Let's not use the stunning white-dotted Amanita muscaria for either brews or treats. The familiar fairy-tale illustrations don't provide ample warning for its toxic and hallucinogenic properties. Besides, neighbourhood walks offer ample innocuous inedibles as feasts for the eyes.
Thinking of how I might brew up my own sweet treats for this fun and eerie time of year, I thought of a black canvas I created when I covered up a stale painting. (Hmmm – is that what's called "deaccessioning"? Sounds a little classier but my action doesn't fit the official definition)
On the black canvas, I planned to rearrange two slightly obscure master drawings that have always tantalized me. Together, their monotones yield their own sweet treat.
The first is an intriguing drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder titled "The Beekeepers" (and Birdcatcher -- Be assured that a Catch and Release policy is in effect here).
Bruegel, by the way, is the painter of one of my top ten favourite paintings, "Hunters in the Snow."
The second is a drawing that surfaced in my Commedia dell'Arte research:-- "Punchinellos Cooking and Tasting Gnocchi" by Giambattista Tiepolo.
Not sure what gnocchi is? For most of us, the store-bought version of this potato dumpling will have to do, but it's rumoured that ordinary mortals actually create their own -- if they have a magic kitchen to work in.
Put these two drawings (or parts of them) together and what do you get? "Gnocchi with Honey." Let's get cookin' –
Start adding a pinch of colour – not much is needed.
Push paint around to taste, and here it is – final version fresh from the honey shack:
And if you've really missed the vibrant colours of autumn, here from the archives is "Cucurbit Immersive"(copyright 2021).