December! Holidays! HOLIDAZE. If you're a fan of ridiculous Holiday crafts, DESSERTS, local art wishlists, fireside soundtracks, and COCKTAILS - please consider this edition of NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS my Holiday gift to you! Though if you're NOT a fan of the aforementioned then I'm terribly sorry, because it is all I have to give (and also I lost the receipt).
You can view this month's features by clicking through the tabs below each post, or view the whole newsletter at once by clicking that "December" tab up there at the header. A happy MONTH to you and yours - may it be filled with friends, family, and the soft glow of string lighting.

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
A Very Tacky Christmas.  Baklawa!  An ArtSee Wish List.
A Holiday Manhattan.  Mutiny's Fireside Soundtrack.

photos by Shauna Alexander 

My friend (and photographer!) Shauna Alexander and I had long been looking for a fun and ideally RIDICULOUS project to work on together; the idea for a TACKY CHRISTMAS CRAFT NIGHT came together over a shared Pinterest board and a mutual love of all things glitter; glue; shoe. The two of us - along with Chelsea Iorlano and Sierra West - ACCOMPLISHED our MISSION a few Friday evenings ago, and I am still vacuuming glitter out of my cowhide rug.

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
December.  Baklawa!  An ArtSee Wish List.
A Holiday Manhattan.  Mutiny's Fireside Soundtrack.

photos and words/recipe by Farrah Skeiky

Baklawa is always around my house during the holidays. Extended family usually send us a box with someone returning from a visit to Lebanon, or we order from one of the many amazing bakeries in Dearborn. I was always told that baklawa was a ridiculously difficult and time-consuming endeavor, but this year I finally accepted the challenge and decided that I would master it. To make the sweets even more holiday friendly, I've created two special recipes: one for Peppermint Baklawa, and one for Apple Baklawa.

Ingredients for both Baklawas
One roll of frozen phyllo dough
1 pound unsalted butter (or Pam), and a brush to spread with

Ingredients for Peppermint Baklawa filling
8 oz. pistachios, roasted
4 oz. walnuts, roasted
4 oz. almonds, roasted
One box candy canes (or 2 tbsp. peppermint syrup)
2 oz. caster sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Ingredients for Apple Baklawa filling
12 oz. walnuts
8 oz. pecans
8 oz. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
One large apple (I used Jonagold)

Simple Syrup
1 pound caster sugar
16 fl. oz. water
One cinnamon stick
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Start by setting your phyllo dough out to thaw. Follow the directions on your box, and set aside, covered in plastic wrap and a towel. If the sheets dry out, they will be incredibly difficult to work with.

Shell your pistachios, making sure that no skin is left attached, as any remaining pieces will harden while baking. Mix all of your nuts (and candy canes, if using) and either beat in a mortar and pestle, or pulse in a food processor until a gravelly consistency is achieved. Stir in the spices evenly. If you would like to add a traditional Lebanese touch at the end, save a small handful of the pistachios to grind later and use as garnish. 

If you are making the apple version, slice your apple into very thin pieces. Add a few drops of lemon and cover in plastic wrap to avoid discoloration.
Grease a 9"x13" pan with melted butter or butter spray. Be sure to use a solid baking tray or Pyrex dish - disposable aluminum tins are not a good idea for this process. Peel apart the first sheet of phyllo, lay it down evenly, and brush or spray evenly with butter. Repeat this step for eight sheets total to make the bottom later. Spread a thin layer of the nut mixture on top of the phyllo. Make sure this layer is level, or the whole pan will end up uneven.
If you are using apples, you can place the slices in this layer. Don't overlap the slices!

Brush the top of the filling or apples with butter, so that the mixture will bind well with the next layer of phyllo dough. The middle layers only need to be four sheets thick. Repeat the buttering process between each sheet, and add a second layer of filling. If you wish to add a third, that's fine too! Just make sure your pan is deep enough to accommodate. The top layer of the tray should be eight sheets of phyllo (buttered as with the previous layers), brushed with the remaining butter on the top.
To slice the baklawa, start by cutting diagonally from the top corner. Do this all the way across the pan, and then begin to make horizonal cuts. You don't want to make the pieces too big - no more than an inch or an inch and a half wide. Your pan should look like this:

Preheat the oven to 350º and place the tray in the fridge for the time being. Take this time to prepare the syrup, bringing all the ingredients to a boil and then letting the mixture simmer for ten minutes. If you are making peppermint baklawa and don't want to use candy pieces, you can use a tablespoon or two of peppermint syrup in this step. Once the syrup is done simmering, remove it from the heat immediately and set aside.
Bake your baklawa for 40 minutes, checking on it periodically. If it's browning too quickly, tent it with foil. This is what the tray should look like after 40 minutes:

While wearing oven mitts, tilt the tray over a sink and drain the excess butter, then drizzle with syrup immediately. This must be done while the pastry is still hot! This step is the reason aluminum trays aren't used in this recipe - if you accidentally poke a hole in the tray while cutting the pieces, the syrup will run out. If you're wondering, yes, we learned from experience. 

This is the hardest part: cover your baklawa, then leave it to sit in the fridge for at least eight hours - if you can wait overnight, even better! The pastry needs time to soak up the syrup, or the pieces will be soggy.
C'est fini! Serve with coffee to cut the sugar, or seriously, just package up pieces to give to friends so that you won't eat the whole tray yourself. Don't say we didn't warn you.

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
December.  A Very Tacky Christmas.  An ArtSee Wish List.
A Holiday Manhattan.  Mutiny's Fireside Soundtrack.

all words by ArtSee founder Elizabeth Grazioli
ArtSee is a platform for artists and art enthusiasts to discover, 
exchange, and promote art in Washington, DC.

It was an honor this year to be selected by my friends at Panda Head to build my ultimate, emerging-art Holiday list. Throughout the last two years in my work with ArtSee, I have had the opportunity to meet so many of DC's most talented artists. This list is both a wish list and a few recommendations of how to incorporate art into your life or someone else's this Holiday season.
The first four artists are some of that I have had the privilege to get to know and have come to truly admire. They represent very different schools of thought and genres and provoke powerful messages, and yet still leave room for my imagination. The work they produce never ceases to amaze me. The final 2 (well, 3) artists are on my personal wish list, and create bright, creative works that defy the eye and imagination. I think you will find that the seven selected artists have work that range in style, medium, and price - hopefully something for everyone on your list. I hope that these selections inspire this Holiday season and 2013.

"Intrigue" 40"x30" acrylic on canvas. $2000

 "Celebration" 60" x 48" acrylic and pumice on canvas. $6000

Donna McGee has been creating works of colorful wonder for over 30 years. She is a DC metro native, currently showing at the Foundry Gallery. Her work is an ongoing exploration of color that leaves each work wide open for personal interpretation and exploration. I envision this work in the grandest of spaces - the perfect work for that house on Embassy Row.

 "Carabanchel" pigment print. 50" x 38" 2010. Edition of 5. $1500

Every one of Mark Parascandola's powerful photographs would command any room. His work is an exploration of human populations through architecture that bursts with color. Each work has a pureness that is hard to find and truly puts every viewer in his shoes to explore what he sees. His work can currently be seen at TTR Sotheby's International Realty on 14th St.

 "AK 47" paper, glue, acid-free foam-core. 38" x 16" 2012. $1500

Coil, after coil, after coil, Garth Fry has recently been producing mystical images of paper and glue. His exploration of isolation has developed into images of hearts, crossroads, spirals, and even AK-47s. While the image of a gun isn't ideal for all age groups, the colorless images each take on a life of their own. The above work truly shows his artistry and raw talent.

"Walker" c-print. 11" x 14" $150

Who says the world can't be captured through a phone? Certainly not James Campbell. As the founder of InstantDC, a mobile photography collective (and judging from his overactive Instagram feed), he definitely can produce powerful, thought-provoking images, from a quiet DC street scene to the awkward angles of some of the most architecturally beautiful buildings and spaces. Even though his work is socially accessible all of the time, it is worth sharing...in print.

"Cascade Interruption" oil on panel. 12" x 12" $800

"Ultra Blue" oil on canvas. 47.25" x 37.25" $1260

An artist of many talents, Lisa Marie Jakab brought oils, drawings, watercolors, photographs, and even video to her recent showcase at Tonic. Her work is an exploration of organic forms and patterns using artistic materials and methods. Each drip, swirl, and stroke of color - or lack thereof - moves together to take on a life of its own. Each space left undisturbed leaves room for the imagination to step in.

"Faucet No. 3 (Faint Field 14)" sculpey on fixtures. 6"(L)x4"(W)x9"(H) $600

"Faucet No. 4 (Faint Field 15)" sculpey on fixtures. 6"(L)x7.5"(W)x9"(H) $600

At the top of my wish list this Holiday season is one of the colorful, whimsical, flowing bouquets of the faucet flowers by the duo Radio Sebastian. This artist duet creates a variety of works, but it is this group in particular that I am drawn to. The work from their Faint Fields collection was most recently featured by Hillyer Art Space - but should be featured in every home. The colors make you feel like a kid in a candy shop and their creativity shows their true brilliance.

"Barn" chromira photo print. 16"x20" $200 

As someone who is always drown to photography for the simple fact that the images show "real life," Leah Appel's bold colors jumped at me off white gallery walls. The way she is able to dissect each work with blocks of color is captivating. She sees the world in technicolor, some that are even completely off the spectrum. Every piece would be the perfect Holiday gift.

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
December.  A Very Tacky Christmas.  Baklawa! 
A Holiday Manhattan.  Mutiny's Fireside Soundtrack.

photos by Chris Chen, recipe by Matthew Heffernan.

Matthew Heffernan, Chris Chen and I found ourselves at Smoke & Barrel a few weeks ago for our second seasonally-appropriate drink adventure; this time around Matt mixed up a Spiced Cider Manhattan (using Angel's Envy Bourbon Whiskey) that's perfect for fireside-sipping, all Holiday-season long.

Spiced Cider Manhattan
 Let 1.5 oz of Dupont Pommeau sit on a dash each of cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg for 15-30 minutes
Strain through a coffee filter
Combine over ice with 1.5 oz Angel's Envy
Add a dash of orange bitters
Shake well
Strain
Garnish w/ brandied cherry (I make mine with Gran Marnier)
Enjoy!

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
December.  A Very Tacky Christmas.  Baklawa! 
An ArtSee Wish List.  Mutiny's Fireside Soundtrack.

Our friends at MUTINY DC ("dedicated to the brooding man with a meaty intellect") have what we at the Panda Head Ranch refer to as IMPECCABLE TASTE. The incredible (and incredibly-curated) MUTINY line is full of the hard to find and the well made (think: gorgeous copper flasks, hand-woven camp blankets, and handsome tweed trousers) - so who better to ask to piece together a woodsy, Wintry, fireplace-and-whiskey-appropriate little set of tunes? THE ANSWER, I promise you, IS NO ONE. Please enjoy Mutiny's Fireside Soundtrack, in all its Spotify glory:

THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
December.  A Very Tacky Christmas.  Baklawa! 
An ArtSee Wish List.  A Holiday Manhattan.