Creativity in the Kitchen: Time to make " the sauce"

"The Sauce"

My destiny to serve authentic sauce on top of pasta was sealed when I said yes to Sal Marotta’s proposal of marriage. Marottas do not do bottled or (gasp) canned marinara. My soon-to-be mother-in-law Emily offered a lesson in the sauce before the wedding.  I was an eager student. I had tasted the sauce. It was thick, rich, dark red, and memorable.

To this day the sauce is my only true claim to culinary skills. 

Making the sauce is not about the recipe. It is about the experience.  I learned that a layered rich sauce must begin at the start, with the starter.  The starter is the heart of the sauce.  It is the legacy of all the sauces that have come before . . . it is stored in the freezer.  Sal’s Great Aunt Julia had rows and rows of starter in her freezer.  She called it her “blood bank.” My Sal’s grandfather, Grandpa Sal, brought the idea of starter sauce to America from Sicily when he immigrated. Grandpa Sal had a full kitchen in his garage so he could cook the sauce with more space and ventilation without getting nagged about the mess.  He taught Emily (another non-Italian who needed the secrets), and Emily taught me.  It took us all day in the kitchen and much wine for the recipe as well as the lesson itself.

Great Aunt Julia

On the day of my lesson Sal’s mom confidently taught me how to cook the sausage, onions, garlic, and then to brown the paste- incorporating all the flavors.  All the while the heart of the sauce sat patiently slow warming on a separate stove top coil.  Side by side we layered the flavors by combining starter and paste, wine and herbs. By evening I learned the Marotta stories, was advised against putting oregano in the meatballs (it is mutinous and can cause loud Italian fighting), and more than anything that the sauce was a legacy. I was part of the family and trusted to carry the tradition forward.

It has been thirty years since my lesson. I now have my own tradition of warming the starter in early September. I spend the day browning the paste and incorporating the new sauce to make a batch that will last us throughout the fall and winter, leaving a little extra starter for next year.  So far I have taught my oldest daughter the process, who has added a playlist to her cooking, and expect someday my youngest will ask for her turn in the kitchen with me.

Because everyone knows you can’t feed an Italian family properly without the sauce.

The inspiration for this post came when I met a remarkable person named Sarah Shotts at the Arkansas Women’s Bloggers Conference last month.  As soon as she told me about her dream to record “heirloom recipes” across the world I knew I found a friend. If you or someone you know has a passion for family, food, and film please visit her Kickstarter “Project STIR.”

Santa Fe: Pensamientos Positivos



Starry Night by D. Arthur
Art Gone Wild Galleries, Santa Fe NM

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."
Vincent Van Gogh

Santa Fe: Pensamientos Positivos

Yachac/Shaman heals conference
attendee

• "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift"
•  
• Albert Einstein

Santa Fe: Pensamientos Positivos

Sending positive thoughts and beautiful images
 from Santa Fe, The City Different.

"I spent a lot of years trying to outrun or outsmart vulnerability by making things certain and definite, black and white, good and bad.  My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are wrought with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few."
Brene Brown

Discovery: The Results are In!

h/t Corcoran Gallery Washington, DC 2014

Research question: Will regularly planned artist dates spark my creativity?  Influence my mood? Increase my creative productivity?   

Hypothesis:  Julia Cameron has built a very successful platform working with all types of artists to nurture their creativity and remove blocks to their productivity. One of her basic tenants is regular artist dates where the hopeful creative plans activities to feed their artistic side. Based on this research I would expect to discover enhanced creative energy, improved mood, and increased productivity in creative pursuits.

Method:  Planned artist dates were conducted once a week, for four weeks in the month of March.  There were a total of five dates-- one date was virtual and combined with a real life date.  Four were within the Oklahoma City Metro area, and one was in Washington, D.C.

Measurement:  Subjective account of creative energy and mood.  Creative productivity measured by word count and tangible creative output.

Results: This was a fun experiment! My creative energy was enhanced by the artist dates, and so was my overall mood.  I put a lot of thought into each date and found myself anticipating the event throughout the week.  My creative productivity yielded mixed results:  My word count was down (2,003 in February and 1743 in March), but my photography was up- 30 pictures in February (all with phone camera) 102 pics in March (66 with digital camera/30 phone), plus revamping the bookshelf, and an acrylic canvas.

Sneaked Exhibition Photo - Artist Date Paparazzi 2014

Conclusion: The artist dates validated my creativity and increased my sense of well-being.  It is possible that the mostly visual dates motivated me to express my creativity visually therefore using my camera to capture the images.What are the results of your artist dates?  This research subject (me) will continue artist dates and plan to explore this topic further in May through experiential dates about the written word -- with the addition of “morning pages” another foundation of The Artist’s Way.

Mindfulness Mondays

Jellyfish at San Francisco Aquarium 2012

"An affirmation is a strong, positive statement that something is already so." (Shakti Gawain)

Prepare yourself to spend time with your inner artist this month.  You will meet resistance, but persevere.  Your creative spirit will thank you.




I am willing to experience my creative energy.

Discovery: Field Trips for Adults

Sherry and the forbidden fruit /Santa Fe 2013

Remember field trips when you were a kid? Waking up in the morning knowing there was no school just the anticipation of adventure? This month I am signing your permission slip to let your inner artist play on artist dates (mini field trips) either virtual or real.  The concept of artist dates was first articulated by Julia Cameron in her workshops and book The Artist’s Way.  The point is  to step outside of your comfort zone and experience something different.  We are trying to generate that buzz of excitement that comes from a change of venue, a free afternoon to explore. 

Think about a place that you are curious about.  Maybe it is an antique store that you pass every day on your way to work, but you have never gone in.  What about that drop in art class that you have thought “someday . . . “ You now have a special invitation to go- nurture your creative spirit that has been cooped up all winter interacting with the same people and the same visual field.  There are no rules on these field trips, except that you take them.  Let your creative self step outside of the box and experience fresh ideas, new ways of thinking or moving.

Here is a brainstorm of possible artist dates:

1. See one of the Oscar award winning films.
2. Go to a local festival, music event, art walk, play, or museum.
3. Choose a fantasy mentor.  Take time to read their books, watch their videos, and learn about their life as an artist.
4. Crank up the music and dance like no one is watching.
5. Play with Pinterest and invent a new board to inspire your creativity.
6. Take a walk with someone else’s iPod, expose yourself to new music.
7. Blog hop for more ideas on artist dates, or Kristen Nader’s blog- she writes anywhere and takes great photos.
8. Take a road trip and stop at quirky roadside shops.
9. Experience a religious service that is not your own.
10. Have a technology free day.

I hope you will join me in the discovery of fresh concepts and renewed energy this month.  I would love to hear where you have gone – please leave a comment or if you are shy, send me an email and I will post it for you anonymously dr.lisamarotta@gmail.com

Creativity: Playing well with Others

Summer Retreat 2013

Tahlequah, Oklahoma is known for being the Capital of the Cherokee Nation, town of Northeastern State University, and home to Sam and Ella’s Chicken Palace where Carrie Underwood worked as a waitress . . . lesser known is that Tahlequah is a hot spot for creativity.  For me anyway- It is one of the places where I go for creative group play. 

This past weekend six of the nine members of my critique group (The Inklings) gathered to exchange manuscripts and encouragement. If true innovation is the combination of work and play that explains why our group gets so energized when we get together.  The Inklings are diverse in age, stage, background, and writing- AND we accept and enjoy each other.  If you were a chicken in the backyard (no exaggeration) peeking through the window you would have observed  us: reading silently with a critical/compassionate eye, laughing (a lot), giving feedback, taking notes, exchanging recipes and ideas, eating, drinking caffeinated drinks, and collaborating.  In a perfect world for me this would happen more often.  We actually meet once a month for regular critique but about two times a year we have this kind of magical-leisurely-productive-writerly jam session. 

If you are a writer and feeling a wee bit jealous about my weekend fun come join me in May when many of us writers leave our solitary writing cubicles to venture to the annual Oklahoma Writer’s Federation, Inc. (OWFI) conference in OKC.  This conference sparks incredible surges of group creativity, it is also where I met and joined the Inklings. Every year OWFI hosts fabulous author and agent speakers, from Oklahoma to New York City and many states in between- offering a range of genre, topics, perspective, and experience.  The extended time of a weekend allows people to leave their comfort zone and mix and mingle, exchanging ideas and business cards, and igniting that creative mojo. 

Whether you are interested in increasing your creativity in the kitchen, with your children, or at work- don’t skip the step about playing with others  . . . look for a class, conference, or PTO task force to meet people who  share your passion, and develop those relationships while you  nurture your creative spirit. 

Want to read more about creativity in Oklahoma? Please check out Oklahoma Women Bloggers.  This month they are all about "start" and I am one of the featured writers.  

Creativity: Walking the Walk

Lake Tenkiller/ Fall 2013

There is such a thing as being "too busy." We all have an ongoing list of to do items-but without breaks- we can get into a rut in our thinking. In addition to the demands of work; the cell phone buzzes, the dog wants out, dinner must be prepared . . . Interruptions and multitasking create a stress that inhibits free thinking.  Although we are human beings, our lifestyle is why we sometimes just feel like "human doings."  So what is a struggling creative to do?  Let your mind wander- take a walk.

In Julia Cameron’s landmark book The Artists Way (1992), she suggests the elements of encouraging your creative self as a combination of discipline (write three pages every day), inspiration (schedule artist’s dates regularly), and as a P.S. she advises we walk.  Why walk?

In 2012 researchers from the University of Utah and the University of Kansas were curious to see if gentle nature experiences could restore attention from the interruptive demands of technology in everyday life. Their subjects were outward bound backpackers and no cell phones were allowed throughout the experiment. One group was administered a creativity test at the beginning of the trail, the other group took it four days into their hike. The second group (4 days in) scored 50% higher on the creativity measure.  A lead researcher noted that the distractions and technological stimulation of ordinary life pose a threat: 

“They sap our resources to do the fun thinking and cognition that humans are capable of—things like creativity, or being kind and generous, along with our ability to feel good and be in a positive mood.”

In our typical week we won’t have four days to increase our creativity but even a brief walk away from our to-do lists (and our cell phones) gives our mind a chance to wander. On my weekend walk with Suki I noticed the temperature, wind, birds, distant chatter, skateboarders, and the smell of barbecue grills. I just don’t get that in my writing space or at work.

Time Square/Spring 2012

Writer/visual artist Maira Kalman describes her walks through Manhattan as an intentional "creative device. In an interview by "Brain Pickings she credits the changing visual field and even the gait of other walkers as helping her tune into her feeling state and literally step away from the thinking state.

Wherever we choose to walk, the changed sensory experience can clear our mind clutter--paving the way for original ideas and restored mental attitude. It alters the rhythm of our life just enough to change the patterns of our thoughts.When creativity matters--there is no such thing as wasted time!