oh, and my little plant in the back that so surprised me with its abundant flowers and overall heart shape.l, m
Posts
I find this more amusing than my kids do
7 years ago
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Cauliflower. Who knew?
Honestly, if I make this again, I don't think I'd even bother with all the stuff listed. Just roast the damn thing in olive oil and salt and pepper and be done with it. I kept snacking on the roasted cauliflower and hardly had any left over to do all the fussy stuff with.
Still tasty though.
Changes I made: Halved the quantity. Substituted Craisins for golden raisins. Left out the chicken broth and vinegar, substituted a splash of rose wine instead. Forgot to put in the parsley.
From Epicurious:
Crispy Cauliflower with Capers, Raisins, and Breadcrumbs Bon Appétit | November 2011
by Susan Spungen
The secret behind this Sicilian-inspired dish: crunchy homemade breadcrumbs. To make your own, let cubes of ciabatta or another white bread dry out, then buzz them into coarse crumbs in a food processor.
Yield: Makes 8-10 servings
ingredients
1 large head of cauliflower (2 pounds), cut into 2" florets
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons salt-packed capers, soaked, rinsed, patted dry
3/4 cup fresh coarse breadcrumbs
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
1/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or Champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss cauliflower florets with 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large bowl; season mixture with salt and pepper. Divide cauliflower mixture between 2 large rimmed baking sheets, spreading out in a single layer. Roast, tossing occasionally, until cauliflower is golden and crispy, about 45 minutes. DO AHEAD: Cauliflower can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Reheat before using.
Meanwhile, heat remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a small saucepan over medium- low heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until just golden, 5-6 minutes. Add capers and cook until they start to pop, about 3 minutes longer. Add breadcrumbs and toss to coat. Cook, stirring often, until breadcrumbs are golden, 2-3 minutes; transfer breadcrumb mixture to a plate and set aside.
Add chicken broth and anchovy paste (if using) to same saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add golden raisins and white wine vinegar and cook until almost all liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. DO AHEAD: Breadcrumb and raisin mixtures can be made 2 hours ahead. Rewarm raisin mixture before continuing.
Transfer warm cauliflower to a serving bowl. Scatter raisin mixture over, then toss to distribute evenly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle cauliflower with breadcrumb mixture and parsley.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
It's all Charles and Ray Eames' fault
I'm not going to write a treatise about Charles and Ray Eames.
When I was young, I played with the cards:
In architectural school I adored the house they designed, the modularity of it. Looking at it now, it's hard to fathom what a game changer this design was. It was designed in 1945 by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen, and ... "The design used pre-fabricated materials ordered from catalogues, a continuation of the idea of mass-production." .... Let me just say it again: DESIGNED IN 1945. Designers have been drawing on this aesthetic now for FIFTY SIX YEARS.
Later, as an architect, I was able to get the legendary lounge chair and ottoman (can you say "trade discount"?) for Pops to sit in at home. He was fortunate to get one of the last production runs that used Brazilian rosewood as the external "skin" of the molded plywood shell. This was in an earlier time of blissful ecological ignorance when it wasn't understood that the Brazilian rainforests were being raped and pillaged. But I digress.
Oh, and from 1968, the Powers of Ten.
In 1998, "Powers of Ten" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It completely blew my mind when I saw it the first time. Still does.
Here's a short film that Charles and Ray Eames did for the Polaroid Company, for the SX70 camera.
Complex technology, simply explained. When I watched this, I thought about the excitement surrounding the new inventions and ideas that infused the world at that time. Think about all the technologies that came together in this one potent little box: (from the film, at about 8:17)
"...they are coordinates, parts of a single strategy working together to protect and fulfill the original hope. This invention is finally a system, call it a system of novelties.... in the end it links the inventors, the engineers, the workers, the distributors into one chain of craftsmanship. The user is the final link. The device helps to meet the universal need to do things well."
What has happened to this spirit of innovation? This pride in craftsmanship? This feeling of continuity linking design to execution? Thoughtful design? Good writing? "..the universal need to do things well..." ?
Sometimes I despair.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Goddess of Shoes, Redux
Kate has pointed out to me via Twitter:
"Hey, that's MY (size 11) foot up there in that pointy blue embroidered delight!"
"Hahahaha! I am SO busted!! OBVIOUSLY I adore your taste in shoes - why else would this unattributed photo be lurking in my iPhoto!"
To lessen the sting, here's another angelic picture of Lina. A little pixie perched in an English garden, sucking her thumb.
Goddess of Shoes
My friend Kate thinks she's a shoe freak.
I beg to differ. Who else do you know that takes photos of their feet when they are shopping?
Or graduating from college?
Seriously.[[posterous-content:pid___8]]
Let me introduce Lina, Goddess of Shoes. From when she was a baby
I rest my case.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Downton Abbey
A rollicking great BBC production on PBS. Don't miss it.
Tonight I was watching an episode that included a foxhunt - ugh.
It brought to mind one of my favorite quotes by Oscar Wilde:
"The English country gentleman galloping after a fox - the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible."
In Europe it's money, in America it's sex
Scandal, that is. Belusconi buys sex from teenagers and all that occurs is a Gallic shrug. Everyone laughs at the "bunga bunga." But then Italy starts to look like Greece and the game is over.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Honestly, you couldn't pay for this stuff
"Texas Gov. Rick Perry drew a blank at last night's GOP presidential debate, forgetting one of three federal agencies he would eliminate if he becomes president." ~ from All Things Considered:
"Commerce.... Education... and ... er... and.. um..."
Republican strategist Mike Murphy tweeted from last night's GOP debate: "Listening to Rick Perry putting a complicated policy sentence together is like watching a chimp playing with a locked suitcase."
and from the NPR interview, Murphy also said:
"... I can't imagine a worst debate night than he had last night, short of grabbing the microphone and beating somebody to death."
and another tweet from @murphymike:
"Political types stunned by Perry. Now mumbling to each other like a State Fair crowd that just saw someone trip and fall into a hay bailer."
A funny Republic commentator. Who knew?
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Hula hoops with fire, pouring molten iron onto ice, and kickass pink boots
And that was all on Friday night!
It was the kickoff party at the Museum of Glass for Art at Work: Tacoma Arts Month. Some nice "vintage" logos.
And the hula hooping? Fire and LEDs! The girls were amazing!
This is an example of what they were doing.
And then there was the Fire and Ice brigade from Tacoma Community College. They had an iron smelter on the plaza outside the Glass Museum, and poured molten iron on huge blocks of ice.
It was astonishing to see the results. One very well dressed woman asked one of the smelter/pourers "how long will this be here?" and unbidden, sprang from my lips "... about 30 minutes..." I don't know if she was drunk, oblivious or had an attack of teh stupid.
My friend and collegue Pat showed up with her husband and she gazed longingly at the hula hoop action, convinced that it would be a great stress reliever. But who needs a stress reliever when you can show up at an event with kickass pink boots and a bedazzled Harley hat?
The plaza at night with the bridge in the background.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
