It's the time of year when flowers are ready to riot in the garden, so I thought I would post this image of my 2011 oil painting, "There is Room for All in the Garden" in honor of the Seeds of Hope N.A.M.I. Sunflower Art Show.

This year is very special for me with regards to this show, as I will again co-teach YoloCanvas students, most of whom are N.A.M.I. clients, in a four-session art class.  New this time is a focus on artist trading cards, which all the participants can collage or decorate in any way they wish.  We will also create a class entry comprised of artist trading cards from class members as an entry to the Sunflower Art Show.

Classes are open to all, at the Cesar Chavez Plaza Community Room, 1220 Olive Drive, Davis, CA. the first four Thursdays in May:  May 3, 10, 17, and 24 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon.

All creative persons are invited!

(Note:  Class is $40 for the whole series.  Scholarships are available.)

Poached Eggs and Mint

This is a dinner I made yesterday from a recipe published in the New York Times, e-mailed to me during the day by the wonderful husband I cook for.  Usually our meatless meals, which I try to do no more than once a week, are based around plant proteins and whole grains.  This collection by the Times suggests creative ways to use the bounty of fresh eggs provided by urban laying hens in New York City.

Okay, if I can imagine something as eggstraordinary as chickens in New York, I'm sure I can imagine making poached eggs seasoned with a combination of garlic, mint, chile flakes, and paprika.  But it pushed me I must say.  However, the afore-mentioned wonderful husband and I have been talking for some time about raising chickens ourselves, and one of the big questions is how we would deal with all the eggstra bounty.  So, just for the sake of argument, I thought I'd whip this up.

The other reason eggs are so much on our minds is the annual only-in-Davis bike tour of some of the town's most innovative, beautiful, clever, or inspiring backyard chicken coops:  The Tour de Cluck. It only comes around once a year, and I always paint something to donate to their silent auction.  It benefits the Davis Farm to School Connection, which gets fresh local food to our school kids.  I like doing it, although it's a
pretty kitschy event (think chicken suits at the Farmers Market).  We ride bikes from coop to coop, as many as 22 or 23 sites-you can do a shorter tour by covering just one or two quadrants in town, but the most intrepid do the whole tour.

Anway, I'm not worried about the cholesterol or anything.  Loving the Tour is a pre-eggsisting condition.