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.
