rachel johnston: December 2011

Thursday, 29 December 2011

Lushness!
From here via the lovely huntergathererer

WINTER MIDNIGHT

after reading Michael McClure

Can I let the winter go without a poem?
Let the minutes disappear wordlessly
As the moon is gone by morning. And yet
It returns. I’ve seen winter enough times
By now to know it comes again. I am myself
The winter as it enters me, changes the complexion
Of the blood, turns my thoughts deep into themselves.

Why write a poem to commemorate this cycle
That is as much of what I am as my arm, or
The moon. I don’t get enough facts into my poems.
This year I saw racoons in the moonlight,
Playing with the abandon of creatures utterly
Untroubled by abstractions. They had come for our
Chickens, who sat inside their coop in a continual
Perplexity, almost human, seemingly sleepless

While the racoons, two little ones with a family foursome,
Wrestled on the lawn. The planet is set up for
Wild things, not money and reputations, not desks
And questions, but the obliterating intelligence of
Pure play. The mind indistinguishable from its own
Body, like the mind of a poplar, which is pure shape, mobile
Upon the air. There is no way to make a living as a poet
In America, and yet I often make some kind of meal

Of a poem. I see the light, the radiant suffusions
Of this world and I want a kind of geometric song
To speak of it, to say it—so it will be in speech too.
Like snow falling, like snow falling, like snow falling.

From Day & Night: Bolinas Poems by Aram Saroyan. Published in 1998 by Black Sparrow Press, Santa Rosa. A beautiful book.

Image from strangepaths
poem found here

Javanese Shadow Puppets

Ron Nagle. Elephant Shadow Cup, 1993.
found via gravelandgold

Monday, 19 December 2011

Simply Breakfast

Evergreen Shortbread Cookies (adapted from Organic & Chic by Sarah Magid and dipped in chocolate and sea salt by Jen Causey of Simply Breakfast)
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 packet of Douglas Fir Spring Tips tea*
Green food dye (optional)

*The company Juniper Ridge carries this kind of tea and it’s delicious—lemony with just enough Douglas Fir aroma to subtly remind you that it’s wintertime. If you can’t find Douglas Fir tea, you could substitute with Earl Grey or any other tea blend you like.

Whisk together the flour and salt in a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer at medium speed until it’s pale and fluffy, about five minutes. Then, at a speed low enough that you won’t create a giant flour cloud, slowly add the flour/salt mixture to the butter and sugar. Just before it’s completely blended, add the loose tea from its packet/tea bag. If you’re feeling festive, add a few drops of green food dye. (I have this gel kind of dye, and for a light green color, I only need two drops.) Continue mixing until well blended.

I like to slice these cookies into nice little ovals. In order to do this, lay plastic wrap on your work surface and place the dough on top. Shape the dough into a log, and then wrap it up well. Once it’s wrapped, you can shape it a bit more before chilling it in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes.

Towards the end of the thirty minutes, preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap the dough and cut the log into 1/4-inch-thick slices and arrange them about 1 1/2 inches apart from one another. Place the baking sheets in the freezer for five minutes.

Bake sheets one at a time until golden, 18-20 minutes. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the shortbread chill out for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.