Saturday, May 31, 2014

Another pillar of the world is GONE. R.I.P. Maya Angelou

Personally, she led me to the understanding and beauty of poetry (when I watched Clinton's Inauguration). Before that, it was Edna St. Vincent Millay's Renascence. I remember watching her speak and feeling that I was being altered, almost genetically. Maya Angelou was like watching a lyrical dance or hearing a perfectly balanced symphony. She was all of the senses compiled into one beautiful human and teacher.

Friday, May 30, 2014

I'd LIKE to STAY HERE in South Africa. IN a tree house.

My only real fear is that serpents could someone make there way up into the treehouses. But for that, can you imagine what it would be like to sit in this rudimentary splendor watching the life the desert pass below you. Maybe you could pet a giraffe on the head. Or feed an elephant a banana. Or rut amongst the rhinos. Can snakes climb walls or trees or posts? I would hope these have been snake proofed?

A trio of strikingly beautiful tree houses on the Lion Sands Game Reserve in the heart of South Africa's safari land, offer brave guests the chance to sleep under the stars, with wild animals lurking below.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2638829/Treehouse.html#ixzz32mE4zATK
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The 645sqft Kingston is the largest of the three and features a shower, and guests are offered champagne dinners and sunset massages.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

The PENIS wall

Printed by 3-D printer

Someone 3D-Printed An Entire Wall Of Penises, And It's Actually Quite Impressive

The Huffington Post | by Katherine Brooks

If you haven't heard they're building entire houses, human body parts, an future buildings for Mars on these 3-D printer. I've never seen one for real. I think that a basic one costs little more than an ink jet printer. But this technology, I believe may change mankind more dramatically than any other in our history up until now. The ability to reproduce materials, on such a such a mass-scale is a quantum leap from the industrial age.

But I saw this article and it, well, captured my imagine like no other. I am going to go find out how I can learn to created things that could be printed on a 3-D Computer.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

A HOLY GRAIL moment for Hobbitists

J.R.R. Tolkien Reveals TRUE Meaning Of 'The Lord Of The Rings' In Unearthed Audio Recording

The headlines above and article from the HuntingtonPost (click here)

Enchanting, no?

Wish I could have been there for this presentation. Are you a Tolkien fan?

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Adorable Jamie Oliver's incredible TAGINE recipe--changed my life this week

I LOVE Jamie Oliver. He is adorable. For a few years I've watched several of his tv cooking shows which featured the Moroccan dish Tagine.

My favorite food in the world has always been Cajun jambalaya. I always wondered if this dish was the similar of to my much beloved jambalaya, with a different set of flavors.

I finally made an "Oliver" tagine recipe yesterday and my instincts were correct. The tagine is the equivalent of jambalaya with a whole different continent/experience of new, exotic flavors.

I used the recipe shown below. This entree was easy to make, which in my experience with television cooking shows is rare. You only need a bowl and pot: a simple bowl to marinate the chicken in the refrigerator. I didn't have a tagine or casserole pot as the recipe requests so I used a cast iron pot, which was a perfect substitution.

The meal was quick to make. But purchasing a few of the more exotic ingredients in a small town place like the Palm Springs area took more time. The preserved lemons were the biggest challenge. After several visits to grocery store and a call to William Sonoma I finally found them in stock at Bristol Farms . My local Trader Joe's said they have been trying to stock it but they are sold out). When I saw Jamie make this he used portioned, cut lemons. The bottle that I bought I bought at Bristole was pureed/minced.

I couldn't find fresh coriander. I've always heard that Coriander is the same thing as the more common (in California) Cilantro? The information on the internet was even more confusing. I substituted ground dried coriander instead of the fresh coriander stalks. If someone can educate me on this I would appreciate it. Is fresh cilantro the same thing as fresh coriander leaves?

I'd never cooked or eaten (at least knowingly) fresh fennel. It is wonderful. Very mild. When it was raw, it smelled and looked like fresh anise (or licorice which I detest). When cooked, it was amazing and lovely.

I have to say that this tagine is one of the best things I've cooked. Usually I am not pleased with my cooking. But this was a symphony of new flavors. I used chicken thighs, instead of the whole chix (I don't like white meat) and the meat just fell off the bones. Served on top of couscous, OMG

This and jambalaya are now my favorite dishes.

Jamie Oliver’s Chicken, Olive and Preserved Lemon Tagine

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (approximately 1.5kg), preferably free range or organic, skin-on, jointed into 4 (get your butcher to do this for you)**
olive oil
1–2 large bulbs of fennel
2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
a small bunch of fresh coriander**
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
2–3 small preserved lemons, deseeded and chopped**
80g black and green olives, stoned
a good pinch of saffron
500ml hot organic chicken stock

For the spice rub
1 heaped teaspoon coriander seeds, bashed up
1 level teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Recipe/photo source: http://www.foodie.co.nz/jamie-olivers-chicken-olive-and-preserved-lemon-tagine/

**See paragraph above for my adaptations