In my house, we eat nearly everything good and wholesome. Some members of my family – including myself – have dietary quirks of one sort or another, but they are few and far between: as a result, when I cook, I can dream up something I think will be delicious, and I am more or less free to turn my dreams into reality.
There’s an exception.
One day, I bring home a tray of fresh mixed fish – cod, haddock, salmon, something smoked – and am carrying it to the freezer when my husband Marcel sees it.
‘What type of fish is that?’ he says.
I fall into the trap.
‘It’s just mixed fish,’ I say.
‘What sort of fish is a “mixfish”, then? I have never heard of that species,’ he says, finding himself very funny. ‘I hate mixfish!’
To my great disappointment, the presence of mixfish in the house is vetoed thenceforth. I can sneak it in and cook it for myself, but when you both live and work in the same space…well, opportunities to cook a delicious mixfish meal without creating a lingering mixfish smell in the house are few and far between.
Marcel goes abroad for work occasionally. But it’s been years since a mixfish has darkened our door, as I am unused to buying it. So I miss a couple of opportunities.
Then Marcel goes away for over a week, and I merrily buy a tray of mixfish in the supermarket. I have an idea of how I want to cook it: I have an urge for seafood chowder and brown bread, and so I line up my ingredients and get chopping.
My son Paddy says he hates it when ingredients and amounts are thrown casually into a sentence, so I will start by listing the ingredients.
Mixfish Chowder
- 1 or 2 sticks celery
- 1 or 2 carrots
- Dried dill, 1tsp (fresh is even better)
- 1 Veg stock cube in about 300ml boiled water
- Butter, 25g
- Olive oil, splash
- Potatoes, about 3 small waxy or firm ones, peeled and diced
- Flat leaf parsely, chopped, a good bit
- Whole milk, about 300ml
- Tray of chopped mixed fish (+/- any other fish you like)
Method for chowder:
Chop celery and carrots, fry lightly in butter and oil. Add dried dill. Add veg stock and a pinch of salt. Throw in diced potatoes and allow to boil. When they’re a little soft stir in the milk. Then when they’re nearly done stir in the mixfish and the chopped parsley as it’ll cook very quickly. Start to finish you’re looking at about 20 minutes.
Brown Soda Bread
For the brown bread to go with it, you’ll need:
- Plain flour, 1 cup
- Wholemeal flour, 2 cups
- Pinhead oatmeal, about a handful
- Salt, 1 tsp
- Sugar, 1 tblsp
- Baking powder, 1 tsp
- Bread soda, 1 tsp
- 1 egg, beaten
- Buttermilk, about 350ml
- Butter, melted, about 30g
Method for bread:
Mix the dry ingredients together, set aside. Then mix the buttermilk, melted butter and beaten egg in a jug. With a large spoon mix the liquid into the dry ingredients to a sticky dough, put into a baking tin, sprinkle oatmeal on top and bake 40 minutes covered (I use tinfoil) then 20 minutes uncovered, at about 190ºC. Give it a few minutes to cool then turn out onto a wire rack.
I had a bowl of hot chowder in front of the telly with a glass of red and a slice of buttered soda bread, warm from the oven. Heaven!
SketchPocket News…
…since this is supposed to be a newsletter! My SketchPocket is finally ready for preorder, and I will set up an order form. The cactus leather it’s made from is just gorgeous: this is the second “leather” sample I have tried, but I wanted to see a second one in the range made by the Mexican manufacturer because the first wasn’t quite what I wanted, even though loads of people thought it was really sophisticated. Maybe it was, but I had a vision in my mind and I held out for it, even if it took a bit longer. I wanted something smooth and slightly shiny, like a really nice leather jacket (you know what I mean). The latest one to have come back is smooth and supple. It comes in two colours, black and off-white. I wasn’t crazy about the pure white zip in the off-white bag – you can see it in the sunlit photo – so I have asked the factory to use a cream one. In the first consignment there will be a relatively small number of black bags available and a really small number of white bags available, because I am working on the assumption that most people want a black bag, so if you want a white bag to go with your summer looks then please don’t hang about! If you want it filled with all the goodies we are more limited again, but I can always get more if the demand is there. That’s one reason I want to get my preorders in as soon as I can.
As for size, the largest pocket fits an A5 sketchbook, so that gives you an idea of the overall size. The front pocket will fit most phones but probably not a huge one! I have an iPhone 13 Pro and it’s very roomy in the pocket. It also fits my sungasses (loose) but not two pairs, and I can also get a slim wallet in there too so I have allowed for all the necessaries. I don’t take much out with me but I have a mental foible which requires me to sketch wherever the mood takes me – HENCE this bag…There’s room for both an A6 and A5 sketchbook but it’s not really designed for two sketchbooks at once. I only bring an A6 sketchbook out with me as I like to grab moments, not masterpieces. The SketchPocket is about a daily practice, not hanging something amazing on a wall.
On the back there’s a flat pocket. This lays against your body. There are two slots for cards inside this pocket (I keep my bank card and travel card there), and a slightly bigger one that can fit a passport and a collapsible water container.
There’s not a huge amount to this bag, and certainly no moving parts or technology (if you don’t count zips and Velcro tabs) but it does the job for which it was designed to do. I like to wear it as a shoulder bag, with the outer flap hanging down, and I can do my entire sketch from start to finish standing up, as you don’t need to bend down to water, or rest your paints somewhere. I like to fill one of the glass vials with ink and one with water, so that I don’t need to worry about my waterbrushes running dry (which they do).
The SketchPocket is made of, and stocked with, premium products.
SketchPocket design:
- Cactus leather exterior in black or off-white
- Colour-matched jacquard shoulder strap with SketchPocket along the length
- Cotton canvas interior
- Sturdy elastics for pens and ink vials and chunky zips
- Cork leather label on the front, woven tabs at the side of the front pocket and embossed zipper pull tabs
- Pockets for paints and sketchbooks
Art materials:
- 55º fude fountain pen X 1
- White gel pen by Sakura X 1
- Glass ink / water vials X 2
- Box of artists’ watercolour paints by Roman Szmal X 12 half pans
- Water brushes by Sakura X 2
- A6 sketchbook by Hahnemühle, 100% cotton
- Collapsible water container by Hahnmühle
- Magnetic clips X 2
My favourite element of the bag is very vain: it’s the zip pulls that have my signature embossed into them. The green of the lining will be a darker shade of green, because the watercolour tubes will pop much more. The diagram above shows what you get when you order the bag full, but you can get it empty too, if you already have art gear you want to put inside. The options are full / empty, and my aim is to have an option for extra sketchbooks, but I won’t offer a smorgasbord of options for the interior kit as it would complicate the pricing and packing and – so far – I am all on my own!
Shipping and Delivery
I expect the bags to arrive in Ireland in late October, and I hope to send out pre-orders in early November 2024. I HOPE they will be with you in time for Christmas but I can’t guarantee anything unfortunately because it’s my first time manufacturing something and I don’t know if they will be held up in customs at the Irish border…this will be a steep learning curve for me but you can be assured I will do whatever I can to get your bags out to you in time for Christmas! I will send anywhere in the world.
Price
And the price? I still don’t know what my customs and various other taxes will add, but I expect to price the bag midway between €100 and €200 empty and midway between €200 and €300 filled with all the good stuff. Both options include free shipping.
Places I have sketched with a SketchPocket that I would not have sketched otherwise
- In an elegant square in Nancy, France, with my husband pressuring me to hurry up
- On a plane in the last fifteen minutes before landing (a portrait)
- In a hedgerow, with rats rustling at my feet
- On an island, carrying it back through a terrifyingly fast rising tide
- On a rocky shore while out for a fifteen-minute walk
- On my kids’ hotel balcony in the 20 minutes between swimming and dinner
- By the hotel pool
- In a bar over cocktails
- In the hotel foyer waiting for my family to come downstairs
…in other words, wherever you would whip out a paperback or scroll on your phone, you can sketch in ink and watercolour. Then you will be stylish enough to still head out for lunch or dinner, or wherever, safe in the knowledge that your art bag goes with your look! (For the record, I have never wished to take out a paperback while standing in a hedgerow but you get the idea!)
YouTube: An Omnishambles In The Brambles
Finally, in case you’re still not subscribed to my YouTube channel (why not?) here’s my latest sketching expedition: https://youtu.be/mJ-YJ2_AT28
Enjoy it and see you next time!
