Flickr Black

Flickr Black, a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

Flickr! Do you hear us? Those groups and conversations are your beating heart!
A few of you know how much I love Flickr, and consider it my home base.
There are changes proposed that make it hard for groups to function, hard to converse, hard to get around, hard to share and play games in the neighborhood.
We have written specific feedback to the proposed changes, but feel a wall of silence about many of them.
The Black is to get their attention.
So. You will not be getting any poorly lit muffins or random musing from me on the 8th. Will they miss me? I think not.
But if there are a lot of us, they might notice.

PSA. Not Too Much Nutmeg!

PSA. Not Too Much Nutmeg!, a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

You've heard this from me before. Watch out for nutmeg!

New bb Tom. Heirloom tomatoes in November.

New bb Tom. Heirloom tomatoes in November., a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

New toms in November.
November!
Life in SoCal.

Mother of All BLT with Avocado on Ukrainian Dark Bread. You're welcome.

Mother of All BLT with Avocado on Ukrainian Dark Bread. You're welcome., a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

Mother of All BLT with Avocado on Ukrainian Dark bread. You're welcome!

Veteran's Day 2013.

Good Morning! It is Veteran's Day. Made apple pie with cranberries.

I knew from the way that drip was hanging while the pie cooled that it 

was going to turn out OK. Delish. 

Apple pie and cranberries seems a festive way to celebrate this American holiday!

Here is an older picture, about remembering.

With ♥ for the men and women who have served.

Snakes that want to kiss you.

Awwww. I bet you thought I was kidding! 

I am kidding a lot of the time.

♥Chloe

Meerkats are so personable!

Underneath the well ordered cheerful life of the Meerkats there is haunting anxiety.

Carry on, little sentry on guard. Carry on.

btw, taking a moment to state that these are my own photos. 

If I find mine out there without permission I will send the tigers out.

♥ Chloe

So how are we sure this was taken on the West Coast?

So how are we sure this was taken on the West Coast?, a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

Yellow mustard.

This aint no disco. This is LA. I imagine it is a dark roast.

This aint no disco. This is LA. I imagine it is a dark roast., a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

Puppy on the bus.

Puppy on the bus., a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

Living in perilous circumstances. 
Had to be in the backpack to get snuck back into the motel. 
The girl and the puppy looked healthy enough to make their way through 
whatever they are going through right now. 
You hear a lot of stories on the bus. Sneaking photos is hard. 
On this ride, everyone who saw the dog loved the dog.
Love and prayers for this girl on the bus today with her dog.

Drumroll for the Ratatouille with a baked egg.

O. It is not ratatouille with baked egg yet.

This all started here http://ediblerhody.com/blog/ratatouille-baked-eggs/

I wrote to the lovely http://adriana-gallo.com/about/ Adriana and asked if I could share her illustration.
She responded quickly for which I am grateful because this story is not complete without her painting.
I gathered ingredients from Whole Foods and Jon's Marketplace. I didn't have individual baking dishes
since I left a dozen of them behind in Rhode Island so I took myself out in the night and found a pair.

Then I chopped and chopped, and discovered that I had no thyme. How can I have not thyme?
Put the chopped eggplant on paper towels with salt to sweat, and ran down the street for thyme.

Chopped some more and finally began to cook.

Onions with lots of garlic and salt and pepper and smoked Chili flakes. This is California.
Carmalized the onions to light brown. No closeup of the onions because the last time I did that the camera
needed major cleaning from olive oil. This shot is dangerous enough.

Eggplant. Smaller Japanese eggplant. Eggplant is a magical thing. Cooking up silky and smooth.

Added the zucchinis and bell peppers and Compari tomatoes, juicy and sweet.
Looking like Ratatouille now!
With basil from the balcony and the thyme from up the street.
 
And a secret ingredient. Ground fennel. Not a lot.
You can see I am pretty serious about grinding up fennel.
Simmered the whole mess, turned on the oven, oiled the baking dishes, and added the egg.

Finally. Ratatouille with a baked egg.
Don't overcook the egg! I had to put some Parmesan on there. Had to.
This is so good I could have it for breakfast lunch and dinner for a month.
♥Chloe

Strawberries from the balcony.

Strawberries from the balcony., a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

Sad to report that the strawberry plants are not doing well : (
I have cut off the blighted leaves, & quickly ate these two gems.
We will see if the rest of them make it!

Sharing meatballs on the internet

Some of you already know I love meatballs. There are meatballs in every culture all around the world.
hmmm. kinda like donuts. There is a sweet fried dough in every culture all around the world.

These meatballs smelled so good I could have foolishly burnt my mouth on them as soon as they were done.
They smelled good from shallots & garlic & oregano & freshly ground pepper & salt & flat leaf Italian parsley & oats because I was too lazy to grind up some breadcrumbs & an egg. 

For those of you wondering what the heck is going on here, the meatballs are in my meatloaf pan with the holes in it to let the fat drip off. Underneath is aluminum foil in a cake pan. 

So I can just gather up the aluminum foil (a peeve of mine is everyone saying tin foil when it is not tin foil it is aluminum foil) and don't have to wash the pan. : )

Why is the meatloaf pan in a cake pan? Because I do not have a loaf pan the exact size of my meatloaf pan.

Because I moved across the whole continent and left a lot of things behind. 

But the meatloaf pan with holes in it is so useful that I will improvise.

I am on the quest for a loaf or bread pan to fit my meatloaf pan with the holes in it.

When I find one, I will make a nice meatloaf  for you.

I love meatballs. I often have made them to share. 

Sometimes, a meatball is the whole dinner for me. 

♥ Chloe

Real mail in ink on paper with stamps.

Arrived in my mailbox today. I have been waiting for it!
It felt good to hold paper pages and look at beautiful script.
No deleting this.

Now to write back.♥

PB&J For All!

PB&J For All!, a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

Working out my submission for these guys,
http://www.demandstudios.com/InternalApplication.mvc/SelectAPosition
By now they probably think I will never get them a proper series of photo instructions about how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. No worries.
Remember the story https://vimeo.com/46036360 by Leo Leonni?
I used to work for someone who said I would circle the job, before I did it.
Circling the job.

Went to Jerry's for some red meat. With garlicky potato salad and homemade pickles.

Went to Jerry's for some red meat. With garlicky potato salad and homemade pickles., a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

Actually I was out to look at magazines and there are no bookstores near me so I jumped on the bus after work and filled up my eyes with a pile of magazines and then I was starving so I walked far up Ventura Blvd and was shocked to find out some of it was not paved near Coldwater Canyon but continued on and saw the friendly Jerry's logo and stopped to eat.
This rye bread is so good

Cucumber seeds

Cucumber seeds, a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

Seed music. Seed mysteries.
I didn't even know how to find or save the seeds before.
I didn't know that the seeds were hiding in the dried flower things.
They are so precious!

Oh man. How to not make a PB&J.

Really.
 http://www.demandstudios.com/media/docs/Demand%20Studios%20Photography%20Sample%20Instructions.pdf
This post will probably clarify a lot about why I am underemployed.

I think I will complete their photo assignment.
One thing.

No Mother in the world puts peanut butter on both sides of the bread.
Are you kidding me?
If you put peanut butter on both sides of the bread, the jelly (which they specify jelly in the assignment) will all ooze out. I mean jelly will be everywhere except in the sandwich.

Can't take their photos tonight with these bad directions because they want natural light.
Fine.
Natural light does make food look better. But won't stop the ooze.
Oh man, I only have jam. Jam is not jelly.

But if they don't know how to make a peanut butter sandwich, do they know the difference between
jam and jelly? Huh? Huh?

Who are these people?
They don't know about the soak. The jelly has to soak into the bread.
The jelly cannot soak into the bread if there is peanut butter on both sides.
jeeeze.
Thinking about if the budget will support a photo prop purchase of Welch's grape jelly.
I prefer jam. But the assignment for the oozing sandwich says jelly. Cut diagonally.

I love peanut butter with a lot of flavors.
The classics are Welch's grape, or strawberry. Knott's strawberry.

More about this later....♥ Chloe

New Sketchbook. Always seems so momentous to start a new sketchbook.Tiger Dreams.

New Sketchbook. Always seems so momentous to start a new sketchbook. Tiger Dreams., a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

Tiger dreams.

Oh man, I left everyone hanging with the brandied peaches

All gone now!

I made pancakes with cottage cheese in them to stand up to the brandy and hold down all the sugar.

What a way to start the first Fall morning! 

btw, the leftover cottage cheese pancakes are delish even cold late at night. Real butter, that's why.

Happy Fall! Even though listening to the wind whip through palm trees is kinda weird for me. 

Chloe♥

Yeah, we homeschooled for a long time. Kids turned out alright.

Sharing this because I know this experience this family had. Good article.
https://medium.com/editors-picks/bc7a83822703

Sneak peak at the peaches in brandy.

Sneak peak at the peaches in brandy., a photo by chloe & ivan on Flickr.

These are so good. Wait a few days and they will be even better. So good...

Continuing my Japan-centric year

Just watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi. So good.
Speaking in tongues good.
Fuck me good.
Really good. http://www.magpictures.com/jirodreamsofsushi/

Dog Shopping

Reminded me of years working with dogs in an animal shelter in a medium size city on the other side of the country.

Volunteers do a lot of good work, all over the country. My friend saw this sweetie Terrier. Yep, cute.
I do not have a dog life. So cannot consider getting a dog.

So many cute ones!

Pick me!

Cat testing. Dog OK - cats yeow!

Hug testing ♥

Walk testing. All good!

Smile for the camera testing ; )

This was at the mobile trailer of  http://bestfriends.org/What-we-do/Local-Programs/Best-Friends-Los-Angeles/

Good work. Adopt a dog if you need a dog. 

♥ Chloe

Hello again!

Back again. It has been almost a year! Good grief.
My main goal is to find a new job.
Not much has been accomplished in the apartment.
Fairies did come and put an IKEA Tarva together, that's something.

Break the job down into small bits.

Fairy wisdom.

Woodland Fairy says "Just kick it."

Leverage.

Getting things done.

The thing did get done. IKEA Tarva.

Now I want another one to put next to it.

Got a shelf with posts for the towels hung up in the boring bathroom, snaked electricity out onto the balcony,

put up a pole going across to hang curtains or whatever, grew green beans and tomatoes and cucumbers,

made (1) single kinda lousy painting, hung up 2 chalkboards, and bought a new red pot to replace the one I left behind in Rhode Island.

So a few things got done, barely a dent. It is very slow and discouraging. 

I have been thinking about Tiger dreams.

Even when tigers are stuck in the zoo, they still have dreams.

Fierce tiger dreams.

♥Chloe