, salt and pepper. Can add meats and bits from the turkey roasting pan before serving if you like your gravy with extra stuff in it.

STUFFING:
To stuff or not to stuff…personally, I’m a stuffer (the bird that is). I think it gives a better flavor both to the bird and to the stuffing. I know, I know…bacteria, yada, yada…it’s worth the risk. Everyone likes their stuffing a certain way…I have modified this recipe over the years and it is a family favorite. It’s a long recipe…and I am over typing…if you want the recipe I am happy to share, send me an email and I will get it to you right away! (kerry@kerrycoleart.com)

Last but not least…
Atmosphere!

Here are a few music suggestions to help set the mood! You can download these from Itunes to make an interesting cd or add to your existing playlist!

Al Green/Just for Me

She & Him/Why do you let me stay here?

Fleet Foxes/White Winter Hymnal

Bob Marley/No More Trouble

Los Lobos/Kiko and the Lavender Moon

The Raconteurs/Old enough

The National/You’ve done it again Virginia

James Taylor/October Road

(Nina Simone, Hot Chip, Lenine, Ray Davies, The Pipettes are some other artists with perfect music for thanks)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone, and here’s to another year of unexpected out-takes!!!

~Kerry

Holiday Baking, Menus and Event Planning Ideas…Starting with a sophisticated Halloween Cocktail Buffet!

Hi everyone… it’s here…that Pre -Holiday time that can slip by so fast you forgot to say peppermint bark! In these next few posts, I will share some of my favorite holiday baking recipes, a few menu ideas and some event planning tips I learned while the Gallery and Event planner for Uptown Glassworks.

Here’s the thing…take a breath…and remember the ‘reason for the season’ (to be totally cliche) is your family and close friends. We tend to get so distracted and outside ourselves that all the events, the tasks, the to-do lists take over and we kind of miss it. Find your feet, make a list- stick to it and have fun!

Halloween Cocktail Buffet for 20

Why should the kids have all the fun? We want a wicked good time too…here is a sophisticated party for 20.  Want to add a macabre twist on the predictable costume attire? Why not ask guests to come in the outfit they would like to be buried in?

The Menu:

Signature Drink: Orange Satin Cosmo
Snacks: Toasted Orange Pecans, Black and Orange Cavivar Toast, Sweet Potato Chips
Cocktail Buffet: Mustard-crusted mini lamb chops, tamales with mango squash salsa, autum salad, wild rice with almonds, artichokes and grapes.
Dessert: Mini carrot cupcakes and candy (duh)

Setting the scene:

Keep an orange color palette. Near the front door, create a lantern garden by hanging paper lanterns with fishing line at different levels. Design a seating area-clear away unnecessary furniture. Tie bunches of orange roses with black (or straw colored) raffia and stand them in vases just shorter than the boquet. Attach plastic spiders to hurricanes filled with black sand and black pillar candles and scatter orange votives around the room.

The Menu:

Set out bowls of chocolate espresso beans, orange M&M’s, candied mango, orange pecans, sweet potato chips and a tray of toast triangles with creme fraiche and the black and red (orang-ish) caviar.

Set up a self serve bar. The buffet menu includes ready made tamales-guests can simply untie the husks and eat the filling topped with the mango salsa. Mini chops, rice and salad are easy to eat.

The Music:

Nothing sets a spooky spirit faster than Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller CD. The Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Cramps and Bauhaus will get your guests in a gothic groove. You can download some all time favs…Monster Mash, I Put a Spell on You, and Spooky…

Setting up the bar and buffet:

Create a self-serve bar so guests can help themselves. Set out cocktail napkins, 40 glasses a pitcher of your signature cocktail and 10 lbs. of ice. Keep extra batches of Cosmos refrigerated and keep extra wine and ice in a cooler under the bar. Decorate the bar with the flowers and votives, if you have a large bar…use a copper urn or large clear vase filled with fall branches.

Set the buffet with 40 small plates, forks and napkins. Have extras ready in the kitchen. To restock the buffet, keep lamb chops in foil in a warm oven, and tamales in a steamer on the stove (have an extra bowl of salsa ready to go as well). Store extra salad in the fridge covered with a damp paper towel; add cranberries, goat cheese discs nuts and dressing right before serving.

Even Easier:
Rather than make the orange pecans, toss ready-made spicy  mixed nuts with finely chopped orange zest
Don’t bake the cupcakes, buy carrot mini-muffins, top with ready made cream cheese frosting and top with plastic spiders
Instead of making home-made salsa; buy a store bought brand with fresh diced mango.

What to Pour:
Orange Satin Cosmos:  (serves 20)
In a large ice-filled pitcher, stir together 8 cups vodka. 2 1/2 cups mango juice, 2 1/2 cups Cointreau or Triple Sec, 1 1/4  cups fresh lime juice and 7 Tbsp. superfine sugar. Mix well and strain into cocktail glasses. Garnish with black licorice sticks.

Wine picks: Pour crowd-pleasing affordable chardonnays such as Acacia, Hess Select, Mt. Eden and Marimar Torres. For reds- Italian Barbera from Icardi or Clerico in Piedmont, Penfolds or Rosemount Shiraz-Cabernet from Australia.

Recipes to follow…have to make dinner myself right  now! Check back in with me tomorrow!

Okay-I am back, now to the recipes:

Toasted Orange Pecans
(Makes 8 cups)
3 c. sugar
1 c fresh orange juice
2 Tbs. orange zest
8 c. toasted pecan halves

Line 2 baking sheets with foil. In saucepan bring sugar, juice and zest to boil, while stirring. Boil 1 min. Remove from heat. Stir in pecans; pour onto baking sheets. Let stand until firm. Break into pieces to serve.

Mango-Squash Salsa
(Makes 5 cups)
3 Yellow Squash, julienne
2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced
1 large ripe mango, peeled and diced
1/2 c. diced red onion
1/2 c. julienne carrot
1/2 c. minced cilantro
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
salt and pepper to taste

In medium bowl combine all ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate

Mustard Crusted Mini Lamb Chops
(Serves 20)
5 c. fresh bread crumbs
1/2 c. mixed chopped parsley, thyme and oregano
5 large cloves garlic,  minced
10 racks (6-7 bones in each) baby lamb chops, trimmed
Salt & Pepper to taste
5 Tbls. olive oil, divided
5 Tbls. unsalted butter, divided
10 Tbls. Dijon mustard

Heat oven to 450. In bowl combine bread crumbs, herbs and garlic. Season lamb with S & P. Heat 1 Tbs. oil and 1 Tbs. butter in skillet over med-high heat. Working in batches (add butter and oil as necessary) sear racks on all sides; let sit 4-5 minutes. Spread 1 Tbs. mustad on each; press bread crumb coating over meaty side of lamb. Roast on baking sheet 15-18 min. for medium-rare. Let sit 5-10 min. before carving

Awesome Autumn Salad
(Serves 20)
2 cylinders (11 oz. ea.) goat cheese
1/3 c. olive oil
2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
16 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries
1 c. fresh orange juice
1 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. ea: cider vinegar and red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 c. canola oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
20 cups of your favorite greens (rinsed and spun)
1 1/2 c. toasted walnuts (I like pecans, not such a fan of the walnut…you choose)

Slice goat cheese into 20 discs; place on baking sheet. Sprinkle with  oil and thyme. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temp before serving.
Place cranberries, juice, sugar and cider vinegar in saucepan; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 min. let cool. With slotted spoon remove berries and set aside. Add red wine vinegar, garlic and mustard to liquid. Whisk in canola oil, salt and pepper. To serve, place greens in a serving bowl, then top with cheese, cranberries and nuts. Drizzle with dressing.

Wild Rice with Almonds, Artichokes and Grapes
(Serves 20)
10 Tbs. unsalted butter, divided
4 1/2 c. wild rice
6 3/4 c. chicken broth
3 cans (14 oz. ea) artichoke hearts, drained and diced
3 c. small seedless green grapes
1 1/2 c. toasted slivered almonds
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large skillet melt 5 Tbs. butter over med-high heat. Add rice; toss to coat. Add broth; increase heat and bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered 50 min. or until rice is cooked through and liquid is gone. Meanwhile heat remaining butter in separate large skillet over med-high heat. Add artichokes and grapes; saute until hot. Add to rice along with almonds. Season with S & P, stir well

Mini Carrot Cupcakes
(Makes 12 cupcakes, 24 mini cupcakes)

2 oz. white chocolate
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
1/2 tsp. orange extract
4 c. confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
2 Tbs. heavy cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 c. white sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 c. shredded carrots
1/2 c. crushed pineapple
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Heat oven to 350. In small saucepan melt white chocolate over low heat. Stir until smooth; cool to room temp. In bowl beat together cream cheese and butter. Mix in white chocolate, 1 tsp. vanilla extract and all orange extract. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar. Mix in heavy cream. In large bowl, beat together eggs and sugar. Mix in oil and remaining tsp. vanilla. Fold in carrots and pineapple. In separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon nutmeg and ginger. Mix flour mixture into carrot mixture. Transfer to greased mini muffin cups and bake 25 minutes. Cool completely before topping with icing. Garnish with plastic spiders.

Marketing 101 (part 2): 20 Free Marketing Sites like Craigslist

Okay, so you have uploaded your high quality digital photos, you have decided to broaden your marketing past friends and family…what now?

MARKETING! MARKETING! and still more FREE MARKETING!!

This is the beginning of the marketing learning curve (more like a marketing Tsunami, really.  Learning to ride & drive the wave)

You have poked around or posted on Craigslist, Ebay, or Etsy for starters. Now you have some research to do. Did you know there are more than 20 other sites like Craigslist that are free advertising for your newly created product?

First, you might look at http://siteslikecraigslist.com.

Or just take a look at a few below, these are the biggest. Now, remember you have to post & re-post since most listings expire after a while.

If you are detail oriented, you can compare website traffic through Alexa.com before you pick your marketing destination(s).

Here’s your first 20 to check out:

1. Google Base (attached to Google Product Search, formerly known as Froogle)
2. Kijiji (eBay’s free listings, big internationally, recently  launched in USA)
3. MySpace Classifieds
4. Facebook Marketplace (becoming bigger than MySpace, and attracts an older audience)
5. Yahoo! Classifieds
6. Windows Live Expo (Microsoft)
7. Village Voice, powered by Backpage
8. OLX.com (big internationally)
9. Lycos classifieds
10. Local.com
11. PennySaver USA
12. Trulia (for real estate only)
13. Vast
14. vFlyer (auto-posting to Google Base, Craigslist, and sharing widgets)
15. Oodle, iqZone, Edgeio (are also multi-classifieds blasters, aggregators, and search engines)
16. MyStore (Very social sharing “2.0″ oriented-free and easy store set up-they take the payments for you)
17. Yample.com is also social/2.0
18. RealpeopleRealstuff.com (video-based classifieds)
19. Safarri.com It is free, does user powered stores with custom URLs, is the first ever to do real time Google Earth integration, can do registered or anonymous listings (and more for more advanced marketing)
20. www.listasaurus.com where they actually PAY you to list your ads…interesting new concept! They also do zip code based search, and the site has a really fun feel to it as well.

So, best of luck with this free list-I hope it is helpful! Please keep in mind that you need to have some sort of cash/accounting method in place, a best practice to protect yourself-there are a lot of scoundrels out there. I highly recommend getting a paypal account. If you must stay with cash accounting, please do not ship out any of your goods until the check clears (that goes for a cashier’s check as well, money orders are good as cash).

Any questions or comments…feel free to send me a note! It’s all about getting yourself out there! Thanks for visiting this blog…and in a while, I will begin to touch on SEO, Content, meta tags and other ways to boost your ranking on the search engines.

Til then…happy marketing trails,

Kerry
www.kerrycoleart.com

Reforming the idea that painting never died…

The argument of the ‘death of painting’ can seem a bit pointless to us on this side of history and the initial mantra called out over and over in the 70′s. The 70′s gave way to the 80′s, and a counter-mantra was called out: ‘return to painting’. This shift leaves a gap in our understanding of what really happened, and what is still happening as painters have always created. My thoughts  as a painter in the 90′s to present follow.

There has certainly been a shifting of the ground that began sometime between the ’60s and the ’80s. It appears that discourse replaced painting as the dominant medium in the art world.  Not only did we loose track of the individual talent and medium, the birth of reproductions en-masse by China’s perfection in mass production, and then their savvy move to create ‘originals’ (by worker bees in sweat shops) driven by “I want it now, and I want it cheap” hasn’t helped the concept of what medium, what individual artist, and what talent?

The way we appreciate art today (or don’t) leaves me wondering about today’s individual artist. He or she  is talented at what? I could be cynical and say the system, the art game, institutionalism, bureaucracy. But is it that different from saying that today’s artist is trained in and needs to show talent for discourse itself?

This is the dilemma facing so many of us (artist’s) today. Ours is a medium that is largely solitary. If you have a drive to rise to the top of your profession, you have to become adept at climbing the ladder that will get you there; marketing. Marketing ones art (self)  is juxtaposed against the art-as-sanctum,  the solitary place necessary to achieve in the studio. The interiority, privacy, and “self” that are created in the studio must be exposed over and over and in an explosive manner to capture the attention of anyone (critic, collector, gallery owner, etc) who may even think of looking.

Although painting is not dead,  painting is a hot mess. Even though galleries restock, new groups of MFA graduates are trying to establish themselves and collectors make room on walls still crowded with large-format photographs, text panels, and screens of various kinds, we painters struggle to navigate the highly congested territory we currently occupy. The course is unclear, and no catchy labels dominate conversation as “neo-expressionism” and “neo-geo” once did (my favorite catch phrase of the label-fatigued 90′s, however is “Post-Recent Art”, it makes me giggle just saying it).
Compound the confusion and compare with our counterparts in the Conceptual, installational, and technological scenes, we painters seem to lack a “discourse,” and the dogmas of criticism-driven painting in the ’60′s puts our discipline into the  “marketplace of ideas.”

Here is the shift:  Now we don’t believe in discourse.  We don’t read theory anymore, and we don’t critique institutions; what we do is hang out, and make artwork we like to hang out with. We eat Sushi and show in wine bars over a good local glass of mixed red or micro-brew. If driven, we stumble out of our interior chamber and fumble along the stairway of marketing to find any key leading us toward the light of recognition.
Painting is not now, nor has it ever been ‘dead’…but it has been drowned out by all the white noise of the culture and history in which it stands.