Vegetable Envy

Since it's a cold, blustery fall day, a hearty spinach, feta and potato gratin sounds really good to me. One of the ingredients is shallots.

Here's what you get in Virginia for $2.99--three rather small shallots, which will probably be enough for one, maybe two dishes.

In France, one of these red bags filled with shallots--the yellow one is onions--is 10 Euros, about $14! That works out to 50 Eurocents a kilo although apparently in stores they're more like 5 Euros a kilo. My sisters-in-law have an amazing food network (and it's real, not a TV show). They each find the best deal on wonderful local produce, buying extra for friends and family in other regions. Then they trade!

 

It's all about the food. That's why I'm so comfortable in Europe.

 

Here's a sample of the goodies in my other sister-in-law's garage--all these artichokes were only 1 Euro at the co-op, because they weren't perfect! Here they would be considered just fine, to the tune of $2.89.

Each.

More Rome

First four images are of the Pantheon and the last pic is in the Ghetto.

Ideas from what I saw in Rome are starting to percolate down. It has taken me a few weeks to get out of sponge mode (brain wiped clean of any thought or inspiration and simply absorbing) and back into a frame of mind where it even seemed possible to try to make something informed by the huge repository of human genius and history that is literally everywhere there.

Culture Clash, 4" x 3", found objects, wire and clay 

© Deborah Jaouen

I'm planning some other sculptures dealing with the meeting/confrontation of old and new, expanding on an idea I've been working with for the past couple of years.

Thanks to the newest followers of this blog and to everyone else for reading--I  really appreciate hearing from you. Your comments are wonderful!

Back from Rome and Brittany

Roman kitties relaxing in the shade of Largo di Torre Argentina, the square where Julius Caesar is thought to have been assassinated.

 Really good pizza bianca (no tomatoes) here, which everyone eats standing around outside the shop. The cakes and cookies looked divine. So much wonderful food, so little time! Vegetable filled treats are available everywhere in Rome, unlike in France where if you're lucky you'll find a "simple" cheese sandwich without the ham. It's still delicious though.

 Two of the three fountains in the Piazza Navona. Bernini strikes again!

 The Pantheon was amazing, and Raphael's tomb is here. I learned so much...

 The Ghetto neighborhood has a lot of artsy little shops.

And lots of cool fragments lying negligently around.

This was part of our first day in Rome--I'm planning to post much more about this wonderful trip, and get back to posting regularly (it has been a month since last time). 

Thanks to everyone who is still reading my blog!