Collage with pancetta and woodpecker

Z continues her family collage project. It is a truly epic undertaking that she works on just a little at a time, joyfully and with great concentration. She is so deliberate and specific in the choices she makes about, and I have no idea what motivates them. There is a whole sort of granddaughter of Wharhol advertising image aspect going on that I find truly fascinating. Tonight she had me cutting star and bird ornaments out of the Pottery Barn catalog for her so she could fashion them into a halo for herself ... and a belt buckle for me.

Reading: 
A bit about Danish TV in the New Yorker, some of Earth to Table (see below), and a few more pages of Madeleine's Ghost.

I wish I read faster.

Writing:
No. This morning during my writing time I did pre-work work.

Dinner:
Mmm. Acorn squash, pancetta, and sage pizza from Earth to Table by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann. (Acorn squash from City Fresh, pancetta and dough from Alesci's, sage from a jar -- I used to grow sage but my sage bush died. ... I picked out the recipe and told David to make it while I carted kids around. He thought the cucumber slices I left out on the counter were intended for the pizza. This was funny. The pizza was fantastic.)

My Aunt Toni gave me this book for Christmas (it is one of 4 we got), and it tickles me that she picked it out for me. The subtitle is "Seasonal Recipes from an Organic Farm." All my food obsession and City Fresh and cooking talk has paid off! The book is beautiful, if a little overwhelming. It is laid out by seasons and each section has gorgeous photos, a shortlist of seasonal recipes (though how practical or locally sourceable seems a bit debatable to me), how-to articles on things like foraging and composting,  an interview with a locavore chef, and ... an essay about wheat? Really, four "wheat stories" in one book. Maybe I will love these wheat stories.

I don't think my boughten dough from the Italian deli would jibe well with the ethic and aesthetic of this book, but you do what you have to.

If you are already interested in local, seasonal, small-scale, or slow food, I think you will enjoy Earth to Table. If these topics make you a little nervous, wait a while. It may feel too too fussy.  First come talk to me at City Fresh next season and let me seduce you with my fantastic cooking tips for kale and beet greens and princess buttercup squash.

Soundtrack:
All Radio Disney all the time.

No, I am not in control of this.

Random thing:
Z and I stopped and watched a very handsome and very busy woodpecker after I picked her up from school.

I would have guessed it was a female downy, but looking at pictures on the interwebs leads me to believe it was perhaps a hairy.

A hairy (photo from ohiobirds.org)

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