Crystalen-Designz

The pomegranate is one of my favorite fall foods.  I got addicted to them when I was over in Isreal 7 years ago.  They are one of the fruits just starting to become common in America.  Right about now is when they are just appearing in stores.  But mild warning, the are still a bit sour.  So if it's your first pomegranate, and you think it's too tart wait two weeks and try one then.  I find the best pomegranates come to the stores right after Christmas.  So I'd thought I'd give some tips on them.  
Selecting your Pomegranate:
Color.  Bright red is generally the best, but I've been surprised by some very pale ones before.  Big is generally better.  General rule if it's fist size or smaller don't get it.  The best trick for selecting a pomegranate is to rub your thumb over the surface and see if you can feel little bumps about the size of peas under the surface.  The "bumpier" the better.  It takes some practice through.  
Preparing the Pomegranate:
Get a bowl and a dull knife.  I use a regular kitchen knife.  The pomegranate doesn't slice open easy, and with a sharp knife you are very likely to cut yourself.  Put the pomegranate in the bowl and stab it in the end that looks like a flower.  Slowly work the knife around until you have the pomegranate in two equal halves.  The inside of the pomegranate will have little red dots in it encased in white dry flesh.  Do NOT under any circumstance eat the white part!  It's probably the bitterest thing you will ever taste.  What you eat are the little red seeds.  I find the easiest way to get the seeds out of the Pomegranate is to run your thumb over the seeds until the come loose.  It takes practice to get them out without breaking them, but it doesn't take long to learn.  Also never use a spoon.  Spoons tend to break the seeds and you will end up covered in pomegranate juice along with your entire kitchen.  (this happened at our last house).  Now it's up to you to decide what to do.  I normally just pull a chunk off the pomegranate and just eat it straight.  But if you are serving them, use the thumb method to get the seeds into a bowl and then rinse them in a strainer.  I like them at room temperature.  I think it enhances the flavor, but others like them cold.  
If you are making a sauce or baste for meat place the seeds in a ziplock and use your hands to crush the seeds releasing the juice then strain through a cheese cloth or mesh strainer.  

Recipe ideas:
Pomegranate seeds are wonderful in salads.  I also put them in chicken wraps.  
Basteing pork in pomegranate juice is another favorite of mine.  I normally use pork chops.  But my favorite recipe is spiced pears and pomegranates.  It can be found here: allrecipes.com/recipe/spiced-p…

Hope you consider trying the wonderful pomegranate this season!

So I went to my dA message center to check my +watch messages, and I had this little note at the top that said, "You have no new messages.". Well, I didn't believe it and I was right.  I had like 30 new deviations to view as well as like 7 comments I hadn't seen..... So why did it say I have no new messages?  Help?  I didn't have any new notes but it said messages on the top of the message viewer....  I'm confused....

So I had originally planned to discuss my love of dresses and how they should be in every modern woman's wardrobe with no superstitions or feeling of lost power.  BUT... I haven't been able to wear pants since my surgery in June....  I miss it.   I miss my cute tops.  I miss being able to sit any way I want.  I'm tired of people teasing me about how dressed up I am. I miss being warm in sweaters.  So to combat the problem I found a beautiful pair of lounge pants.  It was a challenge.  But I finally found a pair that are dark brown with bueatiful embroidery on them.  I also did a test run by wearing them around my fashionable friend and she didn't know they were longe pants.  

Now dresses will e done at a later date.

I feel a great need to let my nerd side out a bit more so enjoy!    Warning: the following contains extreme nerd materiel.  Do not read if you don not want to walk away feeling slightly socially awkward  

In my life I've always found the intersection of things interesting.  How one thing connects to the other or how they can work together has always fascinated me.   I've also loved to find ways to connect seemingly unconnected things.  Take Math and Science and Art.  They've always seemed to be on difference sides of the coin.  So while i adore science and math and practice them as my job, i also love art and creating it.  Naturally i wanted to learn how these things connected.  Imagine my surprise as i get higher and higher in math i discover that it becomes more and more artistic.  No longer am i confided to creating line equations and simple straight graphs but now i can draw circles and curves and altogether strange artist shapes with math!  Sine and Cosine give curve various calculus functions give bowls and donuts and other unique shapes!  And surprisingly the more i learn to describe art with math the more beautiful the art and the world become.  I understand why we find pattern beautiful.  I've considered the swirl of a nautilus shell one of the most beautiful things in the world since i was a little girl.  Now as a woman i learn it has a perfect equation at it's base.  A logic that makes since of beauty which leads to a greater and deeper understanding of beauty.  If this is all a but confusing to you try visiting this illistration: amravkevis.wordpress.com/2010/… do see the world like this!  It's crazy!  But it's just our first look, after we have seen the equations we stop and appreciate the beauty just as beauty too.  At least i do.
So how have i been applying math to my art?  Well i personally think learning the math behind beauty helped me finish my first art nouveau piece.  I've tried art nouveau pieces over the years and never succeeded in making them look right.  And that's because as i research nouveau a bit more then work a bit of math on the style i learn that there are strict mathematical rules governing the style.  So when i follow them, my pieces come out beautifully.   Yes, i had equations written out on the piece of paper before i started on Freya's sketch.  I'm that special.  But this doesn't mean i use math every time i draw.  More often than not i just draw from life or from imagination then see the math behind it.  There's always math in my art, and i like to think there is always art in my math.  The ultimate truth i've learned is the more i think things aren't connect, the more they probably are.  Next i hope to learn more about the math behind the human figure and face.  I already know a bit but there is always more to learn.

And now that i have satisfied the need to let the nerd out into the world, i'd like to remind everyone that nerds are way more than socially awkward scientists.  I'm a proud Fashionista who does normal things like have dinner with friends and go to the movies; i just happen to be a nerd too!  Embrace the Nerdiness!