To Amuse and Delight

Friday, September 24, 2010

Crafty Kids & Cheese Wax


For a snack I set out a bowl of cherries and some of those little cheeses that come wrapped in red wax. About 1/2 hour later when I passed through the kitchen I was surprised to see that my daughter had made a slew of these tiny wax figures. I was shocked that they were not only adorable, but they are TINY. Creativity just pours out of children as easily as their tears. I remember being like that too, as a child. What happened? Four years of art school happened followed by a couple of artistic careers. I learned the “rules” of art, but lost the passion and spontaneous fun of it. Since leaving my career and spending so much time with children I find those rules are loosening up. I have been slowly regaining a love of making things, but I still have a long way to go. As for my children, I try very hard not inflict my mold on them. Which is difficult for someone who has such strong opinions of what is good.
I put a kernel of corn there to show you how small these guys are. She used the stems from the cherries to make these little plants and the snow people's arms. I love them.
The snow baby is half the size of the corn kernel! It's crazy, I would have just thrown the wax away. She made the base out of a game chip and a bottle top. We adults would call this recycled or repurposed because we need reasons for doing this, right? But children just do it.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Just Peachy

We went peach picking and I thought I would have plenty of peaches left over from our initial feasting to make some ginger/peach jam, but we ate them all. There were a lot of peaches too, but they are all gone.
What did I do with all those peaches? Most we just ate as they were. I did manage a few peachy dishes though. Here are a couple of really good ones.
Chilled Fruit Soup
I had this at a restaurant in Mystic, Conn. a few weeks ago and loved it. I have craved it ever since. I think this is why I wanted to go peach picking in the first place, to get really fresh peaches for this soup.
Chicken with Peaches
This one was my own invention. I cooked it with Vidalia Onions and wrapped it up in warm tortillas with sharp white cheddar. A really tasty concoction.