Like A Magnificent Museum

The internet - it’s like a magnificent museum with endless choices of viewing material. I can peruse folk art, learn about politics, visit foreign countries, see amazing landscapes, and on and on.

AN ORNAMENT I MADE FROM DRYER LINT

I MADE THIS TO HOLD SPECIAL THINGS

MY PURPLE ARGYLE TABLE RUG

A WEE JACKET I MADE FOR ADELINE

MY CROW MADE FROM OLD SWEATERS

My favorite pastime is to look at all the wonderful art, especially fiber art. OMG! I love it! But I'm not sure how much I want to look at it anymore. 

Lately, I find myself choosing NOT to look at art, especially my kind of art, online. 

So much of what’s out there in WebLand is wonderful, but looking at it has at least two negative effects:

I GAVE NICOLE POLKA DOT "STOCKINGS"

1) I feel overwhelmed by how wonderful everyone else is and then I lose faith in my own work.

2) My head gets so filled up with all those images that it is like a garden full of weeds that you have to get rid of in order to find the tomatoes ... my own vision gets lost, or smothered by all those other images.

MY QUIRKY, TWIRLY MAKE-DOs

And, I'll add 3) I really dislike it when I see something that I might make but once I see it from someone else, I worry that I'll seem like I am copying. So then I never pursue it myself.

Oh, and 4) Sometimes I see something that I know is a copy of something I've made and that's a tad annoying. 

 
 

My Favorite Eggplant Dish

Ingredients

  • purple Japanese eggplant

  • mozzarella

  • small tomatoes

  • one-two eggs, whisked

  • Italian breadcrumbs

  • basil - chopped fresh or dried

  • olive oil

Note

You don't have to do all that salting and pressing that the big Italian eggplant seems to require. But, you will pay more for the Japanese eggplant.

eggplant ingredients

I’ve mentioned my eggplant addiction before and several of you asked me to share my recipe. So, now is as good a time as any. It’s very easy, although there is a certain amount of effort required to do the prep work. Actually, that’s not necessarily true. It’s true for me because I make a lot of small helpings at once and then I eat one every day for as long as they last! 

peeling the eggplant
dip the eggplant in egg

Peel the eggplant and slice it. Make the slices about 3/4" thick. Dredge them in egg and Italian flavored breadcrumbs. Spread the slices on baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.

eggplant on baking sheet
chopping tomatoes and mozzarella

While the eggplant slices bake, chop the tomatoes and the mozzarella. To assemble, put a few tablespoons of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, then a slice of eggplant, then tomatoes, mozzarella, and more sauce. Sprinkle with basil. Repeat this layer and then, if you like mozzarella the way I do, add a lot of it to the very top of the dish. 

Note: I used to advise lining the baking dish with tin foil, for easy clean-up. Thanks to Julia’s comment (below) I no longer do that - and you shouldn’t either!

layering the eggplant ingredients

If you want to save the dish for later, add the lid and pop it in the fridge - or even the freezer. But, if you must have some right away, then cover with tin foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes. 

eggplant ready to save for later
eggplant fresh out of the oven
 
eggplant dinner
 

It might look like a sloppy mess to you, but it is so delicious! If you make it, let me know how it turns out! One more thing - brush a wee bit of olive oil on the plate before adding the eggplant, once again for the sake of easier cleaning - that mozzarella can really stick to an untreated plate!