One of my favourite columnists in “The Australian” is demographer Bernard Salt.   Many of his articles are based on observations and analysis of Australian census data, and you can tell which section of the recent census he’s been analysing.  Other articles are on his interesting observations of collective human behavior and social trends in modern Australia; and a recent article on restaurant menus contends that the social aspirations of its clients are reflected in menu’s style.  Although published last month, somehow I missed it and only read it just recently, as it happens just after my first experience with a restaurant menu on a digital tablet.   After being seated at a restaurant table, we were each handed a small iPad – a tablet I guess, I’m a bit behind in the technology department, a late adopter you might say.  Anyway the whole menu was on it!  Bernard would have loved how it took social pretension to a rather more sophisticated level.  You could select whatever language you wanted – and as Australians and Brasilians were present, and all speak at least some Spanish, we agreet to have the waiter give the nightly specials in that.

As a late IT adopter, I had to be shown how to select a menu section of an item from a group, click twice and then scroll from side to side, but I got the hang of it easily enough.   Each menu item was photographed in colour with descriptions in Spanish and the chosen alternative language.  I noticed the photos really matched up very well with what we each received on our plates.  Great use of technology.   One thing I did find a little unsettling was that you couldn’t run your eye down the whole menu and get a feel for the total offering that night; there was no little ‘specials tonight’ slip tucked somewhere to let us know that the chef found particular foods either great quality of great value at that morning’s markets…

The restaurant not being very close to where we live, we hadn’t been there in a year or more, despite the interesting blend of European and Asian cuisines with lots of herbs and spices,  creative presentation and good value.  The owner-chef’s a creative man indeed – a Uruguayan returned home, bringing  influences from his world travels with him.  It’s a nice alternative to the most common menu of parilla, the marvelous bbq-d meat found everywhere in this part of the world.  The Uruguayan national palette is very bland, so although the food is nearly always tender and  wholesome, it’s never spicy, hot or creatively assembled on the plate.  Typical Uruguayan restaurant menus are gradually including or even giving way to creative changes, exactly equal to changes in dining out when I was a young thing: we were usually offered soup of the day, roast of the day, followed by jelly and icecream or tinned fruit salad and cream. (it was Tasmania in the mid ’60’s, after all)  Australian restaurant far and indeed peope’s home cooking is very interesting these days.

  A really delicious little cup of soup was a starter we all had – pumpkin with onion prolly, definitely banana, ground fresh ginger, and, um, not sure what else  – I have no recipe to pass on, just a nice idea, but I’m sure you can google something like it and experiment with the flavours.  We’ve managed to produce something like it here at home.

Following what I  did with the silver samples last week, I have begun a new work.  It’s to hang it in a particular small room here at home, so its not likely to go on exhibition, so no need to be secretive about it.   I’m loving the reflective depth so far, and plan some more bonded slivers, once I decide whether or not to do a round or two of machine stitching at this stage then bond over the top of that stitching later; so I’m needing just another little sample or two to see what the effect of that is.  I plan machine quilting with silver metallic thread – a huge cone has been sitting here several years waiting for something to grace with its presence.

You know how I love glitter!

And last week, while strolling around the barrio Independencia in Santiago de Chile on a fabric shop crawl with Suzie and her friend Gladys, I was stopped in my tracks by this shiny silver fabric which seems to be mylar bonded to black ripstop nylon.  Now I’m not sure what anyone would do with it – make a stunning windproof jacket perhaps – the guy in the shop just sells the remnant rolls and doesn’t have any info beyond basic fibre composition.  If I lived in Santiago, I’d have bought the minimum cut, which was 2m in that shop, taken it home, played with it and gone back for more if I liked what it did.  Since I was leaving the next morning, I just bought the rest of the bolt, all 8m, as you can’t go wrong  at US$3/m, and brought it home.  I had to hand carry it, no room in my small bag – and it was heavy!  Of course, if there had been gold there too, I’d have bought a major amount of that as well !

This afternoon I played with this exciting fabric, and thought you’d be interested to see the results, all assembled here in this pic:

At the top LH corner is a piece which has had a pink strip inserted and sewn down with silver metallic machine stitching – it buckles quite a bit even on low iron. Beside that is a strip that has been bonded on with Steam’a’Seam 2 – great result, I love it, and did some stitching at the edge – raw edge applique – it could fray in time without that.  or even come loose, of course.

The next sample is  a little go at using it as a bolded corner binding – I’m very pleased with this result, though who knows if I’ll ever use it – but hey, I have plenty, even after having given a little to Suzie and Gladys to play with!

Next is a sliver bonded onto cream nylon organza with fabric folded over it, and silver machine stitching.  Interesting potential.

The next two pics I really like for their potential:

Silver bonded onto black cotton – holds strongly, enhanced with silver stitching.

And in this piece the same shiny silver strips were bonded onto black organza.  It curled a bit, but that’s not necessarily a negative – it could be a lovely effect – and then a layer of black organza was added over the top.  Silver stitching outlines the shapes.  Something made with this kind of construction would meet the technical parameters of  ‘a quilt’.

One thing that has been on my mind is the very large cone of silver thread I’d had kicking around for a while, make that years, to be honest. Psychologically I am drawn to gold first, then other glitter.  I also really hope my expression of interest in the SAQA 25th anniversary exhibition, theme silver, will be successful!  but even if it isn’t – this silver was irresistible, and I am working on ways to include it in some of my works.  Next time I’m up in the US, I’ll look around for a gold equivalent.

Well that’s the old fashioned phrase that came to mind when my new textile friend, Suzie Hammond, explained this lovely looking piece of furniture in her Santiago de Chile home last week.  She found it in a part of Santiago where interesting antiques abound, and restored the timber finish and replaced the upholstery.  As her husband Carl is a musician – piano and other signs of that are everywhere – I just assumed it was a piano stool with storage – the back was almost lost in some plants so that didn’t register too strongly to make me question my impression.

Suzie told me, it certainly is a chair but not especially comfortable to sit in; and the seat does raise up to store something but only some papers or some sizes of sheet music; and the flip over back is actually an ironing table – that technically works but it does slope a bit and isn’t very good to use, either !   Goodness, I wonder who thought up that combination !! and what on earth do you call it – an ironing board with storage seat? or a seat with storage and attached ironing board? 

One of my favourite columnists in our national daily, “The Australian”, is demographer Bernard Salt.   Many of his articles are based on observations and analysis of Australian census data, and you can tell which section of the recent census he’s been analysing.  Other articles are on his interesting observations of collective human behavior and social trends in modern Australia; and a recent article on styles of restaurant menus revealing social aspirations of its patrons was particularly pointed. (sorry, the whole article’s only available to subscribers)  Although published last month, somehow I missed it and only read it this morning,  and that happened to follow my first experience with a restaurant menu on a digital tablet thingy.  My trendier readers prolly smile that I am so far behind the times that this use of technology was new to me.

Bernard’s article made me think of a family member who message texts enthusiastically and frequently, but the only word she ever abbreviates is ‘you’ – and yes, it’s always to ‘u’ !!!  I can hear her voice in my mind whenever I read something from her, so even in a text ‘u’ always sounds like and awkward stop in the flow of what she’s saying – face to face she just talks normally, and that’s an interesting effect.

Writing one of my occasional fan emails to Bernard, I said:   “I want to mention another menu phenomenon a group of us came across only just last night, here in Montevideo, Uruguay.  After being seated at a restaurant, we were each handed a small iPad – a tablet I guess, I’m a bit behind in the technology department, a late adopter you might say.  Anyway the whole menu was on it!  Bernard, you’d have loved it – pretension taken to a slightly more sophisticated level.  You could select whatever language you wanted – and as Australians and Brasilians were present, and all speak at least some Spanish, we agreet to have the waiter give the nightly specials in that.

My menu experiences to date had been confined to the infinite variations on the written of printed format, (w/wo plastic sleeves and binders, including blackboards and the verbally delivered take it/leave it limited choice in some places.  As a late adopter, I had to be shown how to select a menu section of an item from a group, click twice and then scroll from side to side, but I got the hand of it easily enough.   Each menu item was photographed in colour with descriptions in Spanish and the chosen alternative language.  I noticed the photos really matched up very well with what we each received on our plates.  Great use of technology.   One thing I did find a little unsettling was that you couldn’t run your eye down the whole menu and get a feel for the total offering that night; there was no little ‘tonight’s specials’ slip tucked somewhere to let us know that the chef found particular foods either great quality or great value at the markets..

Now we had been there before, but over a year or more ago.  We’d liked the interesting cuisine with European and Asian influences, lots of herbs and spices, and creative presentation plus good value.  It’s still like that.  The owner/chef’s a creative man indeed – a Uruguayan returned home, bringing  influences from his world travels with him.  It’s a nice alternative to the most common menu here of parilla, the marvelous bbq-d meat found everywhere in this part of the world.  The national palette is very bland, so although the food is tender and  wholesome, it’s never spicy, hot or creatively assembled on the plate.  I think it’s the culinary and historical equivalent to dining out when I was a young thing – we were usually offered soup of the day, roast of the day, followed by jelly and icecream of tinned fruit salad and cream. (it was Tasmania in the mid ’60’s, after all)

In addition to the actual offerings, the e-menus conformed that this particular restaurant is indeed in an upscale neighbourhood, patronized by people with aspirations or who already have their point up on the  board.  It’s not our local neighbourhood, but I wouldn’t ben surprised to find at least one of our local eateries going that way, and must ask the trendies in my circle who are up with the latest and still eat out a great deal. As the cost of dining out here rises as it does everywhere else, we’re more often choosing to eat in than dine out.

  A really delicious little cup of soup was a starter we all had – pumpkin with onion prolly, definitely banana, ground fresh ginger, and, um, not sure what else  – I have no recipe to pass on, just a nice idea, but I’m sure you can google something like it and experiment with the flavours.  We’re having version #1 for dinner this evening 🙂