Squam, The creative classes

Tart and photograph by Susan Grant

When one attends "Squam" one does not necessarily need to do anything. You can sit on the dock, sleep, go hiking. You don't have to attend any of the classes you signed up for. But if you decide not to attend one or any of the classes you would be missing out. Missing out on creative energy from the other participants or the creative connection you may make with the person sitting next to you or across the table.

When you register for Squam, you submit a list of classes, in order of preference, of those you wish to participate in. You will have the opportunity to participate in three classes. There were about 30 different types of classes I had to choose from. It wasn't difficult to choose. I new right away I wanted to participate in the food styling and photography class, being taught by Helene Dujardin of the blog Tartelette. I have been following Helene's blog for about a year. Her photographs are beautiful. Her stories funny, warm, touching and always enjoyable! It's where I learned of "Squam". I signed up for two classes taught by Helene. I am glad I did. Because we didn't have much time the first day to photograph with natural light due to rain. The second day we were much more fortunate.

In both classes we baked in the morning and photographed what we made in the afternoon. Day one was savory tarts. You could make a dry or wet tart, in any shape, with any of the ingredients that were available in the kitchen. We all made the same dough.  No two tarts were the same. I chose to make a wet tart (aka quiche), in a rectangle shape. The filling was made of eggs, bacon, asparagus, minced onion, chopped red pepper, mozzarella cheese, salt, black pepper, parsley, cilantro, and thyme.

My savory tart getting ready to go into the oven.

The tart at the top of this photo is spinach, ricotta tart
topped with zucchini and tomatoes, using a flower shaped tart pan.

Here is a photo of my quiche straight out of the oven. Clearly no food styling occurred!

Below are three of my favorite photos of my quiche.

This is my favorite photo. I like all the straight lines.

Day two we baked scones. This item was more up my alley: it was something sweet. We all made the same dough for the scones. Once again we chose our "flavor's" based on the ingredients available. I chose to make chocolate raspberry scones as well as a rosemary lemon scone. A few of the other flavor combinations made by the other participants were ginger apricot, pear ginger, and raspberry lemon.

Chocolate raspberry scones, fresh out of the oven.

Favorite photo of the chocolate raspberry scones.

Favorite photo of the rosemary lemon scones. This photo
was taken with a 35 mm film camera!

The third class I participated in was titled "Knitting Salon". Knitting was no where to be seen on my list of class choices. I had not chosen knitting. What was I going to do?

I thought about contacting "Squam" and requesting a change. But I didn't want to be the unsatisfied customer. The class description said you could bring your own supplies or there would be supplies to available to purchase the day of the class. Was I going to bring my own or wait to see what was available the day of?

I emailed the class teacher, asking what was she bringing to sell. The response wasn't any help because I don't know one type of yarn from another. I was still in my predicament! I decided to bring my own supplies and pattern.

On my way out of town, I stopped at the local yarn/knitting shop to make my purchase of supplies. I went in with a list of the knitting needles I have had for many, many years. I asked for a project that was for a beginner and could be made with one of the size needles on my list. I left with a pattern for a knitted scarf with a cable down the center and two skeins of yarn. Cascade 220 to be exact. It's the type of yarn called for in the pattern I chose. It's a 100% peruvian wool. It's soft and it's orange. I was starting to get excited about the knitting project!

I made good progress during my morning class:

And I was making good progress since I've returned from vacation. That is until earlier this week. Something happened. I am not sure how the initial error was made. I should have left it alone until I could get to a knitting expert. But I didn't. I tried to fix it. I made it worse, and worse, and worse. I am going today to a knitting clinic. I am hoping for the best; that they can fix whatever happened and I don't lose any of the work I have completed. I am also hoping that the worse thing to happen is I lose only 10 rows of completed work.  I am praying that I don't have to start at the beginning! Whatever the outcome, I will finish the scarf. I'm in no hurry. It's summer. It's hot. There is no need for a wool scarf for a few months.

squam :: creativity as a way of life

Squam is a lake, a gathering, a community. In essence, squam is hopeful, open-hearted and passionately committed to having fun, being goofy, diving in, singing out, and seeking beauty in our daily life. In a sense, the word squam came to mean a gathering of people who love all things creative, who care about being true to themselves, and who savor time spent in the beauty of a natural environment. That is what is says on their website. It's the truth. Read more here: Squam Art Workshops

I experienced my first "Squam" June 6-10 2012. I wasn't sure what to expect. Now I find myself not knowing how to describe my experience. How I found out about Squam, what I experienced, and what I created while there will be in the next posting. In the meantime here is a look at the environment.

Photo taken by Canon T50 35 mm film camera

Sheltering Pines dock at sunset

Dock at Greenwood Lodge

Morning Dew

The setting for an evening performance by Jonatha Brooke
Jonatha Brooke

Posted by Maya Donenfeld at the entrance to her Botanical Printing class
Maya

A Busy Winter Baking and Making

I am little behind in posting all of things I baked and cooked during the winter months! So I thought I would create one post with all that I baked and made. Some of the things I made were not edible. No not that kind of inedible. You'll see....

In November, I attended a class at The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts where we learned how to make gnocchi. There were ten of us; we paired up and chose between different recipes. I chose the basic gnocchi recipe It is a gorgonzola, marscapone, and pecan sauce you see on it. It was very good!

Potato Gnocchi with Gorgonzola, Pecans, and Mascarpone

In November I also decoupaged my white pumpkin. The white pumpkin was just too plain for me. So I jazzed it up. What do you think?

When was the last time you used Mod Podge?

December was Christmas cookie time. I chose to make Russian Teacakes, Gingerbread Snowflakes, and Espresso Crinkles. The express crinkles were delicious!

Gingerbread Snowflakes, Russian Teacakes, Espresso Crinkles

Also in December I went to a Gingerbread Birdhouse decorating class at Marmalade, a cute little shop in Belmont center. I would have never guessed I would have left with a pink gingerbread birdhouse. But it felt right as I was creating it.

When was the last time you used a glue gun?

Another fun event at Marmalade; wreath making. I chose to make the fresh cranberry wreath.

Cayenne Truffles and Chocolate Chip Cookies for February...

Cayenne Truffles

Best eaten when warm!

I painted this in February....I went to The Paint Bar. You are guided through the painting by an instructor. Quite fun!

I have been trying to incorporate more grains into my diet. It was time to try farro. I have never been a soup person. But I found a soup recipe containing farro that looked good. So I gave it a try. It is called Zuppa di Farro. Maybe it was the pancetta that made it so delicious! Give it a try!

Zuppa di Farro

I didn't make or bake anything in March worth writing about. But I did go to The Elephant Walk. A french cambodian restaurant in Cambridge. If you ever get the chance you must go. The food is delicious. My favorite dish is poullet au citron!

The caramel chocolate tart was just sweet enough.

Well that does it. I am all caught up with what I have been making and baking. I hope you are inspired to give farro a try, get a bottle of Mod Podge or pull out that glue gun and create!

Sweet Olive Oil Quick Bread

Quick Bread:
Bread that is quick to make because it doesn't require kneading or rising time. That's because the LEAVENER in such a bread is usually baking powder or baking soda, which, when combined with moisture, starts the rising process immediately. In the case of double-acting baking powder, oven heat causes a second burst of rising power. Eggs can also be used to leaven quick breads. This genre includes most BISCUITS, MUFFINS, POPOVERS and a wide variety of sweet and savory loaf breads.

This month's Daring Baker's Challenge was Quick Breads. I chose to make a Sweet Olive Oil Quick Bread. There are just a few ingredients in quick breads. The ingredients in the bread I made included lemon zest, extra virgin olive oil, sultana raisins (golden raisins), sugar, flour, eggs, milk, and pine nuts. The recipe called for baking powder as the leavener.

Combine the dry ingredients, combine the wet ingredients; combine wet into dry, mix well. 

Add lemon zest and raisins, mix well. Pour into a buttered loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with pine nuts. If you lightly toast the pine nuts before placing them on top of the batter, you will add a toasted nut element to the flavor. I would also recommend pressing the pine nuts ever so slightly into the batter. If you do, the pine nuts will stay on the bread. I kept losing pine nuts when slicing the bread.

I wasn't quiet sure what the flavor and texture would be once baked and completely cooled. I was pleasantly surprised. The bread was moist and tender. It wasn't sweet or savory. It was both!

This bread took 10 minutes to mix, 60 minutes to bake. It is a light, tasty treat anytime of day.