Vegetarian Thanksgiving

So what do you do for Thanksgiving when your family traditionally doesn't get together until Saturday, to allow family members to spend the day with other in-laws? Years ago, my side of the family bowed out of vying for Thursday, but it still feels like a day for a special meal, even though my in-law family has passed on. This year, I went vegetarian for the two of us (top photo, clockwise) with cauliflower gratin, chard timbales, chickpea-seitan cutlets with porcini mushroom gravy, and a relish made with apples, dried peaches, dried plums, and ginger. I also made a simple green salad with roasted red and yellow beets. We finished with an apple galette. Somehow, it felt Thanksgiving-y without a mashed potato, cranberry, turkey or pumpkin in sight.

Surinam Cherry-Final

© Ellen Blonder

It's hard to put something down for a month and add finishing touches. Here's the Surinam cherry painting I last posted October 19. I may turn this into my Christmas card, since we did find these in Kauai over winter.

By the way, I just found out about a great foodie dictionary and recipe resource, so if you want to find out more about Surinam cherries, check this out:

Peony Leaves

© Ellen Blonder

The peony watercolor above is something I painted a few years back. But what I really wanted to share is how much more finely someone can take shading of peony leaves. The photo below shows part of an embroidered work I saw during my recent China trip. Not only are the silk threads almost as fine as hair, the work is embroidered on a translucent rectangle of silk that hangs in a free-standing frame; the piece has a "front" on either side--no messy knots or stray threads anywhere. I was told such a piece can take three years to embroider.

Fall on the Sacred Way

photo © Ellen Blonder

I'm still trying to get back up to speed with the drawing and painting after returning from China. Meanwhile, I've been working on a personal album of photos from the trip. The photo for this page was taken alongside the Sacred Way to the Ming Tombs, a path that funerary processions took when an Emperor was to be buried.

Panda-monium

photo © Ellen Blonder

I didn't paint these. Children who were visiting the Beijing Zoo did. I love how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Thousands of these small, hand-painted pandas were arranged on an enclosed lawn. The results were stunning.

I was in China for two weeks, and have been working on a personal photo book since I've been home. This is one of the pages. We were at the zoo to see the real pandas.