The Genius Hour

The Process Never Ends

#5

5/17/2020

When you are passionate about something, that something will capture your attention regardless of whether or not it has been assigned for school. For the last 8 weeks, I have had countless "Genius hours" to devote time to what I care about right now: the domestic arts. But even though our year draws to a close - and along with it our "My Journey Project" and "The Genius Hour 2.0"- I know I will continue to devote time, energy and resources to the domestic arts. Even though the assignment is over, I am just getting started.

Take my latest endeavor - gardening. Sixteen years ago, I worked with a landscape architect to design a front and back yard at Gianluca's dad's house. It is Italian themed, of course. But I was young and I only knew what I wanted to look at; I didn't know or care to know what it takes to grow a garden. You could say gardening is the last Domestic Art Frontier for me! Take the case of the Bougainvillea vine. My mother loved these vines and I love their bright, fuchsia color. I had them planted at that old house of mine and had them trained to grow naturally as vines on a wall. In the new house, I want to do something I have never done before. That is what drives me and it goes like this: see something I like somewhere (Stonehaus) or in a magazine (805) and then set about to replicate it DIY-style in my own world. This is how I operate with everything from decor, to limoncello, to food to gardens. Imitation is the highest form of flattery.

My new goal: train and prune my new Bougainvillea vine into tree form like the ones you see all over the southern part of Italy, where I was supposed to go this June with my hubbers for our anniversary and 50th birthdays (sigh). My friend at the nursery says I will "bonsai" it. I don't have the heart to tell her that "bonsai" is not a verb.. But you know what? I am going to bonsai the heck out of this plant! How might you ask? Research, ask anyone who knows anything about it tons of questions and most importantly, for learners like me, through trial and error and a tincture of time.

So while our time together is at an end, I am off to "Italy" in my backyard and I promise I won't stop pursuing these passions just because we aren't together anymore. I hope you carry-on with yours or start a new one! Thank you for bringing me along on the journey through the 11th grade. I will never forget it, you and what we went through together.

What's Cooking?

#3

4/27/20

Everyone knows I am a foodie. When the OPUSD school closure order came down on Wednesday 3/11, Governor Newsome had not yet issued the stay-at-home-order for all of California, but the Bay Area was already on lock-down. My foodie-alarms and red flags were beepin' and flyin' all over the place! What did we do? We went out to dinner of course, at a local favorite that we like to walk to - Rustico. The first date night into school closure, on 3/14, we tentatively went to eat a second time at the new Shake Shack, which we had been wanting to do for a while. There was an ominous feeling in the air that night; tentative looks and glances were being exchanged and the restaurant was half-empty. You're probably wondering why I am able to recall these dates, details, restaurants and moods? Because these were this foodie's Last Suppers. Last Suppers dining OUT, that is.

Cut to the perfectionistic side of me, which immediately kicks into overdrive, and I start cooking again - all my favorite recipes from my favorite chef of all time, Giada DiLaurentiis. Giada was born in Rome, but grew up in Southern California starting at the age of 8. She went to high school with Ms. Hankins, UCLA and Le Cordon Bleu (how many people can say that?)! I am a devoted follower of all her shows on the Food Network and own at least 5 of her best-selling cookbooks (see above). Giada's point of view is Italian, with a California twist! I started to cook her food when I was a stay-at-home-mom when Gianluca was little and I was in my 30s. In my 20s, I had mastered my Sicilian Grandmother's more traditional southern Italian recipes. In addition to whipping up some of my family Giada faves such as Buccatini All'Amatriciana, Fusilli all Caprese and "Spicy Pasta" as Gianluca coined it, I slow-cooked my famous "Wine" Pot Roast, pictured above (the alcohol evaporates).

Two weeks into culinary captivity - WE MOVED! I found myself still desiring my safe, nutritious and healthy home-cooking, but needing to streamline it by making it more simple. One day while perusing my NYT app, I came across a column called "Easy Upgrades" devoted to providing 5-weeknight dinners with very few ingredients (5 or less), yet packed with flavor. Sign me up! I found my new challenge and I started to dish up things like Vinegar Chicken with Crushed Olive Dressing (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020486-vinegar-chicken-with-crushed-olive-dressing), Chicken Caprese (stuffed and cooked stove top!), Sheet Pan Sausage with Potatoes (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020981-sheet-pan-sausage-with-spring-onions-potatoes-and-mustard?searchResultPosition=1), and for Easter Dinner (pictured above), Crispy Pork chops with Buttered Radishes (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020486-vinegar-chicken-with-crushed-olive-dressing). Have you figured out yet where all this Googling for gourmet was leading me? You guessed it; burn-out (but not burnt food)!

Call in the calvary: SOS! I need a doctor, well actually just another cook. Enter my husband, David. He lovingly worked with me to create a dinner schedule that we both could be happy with. He signed up for a favorite past-time of his - cooking Blue Apron meals (they're backlogged till June) and firing up his new and already beloved CharBroil Grille. But the first meal he cooked, after 30 straight dinners of my own, was Taco Salad, pictured last above. Gianluca and David eat the dish taco style. Honestly, David could have made salmon with Brussel sprouts and I would have been happy. (I hate both of those things but that's another story....). As it was, the salad and the Prosecco all fresca (Look it up Tammy!) were just what the doctor did order, PRONTO (STAT)!

Stay tuned for more domestic arts renaissance blogs from Ms. Miller!

The Domestic Arts; a Renaissance

#2

4.19.20

I have been a working, single-mom for as long as I can remember. That is until I got married again almost 3 years ago. But, I am still working and still a mom. When we became quarantined exactly one month ago today, on March 19th, an era was ushered in that I never expected in a million years. And that I would be a "stay-at-home" mom once again. I hadn't been a "stay-at-home-mom" since Gianluca was an infant.

Like everyone, I found myself with more time at home -which is hard for an extrovert, who likes to go, see, do! But the weather was rainy and cold, the world was panicking, buying, retreating, so I jumped into the fray. As I was stocking up on essentials the Wednesday night before Friday, the 13th, our last day, I noticed there was a sale on flowers! A sale on flowers? Amid the encroaching pandemic tidal wave pandemic about to reach our shores? Why not stock up on flowers too!

I don't just love fresh flowers around the house, I love to arrange them. It is a skill I learned from my Italian mother, Salvatrice and grandmother, Mary. As a little girl, I would follow my grandmother around town as she foraged fields and meadows to find the raw materials of a dried flower arrangement, one of her specialities. My mother once took a flower arranging class and I was the beneficiary of her modeling this delicate art. She and I loved to collect, display and discuss flowers. In fact, my mother could tell you the name of any plant or flower. She was that studied. We also were in the habit of bringing each other flowers whenever we would visit each other for a formal dinner or party. Flowers remind me of my mother. Calla Lilies was one of her favorites and mine too; I will plant some in the front yard of my new house in honor of her. I learned recently at Sterling Nursery that there is no such thing as colored Calla Lilies; they are dyed! (Trader Joe's has these quite often.)

Pictured above is "Joyful Trio," and was arranged when captivity began; it expresses my joy at seeing flowers sold on the cheap and my optimistic attitude at the time: hope springs eternal and this won't last too long. We will come back after closing school for a week. We all know how that played out....

"Sunflower Despair" represents the time when distance learning became official and the early weeks seemed to draw on interminably. I bought sunflowers - my mother was a huge fan - to try and lift my spirits. It helped a little because it reminded me of my mother's sunflower phase: her kitchen was covered in them in pictures, pot holders, ceramic spoon and napkin holders etc.

"A Gift of Flowers" was brought to me in my new home by my best friend, Hillary. She collected them from her garden and brought them to me as a house-warming present just last week. The bouquet includes California Poppies, which I've never had under my roof because as the state flower, you are not allowed to pick them! (They grow wild in Hillary's yard.)

The last bouquet pictured is called "Recycling" because I mixed "Sunflower Despair" with lilac Hillary brought along with some other weedy-looking plants she had.

Flower arranging is all about contrast; high and low, vibrant colors set against a white background and vases that compliment the flowers and make them sparkle. It isn't the only domestic art I have been brushing up on during confinement!

Stay tuned for more domestic arts renaissance blogs from Ms. Miller!