June 14, 2013

June 14, 2003

A Thought for today

This above all: to thine own self be true

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst then be false to any man.      

 

W. Shakespeare

A Piece of My Ceramics Art (done in July 2011)

"Hills and Valleys -  Reclining Woman (I)"

July 2011 – “Hills and Valleys (I)” – I am interested in the human body, perhaps because of my learning and studying human anatomy many years ago. I am fascinated by the harmony of the female body because I see in it a succession of hills and valleys: head, neck, torso, waist, hips, and legs. The proportions are the secret of beauty and it is difficult to keep them right. Here is my first attempt, which I didn’t like but while working on it I learned a lot. It has many flaws…

I dedicated the piece to my wife, Huguette. Her name was etched on the plinth  (base) right upper corner. The name of the piece is also etched on the plinth.

A Recipe for Today

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

 
Ingredients:

2 tbsp. cooking oil

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 lb. beef (fat <15%)

2 slices of bread, crust removed

1 large potato, peeled and grated, large

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped

½ crushed hot red pepper

1 tsp. ground black pepper

2 tsp. salt

1 cup all purpose four

1 tbsp. cooking oil

2 cups tomato sauce

4 bay leaves

10 grains whole allspice

 Procedure:

Grate the potato and let it drain the water;

Sauté the onion and garlic until soft then let it cool; keep the skillet;

Soak bread in water, then squeeze the water;

Squeeze the grated potato. 

Mix well meat, potato, bread, onion and garlic, beaten egg, parsley, dill, salt, pepper, and hot red pepper;

Place some flour on a plate. Roll small portions of the meat between your palms to make 1”-2” balls and roll each ball on the flour (so that they would not stick to each other);

Brown the meat balls in batches in the skillet in which you’ve sautéed the onion and garlic. You’ll have to add some oil. Don’t cook them fully;

Add the tomato sauce to the meatballs, add the bay leaves and the allspice grains. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer for another 10 minutes.  

You may remove the bay leaves and the allspice grains, but this is not absolutely necessary.