Cobbler On My Mind

Yesterday was a one of those days that I just couldn't seem to get warm.  I spent most of the day walking around the house with my jacket on and never really warmed up enough to want to even go into the studio.  It was the perfect day for a double dose of comfort food. First, I made a crock-pot full of our favorite Chicken Tortilla Soup and for dessert I made my Granny Diveley's blackberry cobbler.  Well actually, I'm not sure my Granny used blackberries in this cobbler but my mom sure did. We picked buckets of blackberries in the summer that grew wild around our home in Central Missouri.  This cobbler was made often during that season along with bowls of blackberries and cream for breakfast and homemade blackberry jam on warm biscuits. To this day, blackberry jam is my favorite but what you buy in the store doesn't hold a candle to the jars my mom would make when the berries were ripe.

This recipe is exactly what her cobbler was like and so when I received the actual hand written recipe card that said "Granny's Lazy Man's Peach Pie" I knew it was one and the same.  

Granny Diveley's Lazy Man's Peach Pie Blackberry Cobbler1 c Butter1 1/2 c Milk
2 T Baking Powder
1 t Salt2 c Sugar2 c Flour3 lbs frozen blackberries (I actually use a back of triple berry mix that I buy from Sam's Club)Melt butter in a large casserole dish.  Spread the frozen berries in the dish over the melted butter.  Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth.  Pour the mixture evenly over the berries and then bake @ 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown.  This stuff is pure heaven in a bowl if served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

"Morning Reflections"- 16 x 20 Original Acrylic

Of course this is an art blog and not a cooking blog so I have to share some of my artwork too.  This is a recent painting that I did that includes some of my favorite things that remind me of my childhood.  Blackberries, Lilacs, Peonies and Tea.   I hope you let me know if you tried the cobbler and how you liked it. This painting original is for sale and can be view on my website gallery along with all my other works at Julie Townsend Studios

Making a Big Impact With Just a Pen and Some Colored Pencils

I have always loved sketching from the earliest age I can remember.  In school or in meetings, you will often find my paper covered with strange doodling.  I'm sure this isn't unique to just me, but it helps me understand why recently that I find myself often reaching for a pen and a piece of paper rather than a paintbrush and canvas.  Oh don't worry, painting is something that I will never tire of, but when I can't paint I will often draw.  This past couple months I have turned to the pen and combined that with either colored pencils or a watercolor wash to finish off my creation.  Below are two floral pieces that I have completed and wanted to show to you.

Nature's Bounty- 11x14 Pen / Colored Pencil

This is the first floral sketch that I did and I decided to only add color to the fruits and flowers.  I liked the contrast that this effect created.  I decided also to make my apples green to give a variety of color.  Perhaps I should have gone with an odd number of apples.  Three apples might have been more interesting than just two but this is an observation after the sketch was completed and therefore is something I will have to consider if I repeat this composition.

Nature's Bounty of the Sierra Nevadas- 11x14 Pen/Colored Pencil

Once again I decided this week to do a second floral piece.  Keeping with my wild roses, blackberries and pine cones for this sketch.  I did decide to change some of the fruits represented.  I found that there is a variety of wild plums that grow in the boarder area of Nevada, California and Oregon that is called the Sierra Plum.  Also a very interesting berry that grows in the Sierra Mountains is that of the gooseberry.  What a odd looking berry it is.  Full of stickers but I read that once you get past the sticky exterior that the fruit itself is amazingly sweet.  I know there is good sermon material in there somewhere.

With this composition, I decided to color all parts of it with my prisma colored pencils.  It turned out to perhaps have more red and pinks then I would have originally considered but I love how that makes the foliage and the blackberries stand out.

Both of these pieces will be available on my website JulieTownsendStudio.com and on Fine Art America- Fruits of the Sierra Nevadas or Fine Art America- Nature's Bounty  if you would like to order prints or cards.  I will also be making up my own original cards of both of these designs so just let me know if you would like to purchase a pack of 12 cards.