EDM Challenge - Week 7 - In the Kitchen

'Delicious Spread'

Yes it most certainly does what it says on the label ... 'delicious spread with added vitamins' ... apparently some strange folk don't like it but I can't get enough of it. When I was a full time wage slave I got into the habit of making marmite (and here I'm using marmite as a generic descriptor ... like I call our Dyson vacuum cleaner a hoover) on toast and taking it to work with me to eat cold with my first cup of vending machine coffee of the day ... ahhh, the memories. At one point I was sitting next to a marmite-phobe who winced whenever I took my toast out of my bag and used to go out and have a cigarette while I was eating it (so in some way I was hastening his future early demise but I don't like to think about it that way - he's still alive now as far as I know so I didn't hasten it that much) but not before I carried out my daily ritual of turning to him with a look of deep sincerity and asking 'would you like some of my marmite on toast?' ... simple pleasures but *so* rewarding :-D
I will have Marmite (the real thing) if supermarket own-brand yeast extract isn't available for some reason but I have to be careful because Marmite needs to be spread quite thinly whereas yeast extract can be applied quite thickly without becoming unpalatable ... many an onlooker has recoiled with a look of terror and disgust when they've seen how thickly I apply it. A couple of years ago I discovered a new taste sensation ... fried egg on marmited toast ... scrummy!
Inspired by a friend's display of Marmite jars I made it my mission to have one of every size on our kitchen windowsill ... there are four sizes from the cute 57g to the mighty 500g jar (my Mum once claimed she saw an even bigger catering size jar but has yet to provide any concrete evidence) and eating that much Marmite when my preference is for yeast extract was a challenge but the resulting Russian Doll effect was most pleasing visually. They don't actually fit inside one another I hasten to add before you all get excited and rush to your nearest Marmite stockist. In our pre-move decluttering session I decided to send those jars to be reincarnated at the great bottle bank in the sky but I believe I will embark on the challenge again someday soon.
If you are staying in a superior class of hotel or bed and breakfast you may find that you are lucky enough to be greeted at the breakfast table by a basket of fun-size condiments, including 5g plastic pots of Marmite. I myself would never take the risk and often take a jar of marmite with me when I travel. At breakfast the morning after I got married our delightful venue (previously mentioned) did indeed provide the fun-size pots which was just as well because it had slipped my mind and I hadn't packed marmite into our honeymoon luggage. Luckily for me my Mum was staying at wedding venue and I was able to whisper across the breakfast room that I wanted the Marmite from her table to take on honeymoon with us ... quick as a flash Mum did a circuit of the room and smuggled about a dozen pots out for me - I mean I'm sure the venue would have gladly given them to us if she'd asked but why take the risk? This also gave my hubby an additional amusement every morning as he'd wait and see whether I'd remembered to take a pot down to breakfast with me every morning and giggle at my crestfallen face if I'd forgotten. A couple of days he even put one in his pocket in case I'd forgotten ... but mostly he'd just giggle at my marmite-dependency.
Anyhoo that's enough yeast-based spread stories for one day but it you'd like to read more then look at Island Girl's blog (she *believes* Marmite tastes like 'drunken puke' and/or 'bonfire' but I won't hold that against her - perhaps she'd prefer yeast extract like I do ;-) or Robyn's blog which extolls the alleged virtues of Vegemite which I really wanted to like when I tried it (my best friend in high school was from Australia and banged on about it) but it just wasn't the same (i.e. nice tasting) as Marmite or yeast extract to me ... still as they say up North, there's nowt so queer as folk ... and some of my closest friends don't like marmite so I can't be accused of being prejudiced.

Now onto an altogether sweeter spread:


'Gold Comfort'

Mmmm, the glorious sun-filled elixir that is Golden Syrup ~ I love it on toast, pancakes (both the scotch and non-scotch varieties) and in warm milk. The plastic bottle I've drawn for this challenge doesn't have the aesthetic appeal of the original tin but it's much easier to dispense (it's pourable - goodbye sticky teaspoon which you can never quite get all the syrup off) in todays sunlight the plastic bottle comes into its own and shows off the pure liquid gold nectar in its full amber glory, casting shafts of golden light across the surface it sits on (my box of watercolour pencils in case you were wondering) and looks like it contains distilled magic to this artist's eye. If you click on the above picture you'll see from my handwritten notes that the label has the words "out of the strong came sweetness" which I had never seen before (either on the label or anywhere else) but a quick dig around on google reveals that it is a quote from the bible. The full quote is "out of the eater came meat and out of the strong came sweetness" and it's a riddle that Samson set as a challenge to some philistines, apparently ... but hey this ain't Sunday School (even if it is Easter weekend) and I'm the last person who should be waxing lyrical on matters biblical so type it into google if you want to find out more. What I can't work out is how that quote came to be adopted by the Tate & Lyle sugar company ... I know that the chocolate companies in Britain had religious foundations but I'm not aware of the same link with sugar companies - still I'm sure all will become clear in the fullness of time.
I must admit that I wasn't looking forward to doing this week's EDM challenge because I knew that drawing jars was going to be difficult but I stuck with it and am really pleased with the results. It never ceases to amaze me how your mind inteferes with what your eye is seeing when you try to draw something simple and everyday. Both drawings were done with my watercolour pencils (dry), the outlines were done with black ink and the gold on the golden syrup label was done with my gold staedtler triplus pen which I never tire of using (or mentioning) and should probably be negotiating some kind of commission deal with staedtler. I was worried that it wouldn't be fine enough to cope with getting in between the letters but with some deep concentration and an *almost* steady hand I managed to do it all, even where there was only a whisper of white to cover ... and all despite the best efforts of our cats who each had a go at jogging my arm and rubbing their face on the end of my pen whenever it looked like I might be attempting anything tricky.