ooohhh....the colors....

The last few days have found me quite impressed with a few accidentally gorgeous color combinations.  Because I dress primarily in black, a lot of people mistakenly believe I have something against color, but that couldn't be further from the truth.  I just don't want to wear it.  I love the way some colors work together effortlessly, one completing the other, like pale blue and yellow, jade green into hunter green, fuschia fading to a sparkling pink, even an overcast silver melding with snow white.

I also love colors that seem to be in complete juxtaposition, yet bring out the better qualities in one another by enhancing the other's "other-ness."  Marigold yellow and pewter grey, robin's egg blue with chocolate brown, and the understated standby, Black and White.  Although I enjoy the harmony created by like colors, or even multiple shades of one color, I revel in the competition between two colors that just should not be together, yet provide the proverbial yin to the other's yang.

This still life was far more fetching before I ate two of the tangelos, but can you see it?  Aside from knowing it's a bowl of citrus, there is no good reason (outside of some daring 1980s fashion) to combine lime green (lime green) and tangerine.  When I placed my citrus in the bowl, though, I was fascinated (and I think I'm about to bust into a Cure medley).  Last night, while I was prepping our dinner, I was similarly struck by the orange carrot and green pepper confetti in my saute pan before I added the sauce.

Tonight, we had Bulgur and Red Lentil Pilaf with Kale and Olives from The Complete Vegan Cookbook.  I love this dish every time I make it, which is why it found its way into our bowls again tonight.

You can't see it too well, but since I used deep purple kalamata olives with dark green lacinto kale, I got to play with another favored color combination.  Fortunately, the flavors and textures of these two foods show that their beauty goes far deeper than the surface.  By the way, I divide the blame for this love of color (in decorating and still life) between Martha Stewart and my Mother-in-law, who kind of worked together, inadvertently, on this.

Soon I will drift to sleep with visions of sugarplums and anticipation for the coming snowfall.  Nothing brings out the starkness of urban monotone like a blanket of pure white snow and it takes longer than you might imagine to dirty it.