November 5, 2023 Brunch - Bagels with Gravad Lax and Salami and cheese. Dinner - the Spanish journey meal again.

November 5, 2023 Brunch - Bagels with Gravad Lax and Salami and cheese. Dinner - the Spanish journey meal again.

I awakened at 7:45 and watched Fareed Zacharia and part of Meet the Press with a wonderful interview with Zelensky of Ukraine.  He said Iran and Russia are both terrorist states trying to spread chaos in the world for their own advantage and one can not negotiate with terrorists, but they must be confronted or they will expand their terror.

We then planted one of the raised beds with garlic cloves that we hope will germinate into garlic plants next spring.

After planting I made breakfast.  I sliced one of the thick Thomas everything bagels into four slices and toasted them and spread cream cheese on each slice.  I then lay slices of red onion on each slice.  On three I lay slices of Gravad lax and on the fourth, slices of salami and filled Havarti

Suzette ate one slice with Gravad lax and I ate the other 3 slices.

We then drove to two estate sales upon the Meadows. At the last one we bought a painting by a Navajo artist named Beatien Yazz.

Here is a summary of his life and work.

Beatien Yazz (Little No Shirt), A.K.A. Jimmy Toddy, was born in 1928 near White Ruins, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation. He served in the Marines in World War 11, and was a member of the famed Navajo Code Talkers. When the war was over, he returned to the reservation to become a full time artist. Beatien paints in the classic Navajo style and his work has been a favorite of collectors since the 1950’s. Because of severe eye problems, Beatien is no longer painting.

About the artist

Beatien Yazz

(1928-2013, Navajo)

Jimmy Toddy (Beatien Yazz translates to Little No Shirt) has won awards at every major showing of Native American art in the United States. He was one of the best known contemporary Native American painters. His paintings are traditional with fine lines featuring everyday life on the Navajo Reservation. In his early years Yazz was an art teacher.

At twelve years old, Yazz had his first sales, exhibiting his paintings.  He received approximately $11 for the sale of twenty paintings.  The following year, Yazz had a solo exhibition in November at the Art Center in La Jolla, California.  Both the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union wrote articles touting the thirteen-year-old artist’s work.

In the military service during World War II, Yazz joined the Code Talkers, a branch of the marines credited with shortening the war by using the Navajo language to confuse the Japanese.

 In the summer of 1947, Yazz attended Mills College to study under the Japanese artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi, which gave him exposure to working with a live model using oil paint. 

Yazz’s three oldest sons, Ervin, Kevin and Marvin Toddy, are all artists. Beatien Yazz has 12 children all together, seven sons and five daughters.  His wife, Ruby, also uses her artistic talents to weave textiles using natural fibers and vegetal dyes.

Beatien’s works of art usually are casein on mat board, occasionally combining pen and ink with oils. Nationally known for his illustrations for children's books, Yazz is cited in Dorothy Dunn's book American Indian Painting, in Clara Lee Tanner's Southwest Indian Painting and in the Biographical Directory of Native American Painters by Patrick Lester. 

This artist's work is included in the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the Denver Art Museum, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Southwest Museum of Los Angeles, California to name a few. Yazz Navajo Painter by Sallie R. Wagner, J.J. Brody and Beatien Yazz was published in 1983 by Northland Press.

We then drove to the Bosque and walked to the two ponds just about a mile.

At 1:30 we returned home.

At 2:25 I started watching the Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles and Suzette and I split a bag of popcorn.

At 3:30 I peeled and cut five Yukon Gold potatoes into wedges that Suzette then tossed in olive oil and baked in the oven.

At 5:00 we carried a bottle of Oralla Rioja Reserva and all the ingredients for the four courses of the Spanish dinner we ate last Thursday night at the bistro to Susan and Charlie’s house.

Suzette and Susan prepared dinner while Charlie, Peter, and I watched Philadelphia beat Dallas.

Then dinner was served.

It was identical tomThursday night’s meal, an appetizer of Burrata served with broiled anchovies marinated in olive oil on a puddle of Romesco Sauce, then Fabada, then meatballs smothered in Romesco sauce served with potato wedges and steamed asparagus, and finally Jose Andres’ dessert recipe of apple balls cooked in a heavy red wine and sugar syrup served on an amazing pumpkin mousse pie Susan made.

Everyone seemed to like the meal. Charlie said it was three times what he usually ate.

Susan was kind enough to give us the pie and we left the leftover Fabada and meatballs.

We came home and watched The World on Fire and then Suzette went to bed and I stayed up to watch Astrid. Tonight it was about Hasidic AI programmers who use AI to get a brother to kill his partner in the AI firm.

Bon Appetit