kitchen06Mama's Kitchen: Ziti with Chicken & Broccoli

I love my mom’s ziti with chicken and broccoli. It’s the kind of dish that’s better when you reheat it because all the flavors meld together. I went to college in Philadelphia, about 2.5 hours from home so on some trips, I would bring back a tray of my mom’s ziti with chicken and broccoli. I would always share with my roommates but the unspoken rule was: don’t finish the ziti! Leave the last serving for me! Well, I came home one day and couldn’t wait to have my mom’s ziti. I opened the fridge, reach for the tray and realize it was EMPTY. Sacrilege! These days, I make my mom’s recipe and I don’t have any grubbing roommates who finish it off – and you can make it too…

Mama's Kitchen: Ziti with Chicken & Broccoli Ingredients

INGREDIENTS
1 to 2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts – washed and cut into small bite-size pieces
1 Package of Frozen Broccoli
6 oz of Chicken Broth
1/2 cup of White Wine
10 pieces of Sun Dried Tomato – cut into small pieces
6 cloves of Garlic – minced

1. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. While you wait for it to boil, start making the sauce. (If the water boils before step 5, just turn it off and bring to a boil again – you want to wait for the pasta not the other way around).

2. Lightly coat the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil. Heat the oil and add garlic. Saute the garlic for 1 minute.

Mama's Kitchen: Ziti with Chicken & Broccoli - Saute the chicken and garlic

3. Add the chicken. When the chicken turns white on all sides add the sun dried tomatoes and saute. After a few minutes add the broccoli and continue to saute. Season with salt and pepper.

Mama's Kitchen: Ziti with Chicken & Broccoli - Saute the chicken, garlic, sun dried tomatoes and broccoli

4. Add wine and simmer.

5. When the wine is almost evaporated, add the chicken broth, cover the pan and simmer until the mixture is almost dry. (If your pot of water is boiling you can add the ziti to the water at this point).

Mama's Kitchen: Ziti with Chicken & Broccoli - Add the chicken broth

6. When the ziti is done, drain the water in a colander. By this time the chicken broth should have evaporated. When the sauce is done. Add it to the ziti, mix gently and serve immediately. Add some red pepper flakes for some heat.

Mama's Kitchen: Ziti with Chicken & Broccoli - The finished sauce

Buon Appetito!

kitchen06Mama's Kitchen: Ziti with Chicken & Broccoli

Insert Exclamatory!: A seemingly random collection of work thematically connected

Insert Exclamatory!: A seemingly random collection of work thematically connected
Michelle Constantine @ Space07
Opening Reception: October 10, 2009 5-10pm
Exhibition Dates: October 10 – December 6, 2009

Curator, Lainya Magaña, and Space07 are pleased to present Insert Exclamatory! A seemingly random collection of work thematically connected, a solo show featuring the work of Los Angeles-based artist, Michelle Constantine. The work for Insert Exclamatory!Insert Exclamatory! Constantine employs the folk craft of quilting to tell certain stories. Other pieces included utilize the techniques of printmaking, collage and photocopying centers around the thematic connection of unexpected situations that have gone wrong in ways both specific to the artist and non-specific in terms of cultural and historical contexts. Constantine’s work thrives in these “wrong” situations; they are her best inspiration. By exploring these unexpected events through the unexpected use of bright, happy colors, Constantine finds peace in what has gone wrong and, ultimately, acceptance.

MICHELLE CONSTANTINE is a graduate of Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design. Constantine works primarily in fabric, a medium the artist has been comfortable with since childhood, and enjoys printmaking. Her work deals with things that have gone wrong juxtaposed with vibrant, happy colors (and sometimes glitter.) Constantine’s work has been exhibited internationally, with a recent show at London’s Riflemaker Gallery. She has also shown throughout California and her work resides in several private collections. The artist currently lives and works in Pasadena, CA.

Space07, 1421 R St., Sacramento, CA 95811, 916-444-7474

The Festival of Rock Posters

The Festival of Rock Posters will be held on Saturday, October 10, 2009, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the Hall of Flowers at Golden Gate Park, 9th Ave. at Lincoln Way, San Francisco. The show will feature renowned artists and dealers from around the world. This is the one show that shouldn’t be missed by poster collectors and fans of rock art. Artists will be on site to sell and autograph posters. Artists from the 60′s who will be present include Wes Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, David Singer, Lee Conklin and others. Contemporary rock poster artists who will be at the show include Emek, Justin Hampton, Jermaine Rogers (PNE), Malleus, The Firehouse, and Gary Houston. Plus many other artists! Admission is $10.00.

The Festival of Rock Posters is an annual event sponsored by the Rock Poster Society (TRPS), which is a local nonprofit organization. TRPS is the world’s largest organized group of rock poster collectors, artists and dealers.

San Francisco County Fair Building (Hall of Flowers)
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA 94122

Further information at: www.trps.org

Art Radar 10.08.09

San Francisco favorite, Needles & Pens, just opened a new mini show featuring works by Tim Kerr, Russ Pope, Mathew Rodriguez, and Michael Sieben. Titled If, Then Maybe, the show will grace the gallery/shop Needles and Pens through the month of October.

Further information at: Needles & Pens

Southern Exposure’s Alternative Exposure grant program seeks applicants

Southern Exposure’s Alternative Exposure grant program seeks to fuel the energy of the local visual arts community by supporting the vibrant artistic activity that occurs on the ground level. Alternative Exposure grants provide direct support, up to $3,500, to individuals and groups working in the visual arts to create frameworks of support for other artists working and presenting work in our communities.

Application deadline: 6:00pm on November 6, 2009.

To apply: View the AltEx Round III Guidelines and Application

Marc Bell interview over at Fecal Face

Hailing from Montreal, Canada, Marc Bell’s work is constantly negotiating between disparate influences including comics, folk art, popular culture and Fine Art. Embedded in his drawings is complex and layered wordplay that allude to these influences while remaining deeply funny. Bell’s works vary from pen and ink drawings colored with subtle watercolors, to comics, to elaborate mixed media cardboard constructions, and, put all together for the first time in HOT POTATOE, provide a comprehensive portrait of a multi-talented and influential contemporary artist. Marc Bell’s book HOT POTATOE shall be released this October through Drawn and Quarterly.

Marc Bell is the author of several books including SHRIMPY AND PAUL (Highwater) and THE STACKS (Drawn & Quarterly), as well as the editor of NOG A DOD (Conundrum Press, PictureBox). Marc is represented by Adam Baumgold Gallery in Manhattan.

Check out the full interview: Fecal Face: Marc Bell

Hello Kitty’s 35th Anniversary

It’s Hello Kitty’s 35th Anniversary and Sanrio is celebrating in a big way. In addition to launching a variety of special, limited edition products, Sanrio will introduce Three Apples, a multi-dimensional exhibition and celebration of all things Hello Kitty running from October 23 to November 15 at Royal/T in Culver City, CA.

More info from M.I.S.S. soon! Stay tuned!

Art Radar 10.08.09

Opening Oct. 10, Scion’s Installation L.A. Gallery presents “Infinity,” a group exhibition curated by respected contemporary artist Andrew Schoultz, which explores both the vastness of the infinite and the limitations of the finite.

Scion’s 4,500 square foot Installation Gallery in Culver City will host a laboratory of works that experiment with time, space, technology, mortality and other highly studied and interpreted continuums. Fifteen artists, including acclaimed and emerging printmakers, installation artists, illustrators, muralists, collagists and painters, exhibit their takes on the limitless and perpetual using confined and restricted mediums.

Noah Davis, Xylor Jane, Butt Johnson, Chris Natrop, Aaron Noble, Ryan Travis Christian, Richard Colman, N. Dash, Chris Duncan, Andres Guerrero, Joseph Hart, Andy Diaz Hope, Hilary Pecis, Andrew Schoultz, Ryan Wallace.

The opening reception takes place on Oct. 10, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. at the Scion Installation L.A. Space, 3521 Helms Ave. (at National), Culver City, CA 90232. The reception is free with complimentary valet parking and an open bar. Many artists will be present and available for comment. The exhibit will run until Nov.7, 2009.

Further information at: www.scion.com/space.

M.I.S.S. NYFW: Behind The Scenes At Marc Bouwer's Virtual Runway Show

A couple of weeks ago, I shared my behind the scenes experience on the set of Marc Bouwer’s Spring 2010 Virtual Runway show, starring his muse Lydia Hearst. It’s a little late coming, but there’s still plenty of time until Spring 2010, so check out my interviews with the pair, exclusive to M.I.S.S. TV!

An Education (Dir. Lone Schierfig, Writer Nick Hornby. Starring Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard)

A young woman falls prey, and is led astray, by a much older man. It’s a story we’ve read (Lolita) and watched (Manhattan) before. The media’s glamorization of the May-December romance is old news by now, mostly because it’s one that most women have lived their own personal version of in some way or another, whether it’s as innocent as a crush on an older professor or as dangerous as a not-so-wise fling with an older coworker. Most of the time, though, the woman is thought of as the one who’s been shattered beyond repair. Rare is it that we get to see a woman live through the older man fiasco and put her pieces back together after the relationship’s demise, but when I sat down to screen the Sony Pictures Classics release An Education, I was pleasantly surprised to find a film that portrays the taboo subject in a different light.

Jenny is played in a star-transforming performance by Carey Mulligan

Directed by Lone Scherfig and based on journalist Lynn Barber’s memoir, An Education follows the blossoming of 16-year old Jenny from an adolescent to a woman in early 1960s Britain. Jenny, played with true star-quality performance by  Carey Mulligan, is every parent’s dream. She’s the girl who’s the top of her class–every class–and spends her time away from her mountains of books practicing her cello. Although she’s got a slight interest in boys and longs for the glamor and romance of Paris found in her favorite movies and magazines, she lives a mostly hum-drum life. Growing up in post World War II England , Jenny is a teen in transition in a world in transition.

David (Peter Saarsgard) and Jenny (Carey Mulligan) in Paris

So, it’s no surprise that when a charming local older man named David (Peter Sarsgaard) takes an interest in her, Jenny is intrigued, and eventually seduced. What makes An Education unique though, isn’t who seduces Jenny, but what seduces Jenny. It isn’t David’s sexuality or his alluring off-limits status that draws her in, but rather his sophistication and culture. She’s attracted to his nice clothes, his fine art, his love of foreign music, the gourmet restaurants they eat in, and his fancy friends. He provides her with the access, and eventually the confidence, to the life she’s wanted to pursue for herself. Like any traditional coming-of-age story, we can predict Jenny’s gradual seduction and course of the relationship (do May-December romances ever truly end well?), but what we can’t predict is Jenny’s independence throughout the whole thing– she’s a growing individual who learns leaps and bounds from the choices she makes in life. What I appreciated most about the film is its depiction of a feminine character who retains, and remains proud of, her mental and personal strength even in a time as tumultuous as adolescence.

Jenny and Helen (Rosamund Pike)

Much of Jenny’s inner strength is courtesy of Carey Mulligan’s breakout performance. Already hailed by critics and industry insiders as a “nomination-worthy performance”, I was blown away by the layering the actress brings to the role. Mulligan creates a Jenny who is wise beyond her years and incredibly foolish at the same time, a teen who straddles the line between child-like whims and much-longed for adult fantasies. Her emotional honesty reaches to every nook and cranny of her performance, whether Jenny is experiencing the highs of  first love, or the pain of self-disappointment. Pretty in a very timeless, elegant every-girl kind of way that can’t help but remind you of Audrey Hepburn, Mulligan magnetic charm helps her steal every scene she’s in.

Peter Sarsgaard also gives a great performance as David, the creepy guy we’re supposed to hate but end up feeling for. The veteran actor, probably best known for his role as Zach Braff’s grave-digging best friend in Garden State, plays the role with a a very boyish charm that fades his age. Alfred Molina, who plays Jenny’s father, also gives a robust, honest performance as a stern dad who truly wants the best for his daughter underneath it all.

Jenny's sophisticated look, as inspired by her new friend Helen

Cinematographer John de Borman and screenwriter Nick Hornby (who’s known for his honest romantic feel-good scripts like High Fidelity and About a Boy) together create a beautiful world for Jenny to grow in. Beautiful shots of Jenny’s dreary hometown are contrasted with postcard perfect scenes in Paris and the English countryside. The vivid imagery does wonders for Hornby’s real-deal characters, perhaps some of the best work he has ever done.

Predictable? Possibly. Worthwhile? Definitely. Although some of the coming-of-age bumps in An Education could have been executed in a less- familiar way, ultimately the film gives us a fairly realistic portrayal of the younger-woman older-man dynamic that women will feel a strong relation to. The real reason to catch the film though is to see Carey Mulligan’s career-changing performance– this girl is headed for the A-list, we guarantee it!

An Education premieres in New York and Los Angeles on October 9th.

Rhapsody by Tiffany Smith

Where did you take the photo?

On the beach in Kingston, Jamaica.

What were you thinking before you took the photo?

Capturing the essence of my free spirited nephew.

What were you thinking after you took the photo?

I am blessed.

Whats interesting to you about the photo?

The suspended motion and implied narrative.

What camera did you use?

Canon

website:
www.tiffanysmithphoto.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tsmithphoto