Rose Hips and Octopus, 3 ways (edible poetry)

         
An Alchemical History Of Dewdrops: 

Have you ever marveled at the perfect little spheres of dew bedazzling a leaf after a rainstorm? Have you ever been caught up thinking about the many places that dewdrop has been and the forms it has taken? It seems impossible to think that that very drop could once have been Cleopatra's tear, or Kerouac's margarita, or even a velociraptor's saliva. The journey that water has passed to reach our lips is mysterious and everlasting. I've been thinking lately about the magic of the everyday: that I bathe in water that has passed through the bodies of dinosaurs, poets, philosophers, and artists; that bright colors in food can be achieved with natural materials like turmeric and spinach and cabbage; and that a simple adjustment of pH changes blue-purple juice to bright red. I've used this last trick to my advantage in this wintery dish featuring red cabbage, apples, and squid: the acidic pH of the rose hip vinegar turns the purple hue of the cabbage red wherever it comes into contact with it. Now tell me that's not some kind of wonderful, practical, edible everyday magic! 
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Purple cabbage with rose hip vinaigrette, rose hip marinaded squid, and sour green apples.

Purple Tentacles: 

Sometimes it's just so fun to play with color and texture inspiration. This dish is based off of the classic cabbage-apple combination, but with a few added surprises: rose hips and squid. I'll be posting a couple more iterations of this dish over the next few days. Comment below and tell me which one you like best! 
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Purple cabbage with rose hip vinaigrette, cabbage and rose hip marinaded squid, apple ginger foam, and candied rose hips.

Gems in the Gray: 

It's an overcast day on the Oregon coast, murky and rainy. The waves crash onto the rocks and roar, sending up little clouds of seafoam. I watch them blow across the sand and rocks towards me, rolling and jumping like a little army of happy clouds. Down the beach a little kid in a red jacket chases these blowing bubbles, giggling at the new game she's discovered. I smile and turn back to the tidepool I am so carefully exploring: amidst this atmosphere of gray skies, gray rocks, and gray ocean, I am searching for color. And I find it! My eye catches a glimmer of purple in the murky depths...I bend down close, almost touching my nose to the water. Under the surface I see a hidden rainbow: orange starfish and purple urchins and light green anemones! These colors, vibrant with life, seem to pulse with an energy that only the contrast of a gray day could bring.
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Ginger-apple foam, elderflower-candied rose hips, sour green apple, cabbage and rose hip-brined squid, fresh cabbage, and rose hip vinegar.
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This is the last version of this dish I made. Which one is your favorite?