by Musette

On Friday, Nava asked if any of us noticed the subtle change in the weather, with slightly shorter days and that strange shift in the blue of the sky..I’ve felt it for the past 2 weeks or so and lay blame on the insane heat of  late June – July,  incessant 100+F, drought-plagued days and nights.  A sudden cooling rain, followed by a drop in temps to the mid-80s  now has me thinking Autumn…weird, but true.  Remember when August was the Dog Days of Summer?  Well August is the New Fall, baby.  You heard it here first.

So what did my autumn-turning mind turn to, when the temps dipped into the frigid 80s?  I went to Amouage Ubar.   I got a  bottle of the original in the last Swapmania and it was sitting right in front on the shelf and I was curious.  I had a little sample of current Ubar from Luckyscent but to be honest, I’d done that Maggot Broth thing I do, where I just Make Stuff Up – and apropos of nothing decided that Ubar was a masculine and I would get to it when I got to it.

Okay.  Not saying a man couldn’t wear Ubar – it’s just that he would have to fight me to the death for it.  Both the original and the current are gorgeous.  I was too lazy  having difficulties coming up with definitive notes on the original, so I went to the incredibly charming and gracious Christopher Chong (yet another Maggot Broth Moment, where I just assumed he would be difficult to reach and haughty when I did reach him.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  So delightful to chat with!  Ubar, Marketing, roses, how do you hold a moonbeam in your hand…..I could’ve yakked with him for hours, even though he promises there will never be a Tribute Attar cream (sob!)…but I digress…

On to Ubar!  Ubar was a long-lost, fabled (and fabulously wealthy) city  located on the overland incense trail.  According to legend it was the Arabian version of Sodom and Gomorrah – destroyed by God for bad doin’s, it became the Atlantis of the Sands.  Well, bad doin’s or not, the original perfume conjures an aura of ancient luxe, lush life in the Arabian desert, with incense-scented silken draperies opening onto carefully cultivated roses and citrus trees surrounding splashing fountains in jealously guarded, high-walled gardens.  A veritable oasis.

Bergamot, lemon, lily of the valley, damascene rose, jasmine, civet, vanilla – those are the notes of the current Ubar.  It’s a much warmer and softer version and….don’t bite me!  I might just like it a tad more than the original (no, I have not been podded – I said “I might’.  We’ll see…)  Christopher Chong says there is more focus in the floral heart in the new one, which is probably what I’m attracted to.  I get a lot more incense-y sandalwood in the original.  Robin compares the original to sandalwood fragrance decorated with a few flowers…and I agree.  The reformulation focuses more on the rose.    I don’t overlove rose but Amouage has such a way with it….witness how they ripped my soul to shreds with the vaunted Tribute Attar.

But sharper or smoother, both are absolutely gorgeous.  Originally I wrote that ” The notes say ‘summer’  in reference to both iterations but I slept on it (and in both) and came up with this instead:  the reformulation has the brightness of an early summer day  but the original reminds me of fresh-picked, tangy cider apples and peaches ready for canning (yeah, me in my Manolos, canning peaches).  Original Ubar doesn’t smell like those things – it smells like what those things mean – the early advent of Autumn, when the roses are full-blown and the peaches are ripe and ready for picking, as I did this very afternoon.  It’s still summer…but it’s the heartbreaking beauty of a mature summer.  The roses are abloom behind the walls of the oasis…but the first nip of autumn leaves just a touch of lacy rust on the velvet petals.  New Ubar is a soft Summer day.  Original heralds the Fall.

source:  Original (mine own, my preciousssss), current: Luckyscent sample

Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about food on this blog. Patty’s incredible raw pizza.  Tom’s trip to the Fountain.  My green curry, fresh from the garden.

I started thinking about Life a few days ago – silly little things like Trash Day beget that kind of reverie.  Every Tuesday is Trash Day around here – and there’s a certain comfort in that kind of ritual…but there’s also a melancholy.  Each Tuesday is a Tuesday I will not get back – and at my age I have more behind me than ahead of me.  I was making my mother’s corn pudding (aka ‘fried corn’) on Sunday when the melancholy hit me.   What will become of all these recipes’?  My memories?   All the people who do love these recipes are my age and our kids couldn’t care less…..sad…

And then I thought of you guys – each with your own precious memories.  And so many of them revolve around food.  Let’s face it, perfumistas are, first and foremost, hedonists.  We love scents and sensations, with a huge overlap into food and drink – you don’t have to go any further than a Facebook perfume group to see that.  There’s always some photo of something scrumptious on one of those pages.   I want those dishes.  All. Of. Them.  Preferably I would be borne on a silken barge to the preparer’s house, where there would be a lavish spread..  yeah, uh….phone hasn’t been ringing peeople!  So. in lieu of that I would be happy with the recipe.

I thought it might be fun to share some of those favorite recipes with each other.  There are so many of us, with such diverse tastes – and every time I hear of some wonderful dish or cocktail my mouth waters – so why not share them with each other?  Here’s what I want to do:  I’mo post my Mamita’s Fried Corn recipe here – but for the rest of you, you can either leave a recipe in the comments or   1.  drop a comment telling what you are thinking of sharing…then, when you have a minute, drop the recipe off at chicocoascentsationATgmail.  In about a month I will gather all of them together and put them in a Posse Taste Book and link everybody to it.  Whatever the recipe:  any sort of food or drink….a perfume concotion….whatever tickles your fancy.  Submit as many or as few as you like.  I will not be editing – I am simply compiling (will do so by ‘type’ apps, main dishes, desserts, etc)

Here’s the Fried Corn Recipe:

1 doz ears fresh corn, shucked and washed

2T unsalted butter (though my mom used Imperial Margerine – hey, it was 1960!)

2T canola oil

1 yellor onion, minced (actually just chop it fine – don’t make yourself crazy)

1 medium clove garlic, chopped fine

Salt,pepper to taste

Equipment:

A large-hole grater

A large skillet.

Okay – that’s the easy part.

Take 6 ears, cut the kernels off the ears.  reserve the cobs.

Take the other 6 ears, cut the kernels – but cut them only halfway off (in other words, slice lightly rather than deeply into the cob – the whole point of these 6 is to retain as much of the ‘milk’ as possible)

once you get all the kernels cut, take the cobs and grate the rest of the corn ‘meat’ into the kernel bowl – the first six won’t be as milky as the following 6 – at the end you should have something resembling kernel-y slush.

melt the butter into the oil in the skillet, add the onion – cook for about 1 minute or so (just to get it settled in there) add the garlic.  Cook for another minute or so.  Oil/butter mixture should be lightly bubbling.  Add the corn mixture.  Turn to medium-low.  Cook for about 20 minutes, covered.  Uncover, stir, cook another 30 minutes on medium low.  Finish cooking on low, covered, about 40 minutes more (this is a slow-cook dish).  Check to make sure it’s not scorching on the bottom (though some like the scorched bits – I’m not one of those folks).  Stir every now and then.

Corn mixture should thicken on its own – taste for doneness (do NOT ask me – you will know when it’s done – if you have it on low you don’t have to worry – whole cooking time is about 1.5 hrs, thereabouts.  I like to cook it sloooow.  Seems to keep the freshness and sweetness intact).  Salt/pepper to taste.

I’ll throw a couple more in the hoppa once I start getting yours – I know a lot of you have asked about the brownies I made for the Chicocoa Scentsation  – I’ll submit that one.  My friend Francine has given me her vaunted Francine’s Potatoes – and even though it’s over 100 degrees here, I would almost be willing to fire up the oven, these sound so incredible.

So drop a line here! Don’t forget – anything is game for this collection – if you are not a cook and you want to submit some other type of recipe, that’s fine.    I did this once for a book community and someone submitted a recipe for PAPER!  Tres cool!

xoxoxoxoA

by Musette

I’m writing this in the waning Sunday morning for Wednesday’s post.

I’ve been an Urban Baby for most of my life.  Water out of the tap (Chicago -  flat-rate, pretty cheap).  AC everywhere, even when I don’t want it.  Public trans, working in all but the most ridiculous temperatures.  Weather was more about making sure I always had  a sweater, since there is always a 50F temperature difference between inside and out.

Then I moved to the suburbs and things got a little weirder.  No real public trans and larger spaces between amenities.   Water was way more expensive – I learned about rainbarrels -  and in the winter, if you’re smart, you keep a pair of boots in your car (and a hat) ‘just in case’ – but hey, it’s the ‘burbs.  How bad could it be?  Your car breaks down, Triple A will be there in a few minutes.  Pretty simple. 
Now I’m in the country.  Real country.  Well, I’m’ in town’ , such as it is, – but a block away, town ends.  For reals.  Water costs more than gas, the source is not abundant and only the Truly Stupid waste it.  Out here, weather is not to be disrespected.  We’ve been in drought for a month, with 90F temps.  Ground completely parched.  That dusty, hot radiator smell that says nature is doing its best to hold on – but it ain’t lookin’ that good.  Rain barrels totally dry (800 gals goes faster than I could’ve imagined).  Capturing every bit of greywater I could, to keep the kitchen garden alive.  Hard work.   Is it 2011?  Or 1811?  Hard to tell, when you’re hauling pails of dishwwater.  No a/c, lots of fans.  You really get a sense of how scary Nature can be, when it’s 100F – inside your house.  And your own insides are cooking.   Whatchagonnado when the well runs dry?  Yeah, ‘that’ kind of scary.

5am.  I wake up to 89F and fog.  Crap.  Drag the shower pail outside to the corn.  Yes, it really is That Bad.  Clouds in the near distance – but we’ve been fooled before.  A bit of thunder.  So what.  Last thunder rumbled through on 60mph winds and dropped  all the rain on Chicago, 200miles away.  So…..  Carefully water the corn…

…lightning.  LIGHTNING?  It’s really close….and the wind isn’t picking up too quickly.  A bit of ozone.  That beautiful greenery-yallery-grey sky that portends real rain. THUNDER.  BIG thunder.  Close.  Oh please, please, pleeeeeeze.  Wind, don’t take this rain away from us.  Please?

7am. Wind!  Thank you!!!  A massive storm rolls in…and stays.  And stays.  Temps drop to 80F.  Blessed coolness. 72 degrees.  Real wetness, not that awful ‘ sizzling concrete’ smell.   Corn stalks and tomato cages are knocked over but nothing’s broken.    A bean bush seedling is up!  I’m in the kitchen garden, up to my ankles in mud, righting corn stalks, pounding in stakes and tying pepper and tomato plants, the smell of crushed tomato leaf mingling with the wet, ozone-y, beautiful smell of wet earth.  Wet. earth.  Another front is moving in fast.  I need to hurry up.  Wait.  Why do I need to hurry up so damn fast?  I’ve waited a month for this rain.  It’s not radioactive.   Slowing down….pounding the stakes in with precision (there’s not a lot of room for error – this garden is crammed), tying the delicate branches, laden with green tomatoes, with careful deliberation. Rain soaking me through to my undies.  I can feel my liver cooling down.  It’s now raining so hard it’s pooling in my garden clogs.   And my ears.  Weird feeling – the opposite of dust.  The peppers are overgrown – might as well harvest while I’m in here.  Bell peppers the size of softballs – that greywater really paid off.  But now it’s time to let Nature take back over for awhile.  My spine is grateful.

I’m soaking wet, covered in mud  and tomato leaf and stinging pepper juice….and it’s so wonderful.  Rain barrels are full, not that I’ll need them for awhile.  It’s still raining, a now-soft, soaking rain.   The world smells living again.

1pm, as I write this.  It’s actually a bit (dare I say it?) chilly!   Outside, soaking-wet cardinals and finches fluff their feathers as they crowd their feeders.  The hummingbirds zoom past the sugar water on their way to the real deal.   It’s going to rain, on and off, all day.  Such a wonderful thing.  I know some places are getting a bit too much (and too much of the world is not getting enough) but for us, today, this rain is a gift.

I wore Parfum de Therese this morning but the rain washed it all off.  I’m just fine with that.  As beautiful as perfume is, sometimes it’s good to just smell like rain.  And tomato stems.  The slickery-sweat smell of hard work in rain.  Pepper juice. Wet dirt.

And Life.

by that  Beeyouteeful Honeypie,  TOM

High in the hills above Malibu, Roxana Villa has been blending her wonderful botanical scents.  My favorites of hers evoke California, and her new scent in a way does as well.  A Beekeeper, she was inspired by what she calls “the warm, musky scent of the bee hive”.  I can’t say that I would know what that is precisely, but her scent is a winner.  I get the honey in the opening, not as sweet as say Botrytis, not in-your-face like Miel de Bois.  It’s soft and lovely and joined by spices, amber and a delightful woody musk.

To Bee is available as a perfume or as one of her wonderful solids at her etsy shop, see her blog for the address: http://journal.illuminatedperfume.com/2011/06/here-we-bee.html

Roxana has also generously offered to send a sample to a reader.  Please let us know in the comments if you would like to be included (US only, sorry)