A Trip to Nashville to Conclude the Semester

This past weekend, my parents came to visit me all the way from Los Angeles. It was a great trip, and one that turned into an arts & crafts experience in itself! We decided to make a day trip up to Nashville, IN, the historic arts colony located in Brown County. While I was there, I did a lot of reflecting about this past semester and the multiple things we learned that related to the trip I went on.

Everything in this town was unique. There were very few brand name stores, and even those were separate from the rest of the cute, little town. Stores varied from clothing, jewelry, art, food, and even some more unusal sights, such as a store where you could mine for your own gold. Each one of these stores were very personable. At one story that sold trinkets, clothing and shoes, we overheard the cashier talking to an older lady, and it was very noticeable that they had known each other for quite some time just from multiple interactions in the store. It was things like that really stood out to me - having a patron be so appreciative of what an artist does.

A lot of these places also showed artists on the job. The first store my parents and I walked into was a glass-blowing store, and it instantly reminded me of the film Glas that we watched the first week of class. The owner was sitting behind a desk, and creating a piece of art by himself. It was not machined based, but rather artist based. The same goes for a local candy store, in which they made the fudge right in the shop. It was so interesting to watch these artists do what they do, and then watch them interact with their patrons.

This trip definitely seemed like the right way to end my semester in this class. We have been constantly learning about the importance of arts and crafts, and why people do what they do. It goes the same for our By Hand projects - it is all about learning why we do want we want to do. We learn and grow, and in turn create beautiful pieces of work that are either just for display, or are for functional purposes. My trip to Nashville definitely reminded me why it is so important to learn about arts and crafts, and how it affects people on a day-to-day basis.

Relevance to Kingslover

This week, instead of talking about my scrapbook, I decided I would use my blog as an opportunity to relate our current reading to my final paper, which is about gender roles in cooking. In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Kingslover does not necessarily talk about gender roles, but a lot of the stuff I am reading can be seen as a way that has influenced cooking in the present, and soon to be in the future.

One thing I find particularly interesting, and something I hope we have the opportunity to discuss in class, is how in most of the chapters, Kingslover ends by having a recipe relevant to what is discussed in that coinciding chapter. For example, in chapter 6, "The Birds and The Bees," she ends with a recipe for Chicken Recuerdos de Tuscon, a chicken dish using free-range chicken and fresh vegetables. I love how she is able to take the topic of the chapter, starting a chicken business, and create a recipe out of it. I find that so exciting about cooking, because it shows you can make a recipe out of anything as long as you are creative about it.

Personally, I really like the book a lot. I find it fascinating to learn about organic and safe farming and gardening. It makes me want to start buying products that are organic and free-range, because they are the safer and healthier alternative. I hope I can find a way to tie this into my final paper, because I feel like there is a lot to be said about this book and its relevance to cooking.