cedar’s blog

Cedar February 13th, 2007

I’ve finally finished the project I’ve been working on since my last post: The Gillo Girls! This is a set of portrait paintings of 3 sisters, all exuberant little girls with hair of gold.

Here are the reference photos I was given:

And here are all 3 paintings together:

And so you can see the details, here they are individually:

If you or anyone you know would like a coupon for 25% off the normal price for one of my portraits, I have a limited number of such coupons and will send you one at your request–just email your mailing address to Cedar at ArtByCedar dot com. My regular prices start at $79 for an 8″ x 10″, $319 for 16″ x 20″ but can be more or less depending on your needs. You must talk to me to get an official quote, but you can estimate about $1 per square inch to get a ballpark figure.

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It’s cold and snowing here–for the past week or so I’ve rarely been without a cup of herbal tea, hot cocoa, or other steaming beverage. This is the time of year for hearty, comforting, delicious, creamy, starchy foods. Like mashed potatoes! I made a batch the other day that turned out really good, so I thought I’d share my recipe, for any of my friends out there who might be inspired to try it:

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Cedar’s Spicy Mashed Potatoes

*about 10 medium-large red potatoes, (or enough to mostly fill a 4-quart pot), unpeeled, cut roughly into 1.5-inch cubes

*about 6 large green onions, with tops, diced finely

*8 large cloves of fresh garlic, crushed

*about 1/2 cup milk or milk substitute of your choice (I use Silk unsweetened soymilk)

*about half a stick of butter or butter substitute of your choice (I use Earth Balance)

*tamari (or other high-grade soy sauce) to taste (you can also just use salt if you have no tamari)

*ground black pepper & red chili flakes to taste

Add the potatoes to your pot as you chop them. The size of the pieces doesn’t really matter, but the smaller your pieces, the quicker they will cook. (Leaving the peels on the potatoes adds a nice texture, and the peels are also very nutritious!) Once all your potatoes are in the pot, add just enough water to the pot to cover the potatoes completely.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Boil for about 15 minutes, or until one of the potato pieces easily breaks apart when stabbed with a fork. Drain and transfer the potatoes to a large mixing bowl or back into the pot if you prefer.

Mash with a potato masher, adding the butter into the potatoes while they are still hot (to melt the butter) and stirring constantly. Stir in the milk a bit at a time, until you get the consistency you prefer.

Add the tamari and spices, taste-testing as you go. I like to put a lot of chili flakes to make it extra spicy. When it tastes good to you, fold in the diced green onions and crushed garlic, being careful to distribute the garlic evenly throughout the mix.

Serves 8.

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Have a warm and happy Valentines Day!

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