June 13, 2013

What's new is old again ...

I'm not sure why I do it, but I seem to have a habit of covering my electronic widgets in covers that are decidedly antique looking.


My Kindle Fire has the look of an old, leather-bound book, and my iPhone has a cover that looks like an old British telephone box - really old ... it has the "Press Button A" and "Press Button B" graphic too, which disappeared in the early 1970s I think.




I often wonder about the psychology of this.  Am I embarrassed to have the technology?  Do I prefer the look of older items?  The answer to both is a definite "no" but it's still an odd way to go about things.  I was trying to think of anything else I've done this with, and the only thing I could think of was that my small DVD collection is in a wicker basket - does that count?  I love contemporary images - well most of them, but I could say that for some more traditional things too.  I guess I'm kind of in the middle when it comes to artistic preferences.  Same goes with the decor of our house.  I find it hard to pin down and label the style ... not too contemporary, not too traditional, doesn't fit into "French Country" or "Shabby Chic" or any other style format.

Life in the middle lane?  I guess that's me.  On the one hand it sounds pretty boring, but I figure it means that I have a wide range of interests and styles.  Hey, gotta put a good spin on it!


June 07, 2013

Now that's the way to make an exit -

It is the last journey you will ever make - so why opt for a plain wooden coffin when you could meet your maker in a giant chilli pepper?




This story was in the Daily Mail and I loved it.  The chili pepper is the work of Ghanaian craftsman Paa Joe.   Fantasy coffins - sometimes known as proverbial coffins - have become a tradition in Ghana, where many people believe in an afterlife and regard deceased ancestors as more powerful than the living.  The shape of the caskets often reflect the individual's profession or links to certain clans.  Initially a form of art designed simply to glorify the dead, a number of the coffins which have flowed from this tradition are now regarded as masterpieces on the international stage - with Paa Joe gaining worldwide recognition in the niche field.


Paa Joe's efforts have helped to inspire Nottingham-based Crazy Coffins, which has been supplying caskets shaped like everything from football boots to bottle openers for a quarter of a century.  Crazy Coffins, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, said demand for ever more outlandish designs is growing all the time. 

I absolutely love the idea of these coffins but I can't imagine what shape I'd have made if I had the choice.  I've always thought that too much money is spent on funerals (and don't get me started on weddings ...) - especially coffins - but if you ARE going to blow vast amounts of cash, then at least you should entertain your guests along the way.  It must be like trying to decide what tattoo to get.  If I'd gotten a tattoo at age 18 or so, I'd probably be very embarrassed about it by now because my tastes then are completely different to my tastes now, and of course what was the Big Thing last century (yes, I'm that old) is the butt of jokes now.  A cell-phone shaped coffin may look good in the family photo album today but seriously, don't we all cringe a little when we look back at relatives and friends who got married in the 1970s and 80s, who thought they looked wonderful on their special day. Yes, they did, and that's what's important, but you can't help but smile now.

So ... a fish, a skateboard or a viking longboat?  What would be your choice?


For more on this story - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2337381/Sharks-chillies-Just-wacky-coffins-available-wishing-make-final-journey-style.html


June 06, 2013

The first time is the worst ...


... when making pasta.  Did I not make myself clear?


I'm not a food blogger, or for that matter, a very good cook, but I've always wanted to try my hand at making pasta.  I trawled the internet and found that it was a fairly easy process, but takes a little practice to get it just right.

I used 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour (although I gather that unbleached flour or adding a little semolina is better), and just one egg plus a little kosher salt.  I mixed, I kneaded, I rested (both the pasta and I), then got my other ingredients together.  I figured that since I was making my inaugural bowl of pasta, I should keep the toppings simple and honest.  Thanks to Trader Joes, I had some baby heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella, summer squash and olives.  Add to that some extra virgin olive oil and garlic, and I was ready to try my pasta.

Rolling it out was easy.  I took my time to cut very thin slices - as instructed - and wafted them through the leftover flour.  When I cooked them for a minute or two, I was a little disappointed to see that my supposedly thin cut "spaghetti" looked more like overfed witchetty grubs (an Australian delicacy).  Still, I'd made it lovingly by hand, I couldn't do anything else but eat it.  It tasted okay definitely pasta-esque, if a little al dente.  Not quite so Molte Benne as I'd hoped, but I can see it was a fairly decent first attempt.  Next time, I I'll definitely have to cut the slices thinner - those food bloggers really do know what they're talking about!

Seems I also need to read up on food photography and lighting.  If only work didn't get in the way so much ...

The Shopping List


It was one of those evenings when I find my husband in the kitchen, opening and closing the cupboards and heaving big sighs.  "Did you buy more popcorn?" he asks hopefully.  No, I hadn't realized that we'd run out, since I don't eat it.  When he took the last packet, why didn't he put it on the shopping list, so I'd know to buy more?  You know, the usual loving conversations between husband and wife...

Next day, I'm looking at the list on the side of the fridge and find this - "Get me popcorn ... wench!"  I can just feel the love!  Of course, now I wish I'd written the list a little neater, since I'm showing the world what I need to buy next time I'm at the store. Looking at the list, I think I can feel a baking session coming on - I guess that's were the wax paper and parchment paper come in.  Last week I made a carrot cake and in desperation, ended up using plain 8.5 x 11 paper to line the cake tin.  It works perfectly well, but I suppose I should buy something a little more cake-friendly.

Thanks, Mr B, you'll have your guilty pleasure soon.

June 02, 2013

The Humble Lentil


New "Fascinating Fact" (for me, anyway) is that the obelisk in St Peter's Square in Rome was transported from Egypt in a ship filled with lentils to prevent any damage to the red granite structure.  What an ingenious idea, and such a simple solution to a difficult problem.  I may be a little late coming to this story, but I had to find out more.

The obelisk is 82 feet tall and weighs 320 tons - which is really a lot of lentil support.  It was originally made in Egypt and transported to Rome in 37AD by the Emporer Caligula.  He then had it placed in the Circus of Nero which was in the same general area as the future St Peter's Basilica.   In 1586, Pope Sixtus V had his architect Domenico Fontana move it. This operation, which required hundreds of workmen, was directed by Fontana with the help of his brother, Giovanni, and took four months.   The whole endeavor was carried out using hemp ropes and iron bars weighing 40,000 pounds, plus 900 men and 72 horses.  




After the voyage the ship was filled with pozzolana - a Roman version of cement, I think - and sunk so it could be used as the base for the left pier of Claudius' harbour, at the mouth of the Tiber.  

London, Paris and New York all have an obelisk - the one in London is often referred to as Cleopatra's Needle - and it was interesting to find that the 68ft high structure destined for London was dug out of the sand where had been buried for nearly 2,000 years and was encased in an iron cylinder, 92 feet long and 16 feet in diameter. It had a stem, stern, a rudder, two bilge keels, a mast for balancing sails, and a deck house. This acted as a floating pontoon which was to be towed to London.  In the Bay of Biscay they encountered a storm and the obelisk and its packaging was violently thrown around by the waves.  Six crew members were lost in the storm, and the pontoon, named the Cleopatra, was eventually abandoned, to be later washed up on the shores in Spain.  After a tense and expensive disagreement on salvage rights, the whole thing was floated back to London and taken up the Thames river to stand on the Embankment where it still resides.

I love getting a glimpse into the scientific minds of ordinary people in history.  But what REALLY intrigues me is .... what happened to all those lentils?