Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts

Monday, April 2, 2012

Ladies from Asian Myth #2: Yuki Onna

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Yuki Onna

colored pencil, metallic pencil, marker, prismacolor blender

© 2012 by A. Dameron 

 

Yuki Onna is a spirit in Japanese folklore. She appears as a woman wearing a white kimono on snowy nights. The stories vary: sometimes she is a vampire, draining the life force from men. Other times, she takes the lives of unlucky travelers who freeze to death in the cold. Still other times, she represents the silence of the winter. In any case, if you see her in the night, prepare yourself for a one-way journey to the hereafter.

Ladies from Asian Myth #2: Yuki Onna

Yuki_onna

Yuki Onna

colored pencil, metallic pencil, marker, prismacolor blender

© 2011 by A. Dameron 

 

Yuki Onna is a spirit in Japanese folklore. She appears as a woman wearing a white kimono on snowy nights. The stories vary: sometimes she is a vampire, draining the life force from men. Other times, she takes the lives of unlucky travelers who freeze to death in the cold. Still other times, she represents the silence of the winter. In any case, if you see her in the night, prepare yourself for a one-way journey to the hereafter.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Stuck at home...what now?

They're predicting ice/sleet/cold rain tomorrow here in Charlotte. The storm that's hammered the Midwest is heading here. My friend in Miami tweeted that it's too COLD down there. I think Mother Nature's thermostat is broken and she needs someone to come in and repair it. I've never been a fan of cold weather; we moved farther south to get AWAY from it.

My house sits on top of a hill in our neighborhood. We really didn't plan it that way; it just happened. On the good side, we don't have much of a flooding problem when it rains heavily, since water runs downhill. When that water freezes into ice, though, it's impossible to get down the street, much less the housing development. I've actually watched people slip-slide down the hill or try to make it up and fail miserably. During the winter storm of 2002, my husband jokingly called our house "The Fortress of Solitude".

He had a point. The first day of ice is beautiful. The second, third and fourth days aren't. Cabin fever sets in...and the millionth Christmas movie or rendition of "Let's Clap Hands for Santa Claus" drives me nuts. That's when you stock up on hot chocolate, board games, crayons and paper. Take your camera and shoot pictures that will never come again. Spend time with family, snuggled up under blankets and next to the space heater.

And hope that the Groundhog doesn't seen his shadow and spring comes early this year.



All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

Monday, December 13, 2010

John Scharffenberger's Classic Drinking Chocolate

This recipe is from The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg.©2006 by Hyperion Books, New York NY. Scharffenberger is a chocolate/candy making company.

Classic Drinking Chocolate (serves 6-12). This can be made ahead of time, but keep in mind that the spices intensify over time.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups whole milk
4 ounces 99% unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it's hot to the touch. Whisk in the chocolate and sugar ad continue whisking for 1-2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Whisk in the vanilla, the cinnamon, and the cayenne. Reduce the heat to low. The chocolate will thicken as it sits.

For a lighter, airy consistency, remove the hot chocolate from the heat and mix with a hand blender on low speed just before serving. Or make ahead and use the frother of an espresso machine to reheat it. Individual servings can be topped with frothed milk.

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010