Guild news / why I ♥ Nashville, #2

The Nashville Calligraphers Guild new show at the Centennial Arts Center opened last night. I have two pieces for sale ("Come, Come, Whoever You Are" and "Praise Everything") and there's plenty of beautiful work by other Guild members on display.

The park itself is great -- there's the Parthenon, the Nashville Shakespeare Festival -- this year's show is a Japanese-influenced Macbeth, the masses of flowers and herbs lining its paths...

REC: Seen

pixychelle has posted Seen, a sequel to my drabble "Heard" (Lupin/Snape) -- funny and heartbreaking hurt/comfort happiness. She writes the best insecure!Snapes...

speaking of gastroporn...

....here's Nigella Lawson on involtini (eggplant-wrapped stuffing):

...it's the best possible use of an eggplant. Each slice provides a firm-enough wrapper, but the buff-colored flesh, when tiger-striped on the griddle, softens so that it merges cosily into the filling inside and the sauce that covers it. This delectable melting texture is best savored when the involtini are what can only be described as lukewarm. I think most food is best neither hot nor cold but at that flavor-intensifying temperature which hovers around blood heat, and involtini stand as the sovereign example of this rule.

And later she talks about chopping up mozzarella: "I use my mezzaluna for this, which is a strange feeling, the sharp blade biting into the ludicrously soft, damp flesh of the cheese..."

fun with a pound of baby eggplants

(1) Rinse. Throw dodgy ones into yard for dog to chase.

(2) Boil. Store overnight in fridge.

(3) During dinner, mention throwing eggplants at dog. Smirk when the BYM says, "Well, that explains -- wait. Huh?"

(4) The next evening, peel.

(5) Puree with 1/4 cup yellow onion and a big dollop of leftover pesto.

(6) Layer a casserole dish with leftover colcannon, leftover roast chicken, leftover fresh mozzarella, and a cup of ricotta cheese. Spread eggplant mixture over top. Bake at 375 F for about twenty minutes.

(7) Spoon onto plates and serve with a tomato-spinach salad.

(8) Aim "at least I cooked" look at the BYM when he genially observes, "It looks like hell."

It tastes fine, though. Comforting, even.