SNAP # 32 – Do you recognize the name? Giuseppe Arcimboldo? Doesn’t ring a bell?
Skokloster Castle, Skokloster by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, courtesy Smithsonian Magazine
Two years ago I met Arcimboldo during an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. He was hanging on the wall. http://www.giuseppe-arcimboldo.org/
Perhaps Arcimboldo, an Italian painter who is now 485 years old, got shoved aside by the likes of Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, Tintoretto and Caravaggio, artists who flourished during the Italian Renaissance. Although destined to be a side story, Arcimboldo (1527-1593) painted brilliant portrait heads created entirely of fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, and books. These painted representations, unique collections of objects, were arranged to form a recognizable likeness of the portrait subject.
Rudolph II by Giuseppe Arcimboldo vertumnus.jpeg
This artist was playful, imaginative, all about nature and fantasy during a European artistic period that was somber, dealing with religious themes and Greek and Roman mythology. His work, displayed in a 2010 National Gallery exhibition entitled, “Arcimboldo, 1526-1593, Nature and Fantasy”, was memorable, each portrait brimming with delight.
I had an hour to meet this artist but I wanted more time with him. So, I brought him home. In researching Arcimboldo, I discovered Piatnik, a Viennese playing card company founded in 1824. http://www.piatnik.com/ Today Pianik also markets games, producing 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles of paintings by well-know artists. Seurat. Van Gogh. Klimt. Renoir. Caravaggio. And, Arcimboldo. I $napped that one up.
A 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle produced by Piatnik
Summer by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, in 1000 pieces
If you want to know and understand an artist’s work better, put one of his paintings together piece by piece by piece,1,000 times. In Arcimboldo’s painting, Summer, 1563, I am seeing fruits and vegetables as they appeared to his eye in the 16th Century. Some of the included produce, I only am now discovering, as I look for the puzzle pieces.
Next, I will be moving on to Velazquez‘ four portraits of Infantin Margarita Teresa. Then, Klimt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer .
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt
There’s nothing puzzling about this SNAP: Study art. Do a jigsaw.
And, you thought Vegas only grew long-legged, well-endowed Show Girls.
Mark Ruben, director of the Gilcrease Orchard, packing up my asparagus purchase.
Not so. This year, for the first time, Gilcrease Orchard, located in North Las Vegas, is harvesting Spring’s harbinger, asparagus. Let me just say, these well-endowed spears have legs!
The FFWD recipe of choice this week is Asparagus and Bits of Bacon, an especially great idea for the Easter and Passover week’s menus. While “sourcing” fresh asparagus, I found that the orchard, only open now on Saturdays, is selling asparagus and garlic scapes, those curly tops of the garlic plants which are as edible and flavorful as the garlic bulbs themselves.
Gilcrease Orchard is located in north Las Vegas.
The fruit trees at Gilcrease Orchard.
In an e-mail to Mark Ruben, Gilcrease’s director, I explained that I needed the asparagus before Saturday, relayed my FFWD participation and dropped Dorie Greenspan’s name, well, two or three times. Shortly thereafter, Mark responded, “Mary, Come on out. I’m here,” giving me his cell phone number.
When I arrived, Mark had a dozen bunches of asparagus, standing tall and proudly, in a sink of cold water. “I’ll take them all,” I said. Although, surprised, he happily boxed them up. We toured and talked. I questioned, he answered. The orchard produces a myriad of fruits and vegetables, some, pick-your-own, and, in May, will be wide open for business.
Iowa girl meets Nevada boy. Buddies. Mark is as serious about growing good produce as I am about finding, buying and cooking with it.
Asparagus & Bits of Bacon, this week’s French Friday with Dorie’s recipe choice.
On to this week’s asparagus and bacon bits. I cannot explain it better than Dorie. “Toss boiled asparagus with nut oil and lemon juice,” she says, “then top the spears with onion and bacon, and you get sophisticated flavor, texture, and looks, all in about ten minutes.”
Bring home the bacon and throw it the pan!
Bacon bits and fresh diced onions. Warm in a dash of bacon fat, being careful not to color or cook the onion.
I used walnut oil. Perhaps you’d prefer hazelnut oil. While the recipe is simple, the key points here are peel the asparagus, no matter how young or thin the stalks, drain the bacon well, pat the asparagus dry after boiling in water, and, season (salt and pepper) generously.
As a dry run before Easter and Passover, (our family celebrates both), I made this for my dinner last night. I halved the recipe and managed to consume it all in one sitting. Delicious.
For my Easter gift sacks: California Olive Oil, California Shelled Walnuts & Locally-Grown Asparagus.
As for the other eleven bunches of asparagus. Luckily, my neighbors here are all about food. This year, in their Easter gift sack, I am including a bottle of Olea Farm Olive Oil, a California product grown and produced in Templeton. http://www.oleafarm.com/ Owned and operated by Yves and Clotilde Julien (Oui, ils sont français.), this Winter I toured, tasted and loved their products. My grandchildren are selling beautiful bags of shelled California walnuts as a fundraising project. I was all over that – a bag for everyone. The pièce de résistance? Fresh locally-grown asparagus for everyone’s holiday dinner. http://www.thegilcreaseorchard.org/
Whether honoring Easter, Passover or just the holiday week-end, may it include a celebration of family, friendship and, in my case, wonderful neighbors.
SNAP # 30 – The thing is, whatever space I have, eventually, I’ll fill it up. Promise.
Eight years ago, when I moved from a 4,000 square feet-house to a 2,000 square feet-house, I did the math. Half the house requires half the stuff. Pat myself on the back, three gold stars, the moving van carried only fifty-percent of our belongings to Nevada. When I settled in, I still had, uh, a full house. (Okay, I’ve lived in Vegas way too long!)
WHAT TO KEEP. WHAT GOES. DECISIONS. DECISIONS. DECISIONS.
Fast forward to 2012. Even I recognize that I still live in a 2,000 square foot home but now have enough belongings to fill a home twice the size. How did that happen? As a result, I’ve decided to bite the hand that carried the stuff into this house and do the Spring-thing. De-clutter. Toss out. Donate.
For example, I’ve already left several heavy wool sweaters in our Colorado storage closet so I probably don’t need the five others I brought here. The 15 cartons I packed in Colorado and have not unpacked here. Gone. Extra DVD, printer, and iron? Bye, bye. Two broken chairs, waiting re-gluing? Not my problem anymore.
WHO WOULD LIVE LIKE THIS? YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING.
Nothing’s exempt from my scathing editing eye. I’m being ruthless. Sorta. My five-hundred rubber stamps? Keepers. My kitchen inventory? Don’t even……… My turkey platter collection? Boxes of ephemera saved for craft projects? And, books, books, books. I just mayyyy need them someday.
You can see it’s not going to be easy.
But, here’s the SNAP. Lighten your load to lighten your life. “Things” are a responsibility. Too many things, I think, are a liability. The Spring thing, cleaning up your act, join me. I’m giving myself a month. Day 4? It’s going well.
No one has ever called me a mathematical genius, but I know, right off the top of my head, that if the odds are 1 in 176 million, that’s not good.
My question: Why would we Americans shell out an estimated $1.5 billion dollars on those odds. Even if the payoff is $640 million. Seriously?
Americans spent 1.5 billion dollars on Mega Millions lottery tickets. AP Photo Paul Sakum
I would not have known about last week’s Mega Millions mania had I not driven through Primm, California, last Monday. For some unknown reason this community, which sits low on the tourist-attraction scale, was rock-and-rolling. The town of Primm, located in a stark, barren part of the Mojave Desert, is plopped right on the California-Nevada border. It’s a mishmash of casinos, restaurants, and outlet stores. Truthfully, what happens in Primm, stays in Primm.
What I soon learned was that Nevadans were in a frenzy over the Mega Millions Lottery jackpot. The payout, $640 million, would be the single biggest lottery win ever. Nevada is one of the eight states that does not participate in the Mega Millions Lottery largesse. We have our gambling standards, after all! If Las Vegans wanted a piece of the action, they had to visit the Primm Valley Resorts Lotto store. It’s in California, about 40 miles south.
Apparently, by the end of the week, most Las Vegans had been to Primm. In the frenzy leading up to Friday night’s drawing, the store had been selling about 165,000 to 170,000 lottery tickets per day. On Thursday the waiting time to buy tickets was four hours. It was hot. Ben Spillman of the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote, “The line stretched out the front door of the store, around the building, along the perimeter of the parking lot and down the road more than 1,000 feet.”
A dollar or two, even ten, I could understand. But there were some pretty serious number$ rumor$ flying around Vegas this past week. $20,000. $850. $350. The numbers for “group pools” was even higher.
Why do people spend money that vanishes in the reality of the odds.? I have a theory. Not one of those ticket buyers thought they would win this windfall. Not one. But we’re Americans. We’re the 99%. We dream big and enthusiastically and against the odds. We’re a country of, “What Ifs”. We laugh loudly and eat too much and make our fun if we can’t find it. What’s wrong with grabbing some friends, packing a lunch and carpooling to paradise. That’s what the Primm pilgrimage, in my opinion, was all about.
At a time when the political climate of this country has turned mean-spirited and negative and combative, I, for one, am happy to see the rest of us marching to a happier drummer.
After passing through Primm, and without a lottery ticket of my own, I also began to think, fantasize and dream. If I won this lottery, what would I do with the money. Within an hour, the time it took to reach my Henderson house, I had those millions spent. Here’s how………
Pay Uncle Sam $178 million for taxes, leaving me with $462 million.
Provide financial stability and security for my family. (PS to Kids: No One stops working, quits their job, or retires!)
Give generous financial gifts to my church, favorite charities and alma maters.
Take my family to the Galapagos.
The silly things, for me: A new wardrobe. iPad 3. iPhone.
Create, design and fund a national program, privately financed and administered, to assist first-generation female college students.
During my four years at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas I continued to be impressed and amazed by the perseverance and determination of first-generation female students. The first in their family to attend college. These students, who come in record numbers to UNLV, are usually, but not always, children of immigrants. They are often less academically prepared and somewhat intimidated by the educational challenges. Doubt reigns supreme. There are cultural conflicts, unique personal challenges, and economic obstacles. Go to classes. Go to a job. Study. Go to classes. Go to a job. Study.
Not that these women are complaining. They are tough.They are resilient. They will take risks. Frankly, they have nothing to lose. They are proud to be on campus, realizing their American dream. But their journey could be so much easier and fulfilling if they acquired skills and experiences and knowledge that many of us and our daughters already take for granted.
Spring had sprung but the picnic’s indoors. Crab & Grapefruit Salad with mini-muffins.
Quick, no thinking, come up with five different food pairings:
fried chicken and mashed potatoes&gravy;
hamburger and french fries;
apple pie and vanilla ice cream;
corned beef and cabbage;
pork chops and applesauce.
Now, try to throw grapefruit and lump crabmeat into the mix. Yes, that would be a stretch.
Stretching is what Dorie Greenspan and these French Fridays cooking adventures are about. This week she raised the bar again and asked us to prepare a Crab & Grapefruit Salad (p.134). She even provided a full-page photograph (p.135). Love it when she does that. Whether it was her creative recipe combo, the inspiration of the picture or my being back in the familiar surroundings of my own kitchen, this was one delicious salad.
Shortly after returning from California this week, Colorado friends called to say they were in town, suggesting a Thursday lunch date. I explained I was on Dorie duty that day and invited them here without elaborating on the menu. Early Thursday morning, I got to work.
Red Bell Peppers, Cucumbers & Scallions, Lump Crabmeat, and Grapefruit, ready to be tossed together.
Early springtime mint, fresh from my herb garden, provides the top hats for my salad servings.
With Dorie, it’s always imperative to read through the entire recipe well in advance before beginning the preparation. Case in point. After the grapefruit is sectioned and removed to a paper towel, the fruit must be dried. For hours. Six, for me.
Other ingredients including a seedless cucumber, red bell pepper and scallions, simply need a dice or slice. Use your fingers to toss everything together with the crab before adding small amounts of olive oil and grapefruit juice. Salt and pepper, to taste. Lemon juice and minced fresh mint give this salad extra punch.
The fun of this salad is in its presentation. I tried four different glasses (clockwise: Martini Glass; Parfait Dish; Antique Etched Water Glass; and Brandy Snifter) each with its own “look”. I still don’t have a favorite.
Each glass container shows off beautifully.
To complement the salad, I passed mini-bran muffins. Another strange food pairing, perhaps, but it worked well against the richness of the main dish. My guests enjoyed the lunch. I enjoyed my guests. This story, therefore, has a happy ending.
To see what other French Fridays’ cooks did with this salad, go to http://www.frenchfridayswithdorie.com/. Although Dorie’s recipe for this salad is available on line, we suggest you buy her book, Around My French Table. The cost of her book is less than the cost of the pound of lump crabmeat I used in this salad.
