Richela Fabian Morgan's Blog, page 5

Enter The Dragon: My Duct Tape Bruce Lee Vest

In my studio, taped to the closet door, is a picture of Bruce Lee that I found online. Whenever I am in need of a little pick-me-up, I turn to it.

I'm a fairly dedicated Bruce Lee fan. I watched his movies as a kid and, despite being the wrong gender, wanted to be Bruce Lee. I even went as far as taking karate lessons when I was twelve years old. The desire to throw punches and land kicks ended when I had to actually spar with someone on the mats, but I certainly had the moves down!

The image in my head, cultivated by childhood fantasies, never matches anything that I've seen in my present day. I suppose it is difficult to capture his smoldering stance or fiery stare--especially since Bruce seemed to be in perpetual motion. Yes, there were his lightning quick kicks and punches, but he also moved slowly, constantly, never allowing his challengers to feel at ease or at rest. And when I look at this picture, I don't see this paltry likeness. I see with my mind's eye the Bruce of my dreams and begin to feel unsettled. My hands curl up into fists. My toes twitch. I widen my stance. And I know that inspiration is only a beat away.

Recently, the inspiration was literal: I made a Bruce Lee portrait. Being who I am, it took the form of a duct tape vest. Art? Maybe. You can decide.

 



 

     

   


I started to make a skirt, but ran out of duct tape. Inspiration is still running through my hands and head, so I'm hoping to finish this soon.

Keep you posted...

xoRichela

Oven Roasted Curried Cauliflower

I've been busy lately, so my apologies for not posting. But...who wants to make oven roasted cauliflower???

I usually make this as a side dish with saag as my main dish, but sometimes I'll just make it to snack on. Like most of the dishes I cook, roasted cauliflower is easy to make. The secret is having a stash of garam masala spice blend in the cupboard.

My garam masala recipe is listed at the end. I'm sure that there are more authentic recipes for garam masala, but as a home cook I tend to find what's right for me and my family.
Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons of garam masala*
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine the garam masala, salt, and olive oil. Toss in cauliflower until it's evenly covered in the spice and oil mix. Place in a roasting pan and put in the oven for 25 minutes.





*Garam masala spice blend:2 teaspoons cumin1 teaspoon coriander1 teaspoon ground black pepper1/2 teaspoon cardamom1/4 teaspoon tumeric1/4 teaspoon cinnamon1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Enjoy!
xoRichela

How To "Paint" A Picture With Duct Tape

Sausage and Kidney Bean Stew

I love beans. All kinds. I just do. The color, the texture, the taste. It adds something to a dish that makes me believe it couldn't exist without it.

For dinner I'll add beans to give my daughter something to eat since she will most likely pick the meat off. She has issues with meat being "too fatty", and not because she is dieting. It's a texture that she simply does not like. So while my son eats all the meat in a dish (with an occasional green item known as a vegetable), my daughter will scoop the beans.

This is a sausage and kidney bean stew that is served over rice. I've tried to serve it over quinoa, but I find the taste of the quinoa competes with the beans. Rice is a milder and complementary taste. I also use sofrito and homemade sazon seasoning mix, so it's got a Latino flare. But I would not call it habichuelas--that would be insulting to anyone who makes habichuelas!

Ingredients
1 lb Italian sweet sausage
1 1/2 cups dried kidney beans, soaked overnight1/4 cup sofrito*1 1/2 teaspoons homemade sazon**1 cup water3 cups chicken broth
Remove sausage from casing. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a soup pot and brown sausage meat, breaking it apart like ground beef. Add the sofrito and sazon and saute for one minute. Add kidney beans and saute for another minute. Add water and chicken broth. Once it begins to boil, lower flame to low simmer and cover pot. Let it slow cook for 2 hours.
Serve with rice. 

* I posted my recipe for sofrito a few weeks ago. And in this recipe I used one of my frozen Scotch sofrito cubes. I defrosted the cube a few hours before cooking. If I didn't have the time to defrost it properly, I would have placed it in the microwave and turned it on low for about 30 seconds. You don't want it to cook in the microwave--just loosen up.
** Sazon is a flavor package that can be bought at most grocery stores. I don't really like getting it because it contains MSG. You can find a fairly accurate recipe for it online. It's a mixture of black pepper, salt, garlic powder, oregano, coriander, cumin, and annatto (or something thereabouts). Just do a Google or Bing search for "homemade Sazon seasoning" and you'll find one that will suit your needs. 
Enjoy!

How To Make A Duct Tape St. Patrick's Day Visor

This is for all you non-Irish folk looking to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Enjoy!



The sticker template is here....

WORD: More Than Just A Bookstore

Over the past two years I've had the pleasure of visiting bookstores while promoting my craft books TAPE IT & MAKE IT and TAPE IT & MAKE MORE, many of which are independent. What I've discovered about independent bookstores is that they often double as community centers, offering not only books and the occasional latte but also knitting courses, book clubs for various ages and genders, and tutoring in all subjects. WORD bookstores are such places for their neighborhoods.

There are two WORD locations: the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York, and Jersey City, NJ. I'm a native Brooklynite and I came of age during the 70's and 80's. As a kid, Greenpoint and Jersey City were NOT areas I would visit unless I had to. Greenpoint was a No Man's Land and therefore avoided at all costs. It was easy to do so because only one subway line went there and it was a poorly maintained one. I'm not even sure a bus line ran through it, and don't even ask about access via highway. As for Jersey City, my Filipino family went there to visit other Filipino families, but I never felt safe there--and this is coming from a girl who grew up with a garbage dump on the corner of her block. Today, the fact that an independent bookstore such as WORD exists and thrives in Greenpoint and Jersey City indicates how far they've come. People now seek out these places to live and raise families.



 

The Jersey City location is new, and you can see how thoughtful they were about the residents of the area. A lot of young families live in Jersey City. Inside WORD, there is a cafe where you could find many parents with their babies and toddlers. I had a much younger group of kids ranging from 4 to 8 years old. Parent participation was necessary and the projects became a little more "do what you want." We made wall stickers in the shape of butterflies or letters, but also made flowers and clutch bags. As I crafted in the cafe area, I watched people come in and out of the store, baby or stroller in tow. Many stopped to see what we were doing and gave me a wistful glance. I wanted to say, "just you wait; it'll be your turn soon with the child-proof scissors and sticky tape!" I also wanted to say, "it goes by fast, so hug that baby for as long as you can."






A special thanks to CJ and Jen at WORD in Greenpoint (though I think CJ has already left for sunny Cali!) for helping out with the Girl Scout troop, Kirby at WORD in Jersey City for getting me pencils, and Jenn for arranging everything. I hope to be back when my next book comes out!

xoRichela

Callywood: Mike Tyson and Me (Sort Of)

Here is my interview with Cosandra Calloway. It starts around the 44 minute mark.



More Entertainment Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Callywood on BlogTalkRadio

How To Make Duct Tape Wallets (Bi-fold and Tri-fold)

How To Make A Duct Tape Hobo Bag (from TAPE IT & MAKE MORE)

I recently wrote a guest post for Relate Magazine and included my duct tape hobo bag craft project. Check it out!
"Someone once asked me: what’s your favorite duct tape project? Without any hesitation I said that it was a duct tape bag. Before duct tape came into my life, I had a closet full of clutches, wristlets, purses, totes, messenger bags, etc., made from leather, velvet, or faux animal hide. Once I discovered the sticky stuff, ..." (click to continue reading on relatemag.com)

Homemade Sofrito And Desecrating The Scotch Ice Cube Tray

A few months ago I had the pleasure of dining at Mas Farmhouse in NYC. While every bite on the tasting menu was nearly impeccable, I walked away more impressed with their version of the cocktail El Jefe. It could have been the absinthe since the Mas version contains the anise flavored spirit and a normal one does not. But it was the ice cubes that captivated us. They were HUGE. My companions and I kept staring at our glasses and wondered aloud if they were reusing the cubes since it seemed like they weren't melting. After three--maybe four?--rounds of El Jefes during the course of the night, someone at my table snuck away to watch the bartender make the drinks.

"No, No! It's fresh ice every time they make our drinks!" He announced gleefully. At the end of the night we all went home with satisfied bellies but wondered where we could procure an ice cube tray to make our own El Jefe size ice cubes.

Oh, the things you can buy on Amazon. It turns out that with the right word search you can find--and purchase--the ice cube tray of humongous ice cubes. It's actually a Scotch ice cube tray. With one click I was the proud owner of a Scotch ice cube tray within 48 hours. But the problem with owning such a thing is that I now have the added pressure of mixing my own El Jefes or drinking Scotch, both of which are not very appealing to me. I'm not a big drinker.

What I did realize is that my Scotch ice cube tray is perfect for freezing batches of homemade sofrito. I'm not going to proclaim that my sofrito recipe is the best or the most authentic. But given the other option--namely store-bought sofrito--I think that you would find my method a bit more tasty and healthy.

Ingredients
5 baby bell peppers, tops cut and seeds removed
1 large onion, sliced
12 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 cups of grape tomatoes
1 cup of fresh cilantro

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree for 1 minute. Fill Scotch ice cube tray and place in freezer. Once the sofrito is frozen into cubes, remove cubes and store them in a sealable plastic bag. You should not leave the sofrito in the ice cube tray.

I do a lot of substituting when the need arises. Sometimes I have large bell peppers and vine tomatoes instead of baby bell peppers and grape tomatoes. Sometimes I have parsley instead of cilantro. I guess it depends on what's in my refrigerator. But these are my basic ingredients.

If you have a large food processor, you can double the amount of ingredients. I have a small food processor so the ingredients above are what fit inside it. After it's pureed, the sofrito can only fill half my Scotch ice cube tray. So doubling the ingredients can fill the entire tray.

Sofrito is used as a base for almost all Latino home cooking. But you don't have to use it just for Latino cooking. For quick stir-fry dishes, I'll pop out a frozen sofrito cube to add some flavor.

Anyway, I hope you found this useful.

Enjoy!
xo