teaming up with little hapas – video ad!

Well that was fun! We're already planning of our next project depicting little hapas takeaway art. Of course it will be posted here.

All images, dolls, props, animation, sound (including voices) and photography ©Ramey Holsman (aka cookie chang) & little hapas. The wonderful background watercolour townscape was created by ©Kate Cooper (aka kpie88).

little hapas : creativity takes many forms

Oy vey have I been busy! So busy I nearly forgot about cookie chang.

"How could you do this!?" you may ask.

Truth is, I didn't really forget about cookie. How could I? She's been my left-hand gal, whispering ideas in my ear for our latest creation, little hapas : world fusion street food & takeaway art.

In addition to developing little hapas ethos (plus designing and illustrating everything around it), and hapa-izing our adorable new Aixam Megavan . . . we've been busy experimenting in the kitchen for the better part of the year! We've mixed and matched flavours from around the world – from Korean burritos to Mex-Italian quesadillas to kungPOW! hapacorn.

We're in the process of getting our online shop up and running too, so you'll be able to make your own world fusion street food with our hapasauce no matter how far you are from Sussex!

Did I mention that little hapas also "serves" takeaway art!?  Our tiny cab windows make the perfect place for the loco hoco mini gallery, featuring art by cookiechang (ramey holsman) & kpie88 (kate cooper) -- prints, original iron-on art patches, badges, etc.

Give little hapas some love on facebook and tune in to our tweets. And PLEASE don't forget about cookie chang! She may have traded paint for soy sauce at the moment, but that doesn't mean she's stopped creating.

boletus not into temptation

I know I seem to be bouncing between cookie news and fungal reports from the Ashdown Forest a lot lately. And I realize there isn't an obvious connection between the two -- except for, well, me. But don't I at least get a few points for consistent inconsistency?

Either way, we had a fantastic day of picking yesterday! Our friend Paul joined us for his first foray into the vegetarian version of hunting . . . and he showed us both up by finding the first porcini (boletus edulis) of the season -- fabulous!

I got a nice little handful of hedgehogs (hydnum repandum), a smaller handful still of chanterelle buttons (cantharellus cibarius) I'd hidden under leaves to mature from my last harvest a few days ago, and a bagful of bay boletes (xerocomus badius)!

In fact, after lunch at a nearby pub (mushroomer's code of secrecy prohibits me from disclosing this location), we said goodbye to Paul, who had to get back to London, and I drove kpie and poppy home, then headed back out to pick for another four hours.

Needless to say, we had a wild mushroom risotto FEAST last night! OH YAH! =(V)

Viva Frida! (and Shrinky Dinks!)

In May, mel.e sent me a packet of Shrinky Dinks for my birthday. (I'd requested them because my stash was left behind when I moved from the US to the UK almost three years ago.) So this week, while kpie was away on biz, I indulged in a few late nights with a pile 'o art supplies spread out over the coffee table and reacquainted myself with Shrinky Dinks.

"Viva Frida!" is my ode to my favorite grrl artist ever -- Frida Kahlo. I drew her with a fine line Sharpie on the glossy side, then had to think "backwards" when shading and coloring on the sanded side with colored pencils. I'm quite pleased with the outcome! Frida's mounted on two wooden dominoes which I've glued together. I used wood filler on the sides, then sanded and painted acrylics and gel pens (another gift from mel.e).

I ordered a good handful of milagros from elsol.etsy.com in San Antonio and included the little silver flaming heart, so when you wear this necklace, Frida's heart beats next to yours . . . ahhhh.

Up next will be "Fighting Basquiat," my tribute to Jean Michel Basquiat -- hands down, my favorite boy artist ever. The Shrinky Dink part is done, but the rest is still rattling around in my noggin. Inspiration . . . .

Chicken of the Woods in May. Heh?

I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday as Poppy and I walked through the woods just down from our house in East Grinstead. There, on a muddy little stream bank, lay a log teaming with fresh, juicy Chicken of the Woods (laetiporus sulphureous)! Translated, this means MUSHROOMS! On May 6th? Who knew?

The earliest I've found them in Oregon was late late summer. But mostly I've found them in the autumn while picking Chanterelles (cantharellus cibarius). I guess like most similarities between the US and UK, you just have to tweak a little here and twist a little there to fit one into the other. (Well, kinda sorta.) At least we share many of the same edible species.

Poor Poppy. She thought she was on her way to chase squirrels up trees all afternoon. But as soon as I spied this log (where I'd seen little orange blobs only a week before), I flipped us around and back up the tree-lined incline home for the camera, a paper bag and my brand new Carluccio's Mushroom Knife  -- an inspired birthday present from our wonderful friends Janne and Christine!

Is it not just the sexiest mushroom knife ever? And the only thing more exciting than finding Chicken of the Woods at the beginning of May was using it for the first time! Was it actually Antonio Carluccio who designed this masterpiece? I don't know, but it's brilliant! Brush, blade and little tweezers -- all in one perfectly balanced, wood-handled tool . . . and that rhymes with COOL.

And now back to the laetiporus sulphureous . . . . When discovering these mushrooms in the past, I'd have to trim only the outer edges, leaving the tough and chewy majority on the stump. Not these babies. They were moist and springy and, well, perfect really!

Now all I have to do is decide how to cook them.