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Thursday, November 29, 2012

There's Bytes and Bites


Summer, a Plein air sketch/markers, 2010
I had no idea I had done any preliminary sketches for
Summer, the painting I did  later in acrylics as part of a quad-tych.

I'm still slaving away trying to increase memory. Yesterday I started the chore with 17 Gigabytes free. I ended the day with 16.3. After three hours of carefully reviewing and moving and deleting and deleting everything I had sent to the recycle bin, I should have been to 20 GBs. I couldn't imagine what was going on. I e-mailed Georgia.


The Old Lady and The Beauty, photograph, 2012
 I don't dress  when I cook.
You never know what's going to happen.
Taylor, however, dresses when she eats out.
She told me to check my Window's Updates. I found I had had one the day before. They, who sneak into your computer to keep programs up to date, don't tell you how big the update is--but I knew from my work that it was .7--I learned that my battle for GBs was going to be a long ordeal --at least till Monday when I'm taking my markers and my watercolors to the beach, so byte me!

And there's more of me to bite these days. I'm going to the seashore with no calories to spend. I was not good over the holiday week.  After our Turkey Day feast, we had an excellent Filet of Beef Tenderloin on Saturday. Every Roth in this neck of the woods was here. We dined on the beef tenderloin I made for mini sandwiches and salads Ellis bought  from the gourmet market. We topped everything off with a slice of the Torte To Die For that  Georgia brought home from the corner bakery.  It was an easy dinner to make and one that pleased and plumped everyone satisfied. In case you are having the gang in and don't wish to be tied to the kitchen, happy entertaining:

MY BEEF TENDERLOIN RECIPE:

BEEF PREP:

3 pound beef tenderloin trimmed of excess fat; softened stick of butter; garlic powder; ground black pepper, (salt if you haven't given it up yet).

Tuck the thinner tail of the beef under the thicker portion of the tenderloin and bind it with trussing string--or as I did, a piece of nearly white yarn left over from a failed needlepoint project. Rub the 'roast' all over with the butter, sprinkle with garlic and pepper to your tastes. Place on vegetable sprayed broiling rack and broil 15 minute on each side to brown. Remove from oven. Let it cool a minute or two or until you can touch the broiler pan. Remove the meat from the rack. Remove the rack.  Line the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil in sheets large enough to wrap over the roast. The object is to keep in the juices, but leave an opening at the top.

SAUCE PREP:

Mr. Fuz Zy Pants, oil on gallery canvas, 2012
 went home at the end of the meal
with the lovely woman in the background, the lovely Taylor.
While you're browning the roast, mix together in a 2 cup measuring c: 1 bottle of chili sauce; one medium chopped onion; two Tblsp. of a steak sauce ( Worcestershire or Heinze 57 or A1 sauce. I used Heinz 57);
and 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) of melted butter.

When you've got the broiler pan lined with the foil, put the roast in the center; pour the sauce over it, close up the aluminum foil leaving a "chimney"for the steam.  Set the oven on Bake; set the temperature to 375 degrees, bake the tenderloin till the meat thermometer reads 140 (a lovely medium rare), about thirty minutes.

Let it rest a bit upon removal. Slice and serve with little rolls (or not, it is filet of beef after all), horseradish sauce and/or the sauce from the pan. It's great.  Reads complicated I know, but that's only because of having to slather the thing with  butter at the get go and my inexperience at writing out recipes.

This preparation works well on much less expensive cuts of beef --like rump roast.

Now, does anyone have a suggestion for a delicious bite-size finger food appetizer? I'm invited to a Christmas Party, and my meatballs were turned down:  Toothpicks not allowed; Sauce too saucy.

Four Seasons, Acrylic Quadtych, 2012
The white border,  around the paintings done on stretched gallery canvas,
is because I assembled the quadtych with my Microsoft Office Publisher Program, 600 plus MBs,
half a Gigabyte. 
                               

28 comments:

  1. Hele aparte schilderijen zijn het geworden lieve groetjes Danielle

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    1. Thank you Danielle. All paintings are indeed special, even the clunkers.

      Dank je wel Danielle. Alle schilderijen zijn speciale, met inbegrip van de clunkers.

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  2. Mouthwatering post and mouthwatering image.

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    1. Guys like beef tenderloin. This one is particularly good. I got the recipe from my MIL, an excellent cook.

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  3. Appetiser - small piece of toast or small piece of bread, spread with Tapenade then a slice of Bresaola on top and finished off with a couple of mint leaves. Delicious.

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    1. Excuse my ignorance Mick, but what is Tapenade and where do I get it? Same question for Bresaola. I know what toast and mint is. :-). Thank you. Is this something I can let the guests make themselves?

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    2. Tapenade is finely chopped olives, garlic and anchovy plus anything else that you fancy adding for even more flavour. It creates a lovely spreading paste.

      Bresaola is thin slices of cured, dried beef. I'm sure you can find it in your coal supermarket.

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    3. That reads wonderful. I'm salivating! I will look into this when I get home. I adore anchovies. If I don't find the beef maybe prosciutto would work? It could be a 'wrap.'

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  4. Dear Linda comment on your post point by point, each time my comment would be longer than the post!
    It 's always a good time reading you, recognize something universal in your experience (if I stay dressed to do the cooking or painting.... will stain!) ... I admire your "seasons", your beautiful Taylor, and the beautiful picture of her with the magic cat.
    I would have gladly eaten something of your gourmandises .... I finished all my controls and after enduring nine hours of fasting, now I have a hunger! Everything is in place, unchanged, as they say in the reports. This is also a good thing to share. Warm hugs!Rita.

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    1. Oh my, that must have been so hard on you, but you did it and it's done. Time to enjoy yourself. I wasn't put through such torture. I was very lucky and now I'm very grateful. Congratulations and thank God. You are in my prayers dear Rita.

      Finding sketches you didn't know you went through the trouble of making was very enjoyable. I do advocate studying and planning my moves--obviously something that comes from my aptitude for design.

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    2. Dear Linda,when abdominal ultrasound are placed in the afternoon ... I made light breakfast at 7 am and then I end up at 4 in the afternoon!

      You are born for all that is art, Linda!

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    3. Dear Rita, you are going through hell, I know it. I've experienced it. What makes both of us extremely fortunate is our gift for painting and art and our families. Together those joys are powerful and lift us up and away from our darkest worries. We have a lot to be grateful for. It's odd how adversity turns out to be a treasure, for it opens our eyes to what we took for granted in better times. We're very lucky ducks. Tanti abbracci dal tuo caro amico.

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  5. These works are wild,colorful, exciting and demand attention! Love them!
    When I started to read the latest blog entry I thought you were referring to "human memory!" I smiled as I read on!
    I love your art work and your writing. Check our your blog is allways on my daily to do list
    Thanks for sharing so much Linda!
    Paint on!
    Your art buddy,
    Michael

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    1. You've seen them before Michael, but I don't think you've seen them all together as I planned them. Grouped, they give a bigger punch. What's missing is a line that carries from one to the other, but I don't think that would have been possible given the orientations I chose. So bluish is the common denominator. Maybe next time?

      I enjoy writing as much as I enjoy painting. Thank you for appreciating my efforts. I appreciate you appreciating my efforts.

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  6. Catching up with your blog after participating in holiday frenzy myself - and I detect love and joy and enthusiasm! Fun to read and wow, Taylor is so gorgeous! Lovely family, lovely times.

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    1. Tis the season to be in the kitchen and jolly about it. Thank you. Taylor is my first born grandchild. She was going through a weird period of dress, but seems to be taming down. She's pretty theatrical; I admire her carefree approach to life. I hope she holds on to a part of it. That's the stuff that keeps you strong.

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  7. Those paintings are fantastic..especially love them presented together. You have many talents. who could "turn down" your meatballs? that sounds crazy. give them crackers and brie!

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    1. That's how I planned them and hung them. Each could stand on its own, but they have a greater impact hung together. They were a lot of work over a period of time, so thank you. I have thrown away so many in progress photos it was ridiculous, but photographing work in progress is a very helpful tool. The change in medium shows you what needs strengthening and what needs to be obliterated when you get back to the easel. I think the computer is a wonderful art tool. --Crackers and brie would be an answer. (I adore brie--trouble is I'm starting to look like I adore brie). This is an annual party, and so far, there's only one year that my contribution was appreciated: chicken satay. Maybe I should a repeat? I didn't make them; I ordered them from the caterer. They went like hotcakes.

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  8. The Four Seasons paintings are amazing, so vivid and dynamic. I agree - seeing them grouped together is even better :-) .

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    1. Thanks DB. I really like painting units as I call them that go together to make a larger statement without requiring a larger studio space. I've done three so far and each has turned out successfully. I'm probably go back to that way of thinking next year. While portraiture is plausible as a way to make back some of the money I'm constantly spending on supplies, it is tedious to do day after day. It's a job involving time tables and the approval of others. That's what the design business was. I do't like any time tables and other people's aesthetic attached to my art. My art is my heart, my gut--if it happens to appeal to somebody else, fine. Ff not, too bad. Like my favorite pastry painting--also a smaller unit within a larger one, Ellis hates it. I like it because of the irony--a luscious sweet made in the image of a disgusting rodent. It makes me laugh. Thank you for commenting. I appreciate your visit.

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  9. I hope Taylor loved FuzZy Pants - you did a superb job of him! And the Four Seasons looks phenomenal!!!

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    1. Thanks, but those are old news. I'm up to my eyebrows in old news trying to clear memory space. Everyday it seems I'm taking three steps forward and two steps back. I'll keep on truckin'. :-)

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  10. Hello my Friend - your language is so rich, I love to read your posts.
    I was fighting with internet problems as well and ended with loosing my domain. Marias Teater is dead, while Marias Tusen og en Natt.blogspot.com is born. It costed me a little, but I feel I won this battle. Never again buying domains! So please, find and be my follower at my new blog, if you wish. Sending you all the best from Norway - Maria

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    1. I noticed that! I came to visit and you were gone. It was Go Daddy. That's who stole my domain. I was furious.. They sold my name to some guy in Ireland. And he's no where as pretty as me. My son (a computer whiz) said one minute after the year is up and you don't renew, Go Daddy gets the domain. Go Daddy is Google is Blogspot--is a racket. He gave me another provider' name, but I forgot it. I could find out if you need to know.

      I wanted to show my DIL your lovely work, and that's when I discovered the theft. It's very infuriating. But not to worry I'll be over to visit the new you.

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  11. Just happened upon your blog this Saturday am and can relate to the energetic and colorful drawings. Very good use of color, movement, tone and beauty. They all have bewitching qualities.

    Good work!

    Abrazos!

    Micros

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    1. Thanks Micros. And welcome to my blog. I hope you'll come back. There's nearly no encouragement painting alone in the studio; it all comes from posting and having knowledgeable followers rooting you on. I'll be over to visit you soon.

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  12. All of these paintings are winners, Linda! Congratulations...(Love Mr. Fuz Zy pants)

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    1. Thanks Hilda. Most importantly, my granddaughter, the woman in the background and owner of the cat, loves it too. It was a house/Hanukkah gift.

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