1214-2020

Published on Mondays, with columns by Artists and Writers. Published since 2002, an Ocean and Pounds publication

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

 

 

Caffeine Reveries
by Shelley Savor


Squid

View archive

 

Poem a Week
by Gary Michael Dault

 

A Christmas Poem

Christmas is approaching fast
a week and a bit

I saw a man
slide a slab of honeycomb
onto his head like a hat
the honey dripped down
like a choir's song
over his shoulders
his tears fell like wax

Christmas is burdening the winter
a week or two
of logs in the fireplace
and public joy goes into the air like sparks
the people weep fir trees
howl ribbons of tape
the crunch of their Christmas boots
strains the hard chest of earth

coloured lights break out on houses
vamping along the eavestroughs
plastic reindeer feed on styrofoam snowballs

Christmas sits in the corner of a room
with the trifle and the fruitcakes
with mad black crows of glass
and peacocks of wine

peace be ours
cry the loudspeakers
parking for your car
in the depths of your dreams

crumbs for the birds
stick to your fingertips
instead of dropping
onto the snow

 

 

Greenwood
by Kai Chan

View archive

 



Exhibition extended to December 19, 2020
https://oceanpounds.com

OCEANPOUNDS online exhibition updated every 14 days. Special offer is available for exhibits during the show. Click here to subscribe Notifications.

 


 

ProTesT
by Cem Turgay

 

CHEEZ
by Fiona Smyth

View archive

 

STAY WITH ART. INDEXG B&B

Located on the second floor of an art space, INDEXG Bed and Breakfast has 4 guest rooms, all with ensuite bathroom. Since 2008, INDEXG B&B have served curators, artists, art-admirers, collectors and professionals from different cities visiting and working in Toronto.

INDEXG B&B
50 Gladstone Ave, Toronto
416.535.6957
indexgbb.com

 


View Current Issue
https://oceanpounds.com/blogs/doubledouble/1211-2020

(OP News) A Life in Publication, written by Holly Lee

 


Some Trees
by Malgorzata Wolak Dault

 

Number 52

"All trees in the world are journeying somewhere.
Perpetual pilgrimage."
                                     ----Vladimir Nabokov, "Gods" in The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov (New York: Vintage Books, 1995), p. 45

View archive

 


Travelling Palm Snapshots
by Tamara Chatterjee

Turkey (November, 2019) – A year ago; I was awestruck by multi-level arches in repetition, a magnificent collection of massive glass globed chandeliers, a large domed cupola, Byzantium era frescos and large painted Ottoman Empire script. It never occurred to me that a museum title would be revoked for religious purposes, but back in July the Turkish government reconverted the Aya Sofia from a museum to a space of worship.

View archive

 

 

From the Notebooks (2010-2020)
by Gary Michael Dault

From the Notebooks, 2010-2020.
Number 63: The Song of Discord (March 19, 2010).


View archive

 

 

The Photograph
coordinated by Kamelia Pezeshki


Cynthia and Susan by Steve Stober, 2007, Gelatin silver print

One sunny winter afternoon in 2007, I spotted two debonair, stylish and confident looking older women looking into my studio window on Mount Pleasant Road in Toronto. I quickly ran outside and invited them into the studio for a quick, no frills portrait session. What ensued was the portrait, Cynthia and Susan , 2007. Cynthia and Susan were long time friends out for a stroll. Susan once ran a women’s clothing boutique on the same street.

View archive

 

The Raw and the Cooked, MYTHOLOGIQUES
(A column on the culture of eating and cooking)

 

In which Malgorzata provides a day-long feast for my 81st birthday--GMD

 



It began with breakfast.

First, I made fragrant banana and rose-water-scented scones, which were accompanied by an exquisite pear marmalade, purchased recently from a woman in Prince Edward County who employs the fruits she grows on her own property in her marmalades and jams.

It is very easy to make the scones.  I do it all in the food processor where I mix, on low speed, 1 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour, one stick of unsalted butter, one small ripe banana--mashed previously with 1 to 2 tbsp of rose-water--1/3 cup of vanilla-scented organic yogurt (or any yogurt), 1 tbsp baking powder and 2 tbsps of sugar.  The dough should be soft.  Spread it on a floured cutting-board and sprinkle the sugar on it, pressing it lightly into the dough.   Cut the dough into rounds and bake for 15 minutes at 3 75 F.

To accompany the scones, I made us cardamom-scented coffee.  Simply grind the coffee beans with 2 or 3 cardamom pods.  Then brew it in the usual way.  Voila!

For lunch we toasted bagels and spread them with cream cheese, adding slices of wild smoked salmon, rounds of red onion, cucumber slices and capers.

Then I eased myself towards dinner.   Which is going to be squash gnocchi in a mushroom cream sauce, accompanied by a warm red cabbage salad.

First I constructed the gnocchi.  On a large platter, I mixed 1 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour with a pinch of salt, 1 egg, 2 tbsps olive oil to which I added  1/2 cup of the squash I had baked and pureed the day before.  I then mashed everything with a fork into a very soft dough, adding if necessary more squash to make the mixture very tender (the more tender the dough you make, the softer the gnocchi will be when  you eat them).  Roll the dough into a ball and put it on a floured cutting-board, dividing the mixture into 6 or 7 pieces which you then roll into thin, cigar-like shapes.  Each "cigar" is to be cut into small lengths which are then pressed with a fork into the remaining flour on the cutting-board.  Arrange them on a floured platter where they are now ready to be boiled.

In the meantime, make the red cabbage salad.  In a large skillet, saute in olive oil 1 small red onion, sliced.  Add  some turmeric, chili powder, paprika and some ground cloves.  Add 2 cups of shredded red cabbage, one diced apple, salt and pepper, a little water and cook until the cabbage is  tender.  At the end, add 2 tbsps of apple cider vinegar and a dollop of honey.  Cover and keep warm.

The mushroom cream sauce is very easy to make and is ridiculously delicious.  In a large skillet, saute in olive oil 2 white onions, chopped,  sliced mushrooms (I will be using both cremini and shitake mushrooms), 5 or 6 sundried tomatoes, chopped, and some salt, lots of pepper, some thyme and tarragon and, when the vegetables are cooked through,  1 1/2 cups of half-and-half cream.  Let the sauce simmer and reduce slightly (but not too much).

In a large pot of salted  water, boil the gnocchi.  They will very quickly  rise to the top, at which time you must scoop them out and put them into the hot mushroom sauce.  Transfer to warm plates and serve with lots of grated parmesan cheese, accompanied by the warm cabbage salad.

We then poured ourselves generous flagons of  chilled sparkling rose wine (Louis Bouillot) and finished the meal with pears poached in spiced pomegranate juice.

 

 

 

 


The Raw and the Cooked, MYTHOLOGIQUES is a new column on the culture of eating and cooking, with contributions by various authors. The column name is borrowed from the title of a book by Claude Levi-Strauss. It is spontaneous, a little amusing but serious at the same time.

 

 

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

MONDAY ARTPOST
Published on Mondays
with columns by Artist and Writer
ISSN 1918-6991
Published since 2002, an Ocean and Pounds publication

mail@mondayartpost.com
mondayartpost.com

Click here to subscribe MONDAY ARTPOST Release Notification

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Back to blog