Happy Birthday, Alice!

Noted book artist Alice Austin celebrates another year of creativity today.

Most of Alice's art books draw from her experiences of daily life. And much of that experience centers around food. Works reflecting this focus include the classic "Coffee" (1999), "Milk, Butter, Eggs" (2004), "Meatball Math" (2005), and "Dance of Six Dinner Plates" (2006).

My favorite? Of these four, probably Meatball Math. I love the recipe to make all 1408 (a year's worth for her family) at once. And the way it stands three-dimensionally, and then folds flat into the silhouette of a house. Elegant and whimsical, in one.

Her full collection of books deals with birth, death, and many of the events big and small within that cycle. My favorite shifts depending on what's happening in my own life at the time, in the way that art always speaks to us differently as the lens of our experience changes how we view it. I am drawn to "Red, Yellow, Blue" when I feel happy and reflective; and to "Tides" when loss touches me. But who or what I think of when I see them changes each time.

A few works in her book collection can still be purchased; but many have been taken by individual collectors, museums, and universities. A good sampling can be viewed at her website, along with examples of her paintings and sculpture.

Bon apetite, Alice! May your work continue to feed you, as it nourishes us.

Strawberry Toast

The first strawberries of the season are not the most succulent, just the most pined-for. I rushed mine home from the farmer's market Saturday, and did two things with them immediately:

1. Took them out of their list plastic baskets (set aside to give back next weekend) and dropped them dry and unwashed into quart containers (re-used yogurt vessels, with tight lids). A farmer taught me last year that they will keep up to three weeks this way. Last summer a few even did, when I put them out of sight by mistake.
2. Made strawberry toast, one of my favorite-est healthy snacks.

To make:

• Lightly butter a nice slice of chewy whole-grain bread
• Layer it with thick-sliced fresh, local strawberries
• Sprinkle with either brown or turbinado sugar
• Place in the toaster oven til the bread crisps and the sugar melts

A Locavore's Dream Come True

The Bay Area must be one of the easiest places in the country for an aspiring locavore.

Today my local farmer's market opened; and I went mostly to see what could possibly be in season. In the grocery, most of the produce like red bell peppers is coming up from Mexico; so I figured there would be some root vegetables and winter greens - not much else.
What a surprise! There were only six produce stalls; but I could have made many meals from them, without sacrifice. I saw: artichokes, asparagus, potatoes, lettuce, spinach, mixed salad greens, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, chard, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, leeks, 3 types of mushrooms, zucchini, sweet peppers (red, yellow, orange and green), long neck squash, brussel sprouts, tomatoes (not so nice looking), old apples, cilantro and a few Asian herbs I couldn't name, strawberries, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bok choy, and radishes. Not all of it was organic; but quite a lot was.

I budget my farmer's market visits like a trip to Las Vegas - I only take what I plan to spend. For $18, I picked up 2 gorgeous bunches of asparagus, 3 lovely artichokes, 1 bunch (6) of baby bok choy, and 3 quarts of strawberries. I learned that asparagus has been in season for 6 weeks already in the San Joaquin Delta; and that the season is less than half over. Of these items, all were hoped for, but only the bok choy was expected. I can't wait to see what comes into season next! And next week, I'll take two bags with me, and more money. It's a gamble I'm sure to win.