Thursday, 27 October 2011

Talented hands

Shapeshifterbelly sent me some photos of hand art and I did a bit of research. I had seen some of them before and was curious about the artist.


Mario Mariotti (1936-1997) was an Italian artist who grew up in Florence (surrounded by stunning art). There are a few books depicting his creations, covering different themes.



















Thank you, Shapeshifter, these pictures are fantastic.

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

So Palin...

There was a special offer at our supermarket : "Buy two, get third one free." We use a lot of paper towels, so it was a good bargain... until we got home and paid attention to the brand!



I don't know how we're going to cope with seeing her name on 1,500 sheets of this stuff. We wouldn't mind it so much if it had been something suitable, like toilet paper!

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

Some music...

I featured this song on the old blog as "Les Feuilles Mortes," with Yves Montand singing the original 1945 version - music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by Jacques Prévert.

This version (featuring beautiful photos) brings together two incredibly talented musicians:



[Our son Billy is arriving tomorrow. I prepared a few posts and they're scheduled to appear on a daily basis while we catch up on the past two years!]

Monday, 24 October 2011

In touch with Mother Nature

Grasshopper went on a bike ride on an Old Indian trail converted to a bike/walking trail along Des Plaines river. The photos are lovely. I wonder how many people will be able to work out the last one... I had to ask Grasshopper, then it became clear.









Thank you, Grasshopper. That was a great debut on What Time, eh?

Sunday, 23 October 2011

Moving stuff around

Some of you are familiar with my other blog, "Do I smell burning?" It's been abandoned for months. As this blog has a bit of everything, I'll gradually move all the recipes here, then close the other blog.

PUMPKIN, CARROT AND BEETROOT SOUP

Pumpkins are plentiful at this time of the year so here's a soup that will give you a bumper dose of the important anti-oxidant beta carotene. It's delicious!

Ingredients

Pumpkin, diced
Carrots
Beetroots
Trimmed leeks
A couple of potatoes
Dry white wine
Paprika
Chicken or vegetable bouillon
Onion and garlic
A very small amount of grated ginger
Salt & pepper to taste.

Preparation

Dice onions, chop garlic, cut all vegetables into chunks. I didn't give exact amounts of anything, you can vary according to taste and how much soup you're making. In a large pan, fry the onions until golden. Add the veggies, mix well, add the garlic, paprika, ginger, white wine and enough bouillon for the amount of vegetables. Adjust seasoning. Simmer for about 1 hour. Check that everything is cooked, whizz the lot in a blender, re-heat gently, taste and adjust seasoning and serve. A sprig of parsley or basil gives each bowl an elegant look.