I don’t want to “out” anyone publicly, so I won’t mention whose desk this is.
I snapped this photo because I liked the colour and the “realness” of it. It’s a slice of life, a reflection of someone’s work, and perhaps in some way, a glimpse at what’s going on in her very soul.
It’s a view of a beautiful mess… the same kind that has made a home in my brain. I have a hundred projects on the go, all in various stages of completion. My heart is full of pencil shavings, smears of bright paint, eraser dust, rough drafts and finished sketches. Sometimes I worry that I’ll never be able to string a coherent sentence together ever again, and other times the words flow out of me, faster than I can type them out.
I wonder. Is it better to keep it the mess at bay, strictly tidied and organized… or is the best kind of creativity borne out of the chaos?
I’ve been feeling a bit like a crazy mama this week, working/writing/planning to the point of Total Brain Explosion. And then there’s the weather! Holy crap. I’ve had it up to *here* with the deep freeze. CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY.
The cold has been downright paralyzing. And this kind of paralysis demands easier meals and fewer trips to the grocery store. What I love about this recipe is (a) it uses leftovers and (b) makes a satisfying meal and (c) the kids will EAT IT. Hence, it is a total winner in my books. It is ridiculously simple.
I actually got the idea from this recipe. I was smitten by the cute photo of the little boy that I had to try it myself. Isn’t this such a nice way of getting kids in the kitchen?
The fun part of this recipe is breaking up the noodles. It has such a satisfying crrrrrack to it, and if you break your capellini noodles into a big bowl you will cut down on the mess factor. THEN mash the pile of dry noodles with your hand to break them into smaller bits. THIS IS BETTER THAN BUBBLE WRAP PEOPLE.
The recipe looked fine as it is, but I didn’t have it in front of me so I winged it. I just boiled the stock, added the broken pits of pasta, a diced carrot, diced chicken breast, and as it was all coming together at the end I added dried parsley, salt and pepper, and a bit of green onion. It was heaven. And I didn’t even have to leave the house!
This is my second giveaway for the NAC Orchestra’s Casual Fridays event. I’m thrilled. Not only is the NAC a wonderful patron of the blog, but I truly love the amazing things they add to the cultural scene of this great city we live in.
If you haven’t heard of Casual Fridays, here it is in a nutshell: it’s an opportunity to nosh on artfully/deliciously/wonderfully prepared food AND socialize AND enjoy a lovely glass of something AND see a show.
The media launch of the new season happened last night in the NAC kitchen. Paul Wells, who will be hosting the next event, described Casual Fridays quite succinctly in a tweet at the media event last night:
I went to the launch with the intention of taking lots of photos but I had such a great time chatting with fellow party goers that my phone stayed in my purse almost the entire time. Sorry NAC, but you can interpret that as a SURE SIGN OF A GOOD TIME. ;)
I kid. I do have a few views to share:
Here’s the good news for you… I have a pair of tickets to give away to the next event on March 7 but before I do that, there are a few things about this next Casual Fridays I wanted to bring to your attention:
- Two words: Amanda. Forsyth.
- The culinary overtures menu is brand new and it’s Italian-inspired. I promise you will love it. Everything we sampled at the media event provided an explosion of mouthhappy delight.
- They’ve totally changed the food service portion of the evening. I strongly encourage you to buy your tickets online ahead of time as there are limited tickets and I predict a sell-out. Line-ups were an issue at the last event but there is a plan in place to prevent this from happening.
- Good news: you can now watch the show with your beverage of choice. No more chugging before curtain call! Besides, music and wine, in comfy theatre-seats? HELLO. That’s a match made in heaven.
Interested in going? Please read the following details carefully:
- This giveaway is for two tickets to the March 7, 2014 edition of Casual Fridays at the National Arts Centre (NAC). Please please make sure you are able to go (i.e. have a sitter on speed dial) before you enter! These tickets include admission to the culinary part of the evening, so you’ll be sampling some of the dishes pictured above.
- In order for your entry to qualify, please leave a comment below telling me where you went for your last date night. If it’s too long ago to remember (and I hope that’s not the case!) you can tell me where you’d like to go for your next one. :)
- For a second entry, leave a comment on this Facebook post. (But don’t forget to let me know that you did in a second, separate comment below.)
- This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
- If you can’t post your comment for whatever reason you can email it to me for posting at andrea at quietfish dot com. Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder!
I will draw one name using Random.org at noon EST on March 4, 2014. The winner will have to pick up their tickets at my place. :)
Good luck everyone!
